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The Well Of Stars by Robert Reed
01/01/2005 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Orbit. 474 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84149-256-6. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orbitbooks.co.uk
'The Well Of Stars' is the sequel to Reed's previous book, 'Marrow' and is centred, so to speak, on this big dumb object heading towards a black hole. This is less of a problem than the polyponds, gigantic sentience puddles of water declaring war on the Great Ship. It is up to the captains, chiefly Washen and Pamir, to sort out demands and see if some sort or resolution can be found that won't endanger passengers and crew. Into this mix, we have Mere, who is sent as an investigating emissary and O'Layle who was sent back by the polyponds from a previous mission. There is also Washen's son, Locke, who is attempting to solve the mysteries of the galaxy from within the Marrow.
Those of you who remember my comments on the novelette 'Mere', giving us her history last month, I was a little concerned by how author Robert Reed seemed to be divorcing himself from the emotional content of his character. Back into the main novel, this effect is even more felt. This isn't to say that this novel is a tough read but there's no real feeling of real desperation from these characters let alone the rest of the population on board Marrow. The crew are practical immortals and near impossible to kill as long as some of their DNA survives. They also seem not to get bored or have anything else to think about other than the ship maintenance itself. I came away with a lack of empathy with the characters. This wasn't helped very much by Reed covering the main events rather than getting up close to anyone. If you like event driven books, fair enough but I have a feeling that many of you will find this book lacking, especially as to how you can relate to characters that you rarely get much insight into before being carried away elsewhere.
If you enjoyed the first book, then you'll probably get this one to complete your set but I can't help but feel that Robert Reed dropped himself into a hole as big as the black hole Marrow was heading for here and could have done a lot more here to bring more layers into this book. Having said that, I hope this is just a little drop in what otherwise looks like a promising career.
GF Willmetts
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