The Accidental War audiobook

3.5 StarsThe Accidental War kicks off a new trilogy in Walter John Williams’ Praxis universe. This time, it’s not a power vacuum that threatens the empire – now the Praxis is the victim of its own success. A financial crisis leads to a fracturing of the Empire’s coalition on racial lines, with several non-Terran member groups exploiting the nouveau riche Martinez family’s connection to the troubles to band all Terrans as criminals. As tensions boil over, military conflict ensues. Gareth Martinez and Lady Sula are still the focal point of events, and though their romance was long ago scuttled, the two haven’t moved on as much as they would like to think.Space opera has undergone such a radical shift in the ten years since the last Praxis novel, the Machiavellian maneuvering and Plutocratic decadence on display in The Accidental War often feels like a relic of a bygone era. Williams considerable skills have not diminished in that time: the pace is engrossing - tensions germinate, bloom, and pollinate in a natural progression. The plot develops so logically and consequentially that the book’s title takes on something of an ironic bend. Williams plants a lot of seeds in The Accidental War, too many to come to fruition between the covers of this entry, and for me this felt more like the first act in a long novel than a complete story unto itself. Definitive judgment of its success isn’t easy to parse at this point, but this is a very promising start.

There is definitely a comfort zone going on here as we return to our favorite heroes that always seem to bounce off each other in interesting ways. The worldbuilding is as familiar and as frustrating as usual, but here we come back to a large spacefaring society having rebuilt after the bloody war of the previous volumes. Seven years in, and neither grand hero has gotten the respect that either deserves.Indeed, while they thrive, the conservative and staunchly traditional conformist empire severely distrusts anyone with a spark of innovation and desperately wants to get rid of the very people who won the war in the first place.But of course, nothing is all that direct. Indeed, no direct shots were fired until economic collapse started a blame game that got all the reactionaries out of the woodwork. Soon, the lynch mobs followed.Humanity is blamed in almost the same way Jews were blamed throughout history.And the rest IS history.Great action, very cool, interesting buildup, and desperate odds. A whole galactic empire versus the Humans that used to be an integral part of it.

I won an advance reading copy of this latest book in the Praxis series in a Goodreads giveaway. I enjoyed it very much, and think that readers new to the series will be able to pick up what's going on and enjoy it as well as those familiar with the previous volumes. It's a military science fiction book, but it's a carefully crafted and slowly developed story of empire rather than a zip-zoom-bang-boom space opera. The politics, diplomacy, and economics figure more heavily than military action in this volume, and I occasionally grew a little impatient for the titular war to get started. The characters are all exceptionally well-developed, one of Williams' hallmark strengths. (The only complaint I had was that there are several members of the Martinez family, so when a character is called Martinez in narration I was lost a time or two trying to figure out which Martinez was meant, but that's a minor nitpick.) The tension and suspense build quite successfully on a number of levels, and I'll be sure to read the next volume when it appears.

This was a very enjoyable blend of space opera and military science fiction. Williams has a light touch with his prose, and he builds a rich universe that is both exotic and identifiable at the same time--which is no small feat. I was particularly impressed with the economic underpinnings of war in this first volume of a planned trilogy, and how they are reminiscent of recent financial upheavals here on Earth. I look forward to the next book! Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reading Copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.

In this first Novel of the Praxis, Walter Jon Williams beautifully builds the society, characters, family structure without sinking too far into significant “info dumps” that often lose a reader. This story falls comfortably into the genre of science fiction epic, stylistically reminiscent of Star Wars. While it’s a bit more linear than Tolkien, The Accidental War can sit proudly next to the Epics of Middle Earth as well.While this is not the first book in this world created by Williams, it’s my first reading of his work. Williams utilizes third person limited POV to weave a tale of political intrigue, action, and privilege.He establishes his main characters early, building the society and politics around them and their relationships with each other and with the minor characters rather than planting them in an established world. The growth when done this way, is more organic and centered on characters more than thematic and genre elements. This is what will make The Accidental War stand out from other sci-fi.

A very good novel. Recommended.

As a lover of military science fiction, this first book in a proposed trilogy starts a little slow but pulls you in so that you can't wait until the next book comes out. Set in the future (a long time in the future), humans are part of the Praxis, an empire made up of a number of different species. The characters have appeared in a previous series and that background would probably add to the enjoyment of the book but I liked the book without that knowledge. It's been seven years since the war detailed in the previous series. Lord Gareth Martinez, a hero of that war has been sidelined because apparently life has tried to go on as it had before: the rulers are from families that have always ruled and the upstarts that helped win the war are back to being kept away from any major influence. Lord Gareth has spent his time racing space yachts and trying to get a military command back. Lady Sula, a former colleague of Lord Gareth has also been kept from a command. This empire runs on influence and influence peddling and both protagonists are given a chance to acquire influence; for a price of course. The reader finds out some of their backgrounds and how that will affect their choices. Lady Sula especially is given a chance to influence events and the law of unintended consequences takes over.

A fine start to a new trilogy. Familiar characters blend with the new as political intrigue, courtly machinations, and economic collapse leave the Shah empire teetering once again on all out interstellar war.

Ler um livro sobre intrigas políticas, ruína económica e início de uma guerra civil não deveria ser tão interessante. Esta série é de pura space opera militarista, e esperamos as clássicas e entusiasmantes cenas de combate espacial que, nos livros anteriores da série, Williams já mostrou ser um mestre. Mas neste volume, não temos nada disso.Temos o oposto, um meticuloso assentar de elementos no imenso jogo que continua a série Dread Empire's Fall. Após a vitória na guerra civil que ocupa os três primeiros volumes, tudo parece regressar à antiga ordem. As elites retomam o seu poder, e a economia imperial está ao rubro. Velhas fortunas aumenta, novas fortunas surgem de um dia para o outro. Entretanto, os personagens-pivot da série estão na obscuridade, por terem tido a audácia de inovar num império que valoriza a tradição ao extremo. Mesmo que tenha sido essa capacidade de inovar que salvou o império da derrota militar.É a riqueza que irá ditar as causas da ruína que se aproxima. Apesar da aparência saudável, as finanças do império estão frágeis, com a economia assente em bolhas especulativas demasiado fortes. E quando uma destas rebenta, a economia começa a desmoronar-se. Perante a ruína das velhas famílias, as forças mais conservadoras começam a movimentar-se para se proteger. E fazem-no virando o império contra uma das espécies que o compõem. Num resvalar cada vez mais vertiginoso, os humanos começam a ser apontados como a causa da ruína (apesar desta ser devida à cupidez e má gestão das elites). São colocados planos em marcha para desarmar todos os de origem terrestre, e confiscar as naves militares que estão sob seu comando na frota imperial. Estes planos são intuídos por humanos em altos cargos, que colocam em marcha uma fuga que poderá significar a diferença entre a quase-extinção dos humanos, e a sua sobrevivência. Uma nova guerra civil é inevitável. Mas isso, ficará para o próximo livro da série.

** spoiler alert ** Another great installment in the fascinating series that is Dread Empire's Fall. So riveting I could not stop reading.....even after it was 4AM. Definitely a page turner, even if slightly different in terms of plot when compared to the other books in the series. Absolutely excited for the next book in the series and what the author has planned next.****Spoilers below************ Though I am still disappointed Caro Sula and Gareth Martinez are not together, I understand that the author is trying to build toward something else.....its just very frustrating. The book itself is very 2007 in its lead in to the climax. I was not expecting a book about aliens, tyrannical empire's built on oppression, and an incompetent ruling class to talk heavily about derivatives and demonstrate their ability to collapse the system. But it was surprisingly fun to watch the fortune's of the old guard vanish. The Terran Criminals scape goating was disappointing (how can Terrans fight off the other 4-5 species in the Empire??).Whereas books 1-3.75 were good, they did not seem relevant to their namesake series, there was a civil war but the Empire did not fall...This book definitely gives some indications where the author wants to take the series and I am all for it. At the same time I wish we got more hints regarding the meaning the last Shaa's thinking before he died. They knew something was going to happen that would unravel their entire work in building the Empire - how did they know?

Dynamic start of a new trilogy arc in the Praxis universe.After a couple novellas that are not entirely necessary (but still useful), WJW returns to the Praxis universe, in which a species of super-aliens created an empire devoted to ensuring technological and social stability. Scientific research is forbidden, technology is so mature that no one does any improvement anymore, and the social order is locked into a rigid aristocratic order.Since the last of the aliens passed away just at the opening of the first trilogy, the Dread Empire is breaking up slowly. The previous trilogy was fighting a civil war against the Naxids trying to usurp their master's power. This one shapes up as a new civil war pitting the Humans against the rest of the Empire (which of course means we will probably win, unlike the Naxids). It's also funny because you don't see the subprime crisis (slightly disguised) sparking an interstellar civil war with possible genocide behind.The usual cast of characters is still there, with a handful of new ones. And now that both Caroline "Gredel" Sula and Gareth Martinez are back at the helm, we can expect good space battles in the coming books.Oh, and heavily recommended, of course.

Nice follow up to Williams' original Praxis trilogy but somewhat slow moving in this first volume--though all the pieces are in place for things to get even nastier in the second volume. As always, Williams is excellent with characterization, and there's also a fair amount of economic worldbuilding that's clearly a reanalysis/criticism of the '08 financial meltdown, only with the disparity of wealth and detachment of the wealthy from everyday realities on the scale of an interstellar empire. We get reacquainted with old friends and new, sometimes of ambiguous intent, so we can start worrying about who will survive the coming conflict, who will prove true, who won't. The conflict's essence? Humanity and any choosing to stand with the upstart species are put on notice by the more conservative and reactionary of the old empire's sentient species. I'm simplifying somewhat, but it is somewhat simplistic, without being dumb. This series remains top-notch action/adventure that's certainly not just military sf, although there's plenty of fun in that register too.

It's been years since I read the original Praxis trilogy, and I had trouble finding a good online summary, so remembering all the details from books 1-3 was hard. But this is a lovely return to that setting. Years have passed since the Naxid rebellion ended, and the Praxis has re-ossified into the old ways. Or has it? Walter Jon Williams takes "ripped from the headlines" ideas and overlays them onto Praxis society, with delightful results.Military scifi fans familiar with the original trilogy be warned: yes there is action, but the first half to two-thirds of the book are largely filled with political and social intrigue. I enjoyed it a great deal as I felt it served well to set up the fall, but it does take quite a long while for things to truly start coming apart for the protagonists.Also, this is clearly the first book in a new chapter in the Praxis. The story has resolution, but the accidental war is just getting started.

Even if you win the war, can you win the peace? Walter Jon Williams has crafted an interesting start to a new series set in the Praxis Universe. Although the shooting has stopped, and the losers stripped of their properties and/or executed, an uneasy peace has settled in the Empire. Economic turmoil, unbridled speculation, coupled with an influx of unemployed veterans and underemployed naval personnel cause social and political unrest between the species. When one species is singled out as criminal and faces potential genocide, a number of unforeseen events triggers "The Accidental War." Ideally, readers will be familiar with the events and characters from Dread Empire's Fall 1-3, but this can be read and enjoyed as a standalone introduction to the Praxis Universe. It's fast moving and the storyline leaves plenty of unanswered questions for additional volumes.

The Accidental War by Walter Jon WilliamsI haven’t read any Walter Jon Williams in quite awhile. This book is a novel of the Praxis and I’m guessing part of a series. The story ends without a conclusion so I expect to see a sequel. The two main characters are Sula and Gareth. Former lovers and now no more than associates or so it seems. I just opened the book again and see this isn’t a first book of the series but at least the third. I guess I have some back reading. An association of species brought together as an empire by a now deceased race is struggling to maintain the status quo. A society wrapped in layers of bureaucratic rigmarole and entrenched hereditary leadership is starting to crumble. Sula and Gareth are both symptomatic and causative. The story had enough nuances and action to keep me entertained.