Teaser

Earth suffers under the Qax occupation. Superior to humanity in every technological sense, the Qax cannot be stopped, and everyone alive accepts this. Unless, that is, the Qax can be defeated before they ever invaded . . .

Review

A quick note for those of you who haven’t read my review of Raft: I’m reading the first four Xeelee novels via the 2010 Xeelee: An Omnibus, published by Gollancz. Each of the books is functionally a standalone, and I will be treating them as such for these reviews.

Timelike Infinity makes clear two important things. The first is that Baxter is sticking with the big ideas for the long haul. The second is that he makes great improvements as a writer between his debut novel and this. Timelike Infinity is much more focused than it’s predecessor, cleaner to read, and an all-round sharpening on all accounts. It’s also the book where Baxter’s vision for his future history begins to become clear.

Timelike Infinity introduces two names that will be of great importance going forwards. The first of these is the character of Michael Poole, a time-traveller who will become very important in Baxter’s later relaunch of the series. The other name is Xeelee itself. The Xeelee don’t appear in Timelike Infinity, but there presence is felt. They’re that old sci-fi standby, the super-powerful godlike species, going about their own mysterious projects while lesser species squabble over their leavings. Species such as the Qax and humanity.

The Qax are a particularly brilliant invention. No rubber foreheads or apostrophe-riddled names here. These are true aliens, comprised of convection cells moving in water. We really only spend time with two of the Qax, but they remain utterly inhuman, and the glimpses and suggestions we get of their homeworld are utterly fascinating. Hard SF and aliens don’t always go well together, but when it does work, it’s incredible, and with Baxter at the helm, it works very well indeed.

I don’t have much to say about the time travel aspect of the book, and that’s because I didn’t fully understand it. That’s par for the course with time travel, as paradoxes tend to fall apart if you examine them too thoroughly. Thankfully this a story that involves time travel, rather than one that becomes obsessed over the minutiae of it. Even the title, Timelike Infinity, refers not to some paradox, but to the fairly simple astronomical concept of the end of linear existence. Hey, I said ‘fairly’ simple.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed Timelike Infinity. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the genesis of the Xeelee saga, both in and out of universe.

Book Stats

• Part of the Xeelee universe
• First published in 1992