In the far future, space is a very friendly place with not much going on. An interstellar space craft is on a routine search for planets that have possible mineral deposits that can be mined. When it comes upon a planet that shows signs of emitting some kind of power source, which it shouldn't have, a team led by Jack and Hope is sent to investigate. Finding pyramids and the remains of what appears to have once been an alien civilization, Jack and Hope discover "mind tapes" that can be accessed and played in their heads, as if they were there themselves. We are then taken to a time in the planet's past where we see how their peaceful civilization is disrupted by a high-ranking assassination uncovering a conspiracy that reaches all the way to the top of that civilization's government and ultimately to an off-planet threat that we do not get to see how it gets resolved until part two of the series (where, hopefully we'll get to see more of Jack and Hope). A summary like this does not do the novel justice, which is extremely well written with characters that are believable and a plot that you have no idea where it is going until the separate plot lines begin to converge to form the overall story. I don't know how the author kept it all straight in his head, a tour de force. Even if most of the character names are unfamiliar and the planets described are certainly unfamiliar, thankfully, one true note of present day continuity does continue to dominate into the far, far distant future: Arsenal Football Club. Now, that's class. ( )