The Sundering: Dread Empire's Fall (Dread Empire's Fall Series)

by Walter Jon Williams

Book Overview

"Space opera the way it ought to be ...] Bujold and Weber, bend the knee; interstellar adventure has a new king, and his name is Walter Jon Williams." -- George R.R. MartinFollowing The Praxis, Walter... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380820218
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: HarperTorch
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.1" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Onward and Upward for Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams' "The Sundering : Dread Empire's Fall (Dread Empires Fall)" is more than a satisfying sequel in what promises to be a multiple volume space opera saga which is far better written than virtually anything I've come across lately (The only notable exception seems to be Alastair Reynolds' ongoing epic, which is of a higher literary quality than Williams'.). Once more Gareth Martinez and Lady Caroline Sula (Or is she really the Lady Sula?) must contend with their romantic adventures while their empire descends further in a bitter civil war started by Naxids determined to assume control of the now-extinct Shaa's despotic interstellar empire. Much to Williams' credit, he has written some of the most compelling, indeed realistic, space battles I have encountered; without question this deserves ample attention within science fiction. But he's added a compelling saga replete with two fascinating characters in Martinez and Sula, and a fine prose style too. Indeed, I found this sequel far more riveting and exciting a read than its predecessor. And lastly, to Williams' credit, he ends the novel with the reader begging for more, raising the stakes - metaphorically speaking - with regards to future installments of this saga; without divulging what does happen, I will say that the future remains rather uncertain for both Martinez and Sula.

A very nice read.

I very much enjoyed this book, as well as the second volume that followed. The characters were very well drawn, and react in a manner that fits their environment. When the last of its race, Anticipation of Victory dies, how will the Praxis survive? The Empire of the Shaa is a great backdrop for this story. Instead of humans victorious, or humans involved in a struggle for freedom, men are simply one of a half dozen conquered races living under the laws of the Praxis. This is a fantastic introduction to the series. The Empire is one of the most believable settings in a scifi novel I have read. The Shaa have assigned arbitrary values to the day, commemorate victory with ship names such as Destruction of Delhi, and enforce their laws with death or the complete destruction of worlds. There is not even a clue where their home world lies in space. I highly recommend this book to space opera fans.

Character and Action Wow

The Sundering is the second book in the Dread Empire's Fall series. It continues the adventures of Martinez and Sula and more importantly deepens the relationship between the characters. This is hard SF set against a colorful universe filled with fascinating aliens and great battle sequences. What sets this book apart from so many "Space Operas" is the subtle humor and the complex and thoughtful characters. Williams is a brilliant wordsmith, but he can also tell a ripping good story. Buy this book. You won't be sorry. And may Mr. Williams continue this series for many more volumes.

An honest hard SF book with a great story

Yet another great book from Walter Jon Williams, the most underrated SF author around. This book is the second in the Praxis series and should not be read without having read "Dread Empire's Fall". The Sundering (not that I get the title) picks up right where the first one left off with our heroes gallantly trying to put down a rebellion that threatens the stability of a 10,000 year old empire. The book starts off quick, stabilizes in the middle and finishes with a bang which leaves you wanting more. The story is not over yet and while I have no idea how many more books WJW intends to write, one can only hope for about two more, in which he should be able to wrap up the story and get on with something else. (I don't approve of endless novels). There is also a wonderful sense of humor throughout this book, not the Terry Pratchett kind, but a subtle realistic humor that makes this book very unique and a wonderful read. WJW does a great job in showing just how hard it would be to stage a battle in space. Fighting gravitational thrust, incredibly long distances, inadequate intelligence all make a much more realistic view of space warfare then what is usually seen in SF novels. While other authors ignore facts of physics or invent some magical contraption to negate the effects, Williams deals with them honestly and effectively. This book is not only a great story, but it's not a cheat. In other words, as Arthur C. Clarke and other great SF writers have shown, it is possible to tell a good story and stick to scientific fact. While most other authors in this genre have conveniently forgotten how to do this in order to create boring "space operas", WJW forges ahead in the path developed for him by the great masters of SF. I only hope we see more of WJW soon and that he keeps writing great books like the Praxis series and "Days of Atonement", which is one of the best time travel novels ever written.

Superior Space Opera!

The Sundering is the second volume of Walter Jon Williams' newest series, written around the lives of two engaging principals: Lord Gareth Martinez, the ambitious and extremely capable younger son of an enormously wealthy put hopelessly provincial family of Peers; and Lady Caroline Sula, the tormented street-child pulling off a galaxy-class con masquerading as the last surviving member of a disgraced line of Peers. As in the first volume, the action is set within that hoariest of all space opera clichés, the turbulent death-throes of a once all-powerful pan-galactic empire. What might have been just another cookie-cutter effort is instead a wild ride through space with the reader fully engaged in the lives, dreams, and perils of Lord Martinez and Lady Sula. Williams sticks with 'real' physics, forcing his characters to undergo long, punishing accelerations and requiring spaceships to follow ballistics and orbital mechanics. This isn't 'Hard' SF, but it's certainly working towards that. Williams won't force the numbers on you, but he never forgets that Physics are the ultimate player, and he never allows 'magical' performance from his spacecraft. Instead of resisting or wishing inconvenient forces away, he makes the constraints of physics a central driving force to the plot of this series. A refreshing change from the usual!In the first volume, The Praxis, Williams has done a masterful job of setting the stage and setting the pieces into play. Now, we continue to follow the story as the action heats up and sparks (and missiles) start to really fly. Lord Martinez has become a hero of the Praxis, having managed to commandeer a warship right from under the nose of a massive and thoroughly-plotted conspiracy, and fight his way back to the capital with a skeleton crew. One of the few points of hope in the grim days following the attempted (and largely successful) coup, Martinez is decorated and placed in command of the vessel he commandeered, over the heads of many officers more senior. Further compounding their jealousies, he's placed in command of a light squadron on its way to reenforce a nearby system over a more senior officer. Balancing squadron jealousies and trying to shake his newly-assigned crew into shape, he's stunned to learn of the disastrous defeat that has essentially wiped-out the Home Fleet. Now, in addition to a demanding Commodore, a jealous 'subordinate', and a raw crew, Gareth must find a way to create new tactics that will spare the fleet the annihilation in the face of a superior foe and slavish adherence to hide-bound doctrines ossified in millennia of tradition. Gareth is called to lead his force back to the capital to protect it, but now there's an enemy fleet in his way...Meanwhile, returning to the capital in a battered and nearly-dead cruiser not her own, Lady Sula is the sole survivor of her ship, and the only other bright spot of hope in the face of disaster and ruin. Part of a massive punitive raid against the traitorou