The Dragon Never Sleeps

This is one of those novels that has a plot and world with so much freaking potential. A grand, sweeping space opera with immortals, cloning, ancient races/tech, aliens, etc... The human dominated territory in the galaxy is patrolled by enormous, semi-sentient "Guardships", crewed by clones of the humans who started the empire thousands of years ago. They maneuver on a system of faster-than-light way points whose origin remain unclear to all the players involved. The "Canon", as the empire is called, has never seriously been challenged for supremacy.

But the area that Canon controls has evolved over the millennium, while the Guardships remain much the same. Sentient species have diversified, technology has advanced, and the minor Houses under the Canon are tired of tasting the boot of oppression. With the help of ancient Canon enemies, multiple factions are set to test the status-quo of the known universe.

Though I think it would be silly to say that Cook's goal strayed far from writing an adventurous space opera, much of The Dragon Never Sleeps could be interpreted as an analogy for the relationship between organized religion and the modern world. How we engage with and struggle against the status quo of our own lives and world is at the core of most character's struggles. Cook keeps these characters and their choices refreshingly morally grey.

Cook is loathe to explain anything outright to the reader. The Dragon Never Sleeps has one of the highest 'learning curves' of any SF work that I've read. I really didn't have my feet under me until around forty percent of the way though. I'm usually one to love that style of writing. I appreciate the author respecting my intelligence: though, I really can't help but think that Cook's opaqueness serves little purpose here. Cook's prose is uninspiring and lacking of any descriptions whatsoever, the enormous stakes of the plot carried little actual gravity, and the ending is oddly saccharine compared to the rest of the story. I was also not a fan of the rapid-fire changes in perspective that made it hard to connect with and care for any character in particular.

I simply can't rank it higher because the terrible reading experience. I often found myself trudging back to the pages as one would a date with the gallows. There were moments where I was more engaged than others, but certainly most of the book I found myself begging for it to be over. It seems to me that Cook bit off more than he could reasonably chew. While this semi-mangled mess of a space opera has strengths, it ultimately was not for me.