Absolution Gap

The Inhibitors were designed to eliminate any life-form reaching a certain level of intelligence—and they've targeted humanity. War veteran Clavain and a ragtag group of refugees have fled into hiding. Their leadership is faltering, and their situation is growing more desperate. But their little colony has just received an unexpected visitor: an avenging angel with the power to lead mankind to safety—or draw down its darkest enemy. And as she leads them to an apparently insignificant moon light-years away, it begins to dawn on Clavain and his companions that to beat one enemy, it may be necessary to forge an alliance with something much worse. "Fulfills all the staggering promise of [Reynolds's] earlier books, and then some.... A fitting finale to the series, a landmark in hard SF space opera." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review