The Shoreless Sea
-
- $4.99
-
- $4.99
Publisher Description
The fight for the future isn't over yet. It could lead to a new beginning, or it might spell the end for the last vestiges of humankind.
The generation ship Forever has left Earth behind, but a piece of the old civilization lives on in the Inthworld—a virtual realm that retains memories of Earth's technological wonders and vices. Lilith leads the uprising, and if she sets its inhabitants free, they could destroy Forever.
But during the ship's long voyage, humanity has evolved. Liminals with the ability to connect with the world mind and the Inthworld provide a glimmer of hope as they face not only Lilith's minions, but the mistrust of their own kind as homotypicals fear what they can't understand.
The invasion must be stopped, the Inthworld healed, sothe people of Forever can let go of their past and embrace their future.
"WOW!... The Shoreless Sea is a very satisfying conclusion to an epic three novel series featuring good hard science fiction, realistic world building, credible character development and interactions, all woven together in a compelling story.." --Two Gay Geeks
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The choppy conclusion to Coatsworth's intergenerational space opera (after The Rising Tide) portrays the telepathic Liminals exploring themes rehashed from prior installments psychic enslavement, ghostly ancestors, and shared memory's power to heal in three connected novellas. Trouble erupts on the living generation ship Forever when Kiryn Hammond-Clarke, a deaf college student, and his sister, Belynn, display Liminal powers that make them targets of the intifada: black-cloaked, body-snatching cultists fleeing their own ruined virtual Earth. After Forever's leader, Lilith, attempts to overthrow the ship's governing world mind, the siblings launch a mission to destroy Lilith, save the virtual inthworld, and break the cycles that Forever is trapped within. Coatsworth includes a number of minority and marginalized characters, but their characterization is uneven: Kiryn's deafness is explored thoughtfully, and there's a rich variety of LGBTQ characters, but Belynn's alcoholism and the persecution of Liminals are mired in stereotype. Long-awaited plot elements surface and disappear, and worldbuilding feels cursory. As the characters vacillate between ineffectual and arbitrarily powerful, their repetitive struggles and failure to grow undermine the sincere message of cycle-breaking and the atmosphere of earnest futurism. Only dedicated series fans will see this one through.
