Dust

Elizabeth Bear
Book 1 of the Jacob's Ladder trilogy

I would like to say this is straight up sci-fi, but in fact, it has the flavor of a fantasy novel... wrapped in straight up sci-fi. There are angels and battles, Houses in conflict and honor among royalty, gods and mythical creatures. Add in artificial intelligence, nanobots and symbionts, and type 1a supernovae and the fun begins. Finally sprinkle in some foreshadowing for black hole weapons and religious fervor in future episodes and I am hooked. For me, the joy of reading this was not knowing where we were going. Start with fantasy... proceed with caution.

If you need a plot synopsis, suffice it to say that Perceval is a knight of the royal bloodline. She has her wings amputated in battle after her surrender, which is completely without honor. She escapes from prison before her scheduled execution and works her way home to warn of the treachery that befell her and begin the planning for revenge. Meanwhile, the World itself turns out to be in grave danger, and the political reality is completely unstable with several factions vying for control, making catastrophe planning nearly impossible.

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