A review by tome15
The Accidental War by Walter Jon Williams
4.0
Williams, Walter Jon. Accidental War. Dread Empire’s Fall No. 4. Harper, 2018.
Like Peter F. Hamilton, Walter Jon Williams is a science fiction writer whose forte is world-building. I missed the first trilogy and short fiction in this series, which began in 2002 and has not had a major addition since 2005. The Dread Empire World reminds me somewhat of the world in the Vorkosigan saga that has defined the career of Lois McMaster Bujold; it also resembles the monarchy in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. It describes a complex space-faring society of multiple cultures and species that are kept in uneasy equilibrium by strict social hierarchies and codes of honor. Caught in the middle of all this are two frenemies, a warship captain, Caroline Sula, and Gareth Martinez, a merchant prince. They are fiercely competitive with each other but thrown together to fight common enemies. Williams does a good job of describing the tactics and technologies of his space battles, and he keeps the action bubbling along. I look forward to the next installment.
Like Peter F. Hamilton, Walter Jon Williams is a science fiction writer whose forte is world-building. I missed the first trilogy and short fiction in this series, which began in 2002 and has not had a major addition since 2005. The Dread Empire World reminds me somewhat of the world in the Vorkosigan saga that has defined the career of Lois McMaster Bujold; it also resembles the monarchy in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. It describes a complex space-faring society of multiple cultures and species that are kept in uneasy equilibrium by strict social hierarchies and codes of honor. Caught in the middle of all this are two frenemies, a warship captain, Caroline Sula, and Gareth Martinez, a merchant prince. They are fiercely competitive with each other but thrown together to fight common enemies. Williams does a good job of describing the tactics and technologies of his space battles, and he keeps the action bubbling along. I look forward to the next installment.