In Conquest Born

Rating:
Summary: Greatest work of Science Fiction ever; great literature
Review: A friend introduced me to this book ten years ago; I started reading it one night, and finished it the next morning, having neither slept, ate, nor remembered to go to school while I was engrossed in it. It doesn't just read like a film, it gives you intimate details and historical background as a plot, not within the main plot, but unfolding concurrently at another point in time. Incredibly detailed without ever being the slightest bit boring. I end up scanning huge swaths of most books as I read them; this one requires and forces you to take in every detail, and you are always begging for more.

Rating:
Summary: This book was so good it gave me chills
Review: A moving (fictional)life history of the two most important
people in the known galaxy, and their war with each other
Contains great leadership ideas. I'm going to recomend this
book be placed on the US Marine Corps reading list

Jason C. Waugh
Sgt USMC
p.s. if you read only one chapter, read capter 11, it gave
me chills

Rating:
Summary: Like nothing else I've ever read
Review: After reading Friedman's Coldfire trilogy and "This Alien Shore" I was so impressed with her work that I simply had to find, and read, as many of her other novels as possible. "In conquest Born" is defiantly like no other novel I've ever read, the only slight complaint I have with it is that the physic stuff was pretty much typical of most other books I've read but, truly, that is an unimportant criticism. The book consists of seemingly unconnected events. As you read on you begin to realize how they all fit together beautifully into a seamless, glorious, whole. It's the sort of book that really gets you thinking, and in spite of, or perhaps because of, the way in which it is written it is extremely engrossing. It's worth every second and every cent that you spend on it. I think I'll just finish off with the sentiments of a good many other reviewers, BUY IT

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: After reading the Cold Fire Trilogy I had to find more books by C. S. Friedman. It's a very good books with powerful characters. READ IT

Rating:
Summary: I read this book and couldn't put it down.
Review: Alpha Watkins([e-mail])U.S.A I have only one problem with this book; why was it never completed? I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, it left me with a sense of incompleteness as far as stories go. I wonder why the author never finished it. I'm looking for closure here.

Rating:
Summary: The very best science fiction
Review: Any description of the plot of this book will give the idea it's space opera. I like space opera but this is much better than that. Each chapter is different and fascinating, and it's surprising how it each chapter can keep getting better until the end. This is one of the best science fiction I have ever read ( and the cover is perfect).

Rating:
Summary: A fine piece of work, but let's not go overboard
Review: Briefly the plot: Two galatic empires - the Braxana and the Anzea, fight an eternal war over reasons long lost. In the book we follow the careers of two protagonists, one from each empire, as they grow in their prospective careers in each empire.

The book itself almost reads like a series of short stories, as the author jumps from planet to planet and makes rapid time jumps between each chapter. In this sense the author is able to capture the vastness and the epic nature of the galatic war she portrays. While most of these chapters are intriguing, especially early on, most are irrelevant in the context of the story as a whole (I still can't figure out why so many chapters were devoted to Sechaveh).

However, I think the biggest shortfall of this book is that the core of the story is the direct rivalry of the two main protagonists, Zatar and Anzha. Yet very few chapters are devoted to showing their war with each other, and most of the personal conflict they have is just referred to. In this repesct the book seems to lack focus, and in some ways the story the author wants to tell is too big to carry detailed coverage of both the personal rises to power and the rivalry of Zatar and Anzha. I think that the book would have made much better reading had the story itself been more focused on one particular aspect or character, rather than try to take in such a broad scope.

The other major problem I had with the book was the characters were hard to like. Indeed I didn't start liking Zatar until around 300 or so pages in, and I didn't like Anzha at any point.

Finally, I should point out that the book ends on a very hollow and unfulfilling note. There is no grand conclusion or resolution, just a nasty little ironic twist that left me feeling empty. It's almost as though the auther herself didn't like her characters and decided to play a nasty trick on them.

So in all, yes a very good read, epic in scope and the cultures Friedman writes about are detailed and deep. But let's not go overboard here, it's not "the greatest of sci-fi" as other reviewers have pointed. It's just a good book which lacks in focus, nothing more.

Rating:
Summary: A fine piece of work, but let's not go overboard
Review: Briefly the plot: Two galatic empires - the Braxana and the Anzea, fight an eternal war over reasons long lost. In the book we follow the careers of two protagonists, one from each empire, as they grow in their prospective careers in each empire.

The book itself almost reads like a series of short stories, as the author jumps from planet to planet and makes rapid time jumps between each chapter. In this sense the author is able to capture the vastness and the epic nature of the galatic war she portrays. While most of these chapters are intriguing, especially early on, most are irrelevant in the context of the story as a whole (I still can't figure out why so many chapters were devoted to Sechaveh).

However, I think the biggest shortfall of this book is that the core of the story is the direct rivalry of the two main protagonists, Zatar and Anzha. Yet very few chapters are devoted to showing their war with each other, and most of the personal conflict they have is just referred to. In this repesct the book seems to lack focus, and in some ways the story the author wants to tell is too big to carry detailed coverage of both the personal rises to power and the rivalry of Zatar and Anzha. I think that the book would have made much better reading had the story itself been more focused on one particular aspect or character, rather than try to take in such a broad scope.

The other major problem I had with the book was the characters were hard to like. Indeed I didn't start liking Zatar until around 300 or so pages in, and I didn't like Anzha at any point.

Finally, I should point out that the book ends on a very hollow and unfulfilling note. There is no grand conclusion or resolution, just a nasty little ironic twist that left me feeling empty. It's almost as though the auther herself didn't like her characters and decided to play a nasty trick on them.

So in all, yes a very good read, epic in scope and the cultures Friedman writes about are detailed and deep. But let's not go overboard here, it's not "the greatest of sci-fi" as other reviewers have pointed. It's just a good book which lacks in focus, nothing more.

Rating:
Summary: Epic,Groundbreaking Masterpiece of Science Fiction!
Review: C.S. Friedman has created a masterpiece of science fiction which I would readily compare with masters such as Asimov. Characters, alien cultures described through observation of their daily lives and important events. Appears to be written by an expert in sociology, anthropology, linguistics, history, poetry, metaphysics, phsycology, business, war, literature. Her style is captivating and illicits the most amazing visual images. One feels (AND I'M NOT EXAGERATING ON THIS ONE!!) that one is watching a film! New chapters are opened with a thought provoking and historically insitefull, sometimes poetic, quote. One can literally feel the fade into action as she leads you into an apperantly mundane activity of a character, oftentimes using small side characters to explain or introduce major characters. One feel as though one is watching a clip or a scene of a movie while reading. And yes this leads to an increadibly easy and fascinating read. Epic in scope, historical context matched only by Asimov's Foundation series, replete with poetic and marvelous linguistic, sociological and anthropological allusions. This combines to give a magnificent and complete context for such an epic. I would love to know more about C.S. Friedman, education, background and what makes this person such an excellent author. If anyone knows more about the author, and how to contact (I.E. e-mail, or P.O. Box: #) I would be extremely appreciative. Thank you Sincerely, new biggest fan!!!!!! John BRiggs ([e-mail] or [e-mail]) Please e-mail me!!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing book. Read it.
Review: I can't say this is C. S. Friedman's best--I've found all of her novels to be equally outstanding!! This book is so different from any other science fiction novel I've read... Friedman has the most interesting way of introducing her main characters through the perspective of minor characters. Her world- and culture-building is excellent; the Braxin and Azean peoples are so well-defined I could believe they existed as I read the novel. But it doesn't read like a history text, no, Friedman manages to explain the story and people through remarks and ACTIONS, rather than the "here's a chapter devoted on the most utterly boring aspects of the society I have created let's see if you can read it without falling asleep" technique that some other authors seem to favour. This novel is just so different (with a VERY unpredictable plot--many twists that while surprising actually make sense if you think back), I reccommend it heartily to anyone who is tired of modern immitation mass-production science fiction. I also reccommend it to anyone else. This book is truly amazing, as is the rest of Friedman's work