Rife with intrigue and betrayal, heroism and sacrifice, Grail brings Elizabeth Bear’s brilliant space opera to a triumphant conclusion.
At last the generation ship Jacob’s Ladder has arrived at its destination: the planet they have come to call Grail. But this habitable jewel just happens to be populated already: by humans who call their home Fortune. And they are wary of sharing Fortune—especially with people who have genetically engineered themselves to such an extent that it is a matter of debate whether they are even human anymore. To make matters worse, a shocking murder aboard the Jacob’s Ladder has alerted Captain Perceval and the angel Nova that formidable enemies remain hidden somewhere among the crew.
On Grail—or Fortune, rather—Premier Danilaw views the approach of the Jacob’s Ladder with dread. Behind the diplomatic niceties of first-contact protocol, he knows that the deadly game being played is likely to erupt into full-blown war—even civil war. For as he strives to chart a peaceful and prosperous path forward for his people, internal threats emerge to take control by any means necessary.
I actually liked this conclusion more than the first two books in the trilogy. While book #2 felt like more of the same, Grail added in the citizens of the planet Fortune and the conflict in ideologies between the societies on Fortune and Jacob's Ladder. There was yet another plot point involving a member of the Conn family wreaking havoc, but the scenes involving Fortune's citizens entirely made up for it.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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5 August, 2016:
Finished reading
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5 August, 2016:
Reviewed