The sixth and final volume in The Wess'har Wars series. Sadly the book is more of a wrapping up than anything else. Individual plots are resolved. Story lines are completed. And lives are left to be lived... ( )

The premise: ganked from BN.com: The Eqbas have come, bringing justice, change, hope to some . . . and death to many.

Seeking to punish the human gethes who caused the near destruction of an ocean-dwelling race in the distant Cavanagh's Star system, the Eqbas have finally landed on Earth. But another, equally important obligation has drawn them across the galaxy: the salvation of this environmentally ravaged world, a mission that could entail the annihilation of billions of humans.

Former police officer Shan Frankland has come as well -- along with her two lifemates, one alien and one human -- carrying in her blood the parasite that makes her virtually immortal. Though she once vowed never to let the powerful contagion reach the homeworld she left nearly a century ago, she feels compelled to play an active role in the unfolding drama -- and to follow the catastrophic events that have devastated civilizations and defined her life to their shocking, inevitable end.

My Rating: Worth Reading, with Reservations

In all honesty, I think Traviss could've taken some risks with the Earth meets c'naatat storyline and split the finale into two books instead of the one. I felt there were several missed opportunities, and I'm still struggling to decide if I admire that or not. Because on one hand, life doesn't play out like a movie: things don't happen the way you expect, and sometimes the decisions you make end up amounting to nothing. But on the other hand, this is still fiction, and considering how much bang I got for my buck at the start of the series, I wanted something more out of this final book, and I didn't get it.

Be that as it may, if you've made it this far, you've got to finish. There was some lovely, heart-breaking moments towards the end that make reading worth it. And as a whole series? Sure, it ends with more of a sigh than any kind of bang, but the series as a whole is definitely worth pursuing, especially the first two books, which starts with such a loud bang that maybe it's inevitable that the end of the series would feel the opposite. I'm really glad I read this series, and some day in the future, I would like to re-read this so that I can really study the craft and plotting. In part to see what I missed, and in part because now that I know where everything ends, I can appreciate the arc all the more. Especially in regards to all the ideas and questions Traviss packs into her narrative. The ideas are definitely worth chewing in SF, and the directions Traviss takes with her story is often at odds with what the stereotype is, and that leads to interesting results. I do wish the final installment had been stronger, but I'm happy to have read it and the series itself. It's definitely worth reading.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. Sorry, but it's just gotta be like that, since not only do I want to talk about how the series ends, but I want to talk about the events that lead up to that ending. So, consider yourself spoiled for the whole series, which adds up to six books. If you aren't caught up, DO NOT click the link below for the full review. Everyone else, comments and discussion are always welcome!

REVIEW: Karen Traviss' JUDGE

Happy Reading! ( )

I understand the mixed reviews for this last book. A couple of the books in the series were indeed reflective of the subtitle, Wess'har Wars, because they were filled with action-packed moments. This last novel invests in the emotions of the characters rather than the plot.

If you’ve been following my reading habits, you’ll know that I adore Karen Traviss. I ran into the second book of this series through an Early Reader program and have been hooked ever since, even to the point of contacting her to say how thrilled I was about a new series in sociological science fiction, my first ever time contacting an author who I didn’t already know.

Because of the above, I am a little saddened by Judge. While I do not need to read series in order like some, obviously from the above, one of the things I try to look for is whether the book can be used as an entry point into the author or the series. Crossing the Line left me charged up and racing out to get a copy of City of Pearl, the first in the Wess’har tales. The same cannot be said about this latest novel. The story in Judge is a winding down of the series. It ties up loose ends that I didn’t even remember as loose and left me with the sense that, whether Karen plans to write in this universe again or not, she’s largely done with this set of characters.
I’ll miss them. Shan and her unlikely family of Aras and Ade, the Wess’har who have grown up under their watchful eyes, Eddie the human reporter with a conscience, and even Rayat and Lindsay, the villains of the bunch, were fully fleshed characters who linger in the mind long after the most recent book is set back on the shelf. I’m not much of a re-reader– I have so many books to read there just isn’t time–but my youngest teen is also enamored by the series, and is going into his second or third read through at this point.

I’m clearly having difficulty divorcing Judge from the rest of the series, and this is why I say it cannot be read first or in isolation. In some ways, the story came across as snippets of closure more than a full and complete tale of its own. While quite a hefty text, I sometimes felt the story skimmed a bit as it jumped around, not enough to make me regret the read, but enough to wonder why this hadn’t been addressed more fully as two or even three complete novels. But then, better to offer closure than just drop off the map, as happens sometimes when a publisher decides a series has reached its logical conclusion. Or maybe Karen’s just ready to try her hand at something brand new. Whatever it is, I’ll be right there in line to read it. I’ve read almost all of her Star Wars books as well, a universe that held little interest for me and her books signal my only incursions.

So, my conclusions are:

1) Karen Traviss is a talented author capable of creating characters that continue to exist outside of the page and worlds that combine fascinating cultures with philosophical exploration in a way that aids the story and never stands out as the author preaching. Though I have a good guess as to where she stands on these issues, that guess is based on how adamant the characters were and who she let win in the story, so could be completely wrong.

2) Karen can maintain a complex epic spanning multiple cultures and even worlds without losing coherency or passion.

3) If you haven’t checked her out, you really should. If complex sociological SF isn’t your thing, go see what she did with those Star Wars folks. There’s even inside jokes that carry from one novel to the next. ( )

A fitting end to a very meaty science fiction series. If you like science fiction that deals with ideas--and truly alien aliens--I highly recommend this series. Very real characters grapple with some truly difficult ethical questions. ( )