Starfarers And Genesis

Two late novels by Poul Anderson, each a single volume future history accepting the light speed limit for interstellar travel. Genesis begins with amateur astronomy by a boy who becomes a major character. Starfarers begins with amateur astronomy by a man and his son who becomes the grandfather of a major character.

In the opening passage of Starfarers, astronomers have detected far beyond Zeta Centauri points of X rays moving very fast, hopefully interstellar spacecraft. An artifact moving at near light speed would use and generate energy detectable from many light years away. As yet, we have detected neither artificial radio signals nor any sign of engineering projects like spacecraft, Dyson spheres etc.

Beginning to read Starfarers, published in 1998, an sf fan would not as yet suspect that the novel incorporates as one of its chapters "Ghetto," published in 1954, the paradox of a past future now updated. Awesome.