{{Short description|1988 novel by David Zindell}} {{italic title}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox book | name = Neverness | image = File:Neverness_book_cover.jpg | author = David Zindell | cover_artist = {{Ubl |Loretta Trezzo (limited ed.) |Mick van Houten (hardcover) }} | language = English | genre = Science fiction | publisher = {{Ubl |Donald I. Fine (limited ed.) |Grafton (hardcover) }} | pub_date = March 1988 | pub_place = United Kingdom | media_type = Print (hardcover) | isbn = 0-917657-97-7 | isbn_note = (limited ed.){{Break}}{{ISBNT|0-246-13435-6}} (hardcover) | oclc = 16867831 | dewey = 813/.54 | congress = PS3576.I5183N4 1988 | followed_by = The Broken God }} '''''Neverness''''' is a science fiction novel by American writer David Zindell, published in 1988. The related novelette "Shanidar" won the Writers of the Future contest in 1985. Zindell has said that it was partly based on ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', with the pilots as "knights zipping around the universe in search of the Holy Grail".<ref>{{cite web |title=Storms of Numbers, Chalices of Light: an interview with David Zindell |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intdz.htm |access-date=November 17, 2021 |website=infinityplus.co.uk}}</ref>
== Synposis == ''Neverness'' concerns a far-future world where interstellar travel is controlled by a group of mathematicians called pilots, because of their abilities to do the calculations needed for space travel, and posthuman or AI computer brains called "gods" rule much of the galaxy. It follows the deeds of Mallory Ringess, a young pilot, as he travels through the universe and discovers secrets and strangeness. He encounters a god, lives as a Neanderthal caveman, and eventually discovers that the lord of the pilots' order is thousands of years old and immortal, and that enlightened aliens have hidden profound secrets in humanity's genes.
== Reception == Mark Spencer praised the book for its unusual approach to showing an unfamiliar world, and the complexity of its story.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mark Spencer |title=Neverness by David Zindell (book review) |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/nevern.htm |publisher=Infinity Plus}}</ref>
The novel won the Gigamesh Award for best novel in 1991,<ref>{{cite web |title=Premios Gigamesh |url=http://www.gigamesh.com/historicopremios.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101221243/http://www.gigamesh.com/historicopremios.html |archivedate=January 1, 2013 |accessdate=March 15, 2013 |publisher=Ediciones Gigamesh |language=Spanish}}</ref> and Zindell was nominated for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer in 1986. Gene Wolfe described Zindell as "one of the finest talents to appear since Kim Stanley Robinson and William Gibson—perhaps the finest",<ref>{{cite web |title=Neverness |url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/z/david-zindell/neverness.htm |access-date=November 17, 2021 |website=Fantastic Fiction}}</ref> and David Barrett described its style as "poetic prose that is a joy to read".<ref>{{cite web |title=Review: Space opera for the 1990s |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13618425-300-review-space-opera-for-the-1990s/ |access-date=November 17, 2021 |website=newscientist.com}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{ISFDB title|id=4956}}
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Category:A Requiem for Homo Sapiens Category:Religion in science fiction Category:1988 American novels Category:1988 English-language novels Category:1988 science fiction novels Category:American science fiction novels Category:Novels by David Zindell