The Heritage Universe Series by Charles Sheffield
The Heritage Universe Series is a science fiction narrative that explores the interstellar quest of humans and various alien races to uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance of an ancient alien civilization known as the Builders. Set across a vast galactic landscape, the series introduces a cast of characters, including human troubleshooter Hans Rebka and academic expert Darya Lang, who navigate complex relationships and dangerous encounters as they investigate mysterious Builder artifacts scattered throughout star systems.
The series opens with the events of "Summertide," where tensions arise during the rare tidal phenomenon affecting the planets Opal and Quake. The narrative evolves through subsequent books, such as "Divergence" and "Transcendence," where characters face challenges posed by the ruthless Zardalu aliens and other unforeseen dangers, including sentient Builder emissaries. Themes of cooperation and conflict are woven throughout the story as the protagonists seek knowledge about the Builders and their purpose, navigating a universe filled with intrigue and existential questions.
As the characters' journeys unfold, they confront moral dilemmas and the consequences of their actions, ultimately leading to alliances and confrontations that test their ingenuity and resolve. The intricate plot highlights the relationships between different species and the shared struggles against common threats, making the series a compelling exploration of life, purpose, and the unknown in a richly developed universe.
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Subject Terms
The Heritage Universe Series
First published:Summertide (1990), Divergence (1991), and Transcendence (1992)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Science fiction—galactic empire
Time of work: About c.e. 6200
Locale: Various planetary systems within the spiral arm of the galaxy occupied by Earth
The Plot
The Heritage Universe series is a narrative about a group of humans and aliens seeking to solve the mystery of the disappearance of an ancient alien race (the Builders) millions of years ago. Humans and various alien races have formed empires throughout thousands of star systems in the galactic spiral arm and have discovered thousands of huge, mysterious Builder artifacts. One sector was formerly ruled by a ruthless race of aliens, the Zardalu, who made slaves of all other races.
In Summertide, troubleshooter Hans Rebka goes to the planet Opal to determine why Max Perry is refusing more challenging assignments. Opal has a twin planet, Quake, to which it is connected by a Builder artifact called the Umbilical, a sort of space elevator. The system is soon to reach summertide, a period of maximum tidal stress that occurs every 350,000 years. A number of individuals seek to visit Quake at summertide, including Darya Lang, an academic expert on Builder artifacts; Julius Graves, a Councilor from the galactic ethical authority; Louis Nenda, a fortune hunter with his fierce alien slave, Kallik; and Atvar Hsail, a mysterious insectoid Cecropian with his alien slave and translator, Jmerlia.
Lang and the two fortune hunters believe that events during summertide may help them discover why the Builders left and where they went. Despite being denied access, all those interested end up on Quake at summertide as tidal stresses nearly destroy both Quake and Opal. Nenda and Hsail, with their slaves, form an alliance and seek to kill all the others.
While leaving Quake, Lang sees two huge silver spheres, obviously of Builder origin, exit the core of Quake. One of the spheres heads toward extragalactic space and the other toward the gas giant planet Gargantua, taking with it the ship with the treacherous slave owners. As the book ends, Rebka learns Perry’s secret: His girlfriend died on Quake at summertide. Lang and the two slaves decide to take a ship to Gargantua to look for the Builders and their masters, respectively.
In Divergence, E. C. Tally, an embodied computer, is sent to investigate. Lang, Rebka, Jmerlia, and Kallik have left for Gargantua. Birdie Kelly, assistant to Perry, must accompany Tally and Graves as they follow in their own ship. Lang and Rebka pick up a distress signal from Nenda and Hsails ship among the small moons and debris surrounding Gargantua, but they find the ship empty on a perfectly spherical small moon. As they approach, they are attacked by Phages, Builder artifacts of unknown purpose. After landing, Rebka and Lang enter the artificial hollow moon and find Nenda and Hsail trapped in a field. At the moons center, they are greeted by an intelligent emissary of the Builders, who puts them through a transfer node to a massive space station 30,000 light-years away. The others enter the moon, rescue Nenda and Hsail, and are eventually sent to the far-off space station. Rebka and Lang meet another Builder emissary. They explore the station, which is filled with thousands of inexplicable devices, and find stasis tanks that contain Zardalu. When Nenda and Hsail arrive, the threat of the Zardalu makes them join forces.
The Builder emissary tells them that the Builders evolved on Gargantua as huge floaters in the lower layers of the gas giant, later moving to higher layers and into space as they developed intelligence and technology. They explain that Phages are actually degenerated, unintelligent Builders, and that the Builders left to await the development of another intelligent species capable of helping them solve the great mystery of the purpose of life and the universe. The emissarys purpose is to allow the three primary intelligent species in the spiral arm (humans, Cecropians, and Zardalu) to fight to see who proves to be the most clever. Humans and Cecropians cooperate to overcome the huge, fierce Zardalu, making them fall into a transport node that sends them back to the spiral arm. The emissary asks the other two races to keep fighting, but they refuse. Nenda and Hsail agree to continue to fight if the others are returned.
In Transcendence, Graves and Tally are unable to convince the authorities that the fast-reproducing Zardalu exist. They join with Lang, Rebka, Jmerlia, and Kallik to seek the Zardalu. Nenda and Hsail return, having been banished by the Builder emissary for trying to steal artifacts. They join the rest on their quest for the Zardalu. Their search leads them to the long-avoided Torvil Anfract, a huge region of twisted space-time. They are aided by an alien pilot named Dulcimer, a Chism Polypheme who enjoys becoming inebriated from hard radiation.
After arriving outside the Anfract, Rebka, Nenda, Hsail, Jmerlia, and Kallik take a small ship to a candidate planet and find that it is indeed Genizee, the fabled home world of the Zardalu. As they approach the planet, a beam from the planets moon captures them and forces them to crash on Genizee. Jmerlia stays to repair the ship while the others explore. The scouting expedition soon finds Zardalu, from whom they flee into tunnels beneath the surface. Jmerlia sends a message to the main ship with directions to the planet, but his ship is captured by the beam and taken to the moon, where he talks to another Builder emissary, who is keeping the Zardalu grounded.
Back on the main ship, Lang has surmised that the Torvil Anfract is a huge Builder artifact. When they receive Jmerlia’s message, Lang, Tally, and Dulcimer take another ship to Genizee, but they are captured by Zardalu. The group deep inside Genizee continues to explore, finding thousands of hungry baby Zardalu. Jmerlia mysteriously rejoins them but also shows up back on the main ship and with the group captured by Zardalu. Deeper within Genizee, Rebka’s group finds that the low tunnels clearly were made by the Builders and guarded by another Builder emissary, from whom they learn that there are thousands of emissaries hidden throughout the spiral arm. Lang, Tally, and Dulcimer escape from the Zardalu into narrow air ducts and head for the surface, followed by thousands of starving Zardalu babies. Rebka and his group return to the main ship to find Graves unconscious, his mind disintegrating. Jmerlia arrives in another ship, also unconscious. Rebka and Nenda return to Genizee to rescue Lang, Tally, and Dulcimer.
All return to the main ship and figure out that macroscopic quantum states in the area explain both Jmerlia being in several places at once and Graves’s mental problems. They also surmise that none of the emissaries actually had instructions from the Builders; each had manufactured reasons for their existence. Nenda and Hsail steal a small ship and return to Genizee, where they talk the Zardalu into surrendering and henceforth serving them.