The Accidental War cover art

The Accidental War

A Novel of the Praxis

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The Accidental War

By: Walter Jon Williams
Narrated by: David Drummond
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About this listen

Blending fast-paced military science fiction and space opera, the first volume in a dynamic trilogy from the New York Times best-selling author of The Praxis, set in the universe of his popular and critically acclaimed Dread Empire’s Fall series - a tale of blood, courage, adventure, and battle in which the fate of an empire rests in the hands of a cadre of desperate exiles.

It’s been seven years since the end of the Naxid War. Sidelined for their unorthodox tactics by a rigid, tradition-bound military establishment, Captain Gareth Martinez and Captain Lady Sula are stewing in exile, frustrated and impatient to exercise the effective and lethal skills they were born to use in fighting the enemy.

Yet after the ramshackle empire left by the Shaa conquerors is shaken by a series of hammer blows that threaten the foundations of the commonwealth, the result is a war no one planned, no one expected, and no one knows how to end.

Now, Martinez, Sula, and their confederate Nikki Severin must escape the clutches of their enemies, rally the disorganized elements of the fleet, and somehow restore the fragile peace - or face annihilation at the hands of a vastly superior force.

©2018 Walter Jon Williams (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Adventure Military Science Fiction Space Opera Space Fiction War Outcast

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What a breath of fresh air compared to the other narrators. Drummond furnishes each character with their own personal voice and diction including the various alien races! I particularly liked Lady Kosh , the ‘Terran criminals’ and the Bongo Boys. 😀👍

Superb narration from David Drummond

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Love the story, the war is truly accidental you cannot see it coming.
Sula is one strange gal, you want her on your side when the chips are down.

Sula is my girl

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I usually wait until I have finished the book before leaving a review, but enjoying this one so much I decided to now in case I forget later on once I am on my next book which is the norm.

I started the first book in the series when it released 15 years ago and remember initially feeling a little underwhelmed. It had the simple style of 70s Sci Fi which I loved but dwelt on the inner machinations of the aristocracy rather a lot. It read like Robert Heinlein's lost space opera from the end of his career, not in itself a bad thing. But the book just kept building and building until it was the near perfect mix of excitement and world building. Looking back I would not change a word.

Having loved the other books in the series I started this with the trepidation that the author is now a lot older. However its just perfect in every way.

This series is a hidden gem, as I don't remember it initially doing very well when released. David Drummond is a total match and if he has voiced the earlier books as well, I shall certainly be re-visiting them.

If you enjoy Space Opera, don't hesitate, but start from the first in the series of course.

So far so brilliant

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I found it very interesting how the author talks about finance. Basically it's sub prime mortages all over again. This puts the book post 2008-2012.

Then there was a very strange bit in chapter 16/17, where the the author talks about a trans character. I don't know if it was mandated by publishers or just some vast brainwashing that infected America, but that passage puts the book in the 2016-2020 time zone.

There are parallels to Hitler's rise to power. The human clique are getting richer and resentment is building.

You can figure out year by topics

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As someone who's read and listened to the praxis books, this is nice but felt expecting more.
I'm assuming this is a lead up to the rest of another adventure hopefully.

Nice story, but

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