The novel “Resurgence” by Charles Sheffield was published for the first time in 2002. It’s the fifth book of the Heritage universe and is the sequel of “Convergence“.

The mystery of the Builders seems now become academic when in the distant stars of Sagittarius something starts destroying entire star systems. Is it a new manifestation of the Builders caused by an artifact not yet discovered becuase it’s a very far away from the Orion Arm? Are there other forces at work?

To find out what’s going on in that distant part of the galaxy the team that explored Builders’ artifacts is brought together again. However, this time the journey is longer than normal and the dangers are more unpredictable than ever. Will an expedition that includes a military team trained for survival be enough?

“Convergence” had an open ending that gave Heritage universe cycle no real conclusion  and in “Resurgence” Charles Sheffield in some ways changed path. The four previous books make a big story in which the protagonists face mysteries connected to the artifacts left by a mysterious seemingly extinct species, in this fifth book the mystery seems to have a different origin.

The destruction of entire star systems is really big news even if it’s taking place in a distant area of ​​the galaxy. It’s a type of event far from those connected to the artifacts but the team that years earlier discovered many things about the mysterious Builders is considered the most suitable to investigate these new events as well.

The new mystery is different from the previous ones but the protagonists and the relationships between them, which are sometimes complex, were developed in the previous novels so it’s useful to have read them. At the beginning of “Resurgence” the team must be reunited, a way for Charles Sheffield to tell what happened to each protagonist in the years between the fourth and fifth book.

The new expedition includes a military team trained for survival and here begins what for me is one of the most serious problems of “Resurgence”. The team members were trained in simulations but they seem unprepared for a real mission. One of the protagonists complains that in fact they’re incompetent but don’t realize it because they have a self-confidence arising only from their training.

The moment when the expedition has to face real dangers, the members of this team think they know the right thing to do in spite of the advice from other people who faced real dangers in the course of their lives. All this made me unsympathetic to these characters with the result that I didn’t care that they were in danger, on the contrary I hoped they died to eliminate the annoyance they caused me.

Their behaviors and their discussions with the other protagonists about the decisions are one of the elements which lowered my appreciation of “Resurgence”. For the rest, the novel is developed about the same way as the previous one, with the protagonists facing a mystery and the consequent dangers, even if the Builders don’t seem to be the cause.

The fact that Charles Sheffield introduced the idea that there are other forces at work besides the Builders is in my opinion the other major flaw of “Resurgence”. The previous novel ended without a solution to the mystery of the Builders so I would have preferred that the author kept on focusing on them.

“Resurgence” is the last novel written by Charles Sheffield, published almost simultaneously with the author’s death. I couldn’t help but wonder if he wrote it when his health was already in decline, with the result that in my opinion it add nothing significant to the Heritage universe. I think it’s the weakest novel in the series and it makes sense to read it if you want to complete the series.