I read In Conquest Born four years ago; there's not much I remember about it, but I distinctly remember it being excellent. Even the blurb makes me want to read it again! Perhaps my tastes have changed over the course of four years, but as I was reading The Wilding, instinctively, I knew that this would not break through to the coveted 5* rating.

Friedman's prose is sublime (the words flow seamlessly from page to mind), and her world-building is meticulous. As usual, the main plot of the novel resolved itself, but the next stage in the development of that world's history is left ambiguous --a Friedman trademark Friedman that leaves the reader simultaneously satisfied but yearning for more.

Friedman usually offers complex and compelling characters, and these were present in the book, but as minor characters. The two major characters just didn't quite hit the spot for me...Tathas was not quite dark enough and lacked logical consistency in his behaviour, displaying empathetic qualities unsuited to a Braxin. The main female character was so spineless that I can't even be bothered to pick up the book to lookup her name.

Overall, a fun and quick read, but the characters were not to the standard that I expect from Friedman. ( )

3.5 Originally posted at FanLit.

"To have an enemy worthy of one�??s respectƒ?? that is a prize beyond measure. What is a loverƒ??s touch compared to such a thing? Love is but weakness shared, trials halved for being met in tandem. While a skilled enemy provides stimulation, challenge, and ultimately growth for all those who test their strength against his".

I didnƒ??t think that C.S. Friedmanƒ??s wonderful space epic In Conquest Born needed a sequel, but here it is, nonetheless. The Wilding can stand alone, but In Conquest Born is a better book, so Iƒ??d suggest reading it first.

Itƒ??s a couple of generations after Zatar the Braxin and Anzha the Azean lived, but their legacies remain. The inbred Braxin society is still in danger of becoming extinct and they desperately need some new but acceptable genetic material. Their leader, the Priƒ??tiera, who has a genetic fault he hides by secluding himself, is unable to find a mate who doesnƒ??t quickly commit suicide. The Azean psychics, meanwhile, went mad and may actually be extinct, though many people think theyƒ??re hiding somewhere in space.

Conflict between the two races again comes to a head with the stories of three characters. Psychic twins Zara and Rho were separated at birth; Rho was raised as a psychic while Zara was not aware of her genetic potential. When Zara starts to get premonitions, she goes looking for answers and discovers her heritage and her special powers.

Tathas is a political traitor who has been sentenced to death by the Braxins. Encouraged by his lover Kƒ??Teva (who may not be trustworthy), he invokes the right of the Wilding in which he goes into exile but may return if he can find a suitable mate (or just some good genetic material) for the Priƒ??tiera. While on their individual quests, Talthas and Zara meet and find some common ground, and they discover that both of their races want to understand the genetics behind psychic powers so they can crush their enemies.

What I liked most about In Conquest Born was its extensive world building, exciting action, and its exploration of some fascinating moral and scientific issues. The focus on psychology and genetics is still here in The Wilding (and Friedman gets her science right), but because itƒ??s a sequel, the world-building has already been done and is no longer an emphasis here.

The plot of The Wilding doesnƒ??t quite make up for this loss. Itƒ??s missing the intense action that made In Conquest Born so exciting. But what The Wilding is missing most is appealing characters. None of the characters, except for perhaps Kƒ??Teva, are particularly interesting or admirable. This was a problem with In Conquest Born, too, but that book made up for it by introducing us to a fascinating new world and having a tight plot with plenty of action. And its main characters were interesting, even if they werenƒ??t likable.

I didnƒ??t dislike The Wilding, but I didnƒ??t like it as well as I liked In Conquest Born and I donƒ??t think it added anything necessary to the story. However, if youƒ??re a fan of In Conquest Born and just want to spend more time in Friedmanƒ??s world, youƒ??ll enjoy The Wilding. Itƒ??s still written in Friedmanƒ??s smooth intellectual style.

I listened to Audible Frontierƒ??s production which was read by Marc Vietor. As usual, it was very well done. Vietor has a nice voice and a pleasant pace, and he emits just the right amount of enthusiasm when he reads. I can confidently recommend Audibleƒ??s version. ( )

TBR

I had forgotten how much rape there was in this series, which should’ve been hard to do given that one of the two warring star-spanning cultures in it is violently misogynistic and requires all women to submit to any man at any time unless she’s the specific property of a sufficiently powerful man. That’s the Braxana (can’t be bothered to find the accents over the As, sorry), who fight the Azeans, and everyone hates and fears the psychics (who are either mythical or off on their own, until they inevitably go mad). An Azean mediator learns that she’s psychic, and has a twin sister who was stolen as an infant by the renegade psychic community; a Braxin rebel leaves Braxin territory to save his own life and in search of a woman of sufficient genetic value to buy his return; their paths intersect. I was creeped out by the way both sisters (including the one who’d been previously raped by a Braxin warrior and was psychically assaulted by the male protagonist) along with another woman who supposedly hated all things Braxin for their sexism, all found the male protagonist’s “masculine” and commanding behavior sexy despite themselves (he was culturally encouraged to become violent if a woman gave him orders, and constantly reminded them of that). ( )

Envision a child, newborn, cradled in its mother's arms. Light assails its newly opened eyes from all directions, too much data to absorb. Overwhelming. The face of its mother, the form of its own hand, sunlight pouring in the window... all these things are but visual chaos, input without interpretation, that its tiny brain cannot yet sort out. A cacophony of data, frightening and fascinating, without meaning or form. How will it learn how to distinguish near from far, large from small, soft from sharp? Its brain lacks even the language to frame such concepts now. All it can do is stare at the light and absorb the chaos, and slowly struggle to sort out which images matter and which ones do not, so that the latter can be ignored... while its brain works desperately to create the neural pathways necessary to make sense of it all.

This is Awakening.

Although it was readable, I found this sequel to In Conquest Born to be a pretty big let down after its predecessor.

Generations have passed since the time of Anzha and Zatar, but the feud between Azea and Braxi lives on. A Braxin commoner named Tathas has been indicted for encouraging racial identity outside of the Braxana aristocracy, and finds himself on a wild quest for new genetic material to feed the Braxana's quickly dwindling stock. In Azea, the psychics have been scattered to the winds and newly discovered psychics are quickly outcast. Zara comes to discover her psychic abilities late in life, and fearing for her job and her life goes searching for the last remnants of psychic society. Somewhere along the line, their stories intersect as they both race to achieve their goals before its too late.

The Wilding lacked the great insight and character development of In Conquest Born. There was no one to identify with or latch onto - no really powerful personalities to engage with. Instead, there are a handful of half-sketched characters making up the cast, and where the characters in In Conquest Born drove the story forward, in The Wilding they seemed almost an afterthought.

Because the story takes place so long after the time period of In Conquest Born, there is no real connection between the plots, and so this book could easily be read on its own. Similarly, nothing left hanging from the first novel is resolved in this piece, so a fan of In Conquest Born should feel no compulsion to read The Wilding. In fact, I would recommend against reading it whether you've read the first episode or not - ultimately this was a disappointing add-on to the story of Azea and Braxi, and a poor representation of Friedman's skills. ( )