Conquerors' Heritage [Audiobook] [Unabridged] (Audio Cassette)

Which is ironic since Conquerors' Heritage has the most intriguing idea of all three books: presenting the viewpoint of the alien invaders. Sounds interesting, doesn't it? But, alas, it simply isn't. Central to this problem is that Zahn promises a glimpse into an alien culture, but presents a world in which very little seems alien to us. The world of the Conquerors is essentially a quasi-human society with numerous ironic and tiresome twists. Example: the basic unit of time is the hunbeat, instead of the heartbeat (see how clever that is?). Yes, to Zahn's credit, there are indeed some points of interest. I did find the mystery of the fsss organ interesting (What is it? How's it work?), at least until Zahn turns it into an almost comical commentary on euthanasia. Careful readers will catch this, finnicky readers will be annoyed by it. Overall, Zahn gives the impression of being a talented writer with nothing worthwhile to say.

It is also worth noting that Zahn breaks a major rule of narrative structure and has it blow up in his face. The problem in this series (as defined by book one) is the conflict between the humans and the Conquerors. This is what Conquerors' Pride started out with, and it is where we were left at the end. Zahn's mistake is that in this second book, the central problem of the series is barely addressed. Instead, Zahn deals with the family squabbles of characters who, in the first book, were relatively minor characters. This simply doesn't work. Zahn deviates from the main premise of his story so far and for so long that readers are likely to tire of it rather quickly. Readers who claimed that Conquerors' Heritage was boring or lacked the intensity or interest of the other two books are most likely responding to this problem.

Readers who have read the first book and are debating reading the second should exercise caution. However, if you're like me, then once you start a series you're in for the long haul, and, yes, Zahn does return to his original premise with Conquerors' Legacy and the story does improve somewhat. If you've still got the stomach for it, that is.