Resurgence

Resurgence (2002) is a science fiction novel by American writer Charles Sheffield, the finale of the Heritage Universe and the last book he published. Following the previous book in the series, Convergence, there are no more Builder artifacts left in the part of the galaxy explored by the four clades of the Orion Arm. However, an envoy from the neighboring Sagittarius Arm shows a short route to that arm and the ship's dead passengers carry an ominous message: a force even stronger than the Builders is consuming whole star systems in the neighboring arm.