Hugo Award nominee 2016.
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author
The critically acclaimed, #1
New York Times bestselling author of Anathem and Cryptonomicon, returns
with an epic sociopolitical-military thriller set 30,000 years in the
future when seven distinct human subspecies — our descendants — attempt to
recolonize the Earth
Months after our moon explodes, meteorite storms begin to pummel the
Earth, rendering the planet uninhabitable. Before the deluge begins, the world’s nations transport as many humans as they can to the
International Space Station, which is expanded to become a genetic
Noah’s ark, stocked with seeds, DNA records, frozen sperm and embryos,
and genetic engineering equipment.
But the ISS is in danger
itself; losing communication with Earth, it is badly damaged by
successive meteor strikes that destroy much of the equipment — including
frozen embryos — and kill many of those on board. Ultimately, only seven
women will remain alive. The future of mankind rests with these “Seven
Eves” who devise a way to use their DNA stock and the genetic
engineering equipment to reproduce.
Eons later — 30,000 years to
be precise — billions of humans live in a ring of space habitats that form a hyper-cosmopolitan, affluent society orbiting the Earth. Though the
surface of the planet has been transformed, it is still recognizable.. and it is calling them back. But these space dwellers do not know
that two groups of humans managed to survive on the surface: one group
living under the sea, another finding refuge in mines. Long ago the two
groups joined together, and began repopulating this rocky, wild,
beautiful, and largely inhospitable place. These indigenous humans are
rustic and backward compared to their cousins, the descendants of the
Seven Eves who dwell in orbit.
And now, the children of the Seven Eves — seven distinct human subspecies, each with physical and mental
characteristics that can be traced back to each of their individual
foremothers — are going to go home...
