Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outcasts of Heaven Belt | 1978 | Joan D. Vinge | Buy |
| 2 | Legacy | 1980 | Joan D. Vinge | N/A |
The Heaven Chronicles is Joan D. Vinge’s early space opera duology, set in an asteroid belt where human civilization has splintered into warring factions. Outcasts of Heaven Belt and Legacy explore how people build and maintain societies in the vacuum of space when the connection to Earth has been severed.
Published in 1978 and 1980, the two books were written concurrently with The Snow Queen and share its interest in how social systems shape individual lives. The Heaven Belt setting is one of Vinge’s most inventive creations — a fully realized space society with its own economics, politics, and culture.