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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Fresh from a recent encounter with Williams' Quillifer volumes, which scratched an itch mostly addressed by Jack Vance and Elizabeth Moon of competent trouble-solvers overcoming difficult issues in vaguely picaresque adventures, I thought: what about this guy's space opera? Lo and behold, six novels, two novellas... does this series really have legs?
It does! Williams sets up a really interesting romance / societal revolution plotline in which he mixes two protagonists who are equally interesting albeit for different reasons (a bluff, rustic military man and a secretive familial scion), and neither of whom is entirely what they claim to be. Some of the opening strokes are quite awkward and the characters are a bit on the nose, but they suffice for a really entertaining opening and to produce the seeds for a remarkably compelling series.
Recommended if you're fresh out of Elizabeth Moon and you're wondering: what next?!
It does! Williams sets up a really interesting romance / societal revolution plotline in which he mixes two protagonists who are equally interesting albeit for different reasons (a bluff, rustic military man and a secretive familial scion), and neither of whom is entirely what they claim to be. Some of the opening strokes are quite awkward and the characters are a bit on the nose, but they suffice for a really entertaining opening and to produce the seeds for a remarkably compelling series.
Recommended if you're fresh out of Elizabeth Moon and you're wondering: what next?!
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
GRRM declaring that this is better than Bujold is proof positive that the old man is senile. Not the worst thing I’ve read but not interesting enough for me to remember what happens at the end.
Premier tome d'une série
Lu en anglais
Le contexte :
Les Shaa, une race immortelle d'extraterrestres, ont construit un vaste empire galactique, relié par des trous de vers, en soumettant de multiples races, y compris les terriens. De plus, les Shaa ont contraint leurs vassaux à suivre un ensemble de règles, le Praxis. Mais les Shaa, même immortels, finissent par dégénérer jusqu'à les pousser à se suicider, et leur empire finit par stagner. Des millénaires plus tard, il ne reste plus qu'un Shaa, le dernier maître qui planifie son suicide. Un gros bouleversement en conséquence ! Et le brillant et ambitieux lieutenant Martinez, de même que la pilote Sula, au sombre passé, vont s'y trouvé mêlés.
Ouf ! J'en avais l'eau à la bouche. Mais la première moitié est plutôt lente et on nous présente les principaux protagonistes, dont Martinez et Sula qui déplorent leurs faibles chances d'avancement. Mais là,(roulement de tambour), le dernier Shaa se suicide et une des principales races vassales se prépare en douce à remplacer les Shaa. Mais il y a l'eau dans le gaz et notre lieutenant Martinez, ainsi que Sula, vont se trouver aux premières loges. Pas mieux qu'une guerre pour l'avancement, mais il y a aussi le risque de se faire tuer. Et là, c'est parti ! Des affrontements de flottes spatiales avec des missiles intelligents comprenant des ogives d'antimatière, des lasers en défensive... et de la stratégie. La deuxième moitié se lit toute seule, portée par un souffle épique et... et, c'est la fin. Vivement le tome suivant.
J'ai beaucoup aimé ce mélange de space opera et de science-fiction militaire.
Lu en anglais
Le contexte :
Les Shaa, une race immortelle d'extraterrestres, ont construit un vaste empire galactique, relié par des trous de vers, en soumettant de multiples races, y compris les terriens. De plus, les Shaa ont contraint leurs vassaux à suivre un ensemble de règles, le Praxis. Mais les Shaa, même immortels, finissent par dégénérer jusqu'à les pousser à se suicider, et leur empire finit par stagner. Des millénaires plus tard, il ne reste plus qu'un Shaa, le dernier maître qui planifie son suicide. Un gros bouleversement en conséquence ! Et le brillant et ambitieux lieutenant Martinez, de même que la pilote Sula, au sombre passé, vont s'y trouvé mêlés.
Ouf ! J'en avais l'eau à la bouche. Mais la première moitié est plutôt lente et on nous présente les principaux protagonistes, dont Martinez et Sula qui déplorent leurs faibles chances d'avancement. Mais là,(roulement de tambour), le dernier Shaa se suicide et une des principales races vassales se prépare en douce à remplacer les Shaa. Mais il y a l'eau dans le gaz et notre lieutenant Martinez, ainsi que Sula, vont se trouver aux premières loges. Pas mieux qu'une guerre pour l'avancement, mais il y a aussi le risque de se faire tuer. Et là, c'est parti ! Des affrontements de flottes spatiales avec des missiles intelligents comprenant des ogives d'antimatière, des lasers en défensive... et de la stratégie. La deuxième moitié se lit toute seule, portée par un souffle épique et... et, c'est la fin. Vivement le tome suivant.
J'ai beaucoup aimé ce mélange de space opera et de science-fiction militaire.
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lots more high society and political intrigue than I was expecting. It wasn't boring, I guess, so much as unexciting.
It got more into the space action in the last third of the book. There were still a fair number of committee meetings and galas, but there was also a clear, overarching, high stakes conflict, which is more my speed in this type of book.
It got more into the space action in the last third of the book. There were still a fair number of committee meetings and galas, but there was also a clear, overarching, high stakes conflict, which is more my speed in this type of book.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed the heck out of this first volume of Jon's sort of new space opera (volume three just came out),. Fun characters, interesting universe, relatively fast paced. What more could you ask for? Set a few thousand years in the future when the last member of an alien uber-race that controls the galaxy dies, it is all about what happens afterwards. Fun stuff! Can't wait to read the rest!
Very readable, pretty good story. The story makes me think of 18th century France on the eve of the French Revolution combined with a bit of the Honor Harrington's space navy and a touch of the Prince and the Pauper.
I listened to the Audible version of this story and found the narrator to be ill suited to the book. The author makes it clear in the story that one of the main characters and his family have very provincial accents that make the more urbane high families look at them askance. The narrator didn't do anything to convey this at all, and spoke with a noticeable accent of his own.
I listened to the Audible version of this story and found the narrator to be ill suited to the book. The author makes it clear in the story that one of the main characters and his family have very provincial accents that make the more urbane high families look at them askance. The narrator didn't do anything to convey this at all, and spoke with a noticeable accent of his own.
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For a book thats supposed to be a character driven space opera it would be nice if any of the characters were likable. They're both shallow and boring. Its a shame the world building is so good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, War, Classism