Gore Burnelli
Names: Gore BurnelliGoreDadGrandfatherThird Dreamerthe gold manthe golden man
First appears in Book 1: The Dreaming Void, chapter 4 (2)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: The Dreaming Void
- Ch 4Gore is Justine's father, a founder of ANA and a pioneer of enhanced mental routines, appearing as a gold-skinned solido of his twenty-fourth-century self.
- Ch 4Gore never legally handed ownership of the Burnelli business empire to his descendants, keeping control from within ANA.
- Ch 4Gore describes himself as a Conservative who has made a few campaign contributions to the Outwards.
- Ch 4Claims to be a Conservative but really wants more time and information before ANA's direction is chosen; he is secretly plotting with Nelson.
- Ch 4Believes the Void can only be resolved by communicating with its Heart through telepathic humans inside it, and is working on a method.
- Ch 8Gore calls the Ocisens psychopathic and favors a harder response.
- Ch 8Gore proposed a warning to the Ocisen command ship, then disabling it, then destroying the fleet if they continue, using the lowest effective technology.
- Ch 8Gore considers the Void a tiny microverse, rejects fusion with it, and is determined to protect Earth, his birthplace; he is chairman of the board of the Conservatives.
- Ch 8Gore is called ANA's father by Ilanthe; he always knew ANA would become post-physical but wants to prevent the process being hijacked.
- Ch 10He doubts the Accelerators really mean to move a planet to the Void, since ANA is embedded in local quantum fields, and thinks the machine may be a diversion.
- Ch 14Gore and Nelson, in a hidden group among ANA's founders, use a backdoor to watch ANA's communications and know which messages the Advancers intercept.
Book 2: The Temporal Void
- Ch 1Gore is Justine's father, wealthy and influential, who monitors events from the Commonwealth and agrees reluctantly to press the Second Dreamer to help her.
- Ch 3Gore Burnelli, who appears as a twenty-year-old, broadcasts a message from Earth to the Second Dreamer, saying he does not blame her and is not hunting her.
- Ch 3Gore warns Araminta that Living Dream and other agents of political factions are searching for her.
- Ch 3Gore asks Araminta to contact the Skylord once and request that it let Justine pass inside the Void boundary.
- Ch 3Gore stays in contact with his daughter Justine through a navy relay, comforting her and furiously threatening the Raiel to call off their warships.
- Ch 8The Third Dreamer's dreams originate from the Central worlds' gaiafield, beyond Living Dream's reach; Living Dream suspects a family link to Justine.
- Ch 11Gore tells Paula that Marius left Ganthia two hours after her, and that the Conservative Faction remains eager to thwart the Accelerators.
- Ch 13Gore, Justine's father, has become the Third Dreamer and is dreaming Justine's life in the Void.
- Ch 13Gore dreams from the Commonwealth and builds cozy settings, such as Justine's childhood room, to strengthen rapport with her.
- Ch 13Gore despises Living Dream and the Void, believing the Void resets by consuming the galaxy's mass into energy to reverse entropy.
- Ch 13Gore enters Justine's dream, having sacrificed parts of the dream environment, and tells her to go to Makkathran rather than seek the nucleus.
- Ch 13Gore says Kazimir is just a stored memory copy, like a re-life clone, and insists Justine must go back in time and erase him.
Book 3: The Evolutionary Void
- Ch 1Araminta dreamed of Gore Burnelli, a gold-faced man, apparently via the gaiafield; he seemed very angry.
- Ch 2Gore told Justine to concentrate on getting to Makkathran; she distrusts his plans but credits him with working out how to reset the Void.
- Ch 3Gore Burnelli is absent from the conclave; Ilanthe doesn't understand how he became the Third Dreamer.
- Ch 5Gore Burnelli has left ANA for a physical body and lives in a hollow asteroid habitat near the Leo Twins; his skin is polished gold.
- Ch 5Gore reveals he is the Conservative Faction's executive and has secretly run it for centuries; it has no charter, meetings or democracy.
- Ch 5Gore claims he used the Conservative Faction to create the Protectorate and says he has fought Ilanthe for over two centuries.
- Ch 5Gore used five confluence nests as a gaiafield dream catcher to dream Justine's dreams, since they are family.
- Ch 5Gore plans to eliminate the Void by kick-starting its stalled evolution, and heads to the Anomine homeworld to use their elevation mechanism.
- Ch 5Gore believes Ilanthe's inversion core will not fuse the Accelerators with the nucleus but is her private bid for godhood.
- Ch 10Gore recruited the Delivery Man because he is harmless and above suspicion; Gore admits he only believes the Anomine mechanism is intact on their homeworld, by inference.
- Ch 10Gore says that likely only Ilanthe can deactivate the barrier, and she is unavailable.
- Ch 10Gore plans to map the planet from low orbit for exotic activity, then question natives about their legends if nothing is found.
- Ch 10Gore is a gold-skinned man from the twenty-first century who is irritable while waiting for a woman to come out of suspension.
- Ch 10Gore says he actually knew Ozzie, and plans to steal the Anomine's knowledge if the elevation mechanism cannot be found.
- Ch 12Gore is still at large; he told Justine to travel to Makkathran and is believed to be on the Anomine homeworld seeking elevation.
- Ch 14Gore, the Third Dreamer, has a working connection to Justine, who is inside the Void.
- Ch 14Ozzie suggests going back to the Commonwealth to ask Gore for help, since Gore acted as if he knew what he was doing.
- Ch 16Gore speaks to the Delivery Man over a secure link, scanning the alien city, and distrusts the Anomine's religion-like beliefs.
- Ch 16Gore wants to return to ANA after the mission and argues humanity must keep advancing; he calls Ilanthe a cause fascist.
- Ch 16Gore reports the city's device stabilizes a zero-width wormhole, currently not extended, and the Last Throw's sensors are examining it.
- Ch 16Gore speaks Anomine and wears an old golden body from long ago; he is stubborn and plans to hack the mechanism by physically inserting command circuitry.
- Ch 16Gore claims he junked memories of Justine's mother a thousand years ago and denies any emotional baggage.
- Ch 18Gore spends days persuading Tyzak to ask the elevation mechanism to awaken, so he can transcend and stop the Void's expansion.
- Ch 18Gore's scan of the elevation mechanism yielded a functionality schema, including a route into the wormhole, and he plans to breach it physically.
- Ch 19Gore appears to Justine in the Lady's church, telling her she is his link into the Void and must survive until people arrive.
- Ch 19Gore says he is contending with a local problem that could turn physical if he reveals himself too soon.
- Ch 20Gore is infiltrating something in position and will begin the physical process once the Delivery Man commands the siphon; he says humans and Tyzak cannot find common purpose.
- Ch 20Gore directs the Delivery Man's hack of the siphon, then orders him to initiate the wormhole and power-up sequence, saying the energy will be needed soon.
- Ch 20Gore is the person behind Aaron's mission, directing everyone to Makkathran; Oscar realises this on waking, though Araminta-two had worked it out months earlier.
- Ch 20Gore watches a web of intrusion systems laid across an Anomine city plaza, built by a replicator; Tyzak does not understand its true purpose.
- Ch 20Gore is Justine's father, a dream-like golden figure who guided the group to the Void; he plans to come with them and has something to persuade the Heart.
- Ch 20Gore directs infiltration software into the elevation mechanism on the Anomine homeworld while also being present in Sampalok through a connection to Justine.
- Ch 20Gore believes the Heart has grown so large it has lost cohesion, and that it does not know it endangers life.
- Ch 20Gore argues Ilanthe's inversion would only collapse into a sealed microverse, and that entropy cannot be eliminated across infinity.
- Ch 20Gore uses the nova's power through the Anomine elevation mechanism to transcend, and shares the experience of elevation with the Firstlife and the Heart.
- Ch 20Gore is Justine's father; he dies as a physical being, becoming the first human to achieve transcendence.
- Ch 21Gore's personality was reanimated by ANA after his bodyloss; his original body was destroyed in a nova by Marius.
- Ch 21Gore invites Justine to come back to the Void-side life, but she declines for now, wanting to finish things outside.
Connections
- family ofJustine Burnellidaughter and father
- family ofKazimir McFostergrandfather and grandson
- ally ofNelson Sheldonconspiring together over the Void
- leadsConservative Factionchairman of the board per Accelerator files
- member ofCleric Council
- family ofKazimir Burnelligrandson
- ally ofPaula Myouneasy; shares information
- ally ofDelivery Manworks for Gore as courier and observer
- enemy ofIlanthe
- enemy ofMarius
- related toTyzakpersuading him to awaken the elevation mechanism
- ally ofTyzak
- leadsDelivery Man
- related toAaronGore is Aaron's controller
- ally ofJustine Burnelli
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 4Ocisen Ambassador arrives
The Ocisen Ambassador lands on the Tulip Mansion grounds and is received by Justine and Kazimir, while Gore watches via an icon; tension arises over the Fandola assault.
- Book 1 · Ch 4Ocisen Ambassador's ultimatum
The Ocisen Ambassador demands the Commonwealth stop the Living Dream Pilgrimage ships, threatening Empire action with new allies. Justine and Kazimir refuse force but promise a Senate motion.
- Book 1 · Ch 4Gore and Nelson discuss the Void
In Gore's ANA environment, Gore and Nelson discuss the Empire's possible allies and Gore's plan to reach the Void's Heart through telepathic humans inside it.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Council meets on Ocisen fleet
Kazimir informs the ExoProtectorate Council that a huge Ocisen fleet is heading for Ellezelin; members debate force, diversion or diplomacy without agreement.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Committee votes to confront the Ocisen fleet
The committee votes by majority for the Navy to warn the Ocisen command ship and disable it if ignored. Justine and Creewan oppose; Justine leaves, and Kazimir will reconvene if the fleet keeps coming.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Ilanthe offers Gore a deal
In Gore's perceptual reality, Ilanthe proposes duplicating ANA and building a second Void for fusion. Gore rejects the idea and afterwards tells Nelson to investigate Troblum.
- Book 2 · Ch 1Justine heads into the Void
Justine decides to fly the Silverbird into the Void to speak to the Skylords. Gore agrees to persuade the Second Dreamer to help her.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Gore's appeal to the Second Dreamer
Gore Burnelli broadcasts a message to Araminta asking her to persuade the Skylord to let his daughter Justine enter the Void, and warns that factions are hunting her.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Justine's chase to the Void
Raiel warships pursue the Silverbird with hyperspace shock waves; Araminta, via the gaiafield, asks a Skylord to open the boundary, and Justine enters the Void.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Council response
The Council debates, then agrees Kazimir will send four Capital-class ships to scout, with the deterrent fleet to be deployed if they are destroyed.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Gore's warning about Troblum
Gore tells Paula that Troblum built a planet-moving FTL drive and must be found before the Accelerators find him.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Gore speaks to Justine in a dream
While Justine sleeps, Gore pulls her into a dream of her childhood bedroom. He reveals he is the Third Dreamer and that four years have passed outside.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Gore explains the Void and tells Justine to go back
In a dream, Gore explains the Void's layers and resets, says Kazimir is a stored memory, and insists Justine travel back in time to reach Makkathran.
- Book 3 · Ch 5Delivery Man meets Gore
At Gore's asteroid habitat near Augusta, the Delivery Man learns Gore is the true Conservative Faction executive and agrees to join his plan to eliminate the Void.
- Book 3 · Ch 5Departure for the Anomine homeworld
Gore collects five confluence nest satellites and flies Last Throw into hyperspace while Marius pursues on Ilanthe's orders.
- Book 3 · Ch 10Passing the borderguard
The Last Throw drops out of ultradrive beside a borderguard; the smartcore negotiates, claiming humans seek to emulate the Anomine, and receives permission to examine items on the homeworld without removing them.
- Book 3 · Ch 10Arrival at the Anomine homeworld
Gore admits he has no firm knowledge where the elevation mechanism is. They settle into orbit to map the planet for anomalies and consider talking to natives.
- Book 3 · Ch 10Search for the elevation mechanism
The Delivery Man and Gore examine another Anomine device, find nothing, and Gore proposes stealing the Anomine's knowledge if the remaining sites fail.
- Book 3 · Ch 16Meeting Tyzak
The Delivery Man lands near an Anomine village, greets the elder Tyzak through a translator, and learns the Anomine reject technology by choice and preserve history through stories.
- Book 3 · Ch 16Journey to the place of separation
Tyzak agrees to walk the Delivery Man two days to the place of separation, which Gore and the Delivery Man deduce is the city with a wormhole stabilizer; they set off on foot.
- Book 3 · Ch 16Trek to the abandoned city
The Delivery Man and Tyzak hike for two days toward the abandoned Anomine city, swapping stories and fending off night beasts, while Gore studies the wormhole device.
- Book 3 · Ch 16Journey to the plaza
The Delivery Man and Tyzak walk fifteen hours through forest and the Anomine city, sensing the city's dormant neural AI, and reach the plaza where Gore landed.
- Book 3 · Ch 16Tyzak refuses to activate the machine
Tyzak reveals the plaza is the elevation mechanism but declines to reawaken it, so Gore plans to hack it and checks its power source.
- Book 3 · Ch 16Discovery of the power siphon
The Last Throw flies to the star and finds a force-field disc inside the convection zone. Gore proposes descending to infiltrate it.
- Book 3 · Ch 18Elevation mechanism awakened and refuses Gore
Tyzak agrees to ask the elevation mechanism to awaken, but it refuses to elevate Gore, so Gore plans to hack it after reactivating the siphon.
- Book 3 · Ch 19Justine meets Gore and Tyzak
In the Lady's church Gore appears with an Anomine, Tyzak. He tells Justine to survive and watch for the other Dreamers, warns her about Ilanthe, then fades away.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Descent into the star
The Delivery Man pilots the Last Throw through a star's photosphere into the convection zone toward the siphon, guided by Gore.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Hacking the siphon
The Delivery Man maneuvers Last Throw to the siphon, probes its control network, loads infiltrator packages, and on Gore's order starts the wormhole and power-up sequence.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Plan to reach the Heart
Gore tells the group to engage the Heart and persuade it to stop; Skylord-guided Edeard is the way in, and the group will use Makkathran as their ship.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Makkathran goes FTL in the Void
Edeard asks Makkathran to go faster; it applies a thought pattern and travels faster than light toward the Heart.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Arrival at the Heart and a Firstlife revived
Edeard is drawn into the Heart and starts to fade. With help he traces the memory layer to the Heart's origin and restores a Firstlife. Ilanthe's ship appears overhead.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Marius attacks the Delivery Man's ship
Marius fires quantumbusters at the ship in the star; a borderguard destroys them. Gore is exposed and the elevation mechanism denounces his hostile infiltration.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Gore's elevation
Using the nova's power through the Anomine elevation mechanism, Gore transcends and shares the method with the Firstlife and the Heart, showing an alternative to Ilanthe's inversion.