Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Time | 1999 | Stephen Baxter | Buy |
| 2 | Manifold: Space | 2000 | Stephen Baxter | N/A |
| 3 | Space | 2000 | Stephen Baxter | Buy |
| 4 | Origin | 2001 | Stephen Baxter | Buy |
| 5 | Phase Space | 2002 | Stephen Baxter | Buy |
The Fermi Paradox, the unsettling silence of a universe that ought to contain billions of civilizations, sits at the heart of the Manifold trilogy. Baxter does not pick one answer and argue for it. Instead he uses three separate novels to explore three of the most compelling possibilities, from a universe where humanity really is alone to one where intelligent life is everywhere but something else is going on.
Manifold: Time is a good starting point, building from near-future space exploration into ideas about the eventual fate of intelligence in the universe. The books get stranger and more speculative as the series goes on, and Phase Space fills in corners of the universe with shorter pieces that did not fit into the main novels.