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A review by arbieroo
Nova War by Gary Gibson
3.0
This sequel to [b:Stealing Light|3607898|Stealing Light|Gary Gibson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297406365s/3607898.jpg|2144204] fixes many of its predecessor's problems; distractingly overt reference to other books is absent, as is clumsy foreshadowing and very predictable plotting. This makes it much better, but there are still some problems, mainly at the detailed sentence level of occasional poor grammar and bad phrasing.
The over-arching theme of both books (with at least one more to come) seems to be about nuclear proliferation and who should be allowed to control such devastating weapons. Of course in the books, its bombs that detonate entire stars, but still...Should older, more mature societies suppress everybody else? Is that idea patronising? Who can be trusted? Gibson's answer seems to be an independent body not bound to any particular political body or doctrine. This immediately raises in my mind the question, who watches the watchers? Maybe Gibson examines this in the third volume, which, if it shows continued improvement might be very good.
The over-arching theme of both books (with at least one more to come) seems to be about nuclear proliferation and who should be allowed to control such devastating weapons. Of course in the books, its bombs that detonate entire stars, but still...Should older, more mature societies suppress everybody else? Is that idea patronising? Who can be trusted? Gibson's answer seems to be an independent body not bound to any particular political body or doctrine. This immediately raises in my mind the question, who watches the watchers? Maybe Gibson examines this in the third volume, which, if it shows continued improvement might be very good.