enerations after a war between the alien zor race and the human interstellar empire, humans and zor are allied in a fight against the vuhls, psi-powered, shape-shifting aliens seemingly intent on destroying both humans and zor. The human-zor starship fleets have had limited success in repelling the insidious vuhl forces, until they discover that vuhls are entering space through a previously unknown rift in space connecting to their distant part of the galaxy. As the human-zor fleet concentrates its attack, they are aided by a new paramilitary group, Blazing Star, which was formed as a radical splinter group of the elite human psi-group called the Guardians, with improved psi powers. With the help of Blazing Star, the human-zor alliance defeats the vuhls and enters the rift intent on xenocide.
But the zor soon learn, through visits to the Plane of Sleep and with help from Jackie Laperriere, a human who is now the Gyaryu'har, bearer of the zor's sacred sword, that John Smith, leader of the Blazing Star, has plans after exterminating the vuhl. He intends to take control of the human government and end the alliance with the zor. The zor immediately leave the battlefield and retreat to their home planet.
Meanwhile, the vuhl are adapting to the new psi offensive developed by Blazing Star, and begin to turn the tide in the war, Jackie sets out alone to confront Smith, the situation within the human empire gets increasingly and literally Machiavellian, and further evidence develops that another alien force, known only as "mysterious bands of color," may be manipulating humans, zor and vuhls into a war of mutual annihilation.
Thoughtful and complex
The Dark Crusade is the fourth book in this series of novels, following The Dark Wing, The Dark Path and The Dark Ascent. Like the previous novels, The Dark Crusade is a thoughtful and complex military space opera. The structure of the series is indeed more like that of a single, very long novel—and one that may, indeed, not yet be completed.
Considering that these novels are Hunt's first published fiction, he shows surprising skill in keeping the complex structure, classic themes and inventive nomenclature of the novel from getting out of control. (The novel is replete with almost unreadable zor names and terms such as Gyaryu'har, Ch'en'Ya, esGa'uYal, etc.) The series has demonstrated that Hunt is well founded in the genre's tropes and themes, with his more obvious influences ranging from the spac-opera 1930s and 1940s to the more recent military science fiction of writers such as David Weber to the Ender series by Orson Scott Card (and his obsession with the morality of xenocide) to TV shows like Babylon 5 to Tolkienesque fantasy quests (one complete story cycle involves Jackie's re-enactment of the mythological zor quest for the sword of state, across the Plain of Despite and up the Perilous Stairs), and many more. Hunt's fiction is a mulligan stew of tropes and themes from throughout the science-fiction and fantasy genre.
This novel could easily have become impenetrable, especially in the complex political maneuverings interestingly enhanced by having one of the players be an AI version of Niccolo Machiavelli himself. But Hunt keeps the narrative under control surprisingly well, and fans of military space opera will find this series of novels well worth reading.
