The Sundering | ||||||||
Walter Jon Williams | ||||||||
Earthlight, 452 pages | ||||||||
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A review by Rich Horton
The central characters are two humans, Lord Gareth Martinez and Lady Caroline Sula. Both are relatively young and quite
brilliant, and both become heroes in early action of the war, effectively preventing an immediate Naxid victory, though it is
clear that the Naxids have the advantage of numbers. Martinez and Sula meet and are obviously attracted to each other. However
both have flaws that will obviously cause future problems. Sula has a very dark secret in her background, further complicating
her already compromised status as the last surviving member of a disgraced family. Martinez's family, while very rich, is provincial
and thus his social status is tenuous, and his ambitions (and those of the rest of his family) tempt him towards dicey social
and political manipulations, and occasional rather careerist, and conceited, actions.
In The Sundering, the story of the war as well as the personal stories of Martinez and Sula are advanced but not resolved,
as one might expect from a middle book. Both are responsible in part for some further military successes, due to their brilliant
tactical minds (and to fruitful collaboration). Their personal relationship takes some steps forward as well, only to be impeded
by mutual misunderstandings, and by the problems mentioned above: Sula's past, and the ambitions of Martinez and his family. By
the end of the novel a plan the two concocted for saving the Empire has been put into motion, albeit credited to more
respectable people, and each are involved in desperate battles (of very different sorts) with the Naxids.
The book is very exciting, with some first rate space action, and some ground-based action as well. Williams appears to take
great care in making his battle scenes plausible, taking into account travel times, acceleration requirements, and the general
physics of space travel in planetary systems. Various aspects seem modelled on Napoleonic era naval adventure books, such as
the hierarchical nature of shipboard society, and indeed the aristocratic focus of the overall society. The overall design
is quite familiar, including such important things as the hero and heroine being brilliant mavericks, and such small
details as Martinez's crusty and wily veteran servant.
But if much is familiar, even cliché, Williams works very well within the form. The intrigues and twists and those
disasters the reader sees coming give great pleasure. The flawed characters still attract this reader, and I root for
them despite grimacing at their folly. This series is great fun to read, one of the most entertaining space operas in many years.
Rich Horton is an eclectic reader in and out of the SF and fantasy genres. He's been reading SF since before the Golden Age (that is, since before he was 13). Born in Naperville, IL, he lives and works (as a Software Engineer for the proverbial Major Aerospace Company) in St. Louis area and is a regular contributor to Tangent. Stop by his website at http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton. |
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