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Dust

(Jacob's Ladder #1)

Elizabeth Bear (Goodreads Author)

3.65 · Rating details · 1,956 ratings · 271 reviews

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 noblewoman, the old order is about to change....

Ariane, Princess of the House of Rule, was known to be fiercely cold-blooded. But severing an angel’s wings on the battlefield—even after she had surrendered—proved her completely ...more

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Paperback, 342 pages

Published January 2008 by Spectra (first published January 1st 2007)

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Aug 06, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

Loads of interesting concepts and wonderful writing in Elizabeth Bear's Dust (Jacob's Ladder #1). The story, set on a generational ship, is driven by divergent evolution, advanced biotechnology, AI's, and a new mythology. This sort of speculation is something I really appreciate about science fiction. The plot is sometimes confusing, but the actual writing and language is very strong. I look forward to reading more from Elizabeth Bear.

Aside, I met Elizabeth Bear at GenCon a few days ago ...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Phoenixfalls rated it really liked it

Shelves: elizabeth-bear, science-fiction, family, quest, gothic, arthurian, sf-challenge, apocalyptic, cannibalism, religion

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, the science 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, the science fiction. This is a broken-down generation ship novel, and the ship itself is a glorious bit of world-building. It is the world to its inhabitants, but they're under no pretenses that it is also a ship, and they curse accordingly -- Space! is the usual ejaculant, and the Enemy of vaccuum is present in several wonder-and-horror-tinged E.V.A.s. The ship is enormous, and much of it is dead, and what is left alive is incredibly strange, full of both nanotechnology and plain old terrestrial biology run amok. The people who set out in Jacob's Ladder (the ship's name) loved tinkering with genetics (for reasons explained about a third of the way in which I shan't spoil but which have bearing on the next section) so the humans now on board are split into the Exalt -- people whose blood literally runs blue due to their nanotech symbionts -- and the Mean, baseline humans who are forced to serve. The Exalt have clearly played with their genetics, many being winged, or furred, or otherwise altered, but even the Mean are not quite humans like us, as Bear makes it clear early on that there are at least three genders present -- men, women, and kant, the ungendered. (She invents new pronouns for the kant: "hir" and "sie" which function well enough but when first presented look unfortunately like typos.) And there are any number of artificial intelligences running around, greater and lesser ones, some diffuse throughout the ship, others contained in rather unlikely places (like a laser-torc that is also a basilisk, or a nuclear reactor leak).

And running through all this SF coolness are biblical and Arthurian and gothic allusions that make the novel look and feel quite a bit more like high fantasy. One of the two protagonists is called Sir Perceval, and she (I did mention the gender-bending, didn't I?) is also a celibate knight on a quest; the Exalt, as mentioned before, are literally blue-blooded and have split what remains of the ship into domaines which they rule through primogeniture; and the A.I.s are referred to as "angels" and all (except one) have taken (or were given? it's unclear) names straight out of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

But this is NOT fantasy dressed up as science fiction. It has all the trappings of a quest fantasy because it draws on those sources that quest fantasy evolved from, but these characters chose them consciously. The Exalt created their high-tech Medieval world, and their ancestors built the Biblical A.I.s, and the fact that there are two different sets of referents being used by two classes of individuals (the Exalt and the A.I.s) is totally consistent and meaningful. This is a consciously feudal future, one where terms like "Exalt" and "angel" are thrown around divorced from any sense of reverence or religious connotation (but again, not without a meaning that I don't want to spoil).

There are also all the social SF elements -- this is the future, and one of the understated ways Bear makes sure we don't forget that is the way their mores are not our mores. There are the three common genders, and there's a double-gendered individual (I couldn't tell for sure, but I don't *think* that was a common thing; there weren't special pronouns for the single double-gendered person so I'm assuming that that choice isn't common, though it didn't particularly surprise or apall the characters who met him/her/hir); there's sexuality of all stripes presented matter-of-factly, including incest (after all, if there's no worry about inbreeding leading to monsters. . .); there's also cannibalism as a matter of course, because an Exalt who consumes another Exalt gains access to their identity -- memories and personality included. And yet alongside that cannibalism everyone appears to be very casually vegetarian, because humans are wonderful at maintaining two mutually-exclusive world views, and I wouldn't expect that to be any different in the future.

Did you notice that this is only a 342-page novel? That's a lot to unpack, and that's one of the reasons I was engaged but not enthralled through the first 200 pages. Bear never hands the reader information -- all this world-building was accomplished without a single info-dump, and without any of the characters having those terribly awkward "As you know, Bob" conversations. But getting all that across and moving the quest along left less time than I would like to get to know the characters. Bear starts the novel at the last possible second (as you should, but as very few authors do, preferring to give their readers a few introductory chapters to make sure they're solidly grounded in the world and the people and the power structure) and that unfortunately means that I didn't have a clue why Rien and Perceval were acting the way they were at first. I had some guesses, and my guesses ended up being right, but it took 200 pages for me to be really comfortable in their skins, to feel like they were acting rather than reacting.

Once I was there I was with them body and soul, and the ending kind of floored me, but it took a while. ...more

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Nov 01, 2014 Chris rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fof-reads

Delayed review, at last:

I really don’t know what I just read, for two reasons. One, I was confused as all get out. Second, my mind was drifting to things that were more interesting, like the hands of my clock turning around. Nice thing about audiobooks are that when you drift or fall asleep, they continue to play. Eventually I heard “The End” and I could mark the damn thing as complete.

There were elements in this book that reminded me of three others. Unfortunately, it was the annoying qualities ...more

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May 16, 2015 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi, worldbuilding-sf, space-opera, transhumanism

I keep hearing Elizabeth Bear in all my regular haunts, I knew she had a lot of writing with nanotech, heavy-sf, and mythology, all of which I'm particularly fond. So why haven't I picked up her works before now?

I'm an idiot. I can't think of a more accurate reason.

So here I am, reading Dust and seeing a serving girl rescue a princess who just got her wings torn off and the lady of the household is preparing for war. All good and fine for a fantasy novel, only they're preparing for war within a I keep hearing Elizabeth Bear in all my regular haunts, I knew she had a lot of writing with nanotech, heavy-sf, and mythology, all of which I'm particularly fond. So why haven't I picked up her works before now?

I'm an idiot. I can't think of a more accurate reason.

So here I am, reading Dust and seeing a serving girl rescue a princess who just got her wings torn off and the lady of the household is preparing for war. All good and fine for a fantasy novel, only they're preparing for war within a generational spaceship that broke down, it's all-encompassing AI gone schizo, and everyone wants to put humpty-dumpty back together again by eating each other's minds until "The One" can become the Captain.

Okay! I was wondering where this was going. Now I know, and I really like it! But wait, the schizo AI is really fragmented and spun out conflicting personas that are called Angels and like to stab each other in the backs. And they're also godlike. And they like to mess around in the destinies of mere bio-and-nano enhanced humans living in this experimental breeding ground. Who's good? Who's bad?

Our serving girl gets an upgrade, and our rescued princess tells her that she's her half-sister. (What? Oh wait, that makes sense after you see how inbred everyone is on a generational spaceship.) Politics plays a big role throughout the novel, but only in the sense of gods playing with mere mortals, fathers using their children as bargaining chips, and the sense that we've all just been sent into a final battle royale.) The sibling's love can get rather complicated, but their regard never wavers, even when the two get pitted on either side of a tug of war between gods. Good conflict there, I suppose, but it didn't quite have the outcome the setup might have warranted.

Am I dissatisfied with the outcome? I'm not sure. Something nags at me about the entire direction of the novel, and it's more of a forest question, not the trees. The trees were just fine. I like the ending. I just wonder if we could have had more directed conflict in the middle or even a few more reversals. The confusion of the main characters was fine, I just wonder if there should have been a bit more tugging from the non-godlike characters.

That being said, I'm excited to read the other two books in the trilogy.

Spoiler alert!

Computronium is people. COMPUTRONIUM IS PEOPLE! I like the development where we've all been turned into breeding farms for smart swarms of nanos in order to retroactively fix the starship. There's a hell of a lot of fun in here once you get beyond the angel's machinations. It's a much smarter fix for the Duracell argument.

Do I recommend? Hell yes if you want a good dose of symbolism and nanos, a-la Zelazny's Lord of Light, but not as powerful.
...more

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May 17, 2018 Lis Carey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: f-sf, audiobooks, fiction

Jacob's Ladder is a generation ship, launched by an unusual religious cult, now stranded in orbit around a double star. After 500 years of drifting in orbit, the ship damaged and the the ship's AI fragmented into multiple units that have been dubbed Angels, the ship's population is divided into separate, rival populations in different parts of the ship. Rule and Engine are about to go to war. There's a struggle over who will be the new Commodore.

But the stars are heading toward going nova very ...more

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Mar 27, 2017 The Shayne-Train rated it really liked it

This was an excellent, sometimes-surrealistic, sometimes-ultra-realistic story of angels and knights and computer avatars trying to save/take over/destroy a huge, almost-decrepit generational starship that has become the 'world' to a human population.

This is an extremely hard book to review, I find. There's so much going on. But, as is always the case with Ms. Bear's superb writing, the tapestry it weaves inside your mind is gorgeous, nuanced, and satisfying.

I plan to read the other two in the ...more

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Dec 02, 2014 aPriL does feral sometimes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, metafiction, illuminating, twisted-my-synapses-peculiar, awesomely-silly-but-i-loved-it, young-adult, its-not-what-i-was-expecting

The front cover might give the impression this sophisticated YA book is a religious fantasy, but IMHO the story is pure science fiction.

The plot is a mystery and a quest, with a fantasy tone. There is a lot of extremely impressive advanced biotechnology which has reshaped some humans into winged body forms. There are AI's which think of themselves as incorporeal gods/angels, creating their self-image from the ebooks within their computerized libraries. There are animals and insects scampering ...more

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Dec 25, 2008 Shaun Duke rated it really liked it

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 the kind of 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 the kind of novel that can appeal to both sides of the fence. Dust follows Sir Perceval and Rien, two of many inhabitants who have become complacent with their lives on a massive orbiting spaceship. Time there amongst the ship's internal landscapes has led them to create gods out of the ship's AIs, angels out of nanotech-augmented humans, and servants out of those born normal--the makings of a caste system. When Ariane, a princess of Rule, captures Sir Perceval, cuts off Perceval's wings, and consumes her superior--a process that isn't exactly like it sounds--she sets out to start war with the other Houses and take over the rest of the ship by consuming Jacob Dust, one of the ship's gods. When Rien saves Perceval and together they mount a daring escape through the vacuum of space to another part of the ship, she learns that not only is Ariane a danger to the ship and everyone else, but the star the ship orbits as well. The star is dying, and if unity cannot be restored throughout the ship, everyone on board will die...

Dust certainly has an epic feel, as if merging the adventurous feel of Tobias S. Buckell's high-flying Ragamuffin novels, hard science fiction a la Chris Moriarty, and traditional fantasy elements, with Karen Miller coming to mind. But, through all this, Bear's writing style remains relatively unique. This can be good at times and bad at other times. I had some problems getting into the flow of the novel, what you might call the natural rhythm of the writing itself. I can't say this was necessarily bad, though, and probably had more to do with an unfamiliarity with Bear's style--consistent readers of Bear probably won't even notice this. I enjoyed the story, but it was something that I noticed while reading. Perhaps others won't notice it. I would liken it to the experience one might have when switching genre styles, if that makes sense.

What really set this work apart from other novels in the SF/F vein is how perfectly it merges the two genres. Arthur C. Clarke's third law is that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and I think this novel is a good example of that law in action. True, Bear talks about what gives the Exalts their power, and even refers to things like AI and computers, but the people living on this ship treat this world and the strange things in it in the same way we might treat magic. Strange creatures exist in the world as remnants of dead gods and some humans have wings and advanced healing abilities. It is, in a way, a fantasy world that just happens to be on a spaceship.

One of the things I like about Elizabeth Bear's work is that she writes stories that are on the outside very much examples of good genre work, but on the inside are stories of forbidden love. Both books I have read from Bear have dealt with same-sex relationships in some capacity and Bear certainly has a handle on these themes. In Dust, Sir Perceval and Rien deal with issues of celibacy--Perceval's choice in order to avoid suitors--and difference--Perceval is an Exalt, one of the super humans and Rien is a Mean, or, to put it simply, one of the normal folks. There is a lot more to their relationship that I won't ruin here, but it adds to the tension as they get to know one another through the course of the book. My only complaint with this relationship is that it didn't feel as developed as in Carnival, though perhaps making a comparison here isn't the correct thing to do.

Additionally, folks with an extensive background in medieval literature, or even a passing fancy, may find this story rich in Biblical and medieval references--particularly references to the Garden of Eden. If you don't notice them, don't worry, because it's not necessary to enjoy the story, but it does add a little depth to the characters. The plot itself harks back to some of the medieval romances, journey and all.

Overall I liked Dust, though it wasn't perfect. The ending needed something more, although I can't imagine Bear could have written it any differently here. Perhaps there is a sequel that shows what happens next? I enjoyed the action and the world she had created, although I think more time could have been spent on the beginning to give it a firmer hold on the overall story--it felt somewhat rushed, though not badly enough to make me cringe. Fans of Bear's work will likely love this one just as much as everything else, and new readers may find this to be an interesting merging of genres with good themes and sympathetic characters--complex relationships exist here too, though, again, perhaps more time could have been spent developing such things (then again, my nitpicking, if taken to heart, might have resulted in a 600-page monster, rather than the 340-page piece that it is). Ultimately, this could very well be a good "ice breaker" novel for folks who haven't crossed over the line to dig into their sister genre--whether they be fantasy readers or science fiction readers. I think in some respects it might work better for the science fiction side, only because of the use of nanotechnology within Dust. I look forward to digging into something else by Elizabeth Bear. Considering how prolific she is, I have a huge selection to choose from, and so do you. Ha! ...more

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Feb 11, 2011 Louise rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

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 storytelling.

...more

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Dec 09, 2018 Jeanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: feminism, read-women, glbtq, read-2018, sci-fi-fantasy

“Oh, space.”

Elizabeth Bear's Dust is the first in a frequently disorienting, occasionally downright trippy, always original and thoughtful trilogy that is set in a space colony circling a pair of suns that are dying very, very soon. That will be the end of them all. There are things that are surprisingly similar to my life – they eat quinoa, sweetened with honey and soy milk – and others that are very different. Their world is populated by angels and Exalt, the Mean, resurrectees (zombies), “Oh, space.”

Elizabeth Bear's Dust is the first in a frequently disorienting, occasionally downright trippy, always original and thoughtful trilogy that is set in a space colony circling a pair of suns that are dying very, very soon. That will be the end of them all. There are things that are surprisingly similar to my life – they eat quinoa, sweetened with honey and soy milk – and others that are very different. Their world is populated by angels and Exalt, the Mean, resurrectees (zombies), basilisks, necromancers, and memories that extend past time (stored in computers or cannibalized by the Exalt).

Rien, a Mean (a servant), discovers that she is an Exalt who had been hidden in her evil aunt's house. Many of us have dreamt that our real parents are royalty or famous. In our fantasies, this would solve all our problems, but in Dust, Rien has to learn to accept her new life, while remaining true to herself.

Princesses had to battle monsters if they were going to survive, and the monsters inevitably won. If not the monster you fought against, the monster you served.

Or the monster you became.

....Was it better to become the monster, or to become the servant of the beast? (p. 304).

Rien and her newly-found sister, Sir Perceval, had to find and retain control and autonomy in a very controlling world, among people and beings they couldn't trust (or could they???), among beings who manipulated their emotions and took over their bodies. To survive, they tapped deep stores of courage, remained loyal to each other, even when it didn't make sense to them individually, and risked all.

Dust reminds me of Ann Leckie's strange (but less trippy) Ancillary series or maybe Zelazny's work (read long before Goodreads). There is something to be said to having one's world turned upside down – especially when it is thought-provoking. Or just downright silly (and real). How many of you have had conversations like this with friends?

“Gavin, I don’t mean to complain. But why are we going this way?”

“Because I was instructed by the necromancer to lead you astray, exhaust you, and then gnaw your bones,” he answered, hopping down the other side of the bulge he’d been perched on. “Unfortunately, I only have a beak, which makes it hard to gnaw, so I’m trying to scrape you to death, and in the meantime wasting power so you can see where you’re going. Why do you think we’re going this way?” (p. 115)

Really, despite the bizarre make-up of this cast of characters, this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book. Read it with a friend.
...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Alexis Hall added it

Shelves: sci-fi-and-or-fantasy

This is a sort of sci-fi fantasy mash-up (reminding me, in approach, if not in tone or content of the pulp era before SF and F became such distinct and separate things: it's set on a spaceship but there's lots of the stuff you'd normally associated with high fantasy, like myths, and bloodlines, and politicking. It seems heavily inspired by Medieval romances (chivalry, princesses, etc.) but everything comes back to advanced technology, so the swords are nanotech and the angels are AIs.

I think ...more

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Jun 09, 2010 Althea Ann rated it really liked it

First in a planned trilogy called, "Jacob's Ladder," "Dust" introduces
us to a decaying generation ship, stuck in orbit around an unstable
star. Originally the project of a religious cult, both the people and
the AIs of the ship have devolved strangely as the years have gone by.
Now, a last few bastions of people live feudally, at war with one
another, and splintered artificial intelligences believe they are gods
or angels - and are also in bitter rivalry.
In a feudal dungeon, the servant girl Rien is ...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Kate Sherrod rated it liked it

Not since I committed the slight error of letting the Wizard-Knight series be my first Gene Wolfe reads have I been so baffled and yet intrigued by a book as I was as I started Elizabeth Bear's Dust, the first book in her "Jacob's Ladder" series.

Superficially, the two works have a fair bit in common: mysterious, half-mythological worlds strange technology that looks like magic/magic that looks like technology, strong theological overtones*, opaque and ambivalent secondary characters, puzzling Not since I committed the slight error of letting the Wizard-Knight series be my first Gene Wolfe reads have I been so baffled and yet intrigued by a book as I was as I started Elizabeth Bear's Dust, the first book in her "Jacob's Ladder" series.

Superficially, the two works have a fair bit in common: mysterious, half-mythological worlds strange technology that looks like magic/magic that looks like technology, strong theological overtones*, opaque and ambivalent secondary characters, puzzling and multilayered sub-worlds. Ultimately, though Dust is better regarded as a more accessible version of some other Gene Wolfe work, his Long Sun series, which takes place aboard a generational spaceship inside a comet, governed by "gods" that are software copies of the consciousnesses of various rulers from the homeworld's deep and almost forgotten past. But where the Whorl is one complete world through which characters can travel just like they might have on Urth, Jacob's Ladder, the dying generational ship through which our two protagonists move trying to prevent a catastrophic war, is compartmentalized to the point of atomization, with each sub-world either denying the existence of others or hostile to them. Pseudo-feudalism prevails, with the most important class distinction between those whose bodies have been altered and lives extended via colonies of nanomachinery and those who have not.

As our story starts, an "Exalt" woman (i.e. a person benefiting from nanomachines) from the "Engine" world, named Sir Perceval (don't ask), has been captured in some kind of skirmish and awaits the pleasure of the petty tyrant of another sub-world, the Rule. By a Dickensian coincidence, the Mean (no nanites) assigned to keep Perceval alive turns out to be Perceval's long-lost sister**, Rien, who brings news that the petty tyrant has designs on taking over the whole of Jacob's Ladder and ruling it the way her distant ancestor, the Captain did long ago when the ship actually moved around. Naturally this ambition is inimical not only to the ways of life of every other population on the ship, but to the ship itself, which is just barely held together through the efforts of weird and mutually hostile fragments of the machine consciousness that once ran and directed the ship on its journey of exploration and colonization before disaster struck centuries ago.

Part of the story is told from the perspective of one of these god-fragments, Jacob Dust, who watches events unfold from deep inside the substance of the ship and who is only able indirectly to influence them, through a set of nanomechanical wings he has managed to graft onto Perceval's back to replace those cut off when she was captured. His motives are unclear; his interactions with other fragments intriguing but weirdly directionless, his love for Perceval and Rien infectious. The mystery of what he/it was really up to is what really propelled me through this novel.

And I needed some propelling, because once the setting and situation became clear, so did the fact that pretty much every person or entity on board Jacob's Ladder is pretty repellent, with the possible exception of Rien and Perceval, but sometimes even they are hard to take. And not in that fun, love to hate 'em way. These beings are nasty pieces of work, and descended from even nastier pieces of work, and seem kind of naturally inclined to take decisions that are, well, repellent -- even with the excuse that the deeds they contemplate are necessary for their survival.

Dust has two sequels so far, Chill and Grail, but I don't see myself hurrying to read them anytime soon. Their blurbs indicate to me that the alienating qualities that made me sort of drag my feet in reading Dust are still very much a part of the greater narrative, and I have too many books on the infinite to-be-read pile as it is, you know?

But still -- interesting.

*Though I strongly object to the cover blurb "Can a broken angel save a fallen world?" Even combined with the pleasingly H. R. Gigeresque cover art, that's a pretty misleading bit of copy, and one that put me off the book for quite a while; this is not a religious allegory or bible story in genre fiction trappings, after all.

**Everybody who is anybody turns out to be related to everybody else in this novel. It thus teems with weird bits of dialogue like "Chief Engineer, I need to talk to your about our brother, and our daughter." Um. ...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Natalie rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-scifi, heavy-world-building

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 is not ...more

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Jun 29, 2015 Alex rated it really liked it

Shelves: queer-reads, aro-ace, books-about-space

This was a really good book and I'm conflicted cause there was a lot of stuff that squicked me out but overall I really enjoyed reading it. If you are going to read it be warned for incest and graphic descriptions of injuries, violence and sickness.

Ace rep: One of the MC's was ace. At first I was a little leery because she used the word "celibate" and asexuality and celibacy aren't the same things. But her feelings around asexuality and her orientation did seem to align with asexuality rather ...more

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Aug 06, 2018 Bryan Alexander rated it really liked it

Shelves: sf, fantasy, space-opera

Dust is a striking and elegantly told generation ship novel.

The plot combines a coming of age story with a political tale. Our heroine, Rien, begins as truly nothing (the French meaning of her name): a kind of scullery maid, family-less and working for a somewhat deranged faction. She connects with a prisoner of war, a semi-human interloper, and begins her ascent to growth, understanding, and even power. Meanwhile, human factions scheme and move against each other, while the starship's old AIs ...more

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May 18, 2015 Mimi marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, 2015, space-opera

Putting this book back on the reread shelf. I feel I didn't give it a fair chance the first time around and it's one of those books that deserves another chance.

* * * * *

This is an interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy. The story takes place on a living space ship, but a lot of magic is used throughout and there is a war going on that has roots in mythology. A lost princess with no memory of her past is found living among servants atan enemy house. The rest of the story is about rescuing her and ...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Richard rated it liked it

Three stars for the following:
- Completing what must have been a very challenging book to write, and
- The setting and premise (I love the lost generation ship trope)

That's where the praise ends, though.

Strike one star for overt, unnatural sexuality. I don't know why science fiction authors apparently believe they cannot produce a good story without sexual situations that reach way past even liberal modern boundaries of acceptability. Likely, it's safer to experiment in one's imagination, a ...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Kerry rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Sf fans that also like fantasy

Recommended to Kerry by: Women of SF 2011 Book Club

Shelves: ebooks, sf, 2011, 9

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 Edda's 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 Edda's Burden books, but since the first is a selection for the Women of Fantasy 2011 Book Club, I guess I'll be giving it a try this year after all.

I was first intrigued by the idea of Dust ages ago, but never actually bought it and started it. So here we are, the first month of the Women of SF 2011 Book Club and Dust is the choice. And finally, I read it.

I'm so glad I did. This time, I actually got to feel kind of clever instead of stupid. As the book revealed more and the world and plot developed, I could see the way the myth and society and near-mystical concept of the world had built out its past. And it was very cleverly done. It was almost as if the book existed on two levels, with the kind of bizarre setting of the present day imposed on the fundamental SF concepts underneath. But it is that intertwining and balance that makes the book such a good read (and so fundamentally Bear from what little of her work I've read). It would have been much less of a book if it had only been the SF tale, and I don't think I would necessarily have liked it. But having that underpinning there gave me something to hold on to and to ground the book for me. With the Promethean Age books I felt like I was trying and failing to grasp air. Here, I felt like I had something solid, and strangely beautiful in my hands, twisted into strange, reality-defying shapes.

For all the the narration switched regularly between Rien and Perceval (with side steps to other characters, especially Dust), this felt like Rien's book to me. We are introduced to the Exalt and the larger world through her eyes and that too may help provide the more grounded feeling I had with this book. Then we have Perceval's point of view to balance Rien's, and yet we find that in her own way, Perceval knows little more of the world than Rien does. So both young women find they way and we, the readers, find ours with them.

The supporting characters were less well developed I felt, but while reading didn't feel that the story was lessened by that. Yet I find I'd like to know more, especially about Tristen. Looking back, I think it is a pity those other characters weren't developed better, but there are two more books for that to happen and I'm pretty sure I'll be reading them. (In fact, when I finish this I'll be off to buy myself an copy of Chill although I don't quite know when I'll have a spare moment to read it.)

Mostly, I'm left with a feeling of something wonderous and peculiar and strange, in all the best possible ways. It's a feeling I'd generally expect to find in fantasy rather than science fiction, and this is very definitely a science fiction novel, which makes me feel like I've discovered a special treat. ...more

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Nov 25, 2008 September rated it it was ok

Shelves: sci-fi, series, fantasy, angels

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 20, 2012 Jamie Collins rated it did not like it

Shelves: science-fiction

I was disappointed with this - I expected to like Bear's work, but I didn't even finish this book. The prose is fine, but the characters are bland and interchangeable and the world-building is frustratingly shallow. There are some nice concepts, but I felt like there wasn’t much substance to the story. I just couldn't stay engaged with it.

The plot summary sounds fascinating: the crew of a multi-generational colony ship parked for repairs after a catastrophe 500 years ago, and now their ...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Alytha rated it it was amazing

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 holdes. ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Jason rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, read-2012

4 Stars

Fun read from a great Author...Review to come.

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Feb 02, 2013 SubterraneanCatalyst rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, interesting

Weird. Interesting. Could have been better but wasn't bad. Agreed with other reviewers that character development was lacking. Will read the rest of the series to see the conclusion.

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Sep 21, 2016 Jasmine rated it really liked it

Shelves: grown-up, spectra

Well THAT was a trip and a half.

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Jun 27, 2010 Kate rated it liked it

Shelves: futuristic, science-fiction, speculative, fiction

Interesting. Weird. Heavy on the incest. I was going to say that it needed to be developed more (the book, not the incest), but I see there is a sequel. Will keep an eye out for it and report back.

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Jul 10, 2018 Jerry-Book rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Its about a generation starship that has broken down and is now orbiting an unstable binary star system. Many have forgotten this is not the entire world. This is of course a familiar trope in science fiction which has been done by Robert Heinlein, among others. However, the author does a great job in turning this trope into an interesting new world. As Arthur C. Clarke once said "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The world appears divided between the Rule ...more

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Apr 07, 2018 Ohenrypacey rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

A lovely read, but I'm not sure that all of the elements of space opera, fantasy, magic and medievalism thrown together add up to a comprehensible story.
A derelict generation ship, post-humans, AI angels and devils, all in danger of being destroyed by a star about to go nova. Somehow the plot is that they can only succeed in saving themselves by an apocalyptic battle over who will captain the ship, and what form they will take.
The writing is great, tensions build as the characters are drawn ...more

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Mar 06, 2019 Matt Hope rated it liked it

Well this is tough.

I didn’t hate the book but I didn’t fall in love either. It’s not bad by any standards. For my taste it’s perhaps to abstract and primarily concerned with big ideas than the characters which isn’t a bad thing if that’s what you like.

I enjoyed the world built for us in this novel. Imaginative, gorgeous, haunting. The prose is frequently beautiful. I can’t really complain on those fronts.

So then it comes down to your artistic frequency whether this book will connect with you ...more

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Nov 21, 2019 Michael G rated it liked it · review of another edition

We've got knights with cybernetic symbiotes and AI gods with angel names fighting over a dead generation ship all while the sun explodes - it is exactly as fun as all of that. Dust is also rushed and short, which is a shame because it takes a while for all of its composite pieces to come together so as soon as I felt, "yes! I could really get into this!" it's pretty much over.

Also the Recorded Books Audiobook is read terribly. Between Bear's frantic and jumpy pacing and the readers frequent ...more

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