As they travel to their destination, the Omray and Mhiray hear the calls of the dead, until they land on the Original Planet with suspicion, and are tested for strength of Power.

I hate to say it, because the writing is so strong, but I was disappointed with this book. The first part, which covers more than half the book, was long and mostly uninteresting, even if it did build on the strengths of the characters –but I feel that we saw so much of this in other books, especially between Sira and Morgan. Almost all the other characters felt like name-dropping, especially since they had nothing to do in the second part of the book. Is their destination revealing? Yes, to the extent that we see Tikitik and Oud again. Was it interesting? Not really. We see a bit of culture from the descendants of the Hoveny, but can’t be immersed in it the way we were with Aryl in Reap the Wild Wind. It’s disappointing compared to the Drapsk, the Assemblers, and the machinations of the three races on Cerci. However, the climax was unexpected, and brought the book up a notch by itself. Unfortunately, the lead up left me wanting more substance.

Do expectations have anything to do with my disappointment with this book? While This Gulf of Time and Stars kept me turning pages to see what happened next, this book left me lethargic, wondering if something interesting would happen before the energy petered out.

Before going into that, though, I must bring attention to the absolutely stunning cover art. It's absolutely phenomenal.

The voyage from Cerci, a very interesting planet in the Stratification trilogy, to Brightfall, devolved home of the Hoveny, was long –way too long. Most of the Mhiray and Omray were well-behaved, but Sira points out those who were discontent, and most likely to cause trouble. Mostly, though, they don’t. There were about a hundred and seventy five survivors, and I think the author names every one of them at some point. There are Choosers and Chosen, scouts and Council members, but only Sira can talk to the ship, which they call Sona, as it was the Sona cloisters. They don’t know their destination, nor are there any controls that they can find, which frustrates Morgan to no end.

They try to steal intimate moments, but somebody is always looking for them. The best part about Sira is her mischievous hair. I loved every mention of it, especially when it would interrupt a tense or serious moment. Barac worries about Ruti, who is taking care of all the children on the ship. Her pregnancy is going well, and so is Sira’s, though it’s most unusual as Aryl can speak into just about anybody’s mind.

Then one of the kids says she can speak to the dead, and two Joined start going crazy. I thought it was a strange remedy for Morgan and the other doctor to prescribe a funeral ceremony where they could say goodbye to their old life and lost ones. I felt the author should have found a better way to try and explain what was happening, because it was a weak explanation. Of course, the true explanation is much, much more complex and intriguing.

Morgan has found a workshop, complete with artefacts that Barac can activate, meaning they are Hoveny. It’s a conceit so that he has some artefacts when they arrive at Brightfall.

Strangely, in the middle of a crisis, Sira asks the ship to create a distraction, and it pops out the rest of the food packs from the daily supply, which keeps them all occupied while others recover. Morgan can detect the illness in many others, but fortunately the ship starts reconfiguring itself for arrival.

As usual, the author alternates between Sira’s point of view and others, sometimes Morgan, rarely Barac, which is unfortunate, and sometimes the Watchers in the m’hir, which the ship has a different name for. The Watchers, while mysterious, are more important than they seem, and they scream when they detect a breach.

The planet Brightfall was once home to the Hoveny, who powered so much of their technology with the m’hir, even their spaceships. Their mysterious Fall was caused when they were completely cut off from the m’hir. Cersi was an experiment to reconnect them to the m’hir. There are plenty of species that can access the m’hir, like the drapsk, and the Rutegans, the Oud, and even Morgan, but none abused it so much that the Watchers had to take action.

So the Tikitik, who are on another planet in the same solar system, are masters of genetic manipulation, and took some Oud material and put it in the Hoveny, and sent the twelve spaceships to Cersi. It’s not clear to me if other planets were part of the same experiment. Aryl was the culmination of the experiment, which made the Oud go insane, and eventually created the Clan in Trade Pact Space.

The dead are calling, because the Hoveny were drawing the m’hir beings into their wombs. When they lived out their lives, the beings went back to the m’hir. No wonder the Rugherans blocked Vyna from taking off –they were trying to live forever, transferring old souls into new vessels.

Hopefully the next book will explain more about this process, because I find it strange that the dead are only starting to call to them now, as they approach Brightfall. Why not in Trade Pact space, or on Cersi?

We get some points of view from a religious leader, who takes care of the welcome signal for the ship, and a gender-neutral person who is suspicious of the change the ship will bring. As the ship approaches, it dissolves into the m’hir, sending the passengers out on pods to land on Brightfall. Many get snared from the m’hir, and disappear. Sira organizes a ride on a bunch of massive Oud, where others die, to get to a dig site, where Hoveny remains have been discovered. While interesting, I’m not sure what it has to do with the story.

They meet a woman whose authority seems to exceed that of the gender-neutral supervisor. She’s more like the Clan than any other, though she says the political powers can remove their access to the m’hir. It’s another lead that doesn’t seem to go anywhere, in a book full of them. I hope the third book addresses some of these. In the same camp, a Powerful girl carries a tiny Oud around, and this creature seems to have even higher authority, as it can detect Power.

There’s a bit of interplay between the characters, but it doesn’t really matter, and doesn’t advance the story, especially given what happens next. After a minor power struggle, where Sira doesn’t have to challenge anybody, she’s brought to a testing site. It’s not entirely clear why she agrees, except maybe to try to give her people a chance to fit in. Anyway, she goes to the testing site and activates the Hoveny devices, which breach the m’hir, sending everything into chaos.

She learns their origin, and how they truly belong in the m’hir, not here in the physical world. I loved the way her world was completely turned upside down, how what started out as a disease turned into a way home from a long time away. She has a tearful goodbye with Morgan before sending him back to Trade Pact space, where Huido gets a short guest appearance. Then she allows herself to disappear to her natural world.

The end shows that she hasn’t fully accepted her home, as she’s stuck in a kind of purgatory area, something the kids call “boxes”. She seems to have forgotten everything, and rages with all her Power to be free, but she can’t seem to. I hope the third book has a satisfactory explanation. Maybe she can live in both worlds, like the Drapsk or Rugharans.

I wish this book had had more substance. Characters are always good, but sitting around the ship worrying wasn’t dramatic enough to hold my attention. It’s a good thing I like the writer’s style, because it was what kept me moving through the book. The resolution to the Hoveny mystery was great, but it was payoff without much suspense or lead-up, which was disappointing.