Note: Prequel to volumes 1 and 2 in the series.

Synopsis: From the front flap of the Ace first edition: "During the first turbulent decades of the twenty-first century, a startling discovery is made. From California's La Brea tar pit, an artifact is unearthed that resembles and angel's shoulder blade - radiocarbon dating to tens of thousands of years in the past. When it is discovered that the artifact is made not simply of bone, but is also formed by alien technology, expert Jiro Yamaguchi is called in to help. As competing artistic, scientific, and religious groups vie for control of the artifact, Jiro's immersion in the mystery of the angel's shoulder blade takes his mind over the edge of madness into a cyberspace hell. And in his ultimate transcendence, he is raised into the realm of a galactic consciousness unlike anything the universe has ever known... Spanning three decades, Better Angels traces the stories of five people, whose lives and relationships lead to - and are forever altered by - this one, blinding moment of transcendental light..."