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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Great space opera
Well written space opera but hey, it’s by Walter Jon Williams. Good character development and pacing. Perfect for the beach.
Well written space opera but hey, it’s by Walter Jon Williams. Good character development and pacing. Perfect for the beach.
Fine. A little scattered and seems like it was broken up from the larger whole just for publication. Kinda leaves off without feeling very resolved.
Starts off a bit slow but once it picks up speed, it flies by right till the end.
Snappy little military space battle thingy. Will continue series.
Very good sci-fi. Hundreds of years after most of the galaxy got their asses kicked, everyone is part of the Praxis. This isn't a book that takes place as humanity is defending itself; we already lost and assimilated.
It's real good setting, lot's of good world building, a couple of solid leads. Honestly, the only real problem I had was a repeated flashback delve into the backstory of one of the leads. I thought it was clear early on what was going to happen, but 50 plus pages were spent on something that could've been done, all at once, in a single chapter.
Other than that, I was a huge fan and have already added the next book to my Amazon wish list.
It's real good setting, lot's of good world building, a couple of solid leads. Honestly, the only real problem I had was a repeated flashback delve into the backstory of one of the leads. I thought it was clear early on what was going to happen, but 50 plus pages were spent on something that could've been done, all at once, in a single chapter.
Other than that, I was a huge fan and have already added the next book to my Amazon wish list.
Finished "The Praxis" by Walter Jon Williams. It's an Age of Sail-type SF: FTL travel by wormholes, no FTL communication except by courier, wormholes are far and between, so long travel times at high acceleration and speeds approaching the speed of light are necessary.
(Relativistic effects such as time dilation are not discussed; the highest velocities are around 0.7c, where they should be noticeable...)
Such a universe surely is in need of an empire.
This empire is founded by the alien Shaa on the Praxis, an ideology of strict rule enforcement and the thought that "all important things are known". They have conquered some other species including humans and brutally incorporated them into their empire and ideology as willing followers.
But the last Shaa dies, and of course the empire changes. "The Praxis" second half deals with the military fallout of these changes, following two officers: Martinez and Sula.
Their society is hierarchical, with Peers dominating politics and the military, and commoners having little chances. Women can be pilots and even Fleet Commanders, but are still subjected to arranged marriages or, if poor, pimped out. I'm not sure how that can work...
Through Martinez, we get to see the Peers and their politicking; through Sula's past, we get to see how life is in the society's criminal underbelly. Both have depth and strong characters.
There's nice orbital mechanics here: high-g burns and slingshots, which I enjoy (like the early The Expanse novels); it's interesting to see an empire without an expansion drive, without any wars of conquest in the part (like the Radch in "Ancillary Justice").
The technology restrictions imposed by the Praxis are interesting (no nanotech, no AI, no genetic manipulation), but nothing much is done with them.
Not sure I'll be read the whole (long) series...
(Relativistic effects such as time dilation are not discussed; the highest velocities are around 0.7c, where they should be noticeable...)
Such a universe surely is in need of an empire.
This empire is founded by the alien Shaa on the Praxis, an ideology of strict rule enforcement and the thought that "all important things are known". They have conquered some other species including humans and brutally incorporated them into their empire and ideology as willing followers.
But the last Shaa dies, and of course the empire changes. "The Praxis" second half deals with the military fallout of these changes, following two officers: Martinez and Sula.
Their society is hierarchical, with Peers dominating politics and the military, and commoners having little chances. Women can be pilots and even Fleet Commanders, but are still subjected to arranged marriages or, if poor, pimped out. I'm not sure how that can work...
Through Martinez, we get to see the Peers and their politicking; through Sula's past, we get to see how life is in the society's criminal underbelly. Both have depth and strong characters.
There's nice orbital mechanics here: high-g burns and slingshots, which I enjoy (like the early The Expanse novels); it's interesting to see an empire without an expansion drive, without any wars of conquest in the part (like the Radch in "Ancillary Justice").
The technology restrictions imposed by the Praxis are interesting (no nanotech, no AI, no genetic manipulation), but nothing much is done with them.
Not sure I'll be read the whole (long) series...
Pretty decent series with good level of world building. The plot threads never get too convoluted and come together well at the end of the series
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes