''Divergence'' (1991) is a science fiction novel by American writer

Charles Sheffield Charles Sheffield (25 June 1935 – 2 November 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist, and science-fiction writer who served as a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical ...

, part of his Heritage Universe series. The book, the sequel to '' Summertide'', takes place millennia in the future when most of the

Orion Arm The Orion Arm, also known as the Orion–Cygnus Arm, is a minor spiral arm within the Milky Way Galaxy spanning in width and extending roughly in length. This galactic structure encompasses the Solar System, including Earth. It is sometimes r ...

of the galaxy has been colonized by humans and other races. Among the various star systems of this arm of the galaxy, a number of million-year-old artifacts have been discovered, remnants of a mysterious race called the Builders. The characters in this book start just a few days after the previous book left off to go in search of a newly discovered artifact. This book introduces a few new characters that become important throughout the rest of the series. The characters work together to discover a new theory about the origins and current condition of the Builders. During this process, they discover that an old menace to the universe, thought to be extinct, has been unleashed upon the Orion Arm of the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

once again. The novel includes excerpts from the ''Lang Universal Artifact Catalog (Fourth Edition)'', and from the ''Universal Species Catalog (Subclass:Sapients)''. The sequel to ''Divergence'' is '' Transcendence''.

References

1991 American novels Novels by Charles Sheffield 1991 science fiction novels {{1990s-sf-novel-stub