PRIDE OF ASHNA

Military forces and female warriors fight to protect a distant galaxy from space pirates and a merciless hidden enemy in this SF sequel.

Following the catastrophic Rift War, entire planets in the Twin Galaxies make efforts to rebuild. But pirates continue to run amok; their latest target is the cruise ship the Empress Star. But its passengers include members of a military faction, the Founder’s Elite, who don’t readily surrender. Fellow Elites scour space for the missing ship, and Elite engineer Neven Kenk has an added incentive, as his military scientist girlfriend is onboard the Empress Star. Elsewhere, Serah’Elax and other Ashna Maidens, female warriors who police the Twin Galaxies’ Outer Rim, face an antagonist they can’t identify. Powerful, mysterious vessels bombard the warriors’ ships, leaving destruction in their wake. Unbeknown to the Maidens, an enemy from the Rift War has a nefarious plan under way to infiltrate their group. Once Serah’Elax suspects something is amiss, she’s a target for assassination. She strives to shine a light on the mastermind before it’s too late as the Maidens and the Founder’s Elite, who share no alliance, battle pirates and an even deadlier common foe. Arriaga skillfully handles numerous characters and subplots in his space opera’s latest installment. For example, perpetually changing narrative perspectives are easier to follow with relatively few settings (for example, several Elites on the Empress Star). Certain storylines, like a man’s astonishing reunion with the wife he believed had died, don’t initially seem cohesive but link with others by the end. Still, even clocking in at nearly 600 pages, the novel can’t fully spotlight every character; some players, like Serah’Elax, could have carried the story on their own. The author vividly details his SF world, from individual attributes and chic tech to periodic sprinklings of alien races’ distinctive languages, such as vusg, a decidedly popular Huzien and Tuzen expletive.

A colorful cast invigorates this epic, indelible futuristic tale.