ISBN 0-441-00301-X (US hbk)

"Widely acclaimed and wildly intelligent, the fiction of Patricia Anthony has been praised as 'highly accomplished' by The New York Times , 'marvelous' by the Chicago Tribune , and 'exciting' by The Washington Post . She writes award-winning, thought-provoking novels that probe the alien mind while showing us what it truly means to be human. Now Anthony unleashes the most ambitious, most spellbinding novel of her skyrocketing career. A story of intrigue, betrayal, and the struggle for global dominance...

"In the near future, Brazil is on the verge of becoming a legitimate space power. But their first manned launch goes horribly wrong. The boosters sputter, and fail. The world holds its breath, expecting the rocket to plummet to Earth. But it doesn't. It shoots into orbit -- with no boosters, seemingly no propulsion at all. Impossible...but the world saw it happen.

"Now the world wants to know how they did it. If it is a well-planned hoax, it must be exposed. If it is new antigravitational technology, it must be shared. But if it is something more than that, something sinister, or otherworldly...then it must be conquered.

"Cradle of Splendor flies far beyond any traditional boundaries of science fiction, exploring the human need for everything 'alien' to come from somewhere far away -- when the alien thoughts and desires that frighten us most come from deep within. A very powerful, very human novel from an astronomical talent." [jacket blurb, US hbk, 1996]