Setting
Jijo
The setting of the majority of the first two novels and the novella ''Temptation'' is the planet Jijo. Jijo was declared fallow for one million years by the Migration Institute, in order to give it a chance to recover from successive colonies, but has been illegally populated by fugitives from several races seeking refuge there. By mutual agreement they all live on one geologically active area of the planet, called "The Slope" insuring that in time all trace of their settlements will be recycled back into the planet byThe Fractal World
The Fractal World is an enormous, hollow artificial structure built around a dying dwarf star, the inside of which is used as a refuge by races in the Retired Order, or "Old Ones", that have supposedly retired from active participation in the affairs of the Five Galaxies.Kazzkark
Kazzkark is a small planetoid, hollowed out to serve as a base for several of the Great Institutes, and a way station for travelers passing through nearby transfer points. For a time it is extremely crowded with refugees and religious fervor as the Time of Changes begins, but space tremors cause it to be abandoned shortly before it is destroyed.E-Level Hyperspace
E-space is an off-limits level of hyperspace for most orders of life, a strange realm where thoughts can become real and mere concepts can cause real harm. Its only natural inhabitants are "memetic" organisms. They are unable to exist outside of E-space without a host organism. Members of a mysterious order of life known as the Quantum Order are known to pass through E Level sometimes.Main Characters
The Slope
*Alvin. A young Hoon, his given name is Hph-wayou. Member of a group of young friends whose adventures are documented in Alvin's journal. *Asx Trakei High Sage. He is later converted into a Jophur called Ewasx, and eventually transforms himself into a new being simply called X. *Blade. A blue Quehen, part of Sara Koolhan's traveling party. *Lester Cambel. Human High Sage. *Emerson D'Antie. Also known as "The Stranger". A human found in a swamp with amnesia and a horrifying head wound that removed his speech center. Eventually revealed to be a former engineer aboard ''Streaker''. *Huck Outspoken G'kek member of Alvin's group. *Huphu Alvin's Noor beast, mascot of their group. *Jass Brutal leader of the Sooner band Rety escaped from. *Jop Human fanatic who believes they should destroy all signs of civilization the moment the aliens arrive. *Koolhan family Siblings, Sara, Dwer, and Lark, and their father Nelo. Sara cares for The Stranger when he is first discovered and leads a group from Dolo Village sent out in response to the alien landing. Dwer is the chief tracker for the Commons, Lark is a naturalist and later appointed a junior Sage despite his heretical beliefs. Their father owns the paper mill in Dolo Village. *Mudfoot Noor beast that follows Dwer around, to his annoyance. Eventually revealed to be a fully sentient Tytlal. *Pincer-Tip Quehen member of Alvin's group who is always claiming to have seen sea monsters. *Prity Chim companion to Sara Koolhan, she makes intricate mathematics-based drawings. *Rety Escaped Sooner girl who has a grudging friendship with Dwer and an Urrish "husband". *Uriel Urrish metal smith and intellectual, she has constructed an immense analog computer at her forge at Mount Guenn *Ur-ronn Uriel's niece and part of Alvin's group. *yee. Urrish male, "husband" to Rety.Rothen and Daniks
The Rothen are an interant race with no home world. They are known to many as criminals. They claim to be the lost patron race of humanity, and the Daniks are a cult of humans and other EarthClan species that believe they are humanity's only hope in a hostile universe. *Kunn Human pilot. *Ling Human biologist, when the Rothen's deceit and vitriol are revealed, she defects and becomes Lark Koolhan's companion and lover. *Rann Leader of the humans in the Danik expedition. *Ro-kenn Apparent leader of the Rothen expedition to Jijo, captured by The Commons and turned over to ''Streaker'', only to escape, murdering Pincer-Tip in the process. *Ro-pol Rothen female, apparent mate to Ro-Kenn, killed on Jijo, her symbiotic "mask" leaves her face, revealing the true appearance of the Rothen.Streakers
Most of these characters were introduced in ''Kazzkark
*Harry Harms First neochimp ever selected as a scout in E-Space for the Navigation Institute. While his duties require him to remain neutral, he still feels loyalty to fellow members of EarthClan species. *Kiwei Ha'aoulin A Synthian trader who gets caught up with Dwer and Harry and returns to Jijo with them.Plot
Brightness Reef
Brightness Reef introduces the reader to the planet ''Jijo'', a world that had been declared fallow, but one area, known as The Slope, is illegally inhabited by eight different galactic races, most supposedly seeking the "Path of Redemption", the goal of which is toInfinity's Shore
Alvin's group find themselves on a mysterious ship hidden deep in Jijo's seas. They are treated kindly but remain ignorant of who captured/rescued them from the depths. The reader, however, becomes aware they are aboard ''Streaker'', the dolphin-crewed EarthClan ship not seen since the events ofHeaven's Reach
The final installment introduces a new character, Harry Harms, the first neochimp to be selected to serve as a scout for the Navigation Institute, and new setting, the bizarre realm of "E-level hyperspace". Harry detects unusual activity and eventually encounters Rety and Dwer, who had an improbable reunion aboard one of the decoy ships and wandered into E-level hyperspace due to their total lack of knowledge of space technology. Harry brings them to Kazzkark, his home base, normally a sleepy outpost for galactic institutes but now teeming with refugees and the home of a strange new religion. ''Streaker'' has received assistance and guidance from an unlikely ally, hydrogen-breathing life forms and machine lifeforms in their employ. The crew is dismayed to find that they have arrived back at the massive fractal world where they had been betrayed before by supposedly neutral members of the Retired Order. Old resentments seemingly rekindle and the fractal world erupts into fighting and chaos, resulting in millions of deaths and the collapse of the delicate structure of the world. ''Streaker'' narrowly evades another ambush and manages to escape in the chaos, still pursued by ''Polkihjy'', which is barely under Jophur control as it has been invaded by hydrogen-breathing life forms. Lark, Ling, and the former Trakei sage Asx have all merged with one single gigantic life form now occupying much of the ship, which they simply call "Mother". On Kazzkark, the youths from Wuphon Port, having been sent away because Gillian fears ''Streaker'' is on a suicide mission, arrive along with Kaa, the dolphin hotshot pilot. Alvin befriends local Hoons and he and Huck depart with them as they flee Kazzkark, which is becoming unstable. Ur-ronn meets starfaring urs and leaves with them. Pincer-Tip is killed by Ro-kenn, who was stowed away on their shuttle. Rety has become enamored of the new religious cult on Kazzkark and believes she is being held up as a leader of the movement, when in fact the cult plans to sacrifice her as a symbol of what they believe will be ultimately necessary, the sacrifice of Earth itself and all of EarthClan. Dwer and Harry, now joined by a Synthian trader, rescue Rety from the cult and barely escape Kazzkark as space tremors tear it apart. It is clear that a foretold "Time of Changes" is upon the civilization of the five galaxies, and momentous and often catastrophic events are occurring out on the space lanes. The group travel through E-Space, on what proves to be Harry's final mission for the Navigation Institute. Kaa, pushing his skills to the absolute limit, manages to get them back to Jijo's system just as all transfer threads in that entire galaxy collapse, meaning that galaxy is now cut off from the civilization of the five galaxies. They spot several other ships similarly stranded or destroyed, as well as a small rocket traveling ''from'' Jijo to a neighboring moon. ''Streaker'' is forced to negotiate with members of the Transcendent Order, who wish to send them as emissaries to a distant galaxy. They convince the Transcendents, who send ''Polkihjy'' instead. Lark manages to briefly communicate with ''Streaker'' before they are cast into deep space, giving them several pieces of crucial information. ''Streaker'' finally arrives at the Earth system, which is heavily besieged by a massive space armada. They attempt to break through the lines by distracting the fleet with a strange, taunting holographic message. The tactic works better than imagined, frightening the fanatics into believing that they may have offended the Progenitors, and they give up the siege. Earth is free, for now.Temptation
Temptation is a novella set in the immediate aftermath of ''Streaker's'' departure from Jijo, detailing the bizarre adventure of a small group of neodolphins left behind there.External links
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