Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear

 

First published in 1992

Anvil of Stars is a mildly disappointing sequel to the mildly disappointing The Forge of God.  With the help of friendly aliens, a group of survivors of the cataclysm described in the first novel begin a quest to hunt down the unfriendly aliens who caused that catastrophe.  Most of the novel describes the factions and in-fighting that develop in the ship-bound society of youngsters seeking vengeance (or justice, depending on your point of view), as well as the training they undergo. A lot of it was repetitive and dull.

More interesting was the joining of the Earth ship with the aliens from another ship on the same mission. The aliens were well-conceived. In both physical description and behavior, they seemed truly alien, and therefore credible--as opposed to television aliens who seem like humans with funny hair, or movie aliens who seem like lizards.

The other interesting aspect of the novel concerns the conflict that developed between those who want at all costs to wipe out the species that destroyed the Earth (even in the absence of conclusive evidence of their responsibility) and those who worry they might be destroying innocents--ancestors who did not make the decision to attack the Earth and who may disagree with it, or a different alien race that had nothing to do with the attack. That moral dilemma poses no easy solution, and Bear does a good job of portraying both viewpoints fairly. This would have been a better novel if more emphasis had been placed on that conflict and less on training sessions.  In the end, the dilemma is resolved in a satisfying manner. I would have enjoyed the novel more if it had arrived at that resolution much more quickly.

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