Cover art by Chris Howard

The story begun in The Reefs of Time continues. The time-tides caused by Karellia’s defenses have brought the malicious Mindaru AI out of the deep past into the present, threatening Bandicut and Li-Jared, who have arrived at the backwater planet—Li-Jared’s homeworld—to find it on the brink of interplanetary war. Somehow they must forge a peace between Karellia and its neighboring world if the Mindaru threat is to be broken.

Back on Shipworld, Ik and Julie Stone risk their lives a second time to stop the Mindaru at their source: a planet near the galactic core, a billion years in the past. Can Antares, the beautiful humanoid who also loves Bandicut, help them? What of Bria the gokat? And Amaduse, the most influential librarian in Shipworld?

And in the deep time of the galaxy’s early history, by the light of a million suns, the Mindaru do hideous things to an innocent species. The Mindaru plan for the altered creatures bears momentous possibilities even the deadly AI cannot predict.

Time is critical. Time is elastic. And time is running out.

Conclusion of the two-part “Out of Time” sequence begun in The Reefs of Time!

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Narrated by multiple award-winner Stefan Rudnicki

Praise for The Reefs of Time / Crucible of Time

“Classic science fiction with engaging characters and richly imagined worlds!” —Greg Bear; author of The Unfinished Land and The War Dogs Trilogy

“Jeffrey A. Carver’s remarkable long-awaited duology The Reefs of Time / Crucible of Time is a welcome addition to The Chaos Chronicles, certifying his continuing mastery of action and adventure at the boundaries of space opera and hard SF.” —Steve Miller, co-author of The Liaden Universe

“Rich, dignified prose wedded to excellent and imaginative storytelling on the grandest scale. If you’ve grown weary of the hasty, hyperkinetic stories and styles that typify so many other independently-published novels, come home to Jeffrey Carver’s timeless and triumphant The Reefs of Time.” —Charles E. Gannon, author of the Caine Riordan world

“Mind-blowing in its complexity… I settled in to enjoy a wild ride.” —Ann Tonsor Zeddies, author of Riders of Leviathan and Steel Helix

Publication History

Starstream Publications / Book View Cafe Original

  • Hardcover 2019, ISBN: 978-1-61138-835-0
  • Paperback 2019, ISBN: 978-1-61138-801-5
  • Ebook 2019 ISBN: 978-1-61138-800-8
  • Audiobook 2020