Dark Light (Engines Of Light, #2)

Dark Light is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Ken MacLeod, published in 2001. It is the second book in the Engines of Light Trilogy and a 2002 nominee for the Campbell Award.The novel continues the plot from Cosmonaut Keep, but this time is set on the "Second Sphere", a number of clustered solar systems artificially seeded with intelligent life forms by a mysterious and transcendent alien species. Within this system, the main character, Matt Cairns, develops a form of interstellar travel and sets out to discover the motivation of the aliens.