Spirit

Spirit, a space opera set in Gwyneth Jones's Aleutian universe, re-visions Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo and further explores the workings and consequences of the series' Buonarotti Transit. Bibi, the sole survivor of her tribe, serves Lady Nef, the wife of General Yu, whose forces exterminated Bibi's tribe. Constantly embroiled in court intrigues and conspiracies, Nef and Yu are sent on a dicey diplomatic mission to Sigurt's World, which culminates in murder and betrayal, resulting in Nef's and Bibi's imprisonment in the ultimate oubliette, from which escape is virtually impossible. As Karen Joy Fowler noted in her review for the Guardian, "Escape is costly; revenge complex." This is, indeed, Dumas for the 21st Century.