The Stars Are Cold Toys

The Stars Are Cold Toys and Star Shadow are two 1997 books of a space opera series by Russian science fiction writer Sergey Lukianenko. It is a first-person narration, told by a pilot Pyotr Khrumov, who attempts to prevent destruction of the planet.

While the story begins as hard science fiction describing Pyotr's flight to home on shuttle Spiral, later the emphasis drifts from technical details. The books are known for bright worlds of Geometers (a cynical deconstruction of the world of Upbringing and the famous Noon Universe of Strugatsky brothers) and Shadow (a world of utter individualism, in which every person is treated according with an often unpleasant reality of one's subconsciousness).

In the beginning of the 21st century a group of scientists from MSU invented a jumper, a device allowing FTL travel. But distance of every jump is a constant — about 12.3 light years, so travelling requires high navigation skills and a good dose of luck. Additionally, all power is drained from active devices during a jump, and all active data carriers are wiped. Soon after, the scientists are hired by NASA and begin working on the prototype, converting a space shuttle into a jump-capable ship. During one of the first interstellar flights, the shuttle Enterprise encountered and was captured by an alien race...

So the Humankind joined a conglomerate of non-humanoid races, known as the Conclave. It is an utterly rational organization, and this may be seen as cruel. Races are divided into the Strong and the Weak — the Strong are ancient powerful civilizations and the real rulers of the Conclave. While the younger Weak races with restricted rights may overcome the Strong ones in some areas — so, Human starships with outdated engines are the fastest (species of other races are killed or driven mad during jumping, while for Humans it's pure ecstasy that rivals sex or drugs), military fleets of mouse-shaped race Alary are the most powerful, Counters perform calculations better than any computer, etc. — nevertheless, narrow specialization is a characteristic feature of Weak races — and the reason why the Conclave needs and uses them, while civilizations of no value are simply exterminated. This even applies to races that are of no threat to the Conclave.

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