General Information
===================
 Title:                  Transcendence
 Author:                 Charles Sheffield
 Read By:                Geoffrey Howard
 Copyright:              1992
 Audiobook Copyright:    2004
 Genre:                  Fiction
 Publisher:              Blackstone Audio
 Series Name:            Heritage Universe
 Position in Series:     03
 Abridged:               No

Original Media Information
==========================
 ISBN:                   9780786133987
 Media:                  Library Download
 Number:                 8
 Source:                 Library

File Information
================
 Number of MP3s:         8
 Total Duration:         8:56:13
 Total MP3 Size:         245.53
 Parity Archive:         No
 Ripped By:              3Josh & A_S
 Ripped With:            Easy CD - DA Extractor
 Encoded With:           LAME 3.98
 Encoded At:             CBR 64 kbit/s 44100 Hz Mono
 Normalize:              MP3Gain
 Noise Reduction:        None
 ID3 Tags:               Set, v1.1, v2.3

Book Description
================
"The search for the legendary Builders results in the reemergence of 
an ancient race of galactic marauders who must be stopped before they 
reconquer the world in this sequel to Summertide and Divergence." -Library 
Journal

"...Sheffield's narrative is smooth, and the joys, pitfalls, and dangers 
of exploration are conveyed well." -Publishers Weekly

The Zardalu were back.

The search for the Builders, the legendary alien race whose unfathomable 
constructs continued to perplex scholars and explorers alike, had led 
Builder expert Darya Lang, adventurer Hans Rebka, and treasure hunters 
Louis Nenda and Atvar H'sial to an unknown Builder artifact far outside 
the spiral arm. There they found the Zardalu, once the greatest menace 
ever known to the worlds of the spiral arm, enslaving entire races and 
exterminating others, guided by the unswerving belief in their own supremacy.-

The only chance to eliminate the Zardalu threat was to find...


Book three of the Heritage Universe The Zardalu are back.... The search 
for the Builders, the legendary alien race whose unfathomable constructs 
continue to perplex scholars and explorers alike, has led Builder expert 
Darya Lang, adventurer Hans Rebka, and treasure hunters Louis Nenda 
and Atvar H'sial to an unknown Builder artifact far outside the spiral 
arm. There they find the Zardalu, once the greatest menace ever known 
to the worlds of the spiral arm, enslaving entire races and exterminating 
others, guided by the unswerving belief in their own supremacy. The 
only chance to eliminate the Zardalu threat is to find them all and 
wipe them out before they have time to breed back up to strength and 
once again threaten civilized beings everywhere. But the way will not 
be easy. Even if they manage to locate the Zardalu, they still have 
the Builders to deal with. For the closer they get to their quarry, 
the clearer it becomes that the Zardalu and their world are closely 
entwined with the fate—and the plans—of the Builders themselves. "Transcendence 
may have been written by a chief scientist of the Earth Satellite Corporation..-
.but it reads as if the cast of Monty Python had a hand in it. Narrator 
Geoffrey Howard [is] aware that this is not a completely serious book. 
Oh, the science is dead on, and the plot keeps listeners wonderfully 
tense, but there are moments of pure comedy throughout the piece that 
are simply delightful. Howard's reading is quite enjoyable; his ability 
to bring to life a wide variety of slaves and owners, rogues and scientists, 
deserves applause. Do remember, if you're listening while driving, Howard 
should only receive the sound of one hand clapping. This one is an absolute 
must for hard-core sci-fi fans that remember that the "sci" stands for 
"science," and that the fiction not need be overblown or humorless."--Audiobook-
stoday.com


Reviews: 
AudioFile Magazine
      	
Charles Sheffield, who was himself a scientist, wrote smart, hard science 
fiction adventure stories. TRANSCENDENCE is exactly that--smart, hard 
science fiction adventure. This is a story that both awes and excites 
as a group of beings (human and alien) travels in search of a hostile 
race called the Zardalu. The characters in the book encountered these 
aliens earlier in this series, titled The Heritage Universe. (This book 
is Volume 3.) Geoffrey Howard's English accent is a nice match for the 
material. He does his best work when he's performing comic relief through 
one of the novel's characters. S.D. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-

