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Commonwealth: The K'Soth War, Book One
It is half a century before the events of The Progenitor Trilogy
The newly formed Commonwealth has united the disparate colonies of humanity into one interstellar union. After making first contact with the ancient and sophisticated Arkari, mankind has discovered that the galaxy is teeming with life. A new pioneering age of prosperity, discovery and progress now beckons.
Yet already the Commonwealth is imperilled. The rush to the stars has created undreamed of wealth for some, yet there are many less fortunate have been left behind, alienated by the rapid pace of change, exploited or trampled underfoot by ruthless corporations and left to fend for themselves in frontier systems where death or destitution can come quickly to the unwary. As resentment grows beneath the surface, there are those who would exploit the forgotten and the dispossessed for their own ends.
However, there is a much greater threat from the K’Soth Empire. Ruling over a vast domain, the reptilian K’Soth have conquered, exterminated and enslaved all in their path in the name of their all powerful Emperor and their fanatical religion. Their legions and fleets are almost without number, their methods brutal in the extreme, and their authority maintained by oppression, terror and force of arms.
In a desire to avoid a conflict, the Commonwealth concocts a secret diplomatic mission to initiate contact with the K’Soth using their one ace in the hole, Doctor Marcus Cuvier, the very man who was the key to humanity’s successful encounter with the Arkari.
The newly formed Commonwealth has united the disparate colonies of humanity into one interstellar union. After making first contact with the ancient and sophisticated Arkari, mankind has discovered that the galaxy is teeming with life. A new pioneering age of prosperity, discovery and progress now beckons.
Yet already the Commonwealth is imperilled. The rush to the stars has created undreamed of wealth for some, yet there are many less fortunate have been left behind, alienated by the rapid pace of change, exploited or trampled underfoot by ruthless corporations and left to fend for themselves in frontier systems where death or destitution can come quickly to the unwary. As resentment grows beneath the surface, there are those who would exploit the forgotten and the dispossessed for their own ends.
However, there is a much greater threat from the K’Soth Empire. Ruling over a vast domain, the reptilian K’Soth have conquered, exterminated and enslaved all in their path in the name of their all powerful Emperor and their fanatical religion. Their legions and fleets are almost without number, their methods brutal in the extreme, and their authority maintained by oppression, terror and force of arms.
In a desire to avoid a conflict, the Commonwealth concocts a secret diplomatic mission to initiate contact with the K’Soth using their one ace in the hole, Doctor Marcus Cuvier, the very man who was the key to humanity’s successful encounter with the Arkari.
- GenresScience Fiction
639 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2017
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2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 18, 2020
Dan Worth returns in fine form with this, the beginning of a trilogy sequel to his marvellous Progenitor series.
The refreshing thing about Dan's work is that he markets it himself and I have never experienced any overhyping of the content. This is good old fashioned space opera of a contemporary nature, and never pretends to be anything else. It's not cutting edge or groundbreaking, but not everything has to be.
Worth lives, therefore, in a rather retro future universe.
The milieu of his Commonwealth exists in the style of grand old soap opera, where an evil reptilian six limbed Emperor can command an Empire of thousands of planets, where ships can battle in the neutral gravity area between a pair of twinned black holes. It has a Classic SF romance that many of his contemporary space opera writers lack.
It has, to me anyway, an additional topical component where political groups and societies tend to mirror those in our contemporary (as in 2015 to 2020) lives.
As we know from the previous novels a machine race known as the Shapers is lying dormant on various worlds, mostly near the centre of the galaxy. A right wing xenophobic group The Shining Dawn has arisen, and it is discovered that their illegal mining colony has been excavating 'dead' Shaper components for sale.
Meanwhile, the famous Doctor Cuvier, an anthropologist who effected successful first contact missions with several alien races, is called upon to go on a mission to initiate a treaty with the K'Soth Empire, the terrifying warloving lizards who are expanding their territory toward Commonwealth Space.
Cuvier, along with an undercover intelligence officer posing as his aide, is witness to the decadent and bloodthirsty practises of K'Soth culture.
In outlying mining colonies and space stations, trouble is brewing.
The Shining Dawn have been trading their Shaper artefacts for advanced weapons and initiate a series of attacks against the Commonwealth Navy.
It's a great read with some fabulous cliffhangers both within the narrative and at the end, where lives hang in the balance.
One feels one can not help, given that this novel was presumably written partly between the Brexit referendum and its sorry finale, making comparisons between The Shining Dawn and contemporary Right Wing groups such as UKIP, EDL and the Brexit Party all of which have, to a greater or lesser degree, a xenophobic agenda, a wish to be rid of 'aliens' and a mandate not to be politically allied with what are considered alien countries.
There is little comparison between The Shining Dawn leader, Fleischmann and Nigel Farage, although there is an odd plot parallel with Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star where Bradley Johannson is a man who (like Fleischmann) believes that he once had his mind controlled by an alien intelligence and has built a terrorist organisation to fight the alien threat and those humans who encourage and enable its influence.
One could also draw parallels between the Empire of the K'Soth and certain authoritarian muslim regimes, given the emphasis on their theocracy, the minarets and domes of their ships and architecture, the male-dominated culture with its multiple wives, and their written language whose script resembles claws, much like arabic.
One is not suggesting that the Saudis are practising 24 hour human sacrifice or have enslaved their neighbours but the details above do tend to invite comparisons, at least in my personal view.
It's a damn good read, however, well written, well paced and channelling the zeitgeist of Nineteen Forties Space Opera. I have the next one queued up to read already.
The refreshing thing about Dan's work is that he markets it himself and I have never experienced any overhyping of the content. This is good old fashioned space opera of a contemporary nature, and never pretends to be anything else. It's not cutting edge or groundbreaking, but not everything has to be.
Worth lives, therefore, in a rather retro future universe.
The milieu of his Commonwealth exists in the style of grand old soap opera, where an evil reptilian six limbed Emperor can command an Empire of thousands of planets, where ships can battle in the neutral gravity area between a pair of twinned black holes. It has a Classic SF romance that many of his contemporary space opera writers lack.
It has, to me anyway, an additional topical component where political groups and societies tend to mirror those in our contemporary (as in 2015 to 2020) lives.
As we know from the previous novels a machine race known as the Shapers is lying dormant on various worlds, mostly near the centre of the galaxy. A right wing xenophobic group The Shining Dawn has arisen, and it is discovered that their illegal mining colony has been excavating 'dead' Shaper components for sale.
Meanwhile, the famous Doctor Cuvier, an anthropologist who effected successful first contact missions with several alien races, is called upon to go on a mission to initiate a treaty with the K'Soth Empire, the terrifying warloving lizards who are expanding their territory toward Commonwealth Space.
Cuvier, along with an undercover intelligence officer posing as his aide, is witness to the decadent and bloodthirsty practises of K'Soth culture.
In outlying mining colonies and space stations, trouble is brewing.
The Shining Dawn have been trading their Shaper artefacts for advanced weapons and initiate a series of attacks against the Commonwealth Navy.
It's a great read with some fabulous cliffhangers both within the narrative and at the end, where lives hang in the balance.
One feels one can not help, given that this novel was presumably written partly between the Brexit referendum and its sorry finale, making comparisons between The Shining Dawn and contemporary Right Wing groups such as UKIP, EDL and the Brexit Party all of which have, to a greater or lesser degree, a xenophobic agenda, a wish to be rid of 'aliens' and a mandate not to be politically allied with what are considered alien countries.
There is little comparison between The Shining Dawn leader, Fleischmann and Nigel Farage, although there is an odd plot parallel with Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star where Bradley Johannson is a man who (like Fleischmann) believes that he once had his mind controlled by an alien intelligence and has built a terrorist organisation to fight the alien threat and those humans who encourage and enable its influence.
One could also draw parallels between the Empire of the K'Soth and certain authoritarian muslim regimes, given the emphasis on their theocracy, the minarets and domes of their ships and architecture, the male-dominated culture with its multiple wives, and their written language whose script resembles claws, much like arabic.
One is not suggesting that the Saudis are practising 24 hour human sacrifice or have enslaved their neighbours but the details above do tend to invite comparisons, at least in my personal view.
It's a damn good read, however, well written, well paced and channelling the zeitgeist of Nineteen Forties Space Opera. I have the next one queued up to read already.
April 22, 2020
Great start to the trilogy
Dan Worth’s excellent creation, good plot & a great start to the trilogy - straight into the next one for me
Dan Worth’s excellent creation, good plot & a great start to the trilogy - straight into the next one for me
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews