I loaned the first book in this series to a friend recently and he read it in two nights, which he says he’s done with only one other book.This series continues to develop and expand on the characters while creating subtle plot twists. I’m going to make the synopsis real brief as these books read fast but develop slowly. The saboteurs are exposed, prisoners of war are liberated and the alliance defeats a syndic fleet. Sounds simple and bland…but it’s not.

Finally caught up on this series and finished it. Although the last few books seem to have been proofread by a chimp, the story is unaffected. Matriarch has a misleading title, as you would think it applies to the Wess’har isan, but is really the story of the Bezer’ej and Umeh. Umeh is undergoing a civil war to decide the face of the planet while the Eqbas work through how to restore the planet. Meanwhile the Bezeri are trying to reclaim as much of their culture from the radioactive ruins as possible, even though their future is in extreme doubt. The Bezeri also have an ancient secret that may yet cause an unwelcome restoration on Bezer’ej.

Ally advances all of the characters stories but doesn’t really advance the story very far. This book sort of fills in the details to move from Matriarch to Judge. The c’naatat infestation spreads in unexpected and unwelcome ways, Shan makes a necessary decision to accompany the Eqbas and the Skavu foot soldiers back to Earth in an effort to safeguard her former home from the overzealous Skavu.

Judge begins the restoration of Earth and brings to conclusion the Wess’har Wars. The cover intimates that this is the last book in the series but the story leaves open other possibilities. Before the end of this installment, several characters undergo profound changes. c’naatat is conquered as a permanent problem with help from a surprise vector. The Australians lead the way in restoring the planet selling it to the other nations by sharing Eqbas beneficial technology and Earth begins to turn the corner. Shan and company are ordered to return to Earth so as not to expand the c’naatat infection to Earth.

Overall this was a great series and I will definitely pickup non Star Wars books that Karen Traviss writes.