The Eternity Artifact

The Eternity Artifact is a science fiction novel written by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. and published in 2005. It is set in a future approximately 3,000 years hence, in a galaxy largely colonized by humans but divided into disparate polities who strive against each other in a manner similar to that of modern-day nations. Once such group, the Comity, discovers a planet that may be the first evidence of nonhuman intelligent life. The Comity mounts an expedition to investigate this world, and certain of the other groups attempt to interfere in various ways and for various reasons. The story discusses the expedition from the perspective of four viewpoint characters. It details the progress of the explorers and touches on the differences between the various human groups and how those inform their response to this discovery, and their goals regarding it.

Allusions

References to other works

Certain references to technology and to the nature of the human groups suggest (but do not explicitly state) that this is the universe from which at least some of the ancestors of the Recluce characters originally come.

Modesitt paraphrases Arthur C. Clarke's famous assertion that 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'^[1]

Notes