Starfall

From Stephen Baxter, an exciting new episode in his acclaimed Xeelee future Starfall, a tale if war between the Empire of Sol and its scattered stellar colonies, with sinister turns of fate waiting in the wings . . . For nine hundred years, a dynasty of Empresses all named Shira apparent descendants of a refugee from a nightmarish future epoch has governed Earth and all the new worlds of humankind. But now rebellion looms last. In Alpha Centauri System, a visionary named Flood has assembled a fleet, armed with ferocious weapons, its mission to attack the Empire and force its surrender. Flood is prepared to bombard Earth in submission if need be, smashing its cities, killing billions . . . Why? What is at the root of his singular fanaticism?