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The Praxis
- The Dread Empire's Fall Trilogy, Book 1
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
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Publisher's Summary
“Space opera the way it ought to be.... Bujold and Weber, bend the knee; interstellar adventure has a new king, and his name is Walter Jon Williams.” (George R. R. Martin)
The first book in the completed Dread Empire’s Fall trilogy, followed by The Sundering and Conventions of War.
All will must bend to the perfect truth of the Praxis.
For millennia, the Shaa have subjugated the universe, forcing the myriad sentient races to bow to their joyless tyranny. But the Shaa will soon be no more. The Dread Empire is in its rapidly fading twilight, and with its impending fall comes the promise of a new galactic order...and bloody chaos.
A young Terran naval officer marked by his lowly birth, Lt. Gareth Martinez is the first to recognize the insidious plot of the Naxid - the powerful, warlike insectoid society that was enslaved before all others - to replace the masters’ despotic rule with their own. Barely escaping a swarming surprise attack, Martinez and Caroline Sula, a pilot whose beautiful face conceals a deadly secret, are now the last hope for freedom for every being who ever languished in Shaa chains - as the interstellar battle begins against a merciless foe whose only perfect truth is annihilation.
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What listeners say about The Praxis
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- shalte
- 10-03-21
Nothing ever happens
This audiobook is a slog. There is a war on, I guess……. But it’s buried behind a bunch of goop.
4 people found this helpful
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- CybranM
- 05-06-22
Really good sci-fi
Story was captivating and kept me listening. While some events were a bit unlikely nothing felt so unbelievable as to ruin the story.
The Roman empire esque theme intrigued me and I'll definitely listen to the other books in the series
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- KEVIN M. OCONNOR
- 04-15-22
An enjoyable if somewhat generic space opera.
The male main character starts off as an insecure bully but becomes more likable over time as he earns his own self-respect. The female main character seems OP to start but gets more interesting as we learn her backstory.
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- John Cox
- 04-13-22
Good, but somewhat slow paced
Lot of dialogue and character development, possibly to support two more books in the Praxis series. Of the Walter Jon Williams audio books I've listened to do far, Hardwired was slightly better, and The Rift was a masterpiece. I am looking forward to the next in this series (The Sundering) - I just hope WJW has taken advantage of the character development and can move along a little faster.
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- Wesley David Seth Taylor
- 06-22-22
Most sci fi is a humanity against the odds but ...
This sci fi is great. The first 3 quarters are about politics. The characters are moving to enrich themselves. Furthermore events don't kick off after the Shaa. There is slow burn until action. A very good understanding by the author on house things actuallyl happen.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-12-21
A slow burn that was surprisingly good
I had no prior knowledge of this author when starting the book and while it was not a fast paced action packed story the characters and intrigue kept me listening.
it was good enough for me to go onto the second and third book. If you enjoy solid science fiction this is for you.
2 people found this helpful
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- Sid
- 02-22-22
Save yourself some time and listen to Dune
I made to just over halfway through the 3rd book before I finally gave up on this series. The first book is mostly good but after that the story becomes focused on sociopolitical manoeuvrings and the minutiae of everyday life, seemingly forgetting there is supposed to be a war going on, and peppered throughout the books are frankly unnecessary sex scenes.
The performance was good, I didn't mind the narrator but the books were a hard slog to get through and after 40 some hours I just couldn't be bothered to finish it.
1 person found this helpful
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- James rickards
- 05-16-22
Did not finish
Narrators voice was too deep. Hard to understand.
Story line was like 1800 style English lord culture set in space. I like novel ideas about where technology could take us. There wasn’t anything of that in is, just generic fiction set in space.
I gave up after the first 1/3 of the book.
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- Richard McKenna
- 04-29-22
story was ok but it was so flat to listen to
story was ok but hard to listen to as there was no emotion in the telling
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- Ritual
- 02-28-22
A true space opera
I will admit that I struggled with this book and had it been something that I was actually reading, rather than listening, I would have closed the book after the second or third chapter and never thought of it again. However I stuck with it and thankfully it finally stopped being a soapbox opera in space and became a worthy space story.
The twist, if you can call it a twist, was so telegraphed it would have taken a the world’s most boring person not to have seen it. It was a complete anticlimax but it was expected. The book is a space opera and I understand why it is on the free listen list (or the plus catalog).
A lot of people are very harsh critics and some are far too soft. (I have been guilty of being both). Now I try to be as honest as I can without being cruel. Therefore I give out my star rating in the following way:
1 star - terrible don’t even pick it up.
2 stars - not a good book at least in my opinion
3 stars - a good book an enjoyable/decent read.
4 stars - a great book, seriously read it.
5 stars - one of the best books ever imho
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- Pete
- 02-23-22
Good story
Enjoyed the storyline. Something a bit different from the normal space opera shoot them up.
I struggled with the narration for a while as the narrator has a deep voice and his different accents are limited. But by the end I could live with it.
Some of the descriptive passages were to long and over explained.
I will go for the next book in the series.
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- Anonymous User
- 12-24-21
This isn’t for the military sci fi fans.
The series does have a science fiction setting but is pretty much just a story of social snobbery, political frustration and emotional confusion, with a war time backdrop.
The narrator really doesn’t get into it and lacks enough variety for the number of characters.
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- Caroline
- 12-19-21
Deep voice narrator is not for me
Story well written, but I think I’d enjoy this military space opera better in print.