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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Overall good, and a quick read. However, it feels very much like the first in a series. There’s some conclusion to the storylines, but much of it is left open to be wrapped up, I assume, in the other books.
Rereading for the first time. One of the great space operas. Very satisfying.
It's not very well written, but I can't pinpoint exactly why. Skimmed towards the end, but might read the sequel if I have nothing better to read.
Williams, Walter Jon. The Praxis. Dread Empire’s Fall No. 1. Harper, 2002.
Walter Jon Williams is a journeyman author of science fiction. He is well versed in all the tropes of the genre, builds consistent fictional worlds and always tells a good story. The Dread Empire’s Fall has a lot in common with other series of its kind—notably, David Weber’s Honor Harrington novels and Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. It is less wedded to the C. S. Forester model than Weber’s work and has a harder edge than Bujold’s novels. The premise is that an ancient race got to all the wormholes first and imposed a ruthless clan-based aristocracy on all the sentient species in the galaxy. Wen the last alien overlord dies, chaos erupts in the empire. Think Russia in the post-Soviet era. The series is held together by two strong characters, the second son of a mercantile family whose talents are unappreciated by the aristocratic military leadership, and a woman from the mean streets masquerading as an aristocrat. Both are highly skilled starship commanders. They are attracted to one another but also highly competitive. This frenemy relationship keeps our interest through the series. If epic space opera is your thing, you will be hooked by The Praxis.
Walter Jon Williams is a journeyman author of science fiction. He is well versed in all the tropes of the genre, builds consistent fictional worlds and always tells a good story. The Dread Empire’s Fall has a lot in common with other series of its kind—notably, David Weber’s Honor Harrington novels and Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. It is less wedded to the C. S. Forester model than Weber’s work and has a harder edge than Bujold’s novels. The premise is that an ancient race got to all the wormholes first and imposed a ruthless clan-based aristocracy on all the sentient species in the galaxy. Wen the last alien overlord dies, chaos erupts in the empire. Think Russia in the post-Soviet era. The series is held together by two strong characters, the second son of a mercantile family whose talents are unappreciated by the aristocratic military leadership, and a woman from the mean streets masquerading as an aristocrat. Both are highly skilled starship commanders. They are attracted to one another but also highly competitive. This frenemy relationship keeps our interest through the series. If epic space opera is your thing, you will be hooked by The Praxis.
Exciting adventure. The long set up is worth it. Heart pounding action by the last third. The main characters have high quality flaws to go along with all their brilliance and chutzpah.
Really solid military SF story. It really captures a military stuck in stasis.
The only thing I actually disliked was the secondary's character origin story. It didn't bring anything to the main plot other than padding.
The only thing I actually disliked was the secondary's character origin story. It didn't bring anything to the main plot other than padding.
The Praxis is grand space opera with the fatal flaw of being glacially paced. For thousands of years, the galactic empire has been dominated by the all-powerful Shaa, who haver gathered the lesser races beneath them. But the Shaa have dwindled, and their last survivor is dying. Something like 80% of the book is taken up with the mundane business of main characters in these last days of peace. Martinez is a junior officer in the navy, maneuvering to advance his own career and his noble house. Sula is another junior officer, who's disgraced name hides the darker secret that she's an imposter, and the real Lady Sula is dead.
The story ambles through the non-events of these non-entities lives, until the 80% mark, where it turns out that one of the races of the Praxis has planned a coup to make themselves the new immortal masters. Martinez is the only one to spot the coup going off, while lucky coincidence saves the Home Fleet from the rebellion. Then there's a titanic battle that sees the good guys losing, but our heroes advancing, ready for book 2.
The pacing is awful. If there's any saving grace, it's that it does help set up the general incompetence of all involved. The Shaa have ruled for 3400 years, and the closest thing to battles in all that time have been bombarding much more primitive races. The finely tuned antimatters weapons have never been fired in anger, and the navy is full of deadwood, incompetent third sons, and officers more interested in sports than tactics. No one knows what they're doing in a way that very reminiscent of the slaughters of the opening days of the First World War.
At the same time, the other saving grace of space opera, a fantastic setting, is barely used. Galactic politics are another top-heavy bureaucracy with aristocratic elegance, without the delightful tense fragility of say, Tsarist Russia, or the absurdity of the late Austro-Hungarian empire. There are many alien species, but our characters are human, and don't even get a good evolutionarily derived stereotype.
I'll probably pick up book two from the library to see if it's better now that the shooting has started, but for now I'm notably bored.
The story ambles through the non-events of these non-entities lives, until the 80% mark, where it turns out that one of the races of the Praxis has planned a coup to make themselves the new immortal masters. Martinez is the only one to spot the coup going off, while lucky coincidence saves the Home Fleet from the rebellion. Then there's a titanic battle that sees the good guys losing, but our heroes advancing, ready for book 2.
The pacing is awful. If there's any saving grace, it's that it does help set up the general incompetence of all involved. The Shaa have ruled for 3400 years, and the closest thing to battles in all that time have been bombarding much more primitive races. The finely tuned antimatters weapons have never been fired in anger, and the navy is full of deadwood, incompetent third sons, and officers more interested in sports than tactics. No one knows what they're doing in a way that very reminiscent of the slaughters of the opening days of the First World War.
At the same time, the other saving grace of space opera, a fantastic setting, is barely used. Galactic politics are another top-heavy bureaucracy with aristocratic elegance, without the delightful tense fragility of say, Tsarist Russia, or the absurdity of the late Austro-Hungarian empire. There are many alien species, but our characters are human, and don't even get a good evolutionarily derived stereotype.
I'll probably pick up book two from the library to see if it's better now that the shooting has started, but for now I'm notably bored.
DNF: Got to the end of the Kindle sample and was just finding the writing too bland to continue. Very interesting premise, but very little real feel of the world in the writing.