Cluster
Cluster is a series of five novels by Piers Anthony that take place in Sphere Sol, a human-colonized region of the galaxy roughly 100 light years in diameter, centered around Sol, our sun. Other such spheres exist in this setting, each centered around its own star: Spheres Polaris, Canopus, Spica, Nath, Mirzam, and Bellatrix as well as the huge, decadent Spheres Sador and Mintaka.
Three methods of colonization are used in this setting:
- Teleportation, known as matter transmission or mattermission, the most expensive method.
- Freezer ships, wherein colonists are cryogenically frozen for the duration of the voyage (but roughly half the colonists traveling this way are lost due to mechanical failures).
- Lifeships, the most common method, which are slower but safer multigenerational vessels which may take generations to reach their destination. Unfortunately, as lifeships plod through space, their inhabitants lose technical sophistication. Partly because of this, all spheres tend to suffer spherical regression, that is, the further from the center a colony world is, the less technology its inhabitants use.
A central plot mechanism of the Cluster novels is Kirlian transfer, by which the mind and personality of individuals with a high Kirlian aura can be projected to inhabit a distant body. This is a refinement of mattermission technology, but because only the aura is sent it is far less expensive.
Novels in the Cluster series:
- Cluster (known as Vicinity Cluster in the UK)
- Chaining the Lady
- Kirlian Quest
- Thousandstar
- Viscous Circle
His novel Tarot also takes place in the same universe but is otherwise unrelated to the others.
For tropes specific to individual installments, visit their respective work pages.
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