Elizabeth Bear Spins a Complicated SF Tale

Elizabeth Bear's latest science fiction novel, Dust, is a grand space adventure where angels and ghosts of computers work together, or sometimes at cross-purposes, to keep a society in existence. A massive spacecraft carries the remnants of a dying civilization to a new home; or it would be if it wasn't stranded. Subsequent generations have adapted to life on a spaceship through genetically-altering themselves in various ways. Now the sun they are orbiting is about to expire, and their civilization is once again threatened. To survive, the ships artificial mind, now splintered into dozens of separate personalities, must merge again, against their will, and they have no qualms in using various members of the living as pawns to gain power. Through this all, young Rien, a handmaid in a feudal society, is just trying to survive, and when she discovers that the mutilated "angel," Ser Percival, who she is assigned to care for, is her half-sister, she find herself in the untenable position of betraying her cruel ruler and rescuing her captor. As Rien comes of age, she also find herself a key player in this conflict to save her race.

Bear is adept at writing big, complex sci fi sagas such as this. She also ignores convention with regard to sexuality and relationships, having her characters love come in varied forms. Bear is clearly talented, but some of she may be mixing in a few too many elements, cluttering her story to the point of distraction. The powerful ending may lead many to the eventual sequel.