Marrow

It's an exhilarating ride, in the hands of an author whose aspiration literally knows no bounds THE NEW YORK TIMES MARROW is relentless, taking on vast reaches of space and time with a giant ship like none you've ever seen. A bold work by a visionary writer DAVID BRIN Set on an ancient starship as big as Jupiter, Marrow is epic hard science fiction with a millennia spanning plot. A near immortal, genetically re-engineered humanity is the first to reach the derelict ship, approaching from the emptiness of intergalactic space. Taking command, the captains set the ship on a half-million year long galactic cruise, opening the vessel to thousands of races and playing host as in Babylon 5. The ship itself demands parallels with Arthur C Clarke's Rama from Rendezvous with Rama though Reed offers literally bigger surprises... "Just tell us please... what in hell is down there?" "A spherical object," she replied. And with a slow wink she added, "It's the size of Mars, about. But considerably more massive." Washen's heart began to gallop. The audience let out a low, wounded groan. "Show them," the Master said to her AI. "Show them what we found." Disaster strikes and a group of captains become trapped on the world they name "Marrow". Factions develop, leading to civil war and insurrection, coupled with labyrinthine personal intrigues played out across thousands of years. Given the immortal captain s' willingness to decapitate one another, Highlander comes to mind, but while Reed's ideas are interesting he never develops his characters sufficiently to convincingly explain how they cope with the potential tedium of immortality. There are plenty of "big ideas" but it becomes increasingly hard to care about any of Reed's alienated post-humans, while the partially satisfactory ending offers as many possibilities for a sequel as it provides answers. Gary S Dalkin, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW