I'm having a hard time figuring out what I didn't like about this one.
I know that Chill was apparently a very tough job for Ms. Bear to write, and I think it shows it. To me, Chill didn't flow as easily as Dust did. I guess it may be middle of the series syndrome, even if, yes, stuff happened. Another element may be the explanation of where the crew's symbiotes and other bio-engineering came from. Sometimes a little mystery is good. Another was how everyone was manipulated perfectly by a dead character into doing what was needed. Finally, the resemblance to Frank Herbert's Destination Void is there, but with evolution standing in for AI.
I am curious about the third book, if only because I want to see where they go (back home? Onward?) And maybe take a peak at the folks that put the ship in that situation - the New Evolutionists.
Likes: Generation ship setting; interesting ideas; peak behind the curtain; use of the Xanatos plot.
Dislikes: Felt like a placeholder; a large element of 'seen it before'; ending feeling of 'Now what?'
I know that Chill was apparently a very tough job for Ms. Bear to write, and I think it shows it. To me, Chill didn't flow as easily as Dust did. I guess it may be middle of the series syndrome, even if, yes, stuff happened. Another element may be the explanation of where the crew's symbiotes and other bio-engineering came from. Sometimes a little mystery is good. Another was how everyone was manipulated perfectly by a dead character into doing what was needed. Finally, the resemblance to Frank Herbert's Destination Void is there, but with evolution standing in for AI.
I am curious about the third book, if only because I want to see where they go (back home? Onward?) And maybe take a peak at the folks that put the ship in that situation - the New Evolutionists.
Likes: Generation ship setting; interesting ideas; peak behind the curtain; use of the Xanatos plot.
Dislikes: Felt like a placeholder; a large element of 'seen it before'; ending feeling of 'Now what?'
WARNING: No spoilers for Chill, but plenty of spoilers for Dust.
Chill picks up almost directly after Dust ended, when the ship is reeling from the nova blast and the crew is reeling from all of the deaths, particularly Rien's sacrifice to bring the new angel -- an A.I. integrating all of the splinter A.I.s that developed when the ship broke down centuries before -- into existence. Perceval is now captain, but she is barely functional as she deals with her grief, and there is an enormous power vacuum that the remaining Exalts of Rule and Engine -- both those for and against Perceval's captaincy -- are scrambling to fill. And while the A.I.s have all been integrated into the new angel, it is bothered by enormous black spaces in its awareness of the ship, due either to damage or enemy machinations.
And then a very dangerous prisoner escapes, so two teams -- one led by Tristen, the other by Benedick -- are sent in pursuit.
The plot is made up entirely by that pursuit, and I found that choice disappointing. The entire plot of Dust was Perceval and Rien fleeing through the fascinating landscape of the half-ruined ship; to have the entire plot of this one be another chase through a now-much-more-familiar landscape just seemed repetitive. There are a couple new and exciting set-pieces -- particularly a scene involving massive intelligent fungi doing something deliciously unexpected -- but ultimately I felt a bit let down by Bear's imagination. What stood out most about Dust for me was how gloriously imaginative the world-building was; with that thrill behind me this was just another SF action novel.
Or would have been, were it not for the characters.
If there was one flaw in Dust, it was that all of the characters were ciphers to me for 2/3 of the novel. Not so here. Dust and Chill ended up being mirror images of each other: the first all ideas and no character development; the second few (new) ideas but wonderful, complex characters with long histories and complicated relationships. The chase plot is really just window-dressing for internal, character-driven action, as the characters left standing after Dust figure out who they want to be in this new world.
Unfortunately, window-dressing or not the chase plot was still there, and it required a resolution, and that resolution was something of a deus-ex-machina. It also left a pretty significant plot thread dangling, as this is the middle book of a trilogy. But for these characters I would forgive a great deal more than that.
Chill picks up almost directly after Dust ended, when the ship is reeling from the nova blast and the crew is reeling from all of the deaths, particularly Rien's sacrifice to bring the new angel -- an A.I. integrating all of the splinter A.I.s that developed when the ship broke down centuries before -- into existence. Perceval is now captain, but she is barely functional as she deals with her grief, and there is an enormous power vacuum that the remaining Exalts of Rule and Engine -- both those for and against Perceval's captaincy -- are scrambling to fill. And while the A.I.s have all been integrated into the new angel, it is bothered by enormous black spaces in its awareness of the ship, due either to damage or enemy machinations.
And then a very dangerous prisoner escapes, so two teams -- one led by Tristen, the other by Benedick -- are sent in pursuit.
The plot is made up entirely by that pursuit, and I found that choice disappointing. The entire plot of Dust was Perceval and Rien fleeing through the fascinating landscape of the half-ruined ship; to have the entire plot of this one be another chase through a now-much-more-familiar landscape just seemed repetitive. There are a couple new and exciting set-pieces -- particularly a scene involving massive intelligent fungi doing something deliciously unexpected -- but ultimately I felt a bit let down by Bear's imagination. What stood out most about Dust for me was how gloriously imaginative the world-building was; with that thrill behind me this was just another SF action novel.
Or would have been, were it not for the characters.
If there was one flaw in Dust, it was that all of the characters were ciphers to me for 2/3 of the novel. Not so here. Dust and Chill ended up being mirror images of each other: the first all ideas and no character development; the second few (new) ideas but wonderful, complex characters with long histories and complicated relationships. The chase plot is really just window-dressing for internal, character-driven action, as the characters left standing after Dust figure out who they want to be in this new world.
Unfortunately, window-dressing or not the chase plot was still there, and it required a resolution, and that resolution was something of a deus-ex-machina. It also left a pretty significant plot thread dangling, as this is the middle book of a trilogy. But for these characters I would forgive a great deal more than that.
