Series
Dragon's Egg
Robert L. Forward · 2 novels · 1 short story · 1980–1985
Robert L. Forward's Dragon's Egg (1980) follows first contact with the cheela, intelligent beings the size of sesame seeds living on the surface of a neutron star, where crushing gravity and fast-moving physics let them evolve from primitive agriculture to advanced technology in about a month of Earth time while human observers watch from orbit. The sequel Starquake (1985) follows the cheela's own development of space travel and a catastrophic starquake that devastates their neutron-star home, alongside the continuing story of the human crew observing them.
Summary by Loreful, from public sources
The order the books came out.
Best read in the order they were published.
- Omnibus editions(1 edition)
Map
Dragon's Egg at the centre, its books fanned around what holds them. Pick anything for its details, and zoom out for similar series in orbit — the reading order above lists the same books as text.
Stats
By decade
- 1980s3
Shape
2 novels · 1 short story
1 author · completed series
reads like:hard science fictionaliensother star systemsfar futureinformativeadult
Mood
Bright and calm: 67% of this series' placed works, the catalog's 6%.
this series · the catalog · one dot = one book3 of 3 works carry a tone
Edges of the map
- Technical Appendix (Dragon's Egg)darkest · calmest
- Starquakebrightest · most intense