The Universe
The novel takes place in the latter half of the 22nd century. Humans have left their cradle, colonized numerous extrasolar planets, and made contact with extraterrestrials, or "aliens", as most humans call them, even though such term is not considered to be politically correct. All humans are subjects of the Empire, ruled by a small child, although all decisions are made by the Imperial Council in his name. After the end of the conflicts between the Empire and the aliens several decades prior, the galaxy is, mostly, at peace, although relations are still tense between many of the species. To maintain the peace, the Empire was forced to quarantine its own colony of Ebon, which contained a large part of the Imperial military industry and provided a sizable percentage of soldiers. The ideology of the people of Ebon, formed by the ruling Church of the Angered Christ, demands the complete extermination of all alien life in the Universe to make way for the true children of God — humans. The fleet of Ebon was annihilated, and the planet itself was placed under a quarantine shield. Any Ebonite found outside the shield was forced to undergo deep psychotherapy.
Read more about this topic: Genome (novel)
Famous quotes containing the word universe:
“The universe is made of stories,
not of atoms.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“Man is but a reed, the feeblest one in nature; but he is a thinking reed. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him—a vapor, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than that which killed him, because he knows that he dies and the advantage which the universe has over him; the universe knows nothing of this.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)