The Wilding – C.S. Friedman

Daw Books, Copyright 2004, 512 pages
(plus a 38 page glossary)

ISBN: 0-7564-0202-6

Read: January 2011 (at age 32)

First time read

What this book is:

This is a mostly standalone book – It’s the sequel to In Conquest Born, taking place about 200 years later.  There’s a bit of flavour to be obtained by reading the books in order, but it isn’t necessary, especially as there’s a glossary in the back to help with anything that wasn’t fully explained.  It’s a space opera, and where In Conquest Born has an epic scope, this is more tightly focused on the actions of a few characters.

From the back cover:

It is two hundred years since the great Braxana general Zatar the Magnificent, and the psychic Azean general Anzha lyu Mitethe pursued their personal war among the stars, and in doing so altered the very flow of human history.  The psychics of the Azean Empire have since scattered in fear, taking shelter in regions of space where the Empire dares not follow.  They are legendary creatures now, rumored to be half mad from the mental fallout of their homeworld’s destruction.  Now, the Azean Empire no longer seeks to breed for psychic potential, believing this trait to cause psychological instability.  In the Braxin Holding, the ruling Braxana tribe has attended to the needs of its dying gene pool with typically barbarian élan resurrecting traditions that more civilized peoples abandoned long ago.  In the shadow of their newfound genetic fixation other Braxin tribes stir, wondering if the time for revolution has come at last…

Fleeing Braxana justice, a Kesserit warrior named Tathas finds himself bound on a quest any sane Braxin should fear more than death itself…

Searching for the key to her heritage, an Azean Mediator named Zara discovers there are landscapes within herself more terrible than any alien battlefield…

Seeking her long-lost kin, the renegade psychic Rho will find both Tathas and Zara, and with their aid will set in motion the final phase of an ancient vendetta – a vendetta dating back centuries to those two great generals who made the Endless War their personal battlefield.

My comments:  (spoilers ahoy!)

Overall: 

In general, this was a tightly focused book, mostly involving Zara and Tathas.  These sections were pretty strong. When it stayed there, it was a strong book.  Too often, though, it moved into other, much less compelling territory.  The end was especially underwhelming.  There was a success, but it was tempered by knowing that it was a futile action, and I also felt cheated when Rho got to do the final job, rather than Zara and Tathas together. 

The scope of the book was much smaller than In Conquest Born , and when it strayed into the bigger ideas of In Conquest Born, the book faltered.

Rating: 3

Characters:

Zara and Tathas were good.  There were also bit parts involving some random secret agents, K’teva a Braxana woman who was involved with Tathas, and Rho, Zara’s twin.  Based on the way that Zara was pushed into the background at the end of the book, I think that I was supposed to feel like Rho was a main character.  The rest of the characters weren’t really important to the story, better than in In Conquest Born, but still nothing memorable.  There was nice tension between Zara and Tathas to keep things interesting, they both had clear, strong motivations for their quests. 

Premise:

Tathas needs to get some new blood for the Braxins and he hates them and wants to bring them down.  Zara needs to figure out how to survive as a receptive telepath.  K’teva is playing a game to show her worth to the Braxins in order to become a full citizen.  Rho hates the Braxins and wants to kill them all.  They all affect each other to greater or lesser degrees.

Setting:

It’s now 200 years after In Conquest Born.  The two main characters of that book are now almost deified, and their writings are quoted between chapters.  I found it hard to accept that Azea would choose to completely eliminate psionics from their plans.  Officially, maybe, but I’d imagine that somewhere, there’d still be some quiet study in that field.  Otherwise, nothing much has changed, other than different people in positions of power.

Plot:

The story structure was the weakest part of the book – I felt that Zara and Tathas were the main characters, and that they would get their shining moment in the sun at the end, or else they would fail.  They sort of did get a shining moment when Zara and Tathas rescued Rho (after she got the real shining moment) right at the end, but that felt thrown in as a nod to Zara.  I also didn’t much like the conspiracy subplot, which showed that Braxin and Azean agents were working together to keep the war stable.  Unless there’s going to be another sequel, this subplot added nothing to the story being told.

Readability:

Very readable – well written, and the pacing was good. 

Other opinions:

Bewildering Stories

Very brief discussion, positive review.

From a Sci-Fi Standpoint

Good review, not very positive.