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### From Booklist An observatory on the far side of the moon detects strange energy emissions from deep space, which leads to the discovery of space-faring aliens and a drive engine that will power human ships at near light speed. A ship is constructed, and a crew of 10 is chosen to make the trip to try to contact the aliens, even though the ship won't be able to return to Earth for thousands of years. As the explorers reach out to the far side of the galaxy, interacting with three radically different alien races, Earth undergoes a series of radical changes. When and if the crew returns, it is a gamble that they will come back to a recognizable home planet. Master storyteller Anderson uses this backdrop to explore how individuals, cultures, and civilizations react to paradigm shifts and the resulting cycles of expansion and equilibrium. He posits that humanity's desire to explore could ultimately be destructive, but it is integral to our nature. Recommended. *Eric Robbins* ### From Kirkus Reviews Far-future cosmic epic from the veteran author of The Fleet of Stars (1997), etc. Early in the next century, speed-of-light starships become feasible, while astronomers discover that, 5,000 light-years distant, another race is already using starships. So, as various colony vessels depart for nearby stars, an expedition to visit the distant `Yonderfolk'' gets under way. After a tedious introduction to the crewsix males and four females encompassing the necessary specialties and their various sexual pairingsstarship Envoy departs on a round trip wherein 10,000 years will pass on Earth, while the voyagers age only a few years. As they approach the Yonderfolk's location, however, their starship traces dwindle, and the crew debates whether to continue or return to Earth. Meanwhile, as time passes nearer home, the`Kithfolk'' of the starfarers become more and more isolated from ordinary society (many of these interludes are stories in their own right). Finally, Envoy encounters the centaur-like Tahir, a race that, having abandoned starfaring, achieved an advanced, stable culture. Humans and Tahir evolve a common language and decide to visit a nearby black hole where an extraordinary intelligence, called the Holont, has been detected. Rejecting the prospect of spending more years in space, megalomaniac crewman Al Brent mutinies, two other voyagers die in the struggle to retake the ship from Brent, and while investigating the Holont, pilot Jean Kilbirnie is killed, though the survivors learn a method to send messages through time. Finally, Envoy returns to Earth, where 11,000 years have passed and their voyage is forgotten. They go back in space, then, to join the colony worlds, where the starfaring urge has not yet been extinguished. An episodic, disconcerting mix of mind-boggling ideas, thrilling storytelling, dull padding, and characters-by-numbers, set forth in Anderson's patented outlandish, antique prose: probably his best-ever full-length outing. -- *Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.*