Across the galaxy, tensions are rising between the authoritarian Tandesko Triune and the free-marketers of the Auricle Alliance. Nevertheless, scientists of both sides have come together in Project Starmuse to observe the giant star Betelgeuse as it goes supernova. At the space station embedded inside the roiling star, the team anxiously awaits the return of the one man essential to the success of the project. Astronomer Willard Ruskin must discover why someone has infected him with nano-agents—artificially intelligent microscopic computers, which alter his appearance, his memory, his very DNA. Drawn in to a conflict from which not even death will free him, Ruskin must find a way to reach Betelgeuse before his enemies sabotage Starmuse...and humankind's future among the stars. This is a harrowing journey from inside the human cell to the mind of a dying star.

A great interstellar migration has begun, down the gateway known as the starstream. Remnant of the Betelgeuse supernova, the starstream is a grand, ethereal highway deep into the Milky Way. It is also a living entity: born of the merged souls of the once-living star and the other beings who died in its creation. Who could have predicted the wonders of the starstream, or the perils it unleashed? Among the perils is a terrifying race known as the Throgs—shadowy beings that live in the n-space of the starstream. Entire worlds have died, destroyed by the Throgs. But life goes on, and colonists continue to settle new worlds. Colony-bound aboard the starship Charity are one Claudi Melnik, a child of uncommon talents—and an AI named Jeaves, who has his own interest in an encounter with Throgs. When the unthinkable occurs, Claudi must face alone the challenge from beyond space and time. And no one, not even Jeaves, could have predicted the final confrontation, or imagined where unexpected friendship would be found. DOWN THE STREAM OF STARS, triumphant sequel to the bestselling FROM A CHANGELING STAR, is a daring journey across the gulf between human and alien, to the heart of consciousness itself.