Book Review 146
"Marrow" by Robert Reed
1st book in the "Great ship" cycle
I've picked this novel because of a short story in "Asimov's" magazine. It was set in the same world, and I liked it. Plus, in personalia it was said that Robert Reed now is the most popular western Sci-Fi author in China, which also tickled my curiosity.
The background of this novel is following. Once humans found an abandoned spaceship flying around. The big one. The size of a gas giant. It was presumably ancient (billions of years) and had no clues, who build it, why and why it was abandoned.
Humans took over this ship (they were faster than other races) and started to control it. There is no FTL in this universe, and ship with all its mass can't be stopped. However, it has engines, so it may change its course.
New ship's masters started to think, ho they can profit of this bulky asset. And came with the idea, that they should convert it into a kind of a train, cruising around our galaxy and providing a public transportation for any alien (or a whole race of aliens, since internal space permits) who can pay a fee.
120 thousands years passed. Humans are still, basically, humans, but effectively immortal. You can kill a human, but severed head won't be enough for that. Multiple habitats of the great ship now seeded with the multiple life forms. This galactic bus service became a routine.
Then captains discovered that there is a hidden planed in the very center of this ship, and even more - a planet with some native lifeforms. They've sent a secret exploration party to this planet, so this story began.
It is a story for several thousands years, it is about treachery and mischief, and evolution, and religious sects.
In many aspects, it reminded me a "Ringworld" by Larry Niven. But being more modern book, it is not a better one. It is an epic story, but it caused me to facepalm even more than the original Ringworld (published in 1970). It is a Sci-Fi, and the author mostly explains how his inventions works, but in many cases, the answer is just "it works like that because I want it this way, so bug off".
And I can understand why it is popular in China: there people like some really epic scales, this third person, absent minded epic narrative, a straight moral protagonist and a twisted moral antagonist. You'll find it all here.
Normally, I put books into one of 3 buckets: "You must read it"; "You may enjoy it"; "Don't waste your time". I am a bit hesitating with this one. It is certainly not the first group. I guess, if you like a brave old Sci-Fi, where author don't care much about science (like, Edmond Hamilton) but want it much more modern, you may enjoy this book.
But I myself (even admitting its virtues and enjoying it in general) have no intention to continue with this cycle.