• The Sundering

  • The Dread Empire's Fall Trilogy, Book 2
  • By: Walter Jon Williams
  • Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
  • Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (77 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
The Sundering  By  cover art

The Sundering

By: Walter Jon Williams
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.90

Buy for $17.90

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

“Space opera the way it ought to be.... Bujold and Weber, bend the knee; interstellar adventure has a new king, and his name is Walter Jon Williams.” (George R. R. Martin)

Following The Praxis, Walter Jon Williams’s critically acclaimed mix of space opera and military science fiction, the conflict grows for the fate of humanity...and the universe.

The Dread Empire of the Shaa is no more, following the death of the last oppressor. But freedom remains elusive for the myriad sentient races enslaved for 10 centuries, as an even greater terror arises. The Naxids - a powerful insectoid species themselves subjugated until the recent Shaa demise - plan to fill the vacuum with their own bloody domination and have already won a shattering victory with superior force and unimaginable cruelty. But two heroes survived the carnage at Magaria: Lord Gareth Martinez and the fiery, mysterious gun pilot Lady Caroline Sula, whose courageous exploits are becoming legend in the new history of galactic civil war. Yet their cunning, skill, and bravery may be no match for the overwhelming enemy descending upon the loyalist stronghold of Zanshaa, as the horrific battle looms that will determine the structure of the universe - and who shall live to inhabit it - for millennia to come.

©2004, 2015 by Walter Jon Williams (P)2021 by Blackstone Publishing and Skyboat Media, Inc.

What listeners say about The Sundering

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    50
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    52
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    45
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

is this a romance novel?

i dont really care about the relationship between the manwhore and the broken lady. his lust for her makes me uncomfortable. i feel like Fred Savage in The Princess Bride... "Is this a kissing book?"

i came for some mind bending well conceived sci-fi. instead its rich people being mean to slightly less rich people, while the entire war is won by two emotionally stunted children.

why aren't all tactically minded people up ona arms about the idea that lack of military innovation is a good thing? the idea that these two people are the only ones who thought of anything, because no one else feels comfortable trying to make things better, is pretty lazy. people push and prod and champion thier own ideas.... military orthodoxy is uninteresting. what could possibly happen but these guys use improved tactics and win? that story has been told before without a sexually obsessed douche bag whining about an emtionally unavailable murderer.

i really like this author but this relationship mishmash is kind of boring and contrived. if you like your sci-fi with a sexually vigorous MC then this book might be for you. if you dont really care about healthy relationships or maybe just focusing on an interesting plot, then too.

im going to keep going but, dude, give me something to sink my teeth into.

or just when the action starts, end the novel abruptly. gross.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!