Half a million years in the future, on a dead, war-ravaged world at the centre of the Galaxy, there is a mile-high statue of Michael Poole.
Poole, born on Earth in the fourth millennium, was one of mankind's most influential heroes.
He was not a warrior, not an emperor.
He was an engineer, a builder of wormhole transit systems.
But Poole's work would ultimately lead to a vast and destructive conflict, a million-year war between humanity and the enigmatic, powerful aliens known as the Xeelee.
The Xeelee won, but at a huge cost.
And, defeated in a greater war, the Xeelee eventually fled the universe.
Most of them.
A handful were left behind, equipped with time travel capabilities, their task to tidy up: to reorder history more to the Xeelee's liking.
That million-year war with humankind was one blemish.
It had to be erased.
And in order to do that, a lone Xeelee was sent back in time to remove Michael Poole from history .
| Up | To reorder history more to the |
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Gollancz Xeelee | stephen baxter
