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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
This is the second novel in the Indranan War trilogy, picking up about a week after the end of book one. I greatly enjoyed Hail's continuing adventures, if not quite as much as book one. (That was a high bar!)
The central character and narrator is Hail, ruler of a far-future empire in a setting reminiscent of Star Wars, but without the Force. There are spaceships, battles, gunrunners, colorful settings, alien allies, and larger-than-life characters that I happily root for. While there is loss in the series, overall this is a fun, page-turning story. The characters are my principal pleasure: I continue to love Hail, Emmory, and Zin. Of the new characters, I especially like Hao.
Four out of five feisty stars.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
The central character and narrator is Hail, ruler of a far-future empire in a setting reminiscent of Star Wars, but without the Force. There are spaceships, battles, gunrunners, colorful settings, alien allies, and larger-than-life characters that I happily root for. While there is loss in the series, overall this is a fun, page-turning story. The characters are my principal pleasure: I continue to love Hail, Emmory, and Zin. Of the new characters, I especially like Hao.
Four out of five feisty stars.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
So....I read this immediately after I finished [b:Behind the Throne|28118539|Behind the Throne (The Indranan War #1)|K.B. Wagers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463566588s/28118539.jpg|48129333]. I finished it the same day. It's as good as the first one, so go read what I said about that, and just add "again" to the end.
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wagers continues the story of Empress Hail Bristol as she moves into her role as Empress of the Indranan empire. This is a mix of political and military sci-fi with most of the action taking place in the second half of the book. I've enjoyed Wagers' gender reversals with the government being run by matriarch's, the army and naval fleet run by women and men fighting to gain equal footing within the empire. I really enjoy her overall character development, but both of the novels in the series have way too many incidental characters and I often find myself totally confused about who anyone is talking about since these people go in and out so frequently.
Picked this up as soon as I finished the first one, and was not disappointed. It's mostly off-world this time, and no more hardcore SF than the first -- which I like, I'm fine with hand-waving the science. It has a Han-Solo-cutting-a-swath-through-the-galaxies kind of vibe, with a side of realistic emotions, and I'm totally along for that ride.
adventurous
tense
4 stars. I listened to the audio book. This second in series is quite good, and feels more space opera than the first. While it helps a lot to have read volume 1, this is in some ways a better story and certainly has more action on a broader scale. The characters in Hail's ever-expanding core group really drive the story, and they seem too idealistic and altruistic (especially for gun runners, pirates, and galactic criminals of other stripe) to be really believable. But that's not keeping me from enjoying the tale. On to book 3.