The Crucible of Empire [Mass Market Paperback]

I've always enjoyed almost all of the books by the two authors, the prequel to this work done jointly by Flint & Wentworth and their other works written apart. If you enjoyed Course of Empire, you'll enjoy this book. This is not a stand-alone work, the reader will really have to have read the first book in this series. On it's on merits, I think this is not as bang-up fun as the first book, and I have some quibbles on how successfully the integration of former-combative species of the Jao and Humans is presented after only a passage of 2 years from the events of Course of Empire. Worse, there is a minor character, a female Jao engineer, Kaln, seems to be wildly inconsistent with how the Jao are presented as a whole.

Minor quibbles, a fun overnight read.

The Course of Empire introduced us to the Jao conquerors of Earth and the exterminating giant arachnid-like race called the Ekhat. Now, in The Crucible Of Empire, it is two years after the events of the first novel, and the Jao/human taif (a kochan, or clan, in formation) is gingerly finding its feet. The Ekhat menace still looms large, however. Not only has it recently destroyed spaceships of one of the less prosperous Jao kochan, the Krant, but it may be readying for the final annihilation of a another race hiding in the same nebula. So Terra Governor Aille and Preceptor Ronz decide that a newly constructed starship of unprecedented proportions named Lexington will use the Frame Network to jump through a star there and reconnoiter. Manned by both Jao and humans, the Lexington must not only fight a battle outnumbered, but also deal with First Contact.

Many of the characters in the first novel play important roles in this sequel as the native earthlings and their Jao occupiers learn to work together and tolerate, or perhaps even appreciate each other's habits and tendencies. But juggling their alliance becomes more complicated when a third sentient people is tossed into the mix, particularly since the Jao's historical experience with these sentient beings resulted in the latters' near extinction. How will the relatively small colony of aliens greet the Jao and the humans? Will this meeting be for naught if an Ekhat fleet comes to "sterilize" the nebula?

As its predecessor did, THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE excels at portraying alien cultures. It deepens our understanding of the Jao and, to a lesser extent, the Ekhat. It also shows us around a new civilization, complete with its own "strengths and blind spots." One of their blind spots really angers some humans. And it portrays individuals in each of these races who possess abilities and inclinations that are unusual (and generally unwelcome) among its own kind, but which can benefit their people's advancement.

Eric Flint and K. D. Wentworth have produced another fascinating fictional sociological and cultural study of alien groups either competing or cooperating. At times, the authors' fastidious depiction of the Jao preoccupation with body language or of the new alien hidebound emphasis on propriety can become repetitive. In fact, many facts of the story are reiterated more than they need to be (a truism about THE COURSE OF EMPIRE also). Generally, though, THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE is thoroughly engrossing, both as science fiction and as a fictional classroom on society, politics, and culture that can also be applied to human relations alone. There is a lecturing, judgmental tone at times, but the anthropological details minimize any annoyance caused by that didacticism, in my opinion. I hope it will be sooner than another seven years before another novel about this empire is published. This is a universe about which I want to learn so much more.

I just finished this book and have to say it is one of my favorite SF works ever. It reads like David Drakes works, but without the half a chapter devoted to explaining each new strategy or weapon used- so it doesn't lose its flow. reading "The Course of Empire" first is a strong suggestion. The writing style is fun to read so you can pick this one up and later read the first book to fill in some holes... if you choose that route. Get this book

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