Resplendent

Resplendent is an English language science fiction collection by British writer Stephen Baxter, published in 2006.

[1] This book is a collection of short stories relating to the previous three books, comprising new works and previously published stories, including the novellas Reality Dust, Riding the Rock and Mayflower II, an 88-page novella taking place in the Xeelee Sequence that won the 2004 BSFA Award for the Best Short Fiction.

However, humanity's jealousy has driven it to futilely and brutally dedicate their culture (sending soldiers off as young as 13) to warring for over 18,000 years upon the Xeelee.

Over time, however, these individuals die through malfunctions or boredom, leaving Rusel as the only immortal on board, but he becomes increasingly dependent on life-support and gradually merges with the ship.

After 25,000 years have passed, the Mayflower II is contacted by Pirius and Torec (protagonists of Exultant), former soldiers of the Coalition, which is revealed to have fallen.

The Siege of Earth is the final story contained within the book, it details an encounter between a young person from Mars and the novel's overall narrator, Luru Parz.