Drakon

SM Stirling's series on the Draka are a guilty read. He takes a familiar scenerio and pops in his supermen(women)to change everything. Slavery and master racism is the central plot behind them all (plus the what ifs of tech development) Character development is always strong and the technological aspects good. However, this is the only one of the series that gives you fallable Draka. They never really lose, why in hell would anyone soldier against them knowing they will die? In Marching Through Georgia for God's sakes, they are using 70s technologay against German-European forces with late 40s gear. As in all of his other books, the Draka are unbeatable but somehow the societies facing them don't get discouraged? This book is much better though and one can in some ways sympathise with the 'anti heroine.' The behind the scenes attmpt at conquest will allow the conspiracy types to indulge in many I told you so's while reading a fast paced book. Warning, Stirling maintains his sex included at all costs for this book too. If that is something that bothers you, skip the series as it is ALL thru the books!

Stirling left me depressed but captivated with his first three Draka novels. Rarely has anyone in the alternative history field created so thoroughly consistent and awful a society as that of the Domination. In Drakon, he explores some of their vulnerabilities while continuing to elaborate on their incredible powers and evolutionary track, manifested in the traditional parallel universe/wormhole framework. His Gwen Ingolfsson is a fascinating monster, combination of Ilse Koch, Nicole Kidman (who could play her in a film version quite well, not that any studio would ever touch this series), Ripley from the Alien movies, and the momma Alien herself, with a little of the Wolfman and Frankenstein's monster and a dram of Dr. Strangelove and Michael Milken thrown in for good measure. A very highly developed and repulsively fascinating character, and I thought Stirling did a good job with the human and cyber-human characters as well. He does not let you wonder where he stands, but does make you think about what it means to be human, what freedom is, the price of order, comfort, intellect, gardening, and the like. And he tweaks a few relatively recent human celebrities for fun along the way as toadies of the Draka (I will not identify them; if you can't figure it out, you've been deaf and blind for the last twenty years.) I have become a real fan of Stirling's, for this series and his Island in the Sea of Time trilogy as well. Which means I am deeply disturbed, of course.

To really enjoy and understand this blockbuster of an alternate history/military sci-fi novel, one MUST have read, or be familiar with Stirling's three previous "Draka" novels...one of the most innovative series in the genre!!! The story is set in a different time line than the trilogy, but drops out of hyperspace (sic) with a sonic boom. It concerns a warrior female of the Draka, who is accidentally shifted from her time to present day North America. She looks upon modern men as little more than servants, created to do her bidding. When confronted by modern man's stubborness, all Hell breaks loose. You MUST read this book. To reveal more would be a disservice to all who intend to do so. Get it!! Devour it!!

I found "Drakon" to be the best of Stirling's four Draka novels. It spoilt me for the first three books, "Marching Through Georgia", "Under the Yoke" and "The Stone Dogs". The premise of these books is that a society based on slavery can remain stable without emancipating the children of slaves and without allowing slaves some form of political voice. Through brutality more reminiscent of Golden Horde, the Draka maintain their terrifying grip on their subserviant population. I find it a spurious assumption that a minority could use violent repression to ever permanently bring about the destruction of a people's spirit. The fourth book is a refreshing change from this dismal scenario. Gwendolyn, a lone Homo Drakensis, is the beast supreme. In an "alien" world, she takes ordinary humans in under her wing and ruthlessly secures her territory. Her life is a journey into the darker recesses of the human psyche. But the Draka are more animals of instinct than humans. They live forever, they lack intuition (that's their servants' realm) and are empassioned with intense materialistic desires. Through genetic engineering, they have recreated themselves as creatures without soul. Elemental. Pure. Evil? Ah... but what is evil? That's the true point of Stirling's series. I'd be frightened to meet someone who could read these books and not question their own inner nature. Lastly, don't read Drakon first. Its no fun knowing with absolute certainty that the bad guys are going to win.