10,000 years before the start of this book The Shaa had arrived on Earth to conquer humanity and bring them into the Empire. The Shaa achieved this with an extreme efficiency, they simply began pounding many of the cities of Earth into obliteration from orbit until mankind surrendered.

Mankind is now one of the races of the Empire and is subject to the Praxis, a strict code of ethics imposed by the immortal Shaa.

The story begins just before the death of the last of the Shaa. Although immortal they have realised their lives have passed beyond purpose and usefulness, and have chosen to end their time in the galaxy.

Gareth Martinez is a lieutenant in the Fleet, and as the story begins he is an aide to Fleet Commander Enderby, but his future is in doubt as Enderby has chosen to end his life in a tribute suicide accompanying the last Shaa.

This is a society controlled by certain families, who's members are known as Peers. The idea created by the Shaa is that all Peers are created equal. The reality is different. Martinez's problem is that he is a member of a provincial clan, and as he doesn't come from one of the major clans there is a limit on his chances for future career promotion.

He is, however, a gifted officer, and the lack of prospects, the thought of his watching inferior officers gain promotion over him is one that does not sit well with him, and he plays a political game with the hope of gaining further influence and position.

But this is set in an unsettled time, the Shaa have been an ever present and now the races will have to find their own dynamic.

This is science fiction on a big stage. The Empire created by the Shaa is colossal, the distances involved immense. But this is done without breaking the laws of physics we live with here on Earth. The interstellar journeys are made by using wormholes, which the Shaa learned how to control.

Across shorter distances, the navies have to make do with normal accelerations. And because these ships are crewed by regular people they have to use accelerations that a crew can survive. This makes space battles a little long winded, especially when one ship endures an acceleration burn of several days as part of one combat.

With this book, the author has taken account of the reality we know. There are no Star Trek style short cuts. He also doesn't forget the effect this will have on the people who must endure these stresses and strains.

When the attempt is made to rescue a stranded yachtsman, the pilot carrying out the rescue attempt (a cadet Sula) is alone in her craft, barely large enough to hold her and her supplies, unable to wash and reliant upon a recycling suit for her bodily needs for weeks on end and is in an unenviable position of having to cope with the boredom of it. Williams takes you into the mind of the cadet and the torment she faces being alone for so long.

This is a galaxy spanning space opera. It's a book I found highly addictive, and have found myself glad to hear it is but book one and that there is more to come. Williams has a wonderful style that is so pleasant to read, and this book should appeal to anyone who likes the traditional grand epic space sf.

I'm a fan of Frank Herbert's Dune and Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, and this I believe would suit anyone who enjoyed those. It's not groundbreaking in the way that some sf stories can be, but what it is, is a superbly created future.

Like a lot of such large scale sf epics, it is all the more vast for the fact it is told from the perspective of one a handful of characters. The main character Gareth Martinez is a classic fighting underdog, struggling to use his abilities to overcome his comparatively lowly birth. And his struggle is one that I couldn't help but become involved in.

Buy this, read it, enjoy it! This is one book that will feature in the best of 2003.