In the far future, on top of a gigantic tree rooted in the ice ball of a comet, a young man's journey leads to unexpected encounters In this brand-new cosmic adventure by the author of The Genesis Quest and The Jupiter Theft, Torris, son of the Facemaker, knows only his small community at the base of the great Tree on a comet with almost no gravity or atmosphere. Torris's daily struggle for survival includes harvesting frozen air to keep breathing, dodging flutterbeasts, and hunting meatbeasts for food. When it comes time to make his vision quest to the top of the Tree, Torris is completely unprepared for what he finds: first, a thieving and hostile fellow quester; then, Ning, a female hunter from a neighboring tree-bearing comet, who has catapulted across empty space in search of food to save her family; and ultimately, alien visitors in a massive starship that has spent billions of years crossing the galaxy. Shocked at the cultural...

Many centuries ago, an alien race known as the Nar were able to recreate human beings from genetic code, broadcast from earth into outer space by a beleaguered humanity. Although the Nar are kind and benevolent masters to the humans, discontent leads the humans to rebel, and the Nar realize that they do not yet fully understand their rebellious creations. They allow a group of humans to travel millions of light years through the galaxy, in order to discover what has happened to the original occupants of planet earth. However, none of the human participants of the expedition are prepared for what awaits them at the completion of their journey…