selenak

Second in the series The Calpurnian Wars. (My review of the first volume, "Sounding Dark", is here.) This second novel takes place in the same universe, but offers a different set of characters, though the villains are the same, as the series offers planets that were settled eons ago and developed into very different cultures, with one, Calpurnia, seeking to dominate and rule the (unwilling) rest. This novel's main planet is called Morrigan, the one originally least settled and furthest away from the others, and the culture that developed accordingly has separated procreation completely from finding a partner, i.e. the later is entirely by choice, but in order to keep the gene pool varied, you have children artificially with an anonymous (to you) genetic match. They also have "electromancers" (who get the kind of treatment telepaths get in the Babylon 5 universe, i.e. second class citizens with strict rules and severly limited rights) and "dreamers" (essentially psychics; no limitations of civil rights).

Our heroine is Sandrine, who starts out as part of the military, and has an on/off intense love affair with Jauffre, an electromancer. As the novel starts with the mysterious death of her mentor, the head of government (essentially), a murder Sandrine and Jauffre must solve with a ticking time clock as it's (justly) feared the Calpurnians will take advantage of the situation to attempt an invasion, the novel feels as what happens when you mix space opera, a murder mystery, and a conclave, and I mean this is a compliment. It's entertaining, suspenseful, the characters are all endearing - this time I had no clear favourite, as opposed to the previous novel -, and I continue to love the layered world building, i.e. Morrigan society has its problems unrelated to the potential invasion (see also: electromancer situation), and we're even given a motive for why the Calpurnians keep trying to expand that's not "because they're evil", with the characters pointing out winning space battles won't solve this basic problem unless said reason changes.

Perhaps it's because I'm familiar with Jo Graham's non-sci fi novels, but I felt there are distinct shades of the Ptolemaic world to be found on Morrigan (Irish planet name not withstanding), what with "the Presence", which, depending on your belief, is either an AI or the ghost of the late mythic War Lord ~~Alexander~~ Khreesos, to be found in the ~~Soma~~ Sema. And when the novel named last volume's main opponent "Gnea" and this volume's outward menace "Iulus", I could not help but wonder whether volume 3 's woman or man will bear some variation of the name Marcus/Marca. If this whole saga started out as a playful "Ancient history but in SPACE and with less tragic endings", I wouldn't be surprised. But even if it didn't, it's a story that shows suspense can be had without grimdarkness, established relationships are as compelling to read about as first time stories, and that you can tell individual adventures standing on their own which still form part of a greater narrative. I can't wait for the next volume.