The Klavier Station has been silently ambling through the empty sectors of the galaxy for longer than anyone can remember. If it hides a mystery, it is well concealed.

Nathaniel Freer, a trader en route with a cargo of dedicated nano-robots, knows that he has been manoeuvred into stopping for repairs on Klavier having survived what was made to look like a botched attempt at piracy. And once there, he gradually begins to understand why. For his cargo is destined for a recently colonized planet whose only export promises to revolutionise data-processing. That export has a remarkable, ancient connection, with Klavier. And if it's reawakened, the universe will become a very different place.

Fast-paced hard SF at its best, APPLESEED is a fireworks display of storytelling. More information on this book and others can be found on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk