''Destiny's Children'' is a science-fiction series by Stephen Baxter. It takes place within his larger series, the ''

Xeelee Sequence The Xeelee Sequence (; ) is a series of hard science fiction space opera novels, novellas, and short stories written by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The series spans billions of years of fictional history, centering on humanity ...

''. Like his previous ''

Manifold Trilogy The ''Manifold Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction books by British author Stephen Baxter. The series was published from 1999 to 2003. It consists of three novels and an anthology of short stories relating to the three. The three novels in t ...

'', the books are not direct sequels to one another, but are instead thematically linked by the appearance of concepts, themes, and sometimes characters in multiple books. Examples of this include: * A

coalescence Coalescence may refer to: * Coalescence (chemistry), the process by which two or more separate masses of miscible substances seem to "pull" each other together should they make the slightest contact * Coalescence (computer science), the merging of ...

is visited in all three novels. * The Kuiper Anomaly, a tetrahedral artifact that appears in the

Kuiper belt The Kuiper belt () is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times ...

, is discovered in ''Coalescent'', mentioned briefly in ''Exultant'', and finally explained in ''Transcendent''. * The characters George Poole, Michael Poole, and Rosa Poole appear in both ''Coalescent'' and ''Transcendent''. * Each book deals in some way with the future evolution of humans, both physically and sociologically. For example, ''Coalescent'' discusses the ability of humans living with limited space and resources to evolve a society that resembles insect hives. ''Transcendent'' deals with several post-human forms that are found to have evolved to adapt planets that they colonized. The theme is present in ''Exultant'' insofar as the novel deals with humanity as evolved to fight a war that has lasted tens of thousands of years. * Each book further deals in some way with the existence and identity of God. For example, ''Exultant'' suggests that there was consciousness present before the universe began that selected this universe for its ability to sustain life. ''Transcendent'' discusses a group of humans that have transcended to a higher consciousness as becoming a god, and uses established theology to attempt to dissect the Transcendent's motives. Books in the series: *''

Coalescent ''Coalescent'' is a science-fiction novel by Stephen Baxter. It is part one of the ''Destiny's Children'' series. The story is set in two main time periods: modern Britain, when George Poole finds that he has a previously unknown sister and f ...

'' (

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

) - Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 2004 *'' Exultant'' (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

) *'' Transcendent'' (

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

) - John W. Campbell Memorial award nominee, 2006 *''

Resplendent ''Resplendent'' is an English language science fiction collection by British writer Stephen Baxter (author), Stephen Baxter, published in 2006. It is the fourth and final book in the ''Destiny's Children'' series. This book is a collection of ...

'' (

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

)

References

Book series introduced in 2003 Science fiction book series Stephen Baxter series Xeelee Sequence Fiction set in the Kuiper belt {{2000s-sf-novel-stub