The Sundering by Walter Jon Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second book in this space opera quadrology really takes off. The first has its fair share of space battles and idiotic commanders and a wealth of character building for our two main heroes, but the second book does them both real justice (thanks to the foundation of the first).

I honestly got rather excited that they might have gotten together. The team seemed rather unbeatable in the face of so much incompetence and tradition-hugging. But where the story went (to hell, basically,) was also pretty great.

There seems to be one enormous plotline that practically all these space operas follow. Idiocy, main characters who aren't idiots, a full crash-course featuring an invasion, and then a long space war that coincides with a lengthy ground siege. Some are written well, some aren't, but this one seems to have all its ducks in a row. I'm invested in both. :)

This series definitely has one of the biggest, most thoroughly thought-out, widest collection of worldbuilding I've seen in a mil-SF. It might not be as amusing as some, as flashy as others, or as deliciously character-oriented as, say, Bujold, but when all these different pieces (and more) come together in a single work, I can't help but be rather impressed.

And I am.

I've read MUCH worse. :)

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