The fifth volume in The Wess'har Wars series. The story slowly turns back toward Earth. There are enough plot complications to keep the reader well entertained. As with any series one can feel an acceleration toward the finish line, the next book being the last. A study of the responsibilities of power, of ecology as a political goal, and of how immortality can change one's perspective. ( )

The premise: ganked from publisher's website: The worlds orbiting Cavanagh's Star are in turmoil.

Civil war on Umeh -- ignited by outsiders -- threatens to annihilate the teeming masses of a grossly overpopulated planet. On Bezer'ej, the handful of native aquatic creatures who survived extermination must take extraordinary and terrible steps to ensure the future of their kind . . .

And the interlopers from a distant planet called Earth can only watch the chaos they helped, in part, to create -- knowing their home world will be next to suffer.

The day of reckoning is rapidly approaching when the powerful Eqbas will remake the Earth at the expense of its dominant species. And Shan Frankland -- once a police officer, once human, now something much more -- must decide where her loyalties truly lie: among the gethes, on a planet she once called home, or here, where a dying species presents her with a new and unexpected crisis.

My Rating: Good Read

Ever since Crossing the Line, there's been a fair amount of repetition, and as the series nears the end, the feeling that the story itself is treading water. I should've been more involved in the whole destruction of Umeh, especially since it's a foreshadow of what could potentially happen to Earth, but after the major, major, MAJOR events of the first two books, I suspect I feel a little numb as a reader. It's not to say the book isn't good, nor that there aren't major events that happen (the major events in this book definitely jumpstart the final installment, make no mistake), because it IS good, and major events DO happen. It just takes a while to get there. And while some character development I adore, like Eddie, Aras, and Ade, some character development seems to be stuck in neutral (Lindsay, Shan), and that can be occasionally grating. That said, with the introduction of the Skavu, there's a new threat against Earth, and I can't wait to see how everything ends.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. And not just for this book either, but rather the WHOLE SERIES. So if you're not caught up, DO NOT click the link below, which takes you to the full review in my blog. Everyone else, comments and discussion are most welcome!

REVIEW: Karen Traviss' ALLY

Happy Reading! ( )

A good end to a great series. ( )

Unfortunately, the series probably should have ended with The World Before, or at the latest, with Matriarch. The last three books in this series (Matriarch, Ally, Judge) felt as though they'd been written to outline, or to fulfill a book contract, rather than to tell the stories of the fascinating main characters and the endlessly inventive worlds explored in the first three books. The plots wandered; the same three or four situations/plotlines (alien parasite, ecological revisionism, and romance) drag through these three books without resolution. Each of the major plot points (deftly explored in the first three novels, with plenty of action) just sort of . . . petered out. The denoument is out of character and not particularly believable. ( )

In the Cavanagh star system things are heating up to a boiling point. Former environmentalist En Haz officer Shan Franklin can’t seem to extricate herself from the muck of interplanetary politics. The ultra environmentalist Eqbas expeditionary force, led by Esganken, find themselves understaffed and overwhelmed while trying to rebalance the environment of Umeh, a planet that’s environment was destroyed by the sentient spider like Isenj. Add to this the Eqbas are trying to make it to Earth to save the ever worsening environment before the humans possible destroy it themselves. If all of this wasn’t enough the Bezeri, a squid like being that was basically exterminated by cobalt salted atomics, has now been infected by the c'naatat bacteria, and now are trying to form their own society to defend themselves.

All this may seem confusing to someone who has not read the previous novels in this series, but really it all boils down to the characters. The novel jumps around in points of view. Everyone has their own agenda, and the means to advance it. Shan is the most bad ass female protagonist I have read. If you were in a fox hole, you want her next to you. She is the person who will just go berserk and kill everyone and anything before you know what is happening. She also is lacking in a lot of normal feminine qualities. She is very similar to Ripley from the Aliens movies. There is Lindsay Nelville, the post traumatic mother royal marine, now transformed into a gelatinous blob, who is a Shan light. Esganken, the female Eqbas leader who feels trapped by her responsibility, and the ever running clock of time. And these are just three of the strong female leads.

The style of the book is set out from multiple points of view. This leads to a lot of suspense when your heavily into one character and it switches to another. I almost wanted to just skip chapters to see what the Bezeri (Mutated Squid Aliens) were doing next. While this novel is not as engrossing as the first 3, its still a page turner. With nothing too heavy, but a lot of drama this is a book I would recommend if you are already into the series. If not start with the first one, and go from there. It might be too confusing to just pick this novel as a stand alone.

Favorite Quote: (Bonus Quote!)

“…humans destroy reality by willingly sharing an invented universe.” (188)

“Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.” (189) ( )