Known for "superior science fiction" (The Philadelphia Inquirer), author John Varley returns to his Thunder and Lightning series with a novel of how one man's volatile genius could alter a starship's epic plunge into a future where human survival is just a theory...

On a voyage to New Earth, the starship Rolling Thunder is powered by an energy no one understands except for its eccentric inventor, Jubal Broussard. But now, on his emergence from a state of suspended animation, Jubal makes a shocking announcement: The ship must stop, or everyone will die.

These words from the mission's founder, the man responsible for the very existence of Rolling Thunder, will send shock waves throughout the starship--and divide its passengers into those who believe and those who doubt. And it will be up to his twin daughters to stop a mutiny, discover the truth, and usher the ship into a new age of exploration...