The Praxis

The Praxis is grand space opera with the fatal flaw of being glacially paced. For thousands of years, the galactic empire has been dominated by the all-powerful Shaa, who have gathered the lesser races beneath them. But the Shaa have dwindled, and their last survivor is dying. Something like 80% of the book is taken up with the mundane business of main characters in these last days of peace. Martinez is a junior officer in the navy, maneuvering to advance his own career and his noble house. Sula is another junior officer, whose disgraced name hides the darker secret that she’s an imposter, and the real Lady Sula is dead.

The story ambles through the non-events of these non-entities’ lives, until the 80% mark, where it turns out that one of the races of the Praxis has planned a coup to make themselves the new immortal masters. Martinez is the only one to spot the coup going off, while lucky coincidence saves the Home Fleet from the rebellion. Then there’s a titanic battle that sees the good guys losing, but our heroes advancing, ready for book 2.

The pacing is awful. If there’s any saving grace, it’s that it does help set up the general incompetence of all involved. The Shaa have ruled for 3400 years, and the closest thing to battles in all that time have been bombarding much more primitive races. The finely tuned antimatter weapons have never been fired in anger, and the navy is full of deadwood, incompetent third sons, and officers more interested in sports than tactics. No one knows what they’re doing in a way that is very reminiscent of the slaughters of the opening days of the First World War.

At the same time, the other saving grace of space opera, a fantastic setting, is barely used. Galactic politics are another top-heavy bureaucracy with aristocratic elegance, without the delightful tense fragility of say, Tsarist Russia, or the absurdity of the late Austro-Hungarian empire. There are many alien species, but our characters are human, and don’t even get a good evolutionarily derived stereotype.

I’ll probably pick up book two from the library to see if it’s better now that the shooting has started, but for now I’m notably bored.