Chill

January 25, 2010
Having survived the events of 2007’s Dust
, the crew of the generation starship Jacob’s Ladder, marooned for centuries, find themselves once more racing though space. Unfortunately, the ship is badly damaged, large sections are out of communication with the central computer, and the highly augmented Exalt who rule the ship and its merely human occupants have lost the knowledge of how to select a destination. Antagonist Arianrhod is still alive, free, and a potential threat. Dealing with these problems involves epic journeys across a massive, poorly mapped spacecraft and confrontations with forgotten and suppressed relics of the past. Bear enhances the usual generation ship themes—social amnesia, decaying infrastructure, and mission-threatening grand calamities—with enough new flourishes, including a biotechnology-based class system and cruel experiments based on misapprehensions of Darwin, to keep readers happily engaged.

March 15, 2010
The Jacobs Ladder has a captain again: Perceval. But she hasnt forgiven the angel of ships systems for not being Rien. Rebellious Arianrhod has escaped from her acceleration pod, which means the remaining Conns must track her across the wreckage of the ship, which something is eating away at, something that the angel who isnt Rien cant see. Arianhrod has at least one powerful ally, the remnant of an angel, and she makes sure that Tristen walks into a heaven where hell have to face his past. Benedick and Tristen have a long journey through a transit tube, on which they meet a fascinating bunch of creatures. Revelations about the original builders, family drama, and long-hidden secrets of the secret order of astrogators all figure into this altogether satisfying continuation of Dust (2008). Though still strongly echoing Zelazny and Peake, Bears storytelling is very much her own, and the Conn familys dysfunctions are of a particular and distinctive flavor. The world of Jacobs Ladder is magnificently populated, well worth visiting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)