History Literature / XeeleeSequence

* HumansAreWarriors: In spades, at least once the "[[NonindicativeName Interim Coalition of Governance]]" comes into power. The Xeelee outclass Humans in pretty much every sphere of technology, but the FantasticRacism of Mankind's "Third Expansion" era doesn't let a little thing like ''that'' stand in the way of galactic conquest.
** A line in ''Exultant'' expresses humanity's tenacity as such:

* HumanSubspecies: Especially so in '"Flux'': Humans have been modified to microscopic lifeforms to live within a Neutron Star.

* EvilVersusEvil: In the finale to ''Vacuum Diagrams'', Paul tricks the [[spoiler: photino birds into thinking the Xeelee are returning, leading them to aggressively ramp up their destruction of the Ring. The genocidal Qax remnants - who have been waiting patiently to exterminate the last humans - have a collective "oh shit" moment and lead a last ditch attack on the birds at the Ring so that they can escape the universe. The humans use the confusion of the battle to sneak through the Ring, escaping both the Qax and the slow death from the machinations of the birds.]]

* ObliviouslyEvil: The photino birds set out to transform all stars into white dwarfs, which would cause the eventual extinction of all baryonic life forms, including humans. Despite having goals that are hostile to us, photino birds do not seem to be malevolent. It fact, they are most likely unaware that there are baryonic life forms, because their own form prevents them from noticing us at all or realising that the ageing of stars has unfortunate effects to the baryonic universe. Any attempt to communicate them was fruitless.

* ShadowArchetype: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the "Anti-Xeelee", since it's name actually refers to the fact it travels backwards in time, like some anti-particles are theorized to do. The antagonists of the Xeelee, the [[spoiler:Photino Birds]], fit.

The ''Xeelee Sequence'', by StephenBaxter, is a sprawling series of novels and short stories all set within the same universe.

* AcePilot: Jim Bolder, hence his being entrusted with a [[CoolShip Xeelee nightfighter]] by the Qax, with bad results. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain For]] [[DecapitatedArmy them.]]
* BigDamnVillains: The [[spoiler: Qax]] are tricked into fulfilling this role at the end of the final story in ''Vacuum Diagrams'', distracting the photino birds long enough for the last of humanity to escape through the Ring.

** Future humans make it to Type III and try to attack the Xeelee by shooting a ''whole neutron star'' at them like a bullet. The Xeelee brush this off as though it were insignificant.
*** ...because it absolutely was. In the endgame of the war between the Xeelee and the Photino Birds, the Xeelee used hypermassive knots of cosmic string as missile-to-missile defense against ''weaponized galaxies''.

* RedSkyTakeWarning: One of the indicators that the mini-galaxy in ''Raft'' needs to be evacuated.
* RuleOfCool: Celestial bodies up to and including entire galaxies used as [[ColonyDrop projectiles]]? Megastructures millions of light years across? Handguns that can destroy ''stars''? Aliens altering the value of Planck's constant simply in order to build a faster computer? StephenBaxter was rocking this trope before it was mainstream.

* SpaceWhale: The Spline are [[LivingShip giant living armored spaceships]] that evolved from alien whales. They live off interstellar gas and other species use them as transports and warships. In one case, the entire Qax race, which consist of cell-like vortices in any fluid (ocean, air, gas giant, star, [[spoiler:space-time]]...), is transported off its homeworld when the sun goes nova.

* BigDumbObject: The novels feature an object called "Bolder's Ring", built by the titular aliens; it's constructed out of the remains of ''galaxies'' (and is revealed to be the cause of the RealLife "Great Attactor"[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Attractor]]) and is essentially a black hole that has been stretched into a one-dimensional loop millions of light years in length. It's eventually revealed [[spoiler: to be an escape route for the Xeelee from the Universe, by means of tearing a hole in spacetime through the middle of the ring via the unimaginably strong gravitational forces created through its rotation]].

* EvilVersusEvil: In the finale to ''Vacuum Diagrams'', Paul tricks the [[spoiler: photino birds into thinking the Xeelee are returning, leading them to aggressively ramp up their destruction of the Ring. The genocidal Qax remnants - who have been waiting patiently to exterminate the last humans - have a collective "oh shit" moment and lead a last ditch attack on the birds at the Ring, allowing the last humans to run the gauntlet into the Ring in a Xeelee starship]]

* StableTimeLoop: It's eventually revealed that the Xeelee [[spoiler:sent themselves back in time to supercharge their own development]].

** There's also [[spoiler:the Photino Birds, creatures of dark matter against whom the Xeelee fight a multi-billion year existential war and '''lose''']], who have absolute mastery over all the ''dark matter'' in the universe (which outmasses regular baryonic matter by about 9 to 1), because they ''are'' the dark matter in the universe. [[note]]The ''real'' GameBreaker, though, is their mastery of ''time''. They can live [[StableTimeLoop infinitely long]], can temporally duplicate themselves at any time (defying NeverTheSelvesShallMeet), and can travel anywhere, any''when'' instantly. Basically, they pervade the entire timeline of the universe, forwards ''and'' backwards; the only way to beat them is to work ''outside'' of time, and not even the Xeelee can do that.[[/note]]

** There's also [[spoiler:the Photino Birds, creatures of dark matter against whom the Xeelee fight a multi-billion year existential war and '''lose''']], who have absolute mastery over all the ''dark matter'' in the universe (which outmasses regular baryonic matter by about 9 to 1).

* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: The Xeelee are really ''not'' this trope, even though their actual power far exceeds many other examples that are. This is simply because their godlike technology is still recognizable as such and uses comprehensible interfaces, if not comprehensible principles; they're a hyper-extreme example of HigherTechSpecies instead. However, the Anti-Xeelee definitely ''is'' sufficiently advanced, in a DeusEstMachina sort of way.

* StarfishAliens: Pretty much every single race in the series. There's almost nothing remotely human-like, aside from humanity's descendants.

* ''Timelike Infinity'': Set during a time where Earth has been conquered by aliens. A group of cultists manage to time-travel 1,500 years into the past, but instead of warning anyone about the invasion, they have their own inscrutable agenda.
* ''Flux'': The novel follows a group of highly-modified humans who live inside a neutron star. A particular severe magnetic field instability, worse than any on record, threatens to destroy their home. To survive, a young woman must travel to a far off city, and eventually outside of the star itself.
* ''Ring'': A generation ship is launched on a thousand-year mission, cruising near the speed of light. Five million years pass in the outside world due to time dilation. The ship arrives back in our Solar System only to find that the sun (and every other star in the observable universe) has expanded into a red giant...something that shouldn't happen for another five ''billion'' years.

** ''Coalescent'': In contrast to the other novels, this is set mainly on modern-day Earth, with flashbacks to the age of the Roman Empire. George Poole (father of Michael Poole, a prominent character in the other Xeelee books) discovers he has a long-lost sister with ties to an ancient conspiracy.
** ''Exultant'': Set during mankind's war against the Xeelee, this novel follows a young soldier who pulls off an exotic maneuver in battle which ends up with him time-traveling into the past and encountering his younger self. The bold tactic pays off, and they capture a Xeelee. But when they return to Earth, he and his younger self are not welcomed as heroes for their breakthrough but rather tried as deserting criminals (true FromACertainPointOfView) and learn about the dark side of their government.
** ''Transcendent'': Follows Michael Poole's early life, as well as a posthuman woman named Alia who's observing Michael's life half a million years in the future. Michael tries to save the near-future Earth's ecosytem from failing, all the while dealing with mysterious visions of his dead wife. A direct sequel to ''Coalescent'', as George and several other characters show up.

* ''Raft'': A group of humans stranded in an alternate universe where the force of gravity is much stronger.

In the far future, mankind expands out into a hostile universe, filled with intelligent species as [[StarfishAliens weirdly varied]] as they are [[AliensAreBastards ruthless]]. Above them all, however, are the top dogs of the universe: the Xeelee, the god-like de-facto rulers of the universe. The various novels in the "sequence" follow various threads, such as Earth being invaded and occupied by bizarre aliens, or a hopeless war between mankind and the Xeelee, along with various other stories concerning humanity's place in a relatively bleak universe.

* ''Raft'': Follows the lives of a group of humans stranded in an alternate universe where the force of gravity is much stronger.
* ''Timelike Infinity'': Set during a time where Earth has been conquered by aliens, when a group of cultists manage to travel 1,500 years into the past. However, they don't plan on warning anyone in the past about the coming invasion...
* ''Flux'': The novel follows Dura, a microscopic woman who's part of a group of highly-modified humans who live inside a neutron star. As long as they can remember, "glitches" (magnetic field instabilities) have happened from time to time. At the beginning of the novel, a particular severe glitch, worse than any on record, threatens to destroy Dura's home. To survive, Dura must travel to a far off city, and eventually outside of the star itself.
* ''Ring'': A generation ship is launched on an exploratory mission, cruising near the speed of light for over a thousand years. Due to time dilation, however, over five million years have passed. The ship arrives back in the Solar System only to find that the Sun has prematurely expanded into a red giant (something that shouldn't happen for another five ''billion'' years), along with every other star in the observable universe. The novel explores the mystery of what's causing the stars' premature aging, as well as what happens to mankind in the future and how the Xeelee might be involved.

** ''Coalescent'': In contrast to the other novels, this is set mainly on Earth, in modern-times and during the age of the Roman Empire. The story focuses on George Poole (father of Michael Poole, a prominent character in the other Xeelee books) and his quest to find a long-lost sister who's part of an ancient organization.
** ''Exultant'': Set far in the future, during mankind's war against the Xeelee, this novel follows a young soldier named Pirius who pulls off an exotic manuever and bold tactic to capture a Xeelee and its Nightfighter craft. Returning to Earth in the past, he and his younger self are not welcomed as heroes for their breakthrough but rather tried as deserting criminals (true FromACertainPointOfView) and learn more about the dark side of their government than they ever wanted to.
** ''Transcendent'': Follows Michael Poole's early life, as well as a posthuman woman named Alia who's observing Michael's life 500,000 years in the future. Functions as somewhat of a sequel for ''Coalescent'' as George Poole and several other characters show up to helpe Michael. In the novel, Michael tries to save the near-future Earth's ecosytem from failing, all the while dealing with mysterious hallucinations of his dead wife.

The Literature/XeeleeSequence, by StephenBaxter, is a sprawling series of novels and short stories all set within the same universe.

* WaveMotionGun: The Xeelee starbreakers, which shoot focused gravity waves that can [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin tear apart stars]] or cause them to go nova, certainly qualify. By the time of ''Exultant'', humanity also uses guns which fire magnetic monopoles and later black holes.

** ''Exultant'': Set far in the future, during mankind's war against the Xeelee, this novel follows a young soldier named Pirius who pulls off an exotic manuever and bold tactic to capture a Xeelee and its Nightfighter craft. Returning to Earth in the past, he and his younger self are not welcomed as heroes but rather tried as deserting criminals (true FromACertainPointOfView) and learn more about the dark side of their government than they ever wanted to.