Review: Great book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2013
This is a great book. With few exceptions this is very much my style of book. Two empires are hurling themselves against each other in war and the battles are plentiful, both on the ground and in space. The scale of things is sufficiently grandiose without going all overboard as some books do. The physics are believable, for a science fiction book that is. It is a relatively long book which I quite like. 528 pages according to the Calibre page count plugin (Adobe Digital Editions algorithm). Sure, this one is often a bit generous with the pages but it still means it is a book on the longer side compared to many Sci-Fi novels.The plot and the action is well written and very enjoyable to read. Quite a bit of the book is centered on one of the frontier colonies which the Ca'cadasans have recently invaded and, naturally, a lot of focus is on getting the uncrowned emperor back home to be crowned. A task that, for various reasons, seems to be a very difficult proposal indeed. When it is not thwarted by the Ca'cadasan's then the author throws in a little romance just for good measure.Other parts of the book deals with the situation on the "home front" which is more one of espionage, sabotage as well as plain old political treachery for personal gain. A lot of this I do not like as usual but, luckily, it is far from a dominant part of the book. The plotting and scheming of the politicians and their attempt to put this dimwit cousin on the thrown still frustrates me enormously though. There are other parts telling the story of the new technological advances, which not everyone are happy with it seems, and their potential impact on the war with the Ca'cadasans. These parts are interesting and I hope this part of the story will lead to some nasty surprises for the Ca'cadasans in future books.I am certainly looking forward to the next book in the series though I hope that this book will resolve the matter of the Emperor in the first few chapters though. After three fairly long books I am a wee bit tired of reading about various reasons for him not getting back on the throne. I am especially annoyed by the do-not-want-to-go-back-because-there-is-a-war-to-fight nonsense. Just get him back and kick the political a--holes and well as the dimwit cousin in the behind, be done with it and get in with the war...please.Bottom line, this was a very enjoyable book for me.