''A modern-day George Orwell'' - SFX

''A hectic ride, through slaloms of audacious complexity, irreverent ingenuity and paradox as purposeful as it is playful'' - GUARDIAN

The Second Sphere is thousands of light years away from Earth - if Earth still exists. For Matt Cairns and the cosmonauts of the Bright Star, this distant corner of the galaxy is their new home.

But the Second Sphere is also home to other civilisations, lifted from their worlds by a race of god-like aliens. On Croatan, two of these civilisations live a precarious co-existence, separated by eons of technological advance. The arrival of the Bright Star is an event that may trigger disaster, for this is the first human-crewed starship to arrive at the ancient colony.

And all the time, hidden among the stars, the gods are watching. They have always been watching.

Following on from COSMONAUT KEEP, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Hugo Award, this is the second book in the dazzling new space opera series by one of SF's most exciting new authors.

Books by Ken MacLeod:

Fall Revolution

The Star Fraction

The Stone Canal

The Cassini Division

The Sky Road

Engines of Light

Cosmonaut Keep

Dark Light

Engine City

Corporation Wars Trilogy

Dissidence

Insurgence

Emergence

Novels

The Human Front

Newton's Wake

Learning the World

The Execution Channel

The Restoration Game

Intrusion

Descent