Conventions of War (Dread Empire's Fall)
by Walter Jon Williams
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Book Summary Information
Author: Walter Jon WilliamsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-27
ISBN: 0380820226
Number of pages: 688
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Book Reviews of Conventions of War (Dread Empire's Fall)
Book Review: "Drive On, She Said"
Summary: 5 Stars
"Conventions of War," the third in Walter Jon Williams's "Dread Empire" series, is well titled--it's all about the use of conventional and unconventional tactics, not only in space battles but also "asymmetric" warfare on the land.
As before the story is told (mostly) from two points of view: Captain Gareth Martinez's and Lady Caroline Sula's. In this installment (and it's half again as long as the two previous volumes)their task is to finally defeat the Naxid rebels. Martinez goes off with the fleet to do just that (for a while he and his squadron act like a future version of Sir Francis Drake), while Sula, raising an army of irregulars and crime bosses, seeks to grab back the capital of the empire, Zanshaa, which the loyalists had abandoned as a strategy in the last volume.
As before the beautiful Sula, with her mathematical and language skills, her cloudy past, and her anger-management issues, is the centerpiece of the tale. She's a borderline (at least) sociopath, but she's quite useful managing wartime chaos, and there are hints that she might be headed for a political career eventually.
At least as intriguing as the battle schemes, which Mr. Williams beautifully portrays, is the tension between the various characters, both personal and doctrinal. And if that weren't enough, the author offers up a juicy murder mystery for his readers as well. That part of the tale, I suspect, brings forth issues that Mr. Williams intends to explore in future volumes.
The author takes his riff on conventions down to the micro level too: the story uses conventional space-opera elements in an unconventional way. For example, you'll guess early on which characters are going to be around at the end and which ones won't, which will succeed and which will fail; but you'll be startled at the way they meet their fates. And there's one surprise, and it swirls toward you at the end, like those fractal maneuvers Sula and Martinez have devised for their spacecrafts in battle.
Read the first two volumes first, please.
Summary of Conventions of War (Dread Empire's Fall)
The universe has fallen into bloody chaos now that the dread empire of the tyrannical Shaa is no more -- at the mercy of the merciless insectoid Naxid, who now hunger for domination. But the far-flung human descendants of Terra have finally tasted liberty, and their warrior heroes will not submit. Separated by light-years, Lord Gareth Martinez and the mysterious guerrilla fighter Caroline Sula each pursue a different road to victory in tomorrow's ultimate battle -- for the new order will be far more terrible than the old ... unless one last, desperate stratagem can hold a shattered galaxy together.
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