The Sword of the Lamb
by M.K. Wren
This vision of the future takes place around the year 3200 and depicts humankind as star faring, but only so far. Set in the Centauri system the Elite Houses of a future feudal system determine how to keep the system going in their favor while keeping the Bonds and Feshs working productively. I’m not sure entirely why this could go this way but I embraced the story.
Rich and Alexand Woolf are the only two heirs of the Woolf House. Rich is diseased and will not live far into adulthood while Alexand is disenchanted with his lot and the system that allows them their station in life. Things must change.
The House system is somewhat reminiscent of Dune yet not so far flung that Earth based references are lost. An organization of scholars and ethical people are working behind the scenes, Phoenix, to path the way for social change and bettering humankind. Their methods and decision making remind me of Harry Seldon from Foundation and his psycho-historical equations to model the future. The slang of the Outsiders reminds me of William Gibson’s works in Cyberpunk. Enough name dropping.
This is book one in the series and I enjoyed it enough to consider reading the remainder when my TBR is under control again. That’ll be…sometime. The only down side for me was the arranged marriages and being immersed in so much Elite House machinations angst. If you like Space Opera and epic stories then this is for you. I’m giving it a three out of five.
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