Matriarch (The Wess'har Wars, 4)

I found this series (6 books in all) to be very entertaining. They are well written with good character development. The story line is very original. I actually have read all of the books twice now and probably will read them again. I just wish Ms Traviss would continue this series or write another one. I have also read most of the Star Wars books she has written and in my opinion, Ms Traviss is an excellent author.

In "Matriarch," fourth of the saga of Shan Frankland, things take another surprising turn. The Eqbas take time out from their planned arrival on Earth to--they hope--straighten out the Isenj, who have so overpopulated their world that the very idea of a tree becomes a novelty. This causes some conflict between the two wess'har factions. Meanwhile, Shan learns that Rayat and Neville not only live, but are also infected with c'naatat, the stuff that immortality is made of (for those unfamiliar with the series, Shan is too), and she is not happy. Indeed she becomes increasingly obsessed with the problem: she doesn't want c'naatat to become widespread. In turn, the spy Mohan Rayat and the former commander Lindsay Neville (who previously displayed all the signs of sociopathology) discover something interesting about the Bezer'ej, the seagoing species to whom they have been forced to provide aid, as a result of Rayat's attempt to destroy them (he's mostly succeeded). In an amazing sequence, as they lose their human characteristics they become in some sense more human. Journalist Eddie Michelat continues to file his reports back to Earth, whose nations have reached the brink of war over the impending arrival of the Eqbas. (Ms. Traviss, who is British, has a very Eurocentric view. Like Ken MacCleod and Elizabeth Bear, Ms. Traviss imagines a world in which the U.S. is no longer a major player.) Ms. Travis's work continues to astonish, impress, and amaze. Obviously, readers should start with the first book in the series, "City of Pearl," and work their way north to this one. If they do, they will be well-rewarded. Each book tells a story complete in itself, while also leaving the reader waiting for the next volume to appear. As she has amply demonstrated before, as well as here, the author has a sure touch and seems to know exactly where she's taking this series.

The title of my review sums up the sense of dread that inhabits this novel. In the forth segment of her Wess'har Wars series Karen Traviss does, as one reviewer put it, gives us a pause in the break-neck speed with which other books in the series seemed to move, but instead of this pause simply being filler we have chapter after chapter of growing dread, as if the moral implications of previous actions have finally sunk home to certain characters. Much like in real life where a pause allows one to collect one's thoughts, Matriarch's sense of a pause (and this is a pause filled with an invasion, a suicide, mutilation of self, a genocidal eco-warrior race that may or may not be allies, revelations of past genocides, the transmutation of a species, and more, to the point that I really wish most books had these sorts of "pauses") allows the sense of dread to grow as the Equibas reveals hidden allies and an invasion takes place and the human characters get a chilling glimpse of what is in store for Earth. Shan, Aras, and Ade all have to come to terms with the sins of their past, and in some cases, their present, and future. It may be true that this novel doesn't move with the speed of some of the past novels, but there are still plenty of revelations, attrocities, wars, and moral quandries to keep readers flipping the pages and wondering who, if anyone, has a high ground to stand upon in the series, and raises the question of who the reader identifies with and why, and whether they should be comfortable with that identification.

Matriarch is the 4th in Traviss' standalone series featuring Shan Frankland and the wess'har, Aras. The books in order are City of Pearl, Crossing the Line, the World Before, and Matriarch. Read them in order. These books are set in a rich plot of space, light years away from earth. Humankind's blunders are catching up with them, and the Eqbas are off to settle the score for the universe. In 30 years, the Eqbas will knock on Earth's door and fix the problem by restoring the planet to what once was in retribution for the almost extermination of the Bezeri by cobalt-laced nuke on Cavanagh's Star. The Eqbas make a side trip to fix the ecologically challenged planet inhabited by the Isenj before heading off to Earth. Now, some of the Isenj don't want to be fixed, and a civil war breaks out. Eddie, the BBChan reporter tries to convince Earth that the Eqbas are serious. Meanwhile, the familial peace between Shan, Aras, and Abe threatens to shatter when she discovers that Rayat and Neville are still alive and kicking, not to mention infected )by the boys) with the aggressive parasite c'naatat. The same parasite that is capable of allowing a host to survive under water, gunshots to the head, suffocation, etc. I love these books, the characters are vivid, complex and well developed. The aliens are curious and interesting. The story lines are planned and woven to flow well together and separately. This particular book focuses more on the interaction and development of the characters instead of advancing the action of the overall series. The title Matriarch, pretty much explains it all since Shan steps firmly on the path of becoming the martirch of her c'naatat infected family.

Parts of this book are not for the weak at heart but it is a great read. Traviss is supposed to wrap the series up in two more books and I don't know how it can stay true to itself, and have anything like a happy ending, but it's still one of the best SF series running right now. This series has some unique takes on responsibility, both cultural and individual, ecology, immortality, genocide, honor, faith, hope, love, family and destiny. The characters, even the less sympathetic ones are strong, engaging and original. The main POV character, ex-cop Shan Frankland, is so principled she's sometimes hard to like, but I'm half in love with, her salt-of-the-earth everyman ex-Marine husband and with the BBC reporter embedded with the failed interstellar scientific/military mission who develops a soul, and a conscious, when be is forced to be "news" not just filter events for the masses. If you want to read the series you need to start with City of Pearl, none of the books are stand alone, but it is a great series and worth going back to the start to read.