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.