The Killing Of Worlds (book 2 of Succession) by Scott Westerfeld
01/02/2004 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
pub: TOR/Forge. 336 page hardback. Price: $25.95 (US), $35.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-30850-9. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.tor.com
Scott Westerfeld's 'The Killing Of Worlds' is one of the new breed of space opera. It has all the classic hallmarks of the genre - political intrigue and space battles abound.
But it also has a lot of new ideas, with planet-size AI, realistic space physics and nano-technology all playing important roles. It's an enjoyable addition to the sub-genre.
This is the second book in the series but I didn't find trouble picking up the plot. That said, although I didn't need to have read the previous volume, 'The Risen Empire', I would like to at a later date. The setting Westerfeld has created is a compelling one and makes for a good plot.
The book is set against the backdrop of the Eighty Worlds, an empire ruled by an immortal ruler. A bio-virus discovered by the Emperor to save his sister can prolong life indefinitely and he uses it to honour those who have done the Empire great good or who have died in battle serving the state.
However, in the first book, the Borg-like Rix created a powerful AI, Alexander, which discovered a terrible secret about the drug that the Emperor would kill to keep.
A Rix ship has been sent to retrieve this AI and it is up to our hero, ship captain Laurent Zai, to destroy its transmitter. The battle between his ship, the small but fast Lynx and the more powerful enemy ship takes up much of the first half of the book, as the ships' probes, drones and then weapons come into contact with each other.
The ingenious style of battle Westerfeld has invented is exciting and very readable and still manages to seem realistic and understandable. The scene in which the structure of the Lynx re-arranges itself to suit the combat environment is particularly brilliant.
The ship is very much the star of the show here and much of the action occurring off it, by Zai's Senator lover, Nara Oxham, or the two companions of the AI, seems a bit wooden in comparison.
Save one intense combat sequence in which Rix commando H_rd invades an Imperial compound single-handedly to transmit Alexander offworld, the non-Lynx action seems a little ponderous in comparison to the great sky battle overhead.
This lack of urgency in the political and dialogue scenes are down to the characterisation, which is sadly not as inventive or compelling as the technology in Westerfeld's universe.
Many of the characters are bland and interchangeable, as if their dialogue could be spoken by anyone. The climatic end sequence in the Senate chambers does help remedy this and sets up the next book nicely but the emotional conflict throughout is distant and lacking.
Despite my occasional misgivings about some of the characters, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, largely because of the fantastic battle sequences.
It's worth a read, because even if the rest of it passes you by, the conflict between the Lynx and the enemy vessel will have you hooked for hours and with promise of more of the same in book three, this can only be a good thing.
Tomas L. Martin |
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