The Well of Stars

An extremely well-written, thoughtful novel with fascinating characters. The novel is very well-paced and hard to put down. The breadth of imagination is staggering. The ending could be described as unsatisfying, but I thought it was reasonable (especially if this is really going to be a 3-part series).

After reading Marrow a while back I was thrilled to learn that Robert Reed had actually published a sequel. I bought the book and got straight into it. As with his other books, Robert Reed is a visionary and his ideas and concepts are always mind blowing. In many ways, Robert Reed's style reminds me of books written by Alastair Reynolds with respect to the darkness, mystery and gothic aspect of some of the places. The story in Well of Stars continues where Marrow ended and transports the reader into the fantastic Great Ship which is nine times bigger than earth and home to thousands of alien species. I think Robert Reed is known for his passion for exaggeration and his 'bigger is better' approach. As with Marrow, the book hints at something of great consequence and importance that is locked away within the centre of the ship (maybe one of the builders of the ship?). Similar to its predecessor, Well of Stars does not elaborate enough on this great mystery and does not provide any further clues. However, I would have preferred a sequel which developed this idea further into something more tangible and interesting. I also found it odd that none of the Great Ship's crew members considered investigating this great mystery, bearing in mind the purpose of the antagonist. However, what worries me most in this book is the predictability and sterility of some the main characters, such as Pamir and Washen. These characters are not changing at all and threats to the Great Ship are handled with the usual coolness. Also, some of the characters such as Loke would have deserved a greater contribution to the story. After all, Loke's research results are substantial to the understanding of the overall plot. Having said that, Robert Reed introduces interesting characters, such as Mere whose story is fantastic and most intriguing. Overall, the book is very good, but sometimes a wooden read with a cliff hanger at the end.

This will be a short review of the book. As ususal Robert Reed does not disappoint. It's obvious that this book was not planned, i.e. that Marrow was to be a stand alone novel. Normally when an author decides to expand a story from one book to three, the writing seems weak, almost forced. The same cannot be said about this book. It's very entertaining with enough action to keep the reader interested from beginning to end. I've read almost all of Mr. Reed's books and consider myself a huge fan. What amazes me most is that he is able to describe scientfic terms/concepts almost as if it were poetry. The write is clean, crisp and flows. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Marrow.

After the near disaster at Marrow (see MARROW), The Great Ship continues its journey into space. Inside the millions perhaps even billions of near immortals go about there tedious everyday life regardless of the vessel's path. How else can one live when riding a space ship that contains whole planets inside on a trek that seems forever. The recent calamity has agitated the populace. The Master Captain is worried not just about the morale of the millions on board; that is a normal concern for her as boredom and post trauma reaction can prove mutinously dangerous. Of immediate concern however are the Polyponds and a seemingly Black Hole that is in their way. She assigns Submaster Captains Washen and Pamir to deal with the Polyponds, gigantic water beings that are attacking the Great Ship. The hero of the Marrow incident Mere investigates the Black Hole. Pamir learns a God-like essence, the Ink Well, perhaps devil might be more descriptive, threatens to "imprison" everyone on board the Great Ship for eternity inside the black hole. The sequel to the exciting MARROW, THE WELL OF STARS is an action-packed science fiction thriller that never slows down as the crew battle three enemies, the Ink Well, the Polyponds, and internal ennui. The story line is fast-paced, but with the Star Trek like crisis to confront, the key cast members seem unemotionally detached to the predicaments. Especially strange is that the population is allegedly edgy and tired of perhaps living forever yet an eternity within the Ink Well has to exacerbate all that is eating at everyone, but no one seems agitated. Still Robert Reed will have readers pondering living for eternity. Harriet Klausner

One of the primary characters in THE WELL OF STARS is "Mere," as you can read from the book's description above. But from what I understand, the book doesn't really tell us who Mere is, and how she came to be on the Great Ship. However, indie publisher Golden Gryphon Press has published a chapbook by Robert Reed that is actually the Mere origin story. It's titled (profoundly) MERE -- very cool story (Mere is actually an immortal being!), great cover art, and a nice collectable -- and is available from goldengryphon.com. Check it out.