The Accidental War - Rambling Readers

audio cd

Published Sept. 4, 2018 by HarperCollins Publishers and Blackstone Audio.

ISBN:: 978-1-9825-5098-1

(1 review)

"Blending fast-paced military science fiction and space opera, the first volume in a dynamic trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Praxis, set in the universe of his popular and critically acclaimed Dread Empire's Fall series--a tale of blood, courage, adventure and battle in which the fate of an empire rests in the hands of a cadre of desperate exiles. It's been seven years since the end of the Naxid War. Sidelined for their unorthodox tactics by a rigid, tradition-bound military establishment, Captain Gareth Martinez and Captain the Lady Sula are stewing in exile, frustrated and impatient to exercise the effective and lethal skills they were born to use in fighting the enemy. Yet after the ramshackle empire left by the Shaa conquerors is shaken by a series of hammer blows that threaten the foundations of the commonwealth, the result is a war that no one planned, …

"Blending fast-paced military science fiction and space opera, the first volume in a dynamic trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Praxis, set in the universe of his popular and critically acclaimed Dread Empire's Fall series--a tale of blood, courage, adventure and battle in which the fate of an empire rests in the hands of a cadre of desperate exiles. It's been seven years since the end of the Naxid War. Sidelined for their unorthodox tactics by a rigid, tradition-bound military establishment, Captain Gareth Martinez and Captain the Lady Sula are stewing in exile, frustrated and impatient to exercise the effective and lethal skills they were born to use in fighting the enemy. Yet after the ramshackle empire left by the Shaa conquerors is shaken by a series of hammer blows that threaten the foundations of the commonwealth, the result is a war that no one planned, no one expected, and no one knows how to end. Now, Martinez, Sula, and their confederate Nikki Severin must escape the clutches of their enemies, rally the disorganized elements of the fleet, and somehow restore the fragile peace--or face annihilation at the hands of a vastly superior force"--Publisher's website.

2 editions

Frank Burns reviewed The Accidental War by Walter Jon Williams

Review of 'The Accidental War' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Oooo, my 'Horatio Hornblower in space' has got serious.
Almost a decade after he finished the first series the author goes back to the setting with an obvious (in retrospect) continuation of the threads from the first series. This was a more serious take on the setting as the rotten core of the setting starts to collapse in on itself.
Empire collapses as species turn on each other when a financial collapse all too like 2008, occurs.
There are still whimsical slices of the 'Golden Age' in this but it is all tinged with the pathos of it clearly coming to an end.
I am giving this a strong 4.5 as I feel the series has grown from simple mil-SF into something a lot more nuanced. As I read this in two sittings (making a habit of this recently), it's clearly recommended.