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45th out of 208 books
—
827 voters
The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall #1)
All will must bend to the perfect truth of The Praxis
For millennia, the Shaa have subjugated the universe, forcing the myriad sentient races to bow to their joyless tyranny. But the Shaa will soon be no more. The dread empire is in its rapidly fading twilight, and with its impending fall comes the promise of a new galactic order . . . and bloody chaos.
A young Terran n
...morePaperback, 448 pages
Published
August 26th 2003
by HarperTorch
(first published 2002)
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So-so. Pales in comparison with David Weber's books, or Iain Bank's books, or E.E. Doc Smith's books (or...), in whose sub-genre it wants to be. Williams just isn't a particularly good writer: for example, I found I couldn't really visualize the world his characters inhabit... the descriptive writing wasn't powerful enough, nor were the aliens sufficiently alien, and for a society in which (to quote the blurb) "myriad races" are integrated, it is somewhat surprising to only have five or six race...more
by Walter Jon Williams, published in 2002.
Space Opera - I just love it. This, “The Praxis” from Walter Jon Williams, is indeed what I believe to be classified as space opera. We have alien races, epic space battles and operatic situations.
This is the first part of “Dread Empire’s Fall” trilogy, and it starts off rather slowly. In fact, it starts off so slowly we don’t really get to any significant action until three quarters of the way through the novel.
Which seems to annoy many readers, but not...more
Space Opera - I just love it. This, “The Praxis” from Walter Jon Williams, is indeed what I believe to be classified as space opera. We have alien races, epic space battles and operatic situations.
This is the first part of “Dread Empire’s Fall” trilogy, and it starts off rather slowly. In fact, it starts off so slowly we don’t really get to any significant action until three quarters of the way through the novel.
Which seems to annoy many readers, but not...more
This was set up as the first part of a trilogy, although I believe there are more than 3 books now. I'm going to give it 2 and a half stars. It did some things well, and some other things not so well, I thought. First, it's well written and I've liked a lot of Williams' work that I've read before. However, this book also starts out very, very slow it seems to me. Relatively little happens for the first 150 or so pages. At that point I was almost ready to give up on it. It improved quite a bit af...more
This is a re-read for me. I read the Dread Empire trilogy years ago and rembered it as a rousin space opera. My memory was that it was an excellent epic with lots of space battles. Well, my memory was partially correct. There are some space battles, though nearly as many as I remembered, which are all brilliantly plotted and presented. There is also a substantial amount of politics, class warfare (particularly relevent with today's "1%" disputes), and interesting aliens, which I had forgotten ne...more
The Praxis is the first part of a trilogy of "space opera" stories set in a far future universe where the various species live generally at peace in the all-powerful (but now declining) Shaa empire. The human protagonists at the centre of the drama (once it gets moving) are interesting and flawed characters (therefore plausible and worth getting to know) who get involved in the battle for the empire forced by the Naxid rebellion. Space travel is enhanced by known "worm-holes" which facilitate mo...more
Walter Jon Williams fell victim to the convention of so many sci-fi writers who pretend to write trilogies when what they really write is one beginning, one middle, and one end in three volumes. In case you're wondering, I don't like that. My one-person protest is to rate the trilogy as a single book. In order to discover the complete rating, all three reviews must be read.
The Praxis is a great beginning. It sets up a fascinating multiple sentient empire ruled by the Shaa for eons. The two main...more
The Praxis is a great beginning. It sets up a fascinating multiple sentient empire ruled by the Shaa for eons. The two main...more
Somehow I ended up with two copies of this book--one from the local thrift store and one from a used bookstore. I guess lots of people are getting rid of it, though I don't know why. I thought it was one of the best space operas I've read. I didn't give it 5 stars because it really isn't a complete novel. It is clearly just the setup for the main story yet to come.
I like the way space travel worked in this one. There is the typical "magic wormholes" that let you go FTL, but between wormholes you...more
I like the way space travel worked in this one. There is the typical "magic wormholes" that let you go FTL, but between wormholes you...more
Pretty decent space opera book. Williams does a good job of showing how FTL travel works (wormholes) and gives a good account of what happens between them, where ships use slower travel and rely more on physics.
There are however some things I didn't quite like. One is that Williams manages to both rush into story and draw it out. He rushes in to explain the basis of whole Praxis system of government and introduction of species but manages to draw out story development so "good stuff" only starts...more
There are however some things I didn't quite like. One is that Williams manages to both rush into story and draw it out. He rushes in to explain the basis of whole Praxis system of government and introduction of species but manages to draw out story development so "good stuff" only starts...more
This is good hard scifi in the Niven mode. Thousands of years in the future The known galaxy is conquered, including Earth, and joined to an Empire living according to "The Praxis", a worldview sponsored by the conquerors. The Empire's military is largely ceremonial, as there have been no insurrections or invasions in millennia. Two Officers in this military stumble across a surprisingly successful rebellion and escape with their lives to win some battles and become heroes. Sounds like space ope...more
First in the triology describing the rise and fall of the Praxis, this is one of my favorite books by consumate sci-fi author Walter Jon Williams. A dark and gritty tale of a determined, desperate band of human revolutionaries who choose death before domination, they manage to wage a secret campaign of resistance against an all powerful alien rule. You'll want to read all three in the series. I certainly did. And then, I've read everything else I can get my hands on from Walter Jon Williams.
A good, solid sci fi adventure. My main issue was that it took too long for the action to get started. I liked the setting. It was interesting having humans and a bunch of other races under the thumb of the Shaa. What I didn't get was the fact that everyone seemed to buy into the Praxis and continued to do so even when the last Shaa was dead. I liked the plot twist about Caroline Sula. It was expected, but now the way I had expected it to play out. I'll certainly give the next book a shot.
I really enjoyed this book, but I can't actually tell you why. The characters aren't really that interesting. The setting is fairly generic. The plot isn't bad, but it's hardly spectacular. However, I couldn't put the book down once I started reading it. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book. My wife feels exactly the same way about this book, too.
This trilogy (of which this is the first) was one of my favorite "space opera" reads in a long time. I loved the characters, who were unique, flawed but likeable, rather than the cartoon heroes and heroines of so many such novels. Everything doesn't work out "just so." Not profound but highly recommended as really good science-fiction entertainment.
One of the best-written sci-fi stories I have encountered. The author has woven together a 'verse with just the right amount of space combat mixed with a caste system you love to hate. Big kudos for being one of the few books with interstellar travel which does not gloss over the effects of massive, sustained acceleration.
Interestingly, much better than Implied Spaces. That book is about post-scarcity humans and AIs, but fails to measure up to the sophistication it is supposed to be about.
This story, however, is about a stagnant and decadent society, so the characters are firmly within reach. It's a bit baroque, but interesting. I hope it doesn't turn into a David Weber, where at the end Martinez and Sula are saviors and rulers of the universe, perhaps deified as the new embodiment of the Praxis to keep the peace...more
This story, however, is about a stagnant and decadent society, so the characters are firmly within reach. It's a bit baroque, but interesting. I hope it doesn't turn into a David Weber, where at the end Martinez and Sula are saviors and rulers of the universe, perhaps deified as the new embodiment of the Praxis to keep the peace...more
Decent space opera after about the midway point. Previous to that, it was decent something else. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about this first volume, in either a good or bad way. In short, it does what it says on the tin. I will definitely go ahead into the next at some point.
Easily digestible military space opera. Light on action, heavy on introducing principal races, characters, and their political & social dynamics. Strong action-fest payoff to a near book-long slow build sets up the next book perfectly. Unexpectedly enjoyable.
Largely, meh. Not bad, fairly enjoyable but not overly challenging. Liked the space battles, but could have done without the plot arc that was lifted BEAT FOR BEAT from "The Talented Mr. Ripley". I shit you not.
I would have given this book 4 stars but it didn't start getting good for me till chapter 7.
Too much time was spend on the early character development while neglecting the main plot.
This is my second attempt and I'm glad I finally finished it as it finished really strong. Probably will read the sequel.
Too much time was spend on the early character development while neglecting the main plot.
This is my second attempt and I'm glad I finally finished it as it finished really strong. Probably will read the sequel.
An entertaining and gripping look at what happens when a society kept mostly at peace for as long as most people can remember suddenly loses the lynchpin that was holding them together. The military, which had become a haven for stuffed shirts and figureheads who spent most of their time engaged in exercises, doesn't remember how to react to real trouble, except for our two main characters...
Exciting adventure. The long set up is worth it. Heart pounding action by the last third. The main characters have high quality flaws to go along with all their brilliance and chutzpah.
This is great space opera. It has a moderately hard SF edge -- wormholes aside, the spaceship physics are real, and every technology posited is a more than plausible extrapolation from current technology.
The only reason it doesn't get four stars is that space opera isn't my favourite kind of SF.
The only reason it doesn't get four stars is that space opera isn't my favourite kind of SF.
I loved the hard science space battles. A bit slow in the middle, but an overall enjoyable series.
Starts off a bit slow but once it picks up speed, it flies by right till the end.
Liked this a lot; one of the top 100 SF novels of 2002.
Really good space opera ( tough to find).
Interesting enough to get the second one...
enjoyable space opera romp.
Aug 29, 2012
Mark
added it
Brilliant if slightly contrived sci fi
Fun read, nice pace and focus on the characters. The plot was obvious, but still emotional and satisfying.
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Walter Jon Williams has published twenty novels and short fiction collections. Most are science fiction or fantasy -Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind, Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire to name just a few - a few are historical adventures, and the most recent, The Rift, is a disaster novel in which "I just basically pound a part of the planet down to bedrock." And that's just the opening chapters...more
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