Beyond the Hallowed Sky

Lightspeed, Book 1

By: Ken MacLeod

Narrated by: Elliot Chapman

When a brilliant scientist gets a letter from herself about faster-than-light travel, she doesn't know what to believe. The equations work, but her paper is discredited - and soon the criticism is more than scientific. Exiled by the establishment, she gets an offer to build her starship from an unlikely source. But in the heights of Venus and on a planet of another star, a secret is already being uncovered that will shake humanity to its foundations.

Science fiction legend Ken MacLeod begins a new space-opera trilogy by imagining humankind on the precipice of discovery - the invention of faster-than-light travel unlocks a universe of new possibilities and new dangers.

©2021 Ken MacLeod (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"An exceptional blend of international politics, hard science, and first contact." (Michael Mammay, author of the Planetside series)

Makes the politics nearly as interesting as the cosmic mystery

This is an accelerating toboggan from near-future political thriller to high-stakes space opera, with a ship-building building workers’ commune very suddenly joining an FTL arms race, just as an implacable alien menace emerges.

It’s all the best of Ken MacLeod: punning chapter titles, Scottish socialists, AI spies and gripping plotting.

There are a few bits where the narrator flubs a reading or pronunciation, but his nuanced accent work goes a long way to make up for that.

I absorbed this over a few days, and can’t wait for the next one.