Miscellaneous
As with my other book reviews I will endeavor to not give
away spoilers or anything of the like but rather discuss the book in more
general terms. As well I am on holiday
and as such my writing may be a little distracted.J Too much fun in balmy Singapore I suppose.
Introduction
Walter Jon Williams is one of the best modern science
fiction writers. He has also been a
little less prodigious until this novel.
Williams has done a good job of not only building upon his prior works
if not in sequels then in concepts: Ambassador of Progress to Aristoi or
Harwired to Voice of the Whirlwind come to mind as examples. He has also done a good job of doing new and
different things within the genre in both long and short fiction.
Dread Empire’s Fall: The Praxis is definitely something new
for Walter Jon Williams in terms of world building, characterization and
plot. It is arguably his best novel in
quite sometime (especially compared to Metropolitan, City on Fire or the very
mediocre The Rift). More importantly,
The Praxis is an enjoyable read that brings forth many of the aspects enjoy about Williams’ writing.
Plot
The ancient Shaa are a dying race who had the benefit of
being the first to use wormholes to travel about the galaxy and subjugate all
they encountered. Though brutal tactics
they brought their new subjects in line with their codes and beliefs. The Terrans (e.g. us) were amongst these
races. The story focuses primarily
around naval officer Lt. Gareth Martinez who is somewhat doomed by a limited
military career as his family is rich, yet being from the outskirts of the
empire they are very provincial. The
other main character is Cadet Caroline Sula, who has more skeletons in her
closet than a dodgy mortician. Both
wind up having their stars on the rise, though neither would given normal
circumstances in the Empire. Their
characters are introduced in a heroic fashion, but as their stars rise in the
military circles things go from bad to worse.
For the the last of the Shaa (virtual immortals, who have chosen to die)
decides it is ready to die and leave the Empire in the care of its
subjects. Some of the subjects seem to
think this is an excellent opportunity…
The plot is big in scope but very narrow in perspective. The reader is not inundated with too much
over all information or grand plots. It
is about the characters making their way through the story, which has been one
of Williams better talents as a writer.
On the flip side, much of the novel is spent setting up the
core plot, which is also a quality of Williams. This is the first in a multiple novel series and perhaps it
invests the reader more into the characters than if it started with a bang.
Characterization
Williams has always done a good job in creating characters
who are deep, Martinez and Sula are both very interesting characters and he
uses different methods to display their depth.
Martinez is definitely the dominant character in the current time of The
Praxis. Much of the events in the novel
center around him. Sula is built up in
a series of flashbacks explaining why she is a seriously screwed up person,
virtually all of it by her design.
Thoughts
The Praxis is a novel I have been waiting a long time to
read. I wanted a time and place I could
just sit back and read it, luckily my current holiday in Singapore offered me
just that. The plot is interesting in
both the overall and character viewpoints, so the slow start is not a bad
thing. A definite feel for the Shaa’s
empire and the people in it is portrayed, along with very defined and differing
characterizations of Martinez and Sula.
So far as galactic empire, space operas go The Praxis
delivers something very solid and very different and is a novel I could only
put down upon the direst of needs.
