Transcendental (Transcendental Machine) - Tapa blanda

"Jim Gunn doesn't publish a new novel very often, but when he does it's a whopper. Transcendental is his best yet, and in it he demonstrates his possession of one of the most finely developed skills at world-building (and at aliens-creating to populate those worlds) in science fiction today. Read it!" --Frederik Pohl, bestselling author of Gateway "James Gunn, after a long, stellar career in science fiction, is a master of the narrative art--as he shows in this Chaucerian pilgrimage through the galactic future." --Robert Silverberg, bestselling author of Lord Valentine's Castle

Riley, a veteran of interstellar war, is one of many beings from many different worlds aboard a ship on a pilgrimage that spans the galaxy. However, he is not journeying to achieve transcendence, the vague mystical concept that has apparently drawn everyone else to this journey into the unknown at the far edge of the galaxy. His mission is to find and kill the prophet who is reputed to help others transcend. The voyage is marred by violence and betrayal, making it clear that some of the ship's passengers are not the spiritual seekers they claim to be. Like the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the travellers share their unique stories. But as tensions rise, Riley realizes that the vessel is in fact a dangerous ship of fools. When he becomes friendly with a mysterious passenger named Asha, he thinks she's someone he can trust. However, like so many others on the ship, Asha is more than she appears. Uncovering her secrets could be the key to Riley's personal quest, or make him question everything he thought he knew about Transcendentalism and his mission to stop it.