Scalzi writes some great books but I'm not much of a fan of these episodic series. Why not just write a whole novel?

In any case, read Old Man's War before you read this series or else you won't understand half of what's going on. I had. Most of the book is spoken in the first person of an alien named Hafte Sorvalh, and some political intrigue between those who want peace with Earth's Colonial Union and those who want to wipe it out -- since the CU kicks their butts in most of the battles I suppose.

Anyway, Hafte is counsellor and second in power to the General who put the whole association together. Things happen such as a rescue scene of some Earth ships near the main Conclave base. Who fired the first shot? Will Earth or the CU retaliate? And to whom? Will Conclave use this as a provocative reason to get at the humans?

Hey, find out in Episode 3, sometime in the future!
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In The Hollow Union, the second part of John Scalzi's The End of All Things, the focus is firmly on the alien Conclave, an interplanetary assembly established by General Tarsem Gau to counterbalance the militaristic ambitions of the human Colonial Union. With the Conclave on edge and many of delegates concerned about the General increasing political weakness, the story follows consumate political operator Hafte Sorvalh as she attempts to hold things together for her boss.

Having established the increasing fragility of Tarsem Gau's position through a series of interviews with influential delegates, Sorvalh advises the General to consider rebuff the suggested diplomatic overtures of the Colonial Union and instead make Earth a protectorate of the Conclave; that way, by assign a group of the General's loudest critics to the protection detail, they can effectively neutralised one of the assembly's most powerful blocs. And while the general chooses to receive a diplomatic delegation from Earth, he also rejects Hafte's advice that he publicly turn away a similar delegation from the Colonial Union, creating an awkward situation when both groups arrive in-system at the same time.

After the delegation from Earth are attacked shortly after their arrival, the CU representatives, aided by Lieutenant Harry Wilson and some stellar flying on the part of Rafe Daquin at the controls of the Chandler, step in to affect a rescue. Both human parties find themselves arriving at exactly the same times as an awkward bit of news: a data dump, supposedly leaked by Assistant Secretary Tyson Ocampo, which appears to pin the blame for a series of recent attacks squarely on the Colonial Union. In order to refute this, Ambassador Abumwe of the CU introduces the members of the assembly to the Equilibrium movement - those responsible for abducting Rafe in Life of the Mind - and, with the backing of her own data packet full of evidence, unmask various species of Conclave as a collaborators.

At which point things spin completely out of control, forcing Hafte Sorvalh into a series of unpleasant compromises in order to hold the Conclave together. Along the way we learn some intriguing facts about Hafte's species: the Lahan and their approach to child-rearing. Having produced a large number of potential offspring and placed them in a communal area to allow them to mature, Lahan parents then ignore their children until they achieve sentience, even going so far as to ignore blatant cannibalism and predation.

When Gau challenge Sorvalh about this, she responds with a story: once, in their species' history, a wise philosopher suggested caring for each child and allowing them to attain adulthood. Superficially successful, this allowed the Lahan to spread across the stars but it also turned out generations of savage monsters; for the time spent fighting for survival as an unconscious child allowed the Lahan to grow into wise adults by taking their pain and their risks early in life. Needless to say, this point becomes important later on in the story.

I liked The Hollow Union a lot: Hafte Sorvalh is an engaging character, lacking the snark of Scalzi's human heroes but possessed of a powerful sense of wisdom and a determination to do the very best she can by her political masters. There are brief appearances from old friends from the previous series - Harry puts in an appearance while the Earth delegation includes Danielle Lowen - and Ambassador Abumwe reminds us just how entertaining it is to have a diplomat who is never anything less than forthright and blunt. ( )