Convergence

Heritage Universe #4

by Charles Sheffield

The discovery of an ancient alien technology known as the Artifacts enables the human race to jump from galaxy to galaxy, but when a strange new Artifact emerges and changes all the other Artifacts, chaos ensues.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, British Literature, Space Opera, Adventure

299 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Charles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.

His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.

For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.

He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.

Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.

He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.

He was married to writer Nancy Kress.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a few years hiatus, The Heritage Universe shifted from Del Rey to Baen for this fourth in the series. The same engaging cast of characters are back, investigating a new Builder artifact, and Sheffield presents the same sense-of-wonder in ancient alien archaeology and cosmology and physical sciences as the reader has come to expect. This one is a bit faster-paced than the third book, though, and is a lot of fun. I think it would be possible to read this one without having read the others first. It's also a very good set up for the concluding volume.

[G.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un altro bell'universo fantascientifico, con razze aliene, viaggi intergalattici, avventura e quel pizzico di suspance che non guasta mai.

[Fellini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Я, не имея доступа к библиографии, прочитала эти повести в обратном порядке. Но это не запутывает совершенно, ибо герои уже стали хорошими знакомыми. Оставалось только с интересом следить за тем, куда их заносит судьба и чёрные воронки прямых межпространственных переходов.

- Что ты предпочитаешь, Луис Ненда, – Атвар Х'сиал выпрямилась во весь свой гигантский рост, – набор вероятностей для возможного спасения или одну неприятную определенность?
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«Если ты хочешь узнать, чего стоит тот или иной человек, испытай его в двух основных ситуациях. Во-первых, когда нужно быстро принимать решения, руководствуясь исключительно инстинктом. И, во-вторых, когда надо провести вместе несколько дней и ничего не делать – только ждать».

[Leya Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed all of this series, this book was a bit of a disappointment. The characters are the same, and finally, Louis Ninda gets something out of all of his adventures. However, the author didn't really explain the Builders very well. What was the point of the action in Labyrinth? He didn't explain all that. Oh well.

[Gary Giberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, at this point, I'm wondering why this wasn't picked up as a mini-series or even made into a movie. It's every bit as good as Star Trek or any of the other movies coming out of Hollywood. The use of real science and theory makes this story seem so real at times.

[Gilles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lu en anglais

La chercheuse Darya Lang est abasourdie. Un chercheur inconnu vient de proposer une nouvelle théorie, sur ce que sont les Constructeurs, qui semble remporter l'adhésion des chercheurs dans le même domaine. Or, Darya "est" la grande spécialiste sur les Constructeurs et leurs artefacts gigantesques, et sa réputation en prend un coup. Après réflexion, elle s'aperçoit que la théorie proposée lui semble comporter des failles, mais il lui faut faire des vérifications. Et là voilà repartie pour analyser le dernier artefact trouvé, celui-même qui a permis à l'autre chercheur d'élaborer sa théorie.

Deux faits nouveaux : Un artefact vient d'apparaître alors que les autres ont plus de 3 millions d'années et...les artefacts changent.

Se pourrait-il que la destinée de la vie intelligente dans ce bras de la galaxie ait été pilotée par les Constructeurs ?

On en apprend un peu plus sur les Constructeurs et leurs artefacts, mais la fin de la série laisse un peu à désirer.

Un roman avec des concepts très intéressants, un peu d'humour et d'aventure, et qui nous fait réfléchir sur une forme de vie vraiment très différente, en intégrant des concepts physiques novateurs.

J'ai beaucoup aimé même si je m'attendais à plus.

L'auteur a publié une suite, plusieurs années après ce roman; je vais essayer de me le procurer.

[Rob Markley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was the first and only Sheffield scifi I read - was looking for a new Scifi writer I'd like but didn't find what I was looking for in this book

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Almost feels like things are wrapping up.

[Valeria P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben scritto e avvincente, straripante di idee quasi geniali, peccato solo per il finale, sembra un po' "tirato via"...

[Bill Hohl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not deep... but fun.

Actually, the topic *could*have been very cerebral but it was just straight up tropey fun

[Woolstar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now the things are about to get stirred up. This wasn't quite the same kind of adventure in the past, but we keep following our group to see what happens next.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was maybe a 3.5 rating. The characters are interesting but this is not a deep book.

Humans first reached out to the stars traveling at a painfully slow sublight crawl--then they found the Bose network, which allowed ships to jump instantaneously from one node in the galactic arm to another. Once in the Network they found the Artifacts: enigmatic structures, millions of years old, left by a vanished race. Incomprehensible to both human and non-human minds, the Artifacts seemingly defy natural law.

Now, after millions of years, a new Artifact has appeared--and previously discovered Artifacts are showing strange changes in their inexplicable activities. When a motley crew of human and alien scientists and adventurers set out to examine still more Artifacts, they should have considered that some changes are more dangerous than others.

The story opens with news that the Artifacts, centerpiece of this series, seem to be changing and, in some cases, disappearing. To further complicate matters, Artifact expert Darya Lang finds her academic turf threatened with the sudden appearance of newcomer Quintus Bloom who tells her he has discovered a new Artifact and also has a theory about the Builders and the purpose of their Artifacts. He thinks they were built by future humans to foster our development.

In a huff, Darya Lang sets out to explore Labyrinth and prove Bloom wrong. Hans Rebka, after a lover's quarrel with Lang, has no idea where she went and undertakes the exploration of another newly altered Artifact. Meanwhile, Louis Nenda and Atvar H'sial enter Bloom's employ as he explores the Torvil Anfract, the Artifact discovered in the last book of the series, TRANSCENDCE.

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Convergence (1997) 299 pages by Charles Sheffield.

The fourth book in The Heritage Universe. Darya Lang, Hans Rebka, Louis Nenda, Atvar H'Sial and company are back from the Torvil Anfranct, their encounter on Genizee with the Zardalu, and back to doing their own thing. Darya comes back to the Artifact Research Institute to find Quintis Bloom giving a lecture on how he has figured everything out. Bloom studied Labyrinth, a new artifact and came up with the theory that the builders are humans from the future who created the artifacts to guide history along.

After hearing Bloom's lecture, Darya takes off on her own, meaning with Kallik and J'merlia, to study Labyrinth for herself, and to stop by Jerome's World to check on Bloom's past. Meanwhile Hans takes off for Paradox with the embodied computer, E. C. Tally, and Louis Nenda, Atvar H'Sial, Quintis Blook and Glenna Omar take off following Darya, they think, to the Torvil Anfract.

Sheffield keeps three story lines going, without any loss of reader interest, and gets everything to come together at the end without too much of a stretch. He laid the groundwork early in the book, and series for that ending. I enjoyed the book, it kept my interest the whole way, I like the characters, and they story was very good.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars out of 5. Louis Nenda and the Cecropian Atvar H'sial barely escape from Zardalu homeworld of Genizee as the planetary tunnels and chambers start collapsing. Nenda has to fly the out of the Anfract labyrinth surrounding the solar system on his own. At isn't a pilot. Darya Lang is back on Sentinal trying to convince her colleagues Zardalus live and the Builder Artifacts are changing. Her colleagues are enthralled with another Builder researcher who studied a brand new Artifact (Labyrinth), Quintus Bloom, who is convinced that Builders have traveled back in time to install their Artifacts. Darya thinks there's something wrong with that theory, so does Kallick, but can't identify what. Hans Rebka wants to check on another Artifact so he takes E.C. Tally with him to the Artifact Paradox. It's smaller. The Builder Artifacts are changing and all the people who escaped Genizee are finding this out. The action builds as each group has to deal with the unknown. Fabulous romp. And Nenda actually finds a female human who likes him.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

My wife got this book for me from a random free book pile, so I went in without having read the previous three in the series. That said, I didn't find it impenetrable, though there were references and names that I assumed to be callbacks to previous books.

As a stand-alone space epic that clocks in at just under 300 pages, this is an enjoyable ride. The characters have their own personalities, though they are largely defined by their jobs or one particular trait, and the story is somewhat interesting, as the universe seems to be swallowing ancient artifacts that were left behind by a group of highly intelligent beings known as The Builders. And there's some sex.

The ending is a tease, and I'm assuming the next book provides the big reveal that this book stops just short of. Even with that hiccup, this is a jaunty trip across the universe.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faster paced than some of the other entries in the series, Convergence seems to wrap up a lot of questions and mysteries around the Builders. But since there is a fifth (and final) book in the series, it will be interesting to see where Sheffield takes his group of travelers from this point. I gave Summertide (book 1) three stars but Divergence (book 2) four. The same thing happened with the next two books, Transcendence (book 3), three stars and Convergence (book 4), four stars. If the pattern continues, it seems perhaps that the fifth and final book, Resurgence, will be merely mediocre. I suppose that I will just have to read it and find out.

[Chip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit this is the first book in the Heritage Universe series I've read. I was definitely good if you like space-opera but it was overly complicated for a book under 300 pages. Sheffield definitely has created a universe with many creative aliens. The technology is cool yet the depth of the characters is not quite what I would have liked. The story falls into place a bit to easily and the ending is somewhat of a let down. I'm sure I'll be reading the other 3 or 4 in the series at some time.

[Wes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok... this book deserved a two star rating. Except... we find out what's going on at last with those aliens. Are you kidding me? This series taught me several things. One... never read a scifi series. Two... epiphanies are better sought in the spirituality section or at least the classics. And three... if a book is silly or doesn't grab my interest, you don't have to finish it. Theres too many books and too little time to read to waste it on drek!

[Gendou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another brilliant story, but the reader is TOTALLY cheated out of meeting the builders. What's worse, the story ends without firmly rejecting the possibility that the builders are from the future, which is LAME. At least it's another mind massage, which is greatly appreciated. Unforgivable ending, though.

[Leif Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't too bad, but I'm kind of glad that I jumped into this series at the end. I'm not sure if I could have waited through more books to get to the central mysteries.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow in the middle but a fine payoff.

[Mark Baller · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read for sure

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook read by Ralph Cosham a.k.a. Geoffrey Howard. All four books of the Heritage series has been excellent. The library doesn't have the 5th book in audio so I'll have to get the print edition.

[Fietspomp · Rating 2 out of 5]

~4/10 Read long ago. Did realize it was part of a series when I bought it. Not that impressed by it.

[Luis Tormento · Rating 4 out of 5]

Convergence is the fourth book in a 4-volume novel of the heritage series - excellent, immersive storyline

[Rochelle]

Heritage Universe #4: This was a Michael pick. It will be awhile before I get to it.

[Brett]

Science Fiction

[Michael Pryor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muted, thoughtful, restrained.

[Brian L. Knack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid read! It started out pretty slow to me. I had to push through it to about the middle. It finally picked up and really dragged me in. I was a little disappointed in the reveal of the Builders. All and all it's still a great story. Next up, Resurgence!