The Praxis

This first volume in the Dread Empire's Fall sequence displays genuine ambition and imagination, with a galaxy-spanning narrative that glitters with invention and energy. Many have suffered under the brutal and corrupt regime of the Shaa. For thousands of years, their unbending code, formulated by the eponymous Praxis, has made a misery of the lives of millions. But a change is in the air as the Shaa grow disillusioned and begin to destroy themselves, despite their immortality. With the death of the regime, an explosion of chaos seems inevitable, and the void left by the passing of the implacable masters will not last long, as many pretenders jostle in a bid for power, including the Naxids, the old associates of the Shaa, who regard themselves as the natural successors. As events rush to a terrifying climax, a small band of individuals begin a fight for humane values in the face of the terrifying new order. This is a classic example of the new breed of space opera, re-inventing old science-fiction tropes: larger-than-life heroics acted out against a massive backdrop, with dauntless protagonists and evil villains engaged in a cataclysmic struggle and galactic power the prize to be won. Walter Jon Williams demonstrates such panache with this material that readers will be keenly awaiting the succeeding volumes in this highly promising sequence. (Kirkus UK)