Vacuum Diagrams
stories of the Xeelee sequence
by Stephen Baxter · first published 1997
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Hard science fiction short-story collection spanning the Xeelee sequence, with sweeping timescales and worldbuilding. It serves as an entry point to Baxter's wider universe.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"And everywhere the Humans went, they found life..."This dazzling future history, winner of the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award, is the most ambitious and exciting since Asimov's classic Foundation saga. It tells the story of Humankind -- all the way to the end of the Universe itself.Here, in luminous and vivid narratives spanning five million years, are the first Poole wormholes spanning the solar system; the conquest of Human planets by Squeem; GUTships that outrace light; the back-time invasion of the Qax: the mystery and legacy of the Xeelee, and their artifacts as large as small galaxies; photi
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I read a lot of Science Fiction for fun. These are a few of my favorites that I've given to other people: 1. Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter. When I think of epic hard science fiction, the Xeelee Sequence books spring to mind. With a story line that spans millions of years (and a few dozen books), this collection of short…
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗You might enjoy Stephen Baxter's "Xeelee" books. I started with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_Diagrams and enjoyed it, but could see its various stories coming across as too jumbled up and disconnected for some.
on “Will We Ever Know What Dark Matter Is?” ↗and if you do like egan for the worldbuilding, check out stephen baxter as well. 'vacuum diagrams' makes a good introduction.
on “Foundations by Greg Egan (1998)” ↗The Xeelee Sequence books (Vacuum Diagrams, Raft, Timelike Infinity etc) or The Manifold Series, all by Stephen Baxter
on “Alien life could be so advanced it becomes indistinguishable from physics” ↗…Short fiction especially. Fails for the 2020s part, but check out Greg Egan if you haven't already (his Diaspora is mentioned elsewhere in this thread). Dark Integers is a short-fiction collection. Also Vacuum Diagrams, by Stephen Baxter. These three authors are, IMHO, the absolute pinnacle of hard scifi. But be advised they are definitely kinda optimizing for being idea-dense. For more literary stuff with deeper…
on “Accelerando (2005)” ↗There was an story in Stephen Baxter's "Vacuum Diagrams" about a eugenics experiment where the participants could only reproduce at like 40 years, then 50, then 60, etc. The leader was trying to suppress the genes that prevented long life. They probably did…
on “People who live past 105 years old have genes that stop DNA damage” ↗Vacuum Diagrams is a collection of short stories Stephen Baxter has written well before 1997, but the published collection in 1997 included new intertwining narrative stories about an AI named EVE to bind them together.…
on “Constraints On Physical Computers In Holographic Spacetimes” ↗I also note that _The Logic Pool_ is also available in a short story collection of Stephen Baxter's called _Vacuum Diagrams_ http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/baxter/index.htm Quoting from the beginning of the story: This time he would reach the Sky. This time, before the Culling cut him away... The tree of axiomatic systems…
on “Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books” ↗Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter because I have no attention span and wanted to read most Space Operas. It goes through his Xeelee series' history of the universe and beyond in small individual chapters.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗…actually touches on quite a bit of that, but his writing is such that I'd honestly prefer to read it in outline form with the conceptual bits pasted in. IIRC, the short story "The Quagma Datum" from Vacuum Diagrams deals with that most directly, and is similar the story your asking for, complete with an ark. Also the titular Xeelee are also survivors from the very early universe.
on “When Did Life First Emerge in the Universe?” ↗"Lonesome Dove" And it's hard to convey how much I enjoyed it. I'm afraid to pick up any other novel of a similar kind as I'll be furiously comparing. So after it I sterted reading hardcore Sci-fi: Vacuum Diagrams, to not let my mind draw any comparative thoughts:)
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗