Characters appearing in Recoil

While he studied space and time in order to build a ship in which he could follow the woman he loved to her home planet, Sarl had the vision of a galactic empire. With his ship at last completed, Sarl sets out both to see Barie and to found the empire he has foreseen.

Sarl's travel companion is his bioid, Aardvark. Composed of programmable living nanomachines called glowworms, Aardvark can take on different appearances to perform different functions, but Sarl prefers the mode resembling the namesake animal.

Sarl met Barie when she visited Tywoshak on her ship, Red Aurora. She played with his feelings and left him to return to Piatlo. He tells himself he is no longer in love with her, and yet, seeing her again unleashes deep emotions. When her ship vanishes mysteriously, he cannot rest until he finds her.

Barie's partner, Roedan, always travels with her aboard Red Aurora as she makes the voyage from Piatlo to Tywoshak and back. He is sour and unlikable. He is not threatened by Sarl's love for Barie. As a Mover, he sees Sarl as something far beneath him.

Ninel is a leader of Piatlo's underclass, the Sessiles. His people have long been abused by the Movers, and they are ready for revolt. When he is not chisling messages for the Movers, Ninel tends the applegroves around their Residence.

Many planets have legends about an Earth-God who allowed humans to colonize the galaxy. Piatloans maintain what they refer to as the Earth-God's elevator, a corridor that leads to nothing but a drop-off that would be fatal if you stepped out.

Uma was Sarl's childhood friend on Tywoshak, where they grew up without knowledge of the universe beyond their home planet. Her memory of their time together is very different from his. Her bioid companion takes bear form.

When he travels to the future in search of Barie, Sarl learns of the beneficent green empress, Katora. Her age appears to be an enlightened one. Katora will be galactic empress in the Empire's Hundred-Sixth Millennium.

Tioma is a woman from Sarl's distant past who works for Tywoshak's spaceport security. She attempts to assist him in his quest across time and space.

Sarl is not impressed with the blue emperor Quintillion, who reminds him of the spider that whisked Barie away. He exudes darkness and misery while subsuming countless others in his mind-net. Quintillion will be emperor in the Hundred-Fourth Millennium.

Orgmorgan is Quintillion's pilot. Brash and bluff, he calls Sarl "Stripes." He joins Sarl on a couple of his temporal swings.

Zahira works for the Consortium of Ten Planets, the company responsible for Red Aurora's scheduled flights. She is Sarl's Consortium rep, and she very much wants to help him.

Yali is a temporal engineer whom Sarl goes to for help in his quest to rescue Barie. A master in his element, Yali is not inclined to waste time for fools, of which he considers Sarl to be one.

To Sarl, Thermeon exemplifies all that Quintillion is not: light as opposed to darkness, energy instead of entropy, hope rather than despair. Unfortunately, he has fixed his hopes on a goddess-star whom he expects to grant him eternal love and everlasting dominion over the galaxy. He will be emperor in the Hundred-Second Millennium.

Morning Glory is Thermeon's half-sister, and she can pilot a Deep-level ship with more skill than her brother. She has a history with Orgmorgan.

Riemis is a temporal engineer from Sarl's future. He promises to help, but Sarl doesn't like him. Riemis thinks highly of himself, fancying that he is an expert in history and genetics as well as a musician and singer.

Zarik is a Consortium employee, the grandson of Zahira, caught up with Sarl in the historic events that led up to the plight of Red Aurora. Perpetually confused, he only wants to go home.

Married to Riemis, Kronia has a great deal to be sad and angry about.

Brodan is a musician who has been used by Riemis in his political maneuverings. He wanted very much to be a hero, but realizes that things were not as they seemed. His sincerity gives Sarl hope for humanity's future.

Kahee is the father or Brodan and of Quintillion. He rants about a universal cataclysm he has foreseen, but Sarl remains skeptical. Most of Kahee's behavior is play-acting.

Eria is a daughter of Kahee and half-sister of Quintillion, but without their shadows. She remains free from the galaxy's troubles onboard her Deep-level ship.

Tara is a graduate student of the Imperial Museum who thinks she knows Sarl from a time when her past intersected his future. She uses her museum guidebook to answer questions.

Eternal Asutra is a member of Tywoshak's ruling Committee, which has authority over the facility where Sarl built his ship. Her title indicates that she chose life extension rather than reproductive rights on the Day of Decision.

Piatloan Sessiles, Helle and Noira are young relativs of Ninel. They have been sheltered from their cruel overlords by their people.