On a broken ship orbiting a doomed sun, dwellers have grown complacent with their aging metal world. But when a serving girl frees a captive noblew...
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Dec 13, 2010
Max
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The first few chapters of this book are precisely what I look for in a science fiction novel: surreal yet plausible, well-written, with an eye towards the way that singularity (or singularity-ish) technology would distort our culture and thought, not just our physical condition -- the kind of stuff Roger Zelazny does on his A game. Knights and angels (and knights that look like angels), all empowered by nanotech, make war on a wrecked spaceship so ancient its inhabitants have forgotten technolo
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Dec 25, 2008
Shaun
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Last year I reviewed Bear's Carnival and have had my eye on her since. She's one of those few writers who manages to write science fiction that deals with serious issues that doesn't feel so serious to me--and don't get me wrong, I like serious SF, but it's nice when you can get a story that is occupied both by future ideas and societal issues.
Dust is an unique novel--not necessarily original, but unique. Unlike Carnival, Dust seamlessly merges fantasy and science fiction, making it More...
Dust is an unique novel--not necessarily original, but unique. Unlike Carnival, Dust seamlessly merges fantasy and science fiction, making it More...
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Nov 30, 2008
Christina
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 04, 2012
Kate
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Not really my cuppa tea. The writing is good (Elizabeth Bear casually tosses off delicious words like "insouciant") and the worldbuilding was pretty good overall. I did find the description of the binary system tedious, especially of the white dwarf, but this may be because I was a Physics major and took a course on astronomy; it may be less tedious for those less familiar with astronomy. Overall, though, I didn't care that much for the book for two reasons. Firstly, I didn't care much
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Jan 08, 2012
Alytha
rated it: 
Finished Dust by Elizabeth Bear a couple of days ago, and really liked it.
A thousand years ago, a sect left Earth in a huge generation ship called the Jacob's Ladder. After about 500 years, something catastrophic happened, disabling the ship's engines. It was parked in orbit around a binary star and patched up as well as possible, but large percentages became uninhabitable. Another 500 years later, the various members of the Conn family feud against each other in several medieval-like More...
A thousand years ago, a sect left Earth in a huge generation ship called the Jacob's Ladder. After about 500 years, something catastrophic happened, disabling the ship's engines. It was parked in orbit around a binary star and patched up as well as possible, but large percentages became uninhabitable. Another 500 years later, the various members of the Conn family feud against each other in several medieval-like More...
Apr 06, 2011
Chris
rated it:
The concept of the stranded generational starship isn't new. It is a great platform to discuss society and the authors belief of society and how pressures of proximity allow for a condensed version of time to show how societies grow and evolve or de evolve however the case may be.
The difference in this book is in the quality of the characters and her ability to add in teh concepts of high fantasy into the setting of a technological world. She uses the tropes of magic and of " More...
The difference in this book is in the quality of the characters and her ability to add in teh concepts of high fantasy into the setting of a technological world. She uses the tropes of magic and of " More...
Feb 21, 2011
Dana
rated it:
(January book for "The Women of Science Fiction" 2011 reading challenge.)
The really short version of Dust is that it is a story about the people on a generation ship. Which is, of course, true. But the generation ship has been stuck in “temporary” orbit around this particular star for 500 years after an unknown disaster forced it to find somewhere it could stop for repairs. In that time, the people, and to some degree the ship, have forgotten that the ship is a ship meant to More...
The really short version of Dust is that it is a story about the people on a generation ship. Which is, of course, true. But the generation ship has been stuck in “temporary” orbit around this particular star for 500 years after an unknown disaster forced it to find somewhere it could stop for repairs. In that time, the people, and to some degree the ship, have forgotten that the ship is a ship meant to More...
Feb 14, 2011
Louise
rated it: 
I sped through the last quarter of this book not because I wanted to know what happened, but because the story was trash and I just wanted to get it over with. I guess it says something that I actually finished the book, but I'm not sure what.
Dust takes place on a giant multi-generation space ship that's stranded in space. In case you haven't been reading my reviews, don't ever ever go into space. Bad stuff ALWAYS happens in space. And the "bad stuff" in Dust is mostly the More...
Dust takes place on a giant multi-generation space ship that's stranded in space. In case you haven't been reading my reviews, don't ever ever go into space. Bad stuff ALWAYS happens in space. And the "bad stuff" in Dust is mostly the More...
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Jan 10, 2011
Kerry
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I really enjoyed this. I was a bit nervous starting as my experience with Elizabeth Bear has previously left me feeling kind of stupid.
I read and loved Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water, but mostly because of the beauty of the prose. I was left somewhat confused about what had actually gone on plot-wise. For that reason, while I own the other two Promethean Age books (Ink and Steel and Hell and Earth) I've never been quite brave enough to start them. I feel the same way about the More...
I read and loved Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water, but mostly because of the beauty of the prose. I was left somewhat confused about what had actually gone on plot-wise. For that reason, while I own the other two Promethean Age books (Ink and Steel and Hell and Earth) I've never been quite brave enough to start them. I feel the same way about the More...
Apr 14, 2011
Natalie
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I got about half way through this book before I realized I actually couldn't care less about the characters. I pondered why, because I found the book interesting and it was filled with queerness, which I love in my sci-fi, and the court intrigue was convoluted, as it should be... but as our heroines found themselves in danger I had no sense of urgency. I just felt ho-hum.
So, as I finished the last bit of the book I tried to decipher why I felt like that. I finally decided that the book More...
So, as I finished the last bit of the book I tried to decipher why I felt like that. I finally decided that the book More...
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Jan 18, 2011
Alexandra
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 22, 2011
Josh
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Very interesting book about interstellar exploration by a future humanity somewhere between Kardashev Type I and Type II, with functional, intelligent nanotech, but without any supralight travel or communication.
The author does an excellent job with both the time scale involved with generation ships (and the loss of knowledge and rise of mythology that later generations would have regarding the status of the ship/world, its controlling intelligences, and old earth) and with carefully More...
The author does an excellent job with both the time scale involved with generation ships (and the loss of knowledge and rise of mythology that later generations would have regarding the status of the ship/world, its controlling intelligences, and old earth) and with carefully More...
Feb 03, 2011
Viridian5
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There are a lot of very interesting and promising ideas in Dust--a colony ship in space where entropy is taking over, an artificial "world" within that ship, a society that seems part feudal but where its aristocracy are people who have colonies in their bodies that make them more than human, the battle of "angels" who are pieces of the original ship AI, the impending explosion of nearby stars that would destroy the ship--but Bear rarely capitalizes on them. There are several
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Jan 29, 2012
Julie
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I liked this book for the incredible descriptions of the world, which is a huge generational star ship but which the human characters experience more as a real, planetary-type place. There are rivers and caves and mountains and trees and most of the time the characters seem to live a medieval existence. But it soon becomes obvious that they also know they are on a ship traveling through space, although they are strangely uninterested in figuring out where they are, or how the ship works, or wh
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Aug 28, 2011
Niall519
rated it:
Second book of Elizabeth Bear's that I've read (with the first being 'All The Windracked Stars'), and she just keeps blowing my mind with her beautiful juxtapositions and unexpected combinations. 'Dust' is one of the most interesting generation-ship stories that I've read.
The story is not entirely straightforward, and not explained in easy to digest info-dumps for dummies; the characters unreliable narrators; and the pace reasonably driving (although perhaps a little too condensed in the last th More...
The story is not entirely straightforward, and not explained in easy to digest info-dumps for dummies; the characters unreliable narrators; and the pace reasonably driving (although perhaps a little too condensed in the last th More...
Aug 21, 2011
Rattyfleef
rated it:
Augh! I'm glad I have book 2 to hand.
Not a chewy easy-to-love book; as with a lot of Bear's work you've got to reach in and meet the characters halfway. Fuck if I didn't love Ng and Perceval and Rien though. Wall-to-wall genderfuck, yay! Some bits of the last third didn't quite work for me, and I could have done with a little more explanation in some bits, but overall me likey. Onward to book 2, Chill!
Oh. Worth noting in that, rarely for me, there are characters wanting to h More...
Not a chewy easy-to-love book; as with a lot of Bear's work you've got to reach in and meet the characters halfway. Fuck if I didn't love Ng and Perceval and Rien though. Wall-to-wall genderfuck, yay! Some bits of the last third didn't quite work for me, and I could have done with a little more explanation in some bits, but overall me likey. Onward to book 2, Chill!
Oh. Worth noting in that, rarely for me, there are characters wanting to h More...
Mar 25, 2011
Emily
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A beautifully designed world of nanotechnology, setting the story in a damaged multi-generational spaceship with a fragmented AI struggling to regain control of the ship in time to save it. I loved the imaginative environment and the first part of the book, but unfortunately both the writing and the characters fell apart a bit in the last half, and ultimately the ending felt unconvincing and unsatisfactory. It still gets big points for the detailed and creative world, but I'm disappointed becaus
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Mar 24, 2011
Leilani
rated it:
The prose is sharp, clear, and elegant. I started the story not really knowing much about what was going on because the cover blurb was covered up by the library sticker, but also because the author wants it that way. Uncovering the setting is a large part of the enjoyment of this. It's a grand setting, full of adventure. The characters are sympathetic and gritty, but somehow remain at a distance, as though seen through glass. And the end didn't fully convince me. Even so, I enjoyed Dust a
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Jul 11, 2011
Michelle
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 30, 2011
Hilcia
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Dust by Elizabeth Bear is the first book in the Jacob's Ladder trilogy, a 2007 release. The trilogy is categorized as science fiction, however I found enough fantasy elements in this first book that places it firmly into the science fiction/fantasy category for me. This didn't surprise me overmuch after having read some of Bear's other works and discovering her talent to seamlessly weave fantasy with mythology, so why not with science-fiction?
Bear takes a broken down ship in the midd More...
Bear takes a broken down ship in the midd More...
Oct 09, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
(originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)
In Dust, Bear creates a vast and wonderful society living in large spaceship that is often referred to as the world. Something I didn't know because I am new to hard science fiction is that a generation ship is a known occurrence in the genre. It's a ship that is created and outfitted to last several generations traveling in space, and thus required to sustain its occupants so that when it eventually reaches its destination, the specie More...
In Dust, Bear creates a vast and wonderful society living in large spaceship that is often referred to as the world. Something I didn't know because I am new to hard science fiction is that a generation ship is a known occurrence in the genre. It's a ship that is created and outfitted to last several generations traveling in space, and thus required to sustain its occupants so that when it eventually reaches its destination, the specie More...
Jan 08, 2011
Membrillu
rated it:
En realitat no sabia si posar-li 3 o 4 estrelles perquè la sensació que m'ha deixat en tancar-lo és bona. El trajecte, però té una mica massa de sotracs. Només el recomanaria als veritablement aficionats a la cienciaficció. És una història amb un enfoc molt original, tot i que la trama en si, si la mires de forma abstracta, no ho és tant. És una curiosa barreja de ciberpunk, novel·la de caballeries i space-opera. M'ha deixat amb ganes de llegir la continuació.
El cert és que encara l'he de p More...
El cert és que encara l'he de p More...
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Jan 18, 2011
Nancy
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The World is at war. After losing a fight with Airane, Princess of Rule, Sir Perceval is taken prisoner. Wracked with sorrow from the loss of her wings during the battle, Perceval waits alone in her cell to be executed. Then she meets her caretaker, a young servant named Rien. Rien doesn't know it, but she is actually Perceval's half sister, and royalty herself. Perceval and Rien must escape from Rule. If they don't, not only will Perceval's body be killed by Ariane, but he mind consumed as well
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Aug 07, 2011
Miranda
rated it:
I should have loved Dust. It has all the elements I tend to love in a story. Religious allegory? Check. Strong characters? Check. Sacrifice for the greater good? Check. These are all things I enjoy in Fantasy, but they didn’t draw me in this time. It took being almost halfway through for me to not get distracted away easily. One thing I really did enjoy was that the main character was a lesbian, but her sexuality doesn’t define her. Too often a homosexual character’s sexuality plays a major rol
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Oct 06, 2010
Phoenixfalls
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Dust is a difficult book to review. It is a work of glorious genre- and gender-bending. It had moments of hilarity and moments of heartbreak, and way more sensawonder than any book I've read this year (including Zelazny's Lord of Light and M. John Harrison's Light). But the characters were ciphers to me through the first two-thirds, and I'm positive that I didn't get any of the allusions fully. Still, I shall do my best, and talk about the elements that occur to me in order.
First, th More...
First, th More...
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Sep 20, 2008
Juushika
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On a broken ship orbiting a dying sun, an angel is captured and her wings severed. But before her captor can devour her memory and mind, and so spark a war between their two houses, the angel Percival escapes with the servant charged with her care, her half sister Rein. Together, they journey through the distant bowels of the crumbling ship, trying to stop a war, their every step watched by the divine fragments that have the power to save the ship. Bear's novel is outside of the ordinary: transc
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Nov 01, 2008
April
rated it:
Elizabeth Bear has gotten a lot of hype with some of my favorite readers out there. The story is about Rien and Perceval, two long lost sisters who find each other when Perceval is about to be executed by Rien’s “household.” Running away together, they find a world- an old spaceship once ruled by sentient artificial intelligence with a God complex- in danger of being blown to bits by the supernova of their star. They have to find the pieces of “God” left over and somehow get them to work togethe
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Jun 29, 2008
Brownbetty
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Like the old saw about sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic, in Dust, the technology has become indistinguishable from gods, and the humans who let themselves be remade by it are only demi-gods. The effect, then, is of a strange Pilgrim's Progress.
The world building reminds me a bit of Verner Vinge. I want to call it imaginative, but that's not strong enough. Certain medieval trappings gave what nearly always turned out to be a misleading impression More...
The world building reminds me a bit of Verner Vinge. I want to call it imaginative, but that's not strong enough. Certain medieval trappings gave what nearly always turned out to be a misleading impression More...
Jun 03, 2008
Emily
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A generation ship, disabled, limps in orbit around an unstable binary star that could self-immolate at any moment. For five hundred years, Engine and Rule have established quasi-medieval fiefdoms with the Exalt - whose bodies are augmented by a nanotech symbiont - ruling over the Mean. And the artificial intelligence that once controlled the ship’s systems has splintered into ‘angels’ - chief among them Samael, the angel of death (or life support, at any rate) and Jacob Dust, the angel of memory
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Feb 26, 2008
Deborah
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I finished this one last night and, upon sleeping on it and reflecting, have decided that I don't much care for it. The premise is intriguing and full of curiosity: so much so that I do want to see where Elizabeth Bear takes it. I'm just not sure I want to actually read the ensuing books to find out. I may simply wiki it when the time comes.
However, I found the writing difficult. Bear's style is very, hmmm... staccato. Abrupt. Ragged. I couldn't get into the flow of the story because More...
However, I found the writing difficult. Bear's style is very, hmmm... staccato. Abrupt. Ragged. I couldn't get into the flow of the story because More...
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