The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall, volume 1) by Walter Jon Williams

The Shaa conquered the universe. Soon, there will be no Shaa. Who
will take their place?

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/collapse
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--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
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James Nicoll wrote:

The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall, volume 1) by Walter Jon Williams

The Shaa conquered the universe. Soon, there will be no Shaa. Who
will take their place?

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/collapse

Pretty much my favourite kind of Space Opera. Almost more a subgenre of faantasy than science fiction.

Or I may be influenced by the fact that "Chess Praxis" is the title of a famous book on chess, written by the original hypermodern player, Aaron Nimzowitsch, in 1929. Wonderful, original, games. Philip Marlowe would
have loved it.

I liked the historical references. In republican Rome, there was a saying:

"One nobleman is as good as another",

meaning that it did not matter who commanded a Roman army as long as he
was an aristocrat.

More than anyone, Marius (Martinez) disproved that by winning battles
with far fewer Roman casualties than the other aristocrats - and the
common soldiers appreciated that.

Sula is less Sulla except in tactical brilliance and blonde hair.
Sulla, despite being much more aristocratic than Marius, who barely
qualified, did like taverns and music, and low life in general, but
probably wouldn't have been a fan of derivoo. He certainly would have
killed Lamey, but wouldn't have held a grudge.

I do want to know more about the Shaa and their prehistory. Where are
the rest of the Shaa, and what happens if we meet them? I've a feeling
they have not rejected scientific progress for the past ten thousand
years, so we should be rather careful with them (Praxis? Never heard of
it!).


William Hyde

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 29/04/2026 01:54, James Nicoll wrote:

The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall, volume 1) by Walter Jon Williams

The Shaa conquered the universe. Soon, there will be no Shaa. Who
will take their place?

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/collapse

I enjoyed this Dread Empire's Fall series without the benefit of the
background outlined in your review. Three stars for the first two and
four for the third. The following novellas were pot boilers being anti-climatic. The following series entitled The Praxis was too similar
and whilst I rated The Accidental War three stars I stopped reading
after the two star, Fleet Elements.
My favourites were the Metropolitan series and the stand a lones
Hardwired and Aristoi.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 5/2/26 11:12 PM, Titus G wrote:

On 29/04/2026 01:54, James Nicoll wrote:

The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall, volume 1) by Walter Jon Williams

The Shaa conquered the universe. Soon, there will be no Shaa. Who
will take their place?

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/collapse

I enjoyed this Dread Empire's Fall series without the benefit of the background outlined in your review. Three stars for the first two and
four for the third. The following novellas were pot boilers being anti-climatic. The following series entitled The Praxis was too similar
and whilst I rated The Accidental War three stars I stopped reading
after the two star, Fleet Elements.

I am currently in exact same position. The Accidental War was a very
slow starter, and for all it advanced any plot lines, it could have been
a prologue to Fleet Elements. But it was a good read.

Then Fleet Elements was decent/fine at the time, but as more time
passes, I kept thinking about how Martinez handled Sula's self-defense
killing of <whoever it was>; and it becomes more and more stupid and
hard to believe. So I haven't started the next one, and don't know if I
will.

My favourites were the Metropolitan series and the stand a lones
Hardwired and Aristoi.

I expect to read Hardwired soon. The others are very good indeed.
Tony

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)