Vacuum Diagrams

Vacuum Diagrams is a collection of science fiction short stories written by Stephen Baxter. The collection connects the novels of the Xeelee Sequence and also shows the history of mankind in the Xeelee universe, and ultimately the universe. While each short story in the collection is self-contained, the stories are presented as being contained in the context of the first story, Eve, about a man who is forced to witness the events in the short stories by a god-like being. Eve acts as a structure for the short stories, with an introduction at the beginning of Vacuum Diagrams, short scenes occurring between each "era" (with "Eve" character explaining and introducing the next section), and an ending that wraps up the plot for the Eve story itself. Vacuum Diagrams was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 1999.

At the end of the collection, a chronology of the Xeelee Sequence is provided. Every short story and book from the cycle (up to 1997) is noted, with notable events from each story plotted

Vacuum Diagrams contains the following stories (all previously published except for "Eve"):

Prologue: Eve

ERA: Expansion

• "The Sun-People" (published 1993)
• "The Logic Pool" (1994)
• "Gossamer" (1995)
• "Cilia-of-Gold" (1994)
• "Lieserl" (1993)

ERA: Squeem Occupation

• "Pilot" (1993)
• "The Xeelee Flower" (1987)
• "More Than Time or Distance" (1988)
• "The Switch" (1990)

ERA: Qax Occupation

• "Blue Shift" (1989)
• "The Quagma Datum" (1989)
• "Planck Zero" (1992)

ERA: Assimilation

• "The Gödel Sunflowers" (1992)
• "Vacuum Diagrams" (1990)

ERA: The War to End Wars

• "Stowaway" (1991)
• "The Tyranny of Heaven" (1990)
• "Hero" (1995)

ERA: Flight

• "Secret History" (1991)

ERA: Photino Victory

• "Shell" (1987)
• "The Eighth Room" (1989)
• "The Baryonic Lords" (1991)

Epilogue: Eve