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A review by blue_jules
The Praxis by Walter Jon Williams
Finished "The Praxis" by Walter Jon Williams. It's an Age of Sail-type SF: FTL travel by wormholes, no FTL communication except by courier, wormholes are far and between, so long travel times at high acceleration and speeds approaching the speed of light are necessary.
(Relativistic effects such as time dilation are not discussed; the highest velocities are around 0.7c, where they should be noticeable...)
Such a universe surely is in need of an empire.
This empire is founded by the alien Shaa on the Praxis, an ideology of strict rule enforcement and the thought that "all important things are known". They have conquered some other species including humans and brutally incorporated them into their empire and ideology as willing followers.
But the last Shaa dies, and of course the empire changes. "The Praxis" second half deals with the military fallout of these changes, following two officers: Martinez and Sula.
Their society is hierarchical, with Peers dominating politics and the military, and commoners having little chances. Women can be pilots and even Fleet Commanders, but are still subjected to arranged marriages or, if poor, pimped out. I'm not sure how that can work...
Through Martinez, we get to see the Peers and their politicking; through Sula's past, we get to see how life is in the society's criminal underbelly. Both have depth and strong characters.
There's nice orbital mechanics here: high-g burns and slingshots, which I enjoy (like the early The Expanse novels); it's interesting to see an empire without an expansion drive, without any wars of conquest in the part (like the Radch in "Ancillary Justice").
The technology restrictions imposed by the Praxis are interesting (no nanotech, no AI, no genetic manipulation), but nothing much is done with them.
Not sure I'll be read the whole (long) series...
(Relativistic effects such as time dilation are not discussed; the highest velocities are around 0.7c, where they should be noticeable...)
Such a universe surely is in need of an empire.
This empire is founded by the alien Shaa on the Praxis, an ideology of strict rule enforcement and the thought that "all important things are known". They have conquered some other species including humans and brutally incorporated them into their empire and ideology as willing followers.
But the last Shaa dies, and of course the empire changes. "The Praxis" second half deals with the military fallout of these changes, following two officers: Martinez and Sula.
Their society is hierarchical, with Peers dominating politics and the military, and commoners having little chances. Women can be pilots and even Fleet Commanders, but are still subjected to arranged marriages or, if poor, pimped out. I'm not sure how that can work...
Through Martinez, we get to see the Peers and their politicking; through Sula's past, we get to see how life is in the society's criminal underbelly. Both have depth and strong characters.
There's nice orbital mechanics here: high-g burns and slingshots, which I enjoy (like the early The Expanse novels); it's interesting to see an empire without an expansion drive, without any wars of conquest in the part (like the Radch in "Ancillary Justice").
The technology restrictions imposed by the Praxis are interesting (no nanotech, no AI, no genetic manipulation), but nothing much is done with them.
Not sure I'll be read the whole (long) series...