The novel “The Eternal Flame” by Greg Egan was published for the first time in 2012. It’s the second book in the Orthogonal trilogy and is the sequel to “The Clockwork Rocket”.

The generational starship Peerless is traveling in space in search of a technology that can save its crew’s homeworld. The advantage is that the time on the starship flows much slowly than on the planet. The problem is that it doesn’t carry enough fuel for the return trip and to make things worse there’s the problem of the limits of the resources for the crew survival.

While the scientists within the crew are looking for the solutions to their problems, the astronomer Tamara discovers an object in space. An expedition could find new fuel but involves several risks. Meanwhile, new biological studies risk creating a rift in the small society that lives on the Peerless.