The Killing of Worlds

Superb Space Opera (Conclusion)

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The Killing of Worlds (Succession 2) by Scott Westerfeld

I gave the predecessor book - “The Risen Empire” - a five star rating, even though it turned out to be only the first half of a single novel. Normally, I feel like I've been “baited and switched” when I found out that The Risen Empire was not a complete novel in itself. However, I thought the story was so creative and engaging that I overlooked this offense, which is usually a mortal offense in my mind. I particularly liked the sociological world-building, which I discussed in my review of the first book.

This book turned out to be better than the first from the perspective of the Space Opera genre. The story picks up where the last one ended, namely, with the crew of the Lynx preparing for a heavily lopsided battle against the battleship of their enemy, the Rix Cult. Westerfeld has a grip on the technology of his story and the various strategies that it would allow. We see Captain Laurent Zai use the technology to cobble together a battle plan, and then brilliantly alter the plan when it comes into contact with the enemy.

At the same time, we also skip back to the home planet, where Zai's lover, Senator Nara Oxham, is engaged in political games against the Risen Empire, who is willing to nuke the planet of Legis XV in order to protect his “secret.”

The story is exciting and engaging. It moves from slam-bang military actions in space to tense political confrontations on the home front. We get a perspective from a Rix soldier and from the Rix AI “God.”

I liked the characters by the end of the first book, but in this book, the characters become even more sympathetic. In the first book, we see Zai put off the expiation of his Error of Blood by paying the Penalty of Bood by the single word transmitted via quantum entanglement by Nara: “Don't.” In this book, we see more character development. Zai is a tragic character in a tragic situation, but his belief in duty, and his evolution to a higher sense of duty, make him admirable. Nara is the idealist who becomes a pragmatist.

It seems that Westerfeld probably intended to write further books in this universe. The story ends with an opening gesturing at a civil war in the Risen Empire. That never comes in this book. This book was written more than a decade ago, so it seems that project has been shelved.