Ler Series by M.A. Foster

The human race had divided into two species. One had created the other - normal humans had experimented in forced evolution and had produced the ler, a sort of supermen race, but pacifistic and contemplative. The ler fled from the turbulent worlds of homo sapiens and established their own quiet planetary colonies. Which made it all the more inexplicable when reports came in of fierce planetary marauders, looting and burning, who were of ler ancestry... moreThe human race had divided into two species. One had created the other - normal humans had experimented in forced evolution and had produced the ler, a sort of supermen race, but pacifistic and contemplative. The ler fled from the turbulent worlds of homo sapiens and established their own quiet planetary colonies. Which made it all the more inexplicable when reports came in of fierce planetary marauders, looting and burning, who were of ler ancestry. The existence of barbarian lers was a contradiction in terms. And the search for their reasons for existence was to take a human male and a ler female into an expedition into strange worlds and the unsuspected bypasses of all the systems of science and philosophy. less

The Ler had been genetically created to be a new race of supermen, and the experiment had not been entirely successful. They were superior to normal humans in certain ways, but all too human in others. Grudgingly, suspiciously, the overpopulated billions of Earth allotted the families of the Ler a special reservation - a last wilderness area where they could live their odd lives, contribute their brilliant talents to humanity's desperate needs - and yet be under constant surveillance.

His name was Meure and he hired out on an alien ship to see the universe. There were ler aboard that vessel-transmuted humans who were partial supermen-and specifically there was the ler girl Flerdestar who had a mission. When Meure and Flerdestar were marooned on the world they called Monsalvat, they were confronted by a planetary enigma involving time and space... moreHis name was Meure and he hired out on an alien ship to see the universe. There were ler aboard that vessel-transmuted humans who were partial supermen-and specifically there was the ler girl Flerdestar who had a mission. When Meure and Flerdestar were marooned on the world they called Monsalvat, they were confronted by a planetary enigma involving time and space. For Monsalvat had a myriad human species, all alien to each other, and all in awe of the Mystery that dominated their isolated planet. Here is the long-awaited major novel by the author of THE GAMEPLAYERS OF ZAN and WARRIORS OF DAWN. It is a masterwork of alien wonders, human ingenuities, of the past invading the present, and of the perverted legacy of the legendary mistress of the first starship, the mad ler Sanjirmil... less

Out of print since 1985, these three classic novels form a trilogy that chronicles the history of an alternate human race, the Ler, from their origins as a bioengineered "superhuman" race on Earth to their complex civilizations in space. Together, the books form a challenging examination of what it means to be human.