The Dragons of Marrow

An immortal boy leads his gang of aliens and mortal humans into the strangest new world. This is Marrow, a secret realm hidden at the heart of a giant star-faring vessel called the Great Ship. Marrow is a violent world built from iron and fire, populated with insects and desperate children as well as ancient entities called dragons. These dragons are gods, any one of them capable of unimaginable destruction. And they need this terrible power. They have the best reasons. Every dragon is defending Marrow against its many enemies. For long eons they have done nothing else, and the system has grown quite stable, even comfortable -- in a bloody fashion -- right up until a new dragon arrives without warning. THE DRAGONS OF MARROW is the story of Diamond, a mysterious boy full of secrets. It is the direct sequel to THE MEMORY OF SKY, a trilogy published by Prime Books. And the novel is a sequel to earlier novels and shorter works, including MARROW and THE WELL OF STARS, published by Tor Books. Set in Robert Reed's universe of the Great Ship, the immortal captains are waiting: Washen; Pamir, Aasleen, and Miocene. Plus Mere, the relentless explorer, and Till, the ruler behind the bizarre peo;le called the Waywards. "The man wore a wide muscled body and wide brown eyes, bright black hair stolen from his mother, and a narrow face that was all his own. That was a memorable face that always rode the narrow borders between handsome and pretty, and average and plain. Standing on the Great Round, he sang to his enduring people and his AIs. He sang about heroes and sacrifice and the endless struggle to preserve everything everywhere and for all of Time. The most powerful creature on Marrow had the stamina to fill every day with soaring lyrics about commitment and pure objectives. Except nothing good came from overbearing stagecraft. No matter how right and compelling any truth might be, the audience eventually became too familiar and comfortable, and too smug, and worst of all, lazy in the presence of pivotal matters. "The singer always knew when fatigue was stealing his audience. The drift in the eyes, the reflexive quickness of the passion. That’s when the dragon delivered some new flourish -- a cutting insight or a jolt of humor that left the multitudes engaged. Charisma. That was a piece in how Till inspired a sprawling nation, and charisma was why he stood above all other dragons. Except this eternal man didn’t carry much fondness for leadership and its trappings. Charm could win any day, but the days rarely mattered. Unity was an ally in defending a frail, aging universe. But perpetual unity was never the goal. That’s why the daily performances only came at the cycle’s beginning. Weave unity into the cultural center, then step away, giving that passion ample room. Outside eyes, looking down from some high ignorant place, might consider the Waywards as being a half-coherent mob of fanatics. “Because we are,” Till would sing, praising people and machines alike. Standing on the Great Round, watched by shameless proselytes, he cultivated the best kinds of mayhem. No leader could shape every mind. Who knew that better? And that’s why every Wayward child was free to shape his beliefs and her beliefs, and more importantly, discover personal doubts and disbeliefs too." Robert Reed is the author of several hundreds published works of fiction. The Great Ship stories are his most popular, and THE DRAGONS OF MARROW moves the saga towards its ultimate ends. Reed lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.