Coalescent

“Lean, taut storytelling... breakneck stuff... Arguably his most accessible book to date—Baxter [is] resplendent.”—SFX magazineWhen his father dies suddenly, George Poole stumbles onto a family secret: He has a twin sister he never knew existed, who was raised by an enigmatic cult called the Order. The Order is a hive—a human hive with a dominant queen—that has prospered below the streets of Rome for almost two millennia. After Poole enters the Order's vast underground city and meets the disturbing inhabitants, he uncovers evidence that they have embarked on a divergent evolutionary path. These genetically superior humans are equipped with the tools necessary to render modern Homo sapiens as extinct as the Neanderthals. And now they are preparing to leave their underground realm.“[Excels] at both action-packed storytelling and philosophical speculation.”—Library Journal“Utterly fascinating... constantly surprising... Coalescent reveals a new side to Baxter's vast talent.”—Locus Stephen Baxter possesses one of the most brilliant minds in modern science fiction. His vivid storytelling skills have earned him comparison to the giants of the past: Clarke, Asimov, Stapledon. Like his great predecessors, Baxter thinks on a cosmic scale, spinning cutting-edge scientific speculation into pure, page-turning gold. Now Baxter is back with a breathtaking adventure that begins during the catastrophic collapse of Roman Britain and stretches forward into an unimaginably distant, war-torn future, where the fate of humanity lies waiting at the center of the galaxy. . . .Destiny's ChildrenCOALESCENTGeorge Poole isn't sure whether his life has reached a turning point or a dead end. At forty-five, he is divorced and childless, with a career that is going nowhere fast. Then, when his father dies suddenly, George stumbles onto a family secret: a sister he never knew existed. A twin named Rosa, raised in Rome by an enigmatic cult. Hoping to find the answers to the missing pieces of his life, George sets out for the ancient city.Once in Rome, he learns from Rosa the enthralling story of their distant ancestor, Regina, an iron-willed genius determined to preserve her family as the empire disintegrates around her. It was Regina who founded the cult, which has mysteriously survived and prospered below the streets of Rome for almost two millennia. The Order, says Rosa, is her real family-- and, even if he doesn't realize it yet, it is George's family, too. When she takes him into the vast underground city that is the Order's secret home, he feels a strong sense of belonging, yet there is something oddly disturbing about the women he meets. They are all so young and so very much alike.Now, joined by his boyhood friend Peter McLachlan, who arrives in Rome with a dark secret of his own, George uncovers evidence suggesting that the women of the Order have embarked on a divergent evolutionary path. But they are not just a new kind of human. They are a better kind, genetically superior, equipped with all the tools necessary to render homo sapiens as extinct as the Neanderthals. And, chillingly, George and Peter soon have reason to fear that this colony is preparing to leave its overcrowded underground nest. . . . "Things are going to be very different now ... Sisters matter more than daughters. Ignorance is strength. Listen to your sisters." "As the light of the Roman Empire gutters and fails, one woman begins a remarkable quest to protect her family. It is a quest that will last 2000 years and threaten everything we know." "In present-day England, George Poole is looking for his long-lost sister. It is a search that will take him to Rome and into the heart of an ancient secret. A secret that holds a terrifying truth for all our futures." "Whether telling the vivid story of a dying Empire, charting the compelling history of a city, or detailing chilling evolutionary possibilities for mankind, Coalescent is never less than an enthralling piece of storytelling."--Jacket Discovering he has a twin sister after the death of his father, george poole confronts difficult feelings about his family when he learns his sister has been raised by an enigmatic religious group that is promoting a questionable agenda beneath the streets of Rome A man travels to Rome to meet the twin sister he learned about after his father died, only to discover that she belongs to an ancient underground cult whom he suspects have been following an evolutionary path separate from, and superior to, the rest of humanity