Ghost Ship – Epilogue

Pod 78
Moonstruck

…even this, in its own way.

Given that it’s already something of an effort for Theo to convince herself that things are going well with Win Ton, it’s probably just as well she’s not aware her father is likewise going to be spending the indefinite future in a heavy-duty medical unit.

There was apparently some controversy about this ending when the book first came out, but for myself I think it’s a reasonable cliffhanger, though I’d probably have thought differently if I hadn’t already known there would be another book coming along to pick up the loose threads. I’d also have been less well-disposed if there hadn’t been this epilogue – not that I’d have believed for a moment that Daav was really dead, but I’d have been annoyed if the authors had made us wait for the next book before they admitted it.

And of course the Uncle, being right there and, as we’ve been reminded recently, in possession of certain methods of cheating death, is the obvious explanation for why Daav isn’t out of the game just yet. Though I realised more on this reading that it’s not nearly so obvious from the Uncle’s point of view – after all, he’s notoriously self-centred and Daav yos’Phelium isn’t anything like a friend or an ally – and that the authors have done quite a bit of work in this chapter and the last few the Uncle has been in to put him in a position where he wants to help Daav.


The cliffhanger will remain hanging for a while longer, however, as tomorrow is “Prodigal Son”, filling in the details of what Val Con’s been doing lately, and after that Necessity’s Child.

2 thoughts on “Ghost Ship – Epilogue

  1. Pangolin

    I think for my own continued read I’m going to jump ahead to Dragon Ship, which I have read before, and skip Necessity’s Child, which I have not read and which by all descriptions seems a side jaunt (and was written after Dragon Ship so is clearly not necessary to read first).

  2. Paul A. Post author

    It is true that it’s not necessary to read Necessity’s Child before Dragon Ship (although I gather it’s a good idea to have read it before Dragon in Exile). Necessity’s Child is about one of the things that happens on Surebleak while Theo and her crew are off experiencing Dragon Ship, and the plots don’t intersect.

    I’m trying to remember now why I decided on this order for myself. I think, if I recall correctly, I left Dragon Ship for last on the assumption that the next book out would follow on directly from the end of it, which apparently may not have proven correct.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *