Jacob's Ladder
Cover art by Paul Youll
Dust
Chill
Grail
The Jacob's Ladder books are forthcoming from Bantam Spectra starting in Spring of 2008, as far as I know, or possibly on December 26th of 2007, if Amazon can be trusted. This is a trilogy of novels set aboard a derelict generation ship in orbit around a dying sun. It's much more space opera and sweeping than the Jenny books, Carnival, or Undertow, which is to say that it has more of a quest or adventure sensibility and somewhat less intrigue and politicking. I described it to my editor in the pitch as "Amber:Gormenghast::Upstairs:Downstairs, in SPAAAAAAAAAACE!"
And she bought it, so you know, I kind of hope the same pitch works on you.
The first novel, Dust, is about two young women, Rien and Perceval, who meet under unkind circumstances and form a fragile alliance in an attempt to prevent a potentially devastating war. However, unbeknownst to them, they have attracted the attention of the flickering hulk of the dead ship's A.I...
Bioengineering, ancient betrayals, and spunky teenaged heroines. Also, an Elric parody. How can you say no?
Here is what the publisher has to say about the first one (I can't tell you about the other two, because I haven't written them yet, but I can tell you that things go Boom! in these on a grand scale):
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 surrendered-proved her completely without honor. Captive, the angel Perceval waits for Ariane not only to finish her off-but to devour her very memories and mind. Surely her gruesome death will cause war between the houses-exactly as Ariane desires. But Ariane's plan may yet be opposed, for Perceval recognizes the young servant charged with her care at once.
Rien is the lost child: her sister. Soon, they will escape, hoping to stop the impending war and save both their houses. But it is a perilous journey through the crumbling hulk of a dying ship, and they do not pass unnoticed. Because at the hub of their turning world waits Jacob Dust, all that remains of God, following the vapor wisp of the angel. And he knows they will meet very soon.
Oh, yes. Gothic. Did I mention Gothic? Although my editor made me take the autocannibalism out. (She was right to do so--kill your darlings and all that--but I still sort of miss it. I mean, autocannibalism! Doesn't that sound like fun?)
Here's what Publishers Weekly says about Dust:
Elizabeth Bear. Bantam Spectra, $6.99 (342p) ISBN 978-0-553-59107-1
Bear proves there's still juice in one of science fiction's oldest tropes, the stranded generation ship, in this complex coming-of-age tale. Rien, a handmaid in a feudal society, must care for the prisoner Ser Perceval—a mutilated enemy who Rien discovers is her half-sister by an absent scion of the ruling family. Their quest for a safer home tangles with their society's own quest for safety, as the descendents of an artificial intelligence and the genetically engineered crew battle for control to save the ship from an impending supernova. Standard plot devices litter the familiar landscape: tarot, pseudo-angels, named swords with powers, and politics as a family quarrel. But Campbell Award–winning author Bear uses them beautifully to turn up the pressure on her characters, who r respond by making hard choices. And—as she did in Carnival and Hammered—Bear breaks sexual taboos matter-of-factly: love in varied forms drives the characters without offering easy redemption.(Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
And here's the Booklist review for Dust, which I am too happy about to be nonchalant over. (They like me! They really like me!):
(STARRED REVIEW:) Bear, Elizabeth (Author), Jan 2008. 384 p. Bantam/Spectra, paperback, $6.99. (9780553591071). Bear takes on the well-worn sf device of the generation ship and, seasoning with Roger Zelazny-esque family politics and Mervyn Peake-ish behind-the-scenes intrigue, concocts a delicious blend of science so advanced it’s like magic and people, the ship’s royalty, who are somehow altered by the nanotech colonies that make them Exalt but remain neurotic and struggling like ordinary humans. The ship hasn’t moved in centuries, and Engine and Rule (parts of the ship) are nearly at war. Desperately trying avert war, Rien helps Sir Perceval escape Rule and dangerously trek to Engine, near-constantly watched by Jacob Dust, the Angel of Memory, while the other angels and devils make alliances in the continuing battle for survival. As the smaller angels are devoured, battle to control the hulk of the ship Jacob’s Ladder nears an end. Bear’s approach to the story results in exactly the kind of brilliantly detailed, tightly plotted, roller-coaster book she has led her readers to expect, replete with a fantastic cast of characters. When Bear revamps the genre’s standard furniture, the results are extraordinary. (Regina Schroeder)