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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The tale is now complete.,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Killing of Worlds (Successions, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Those readers who enjoyed Mr. Westerfeld's "The Risen Empire," but were majorly (or even minorly) disappointed by its abrupt ending that left the tale half untold will be delighted to know that they can read this "sequel" without fear of being once again left hanging. Things are wrapped up nicely this time.
"Killing of Worlds" serves up more of the author's character-based space opera (I called "Risen Empire" a space-soap opera), with no heroes and no villains--just people doing what they do. Once again, the tale is told from multiple points of view (whose pov you're now entering is clear from the chapter titles), with most of the characters from part I back (including the dead cats) and with some new ones as well. This time the centerpiece is a terrific space duel betwen Laurent Zai of the space frigate Lynx and a ship from the enemy empire of the tech-enhanced Rix. While the chase is going on Zai's lover, Senator Nara Oxham, is involved in a political duel of her own--against the immortal "Risen Emperor" of the Eighty Worlds, who has a secret that needs to be revealed. And in addition a Rix commander and her lover are aiding a Rix-designed AI "compound mind" that calls itself Alexander. The author moves things along swiftly to a breathtaking (and worldshaking) conclusion. Maybe you'll be surprised when the mystery at the heart of the tale (i.e., the Emperor's secret) is uncovered, but if so, you'll probably slap your forehead and think you should have seen it coming--the clues have been there from the start. Exciting. Well written. Fascinating tech. What more could you ask for? Well, a real sequel, perhaps?
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blame a "certain large bookstore chain" for the chop-job,
By Emperor Norton (Interstellar Suburbia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Killing of Worlds: Book Two of Succession (Hardcover)
Westerfeld's website mentions that both books were intended as one, but a book chain balked at the 700-page length and demanded that it be cut in half (same thing that happened to Behemoth), to answer those criticizing the shortness of the two books.
Anyway, this is truly smart and savvy space-opera, and without any aliens peeking their tendrils around any airlocks, and recently this has been one of my favourite types of SF book - the kind that skips over aliens entirely, which is good because most writers do an awful job of making them into more than stereotypes of some aspect of human behaviour (i.e can't make them alien enough). Westerfled would probably do a good job if he tried, but the Rix are sufficiently removed from modern humanity to qualify, and the other tribe of humanity we get a glimpse of (the Plague Axis) are also very original and a concept that does make a certain amount of sense. Having read Evolution's Darling first, I was surprised by the difference in these two books - a bit lighter but also much more fun and enjoyable, yet still with very dark elements. Definitely more mainstream than Evolution's Darling, and a better pair of books overall. Westerfeld also knows how to write-up a good rip-roaring space battle between only two ships, and give some of the terminology used in the book (Spinward Reaches? Sandcasters?) I think he may have been a Traveler player in a previous life... Overall, nothing bad to say about these books, other than the need to read them consecutively to really enjoy them. Here's hoping for a third.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliance continues,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Killing of Worlds: Book Two of Succession (Hardcover)
I loved The Risen Empire and have been waiting for the sequel impatiently. It's every bit as good as I hoped. In short, I read the book in one sitting completely unable to put it down. The Killing of Worlds begins with the space battle promised at the end of Empire. For a solid 170 pages, the Lynx and its Rix opponent struggle, employing opposing swarms of drone craft , vast clouds of kinetic weapons (manufactured diamonds), beam weapons, nano-infection attacks and stealth maneuvers. Quite simply, one of the most fascinating and intricate space battles every put on paper, and with realistic Newtonian physics to boot. Of course, the rest of Westerfeld's political and interpersonal conflicts are also playing out. The Rix commando and her hostage/lover effect incredible dirt-side assaults, and the Senate politics culminate in a dramatic trial and a revelation of cosmic significance. Even the flash-back arc bares unexpectedly wonderful fruit. A novel of wildly ambitious structure. I wouldn't read this book without having already read Risen Empire, but this extraordinary conclusion should win back those put off by Empire's cliff-hanger ending. I mean, come on, this is science fiction, a literature built on pulp dramatics, fix-up novels, and Saturday serials. With a pay-off this good, the wait was worth it.
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