<P>The Firstborn the mysterious race of aliens best known as the builders of the iconic black monolith in <I>2001: A Space Odyssey</I> have inhabited the writing of science fiction master Arthur C. Clarke for decades. <P>In the first two books of his acclaimed Time Odyssey series Clarke and co-author Stephen Baxter imagined a near-future in which the Firstborn seek to stop the advance of human civilization by employing a technology indistinguishable from magic. That fate was narrowly averted at an inconceivable price. <P>But now 27 years later the Firstborn are back. This time they have sent a 'quantum bomb' speeding toward Earth a device that human scientists can barely comprehend let alone stop or destroy. But when shocking new insights emerge about the nature of the Firstborn and their plans an unexpected ally appears from light-years away.<p>A Blackstone Audio production.