Conquerors' Heritage by Timothy Zahn

Conquerors' Heritage is the second book in the Conquerors trilogy by science fiction writer, Timothy Zahn. The point of view of this book is of the Zhirrzh, the aliens that attacked and killed virtually all of the battle group commanded by Pheylan Cavanagh in the first book.

Heritage brings in the political world of the Zhirrzh, a humanoid race that is unique in that prior to adolescence, an organ, called the fsss, is taken from the back of their neck and safely stored. This organ is the loosely anchor point of the Zhirrzh's soul, in that once their mortal body ceases to function (death), they become an Elder, a ghostly figure that is mainly used by the mortal Zhirrzh for communication over distances, small and vast, and also for spying. If an Elder's fsss cutting were to be destroyed, then the Elder would cease to exist.

The politics of the Zhirrzh people is made up of clans spread over the eighteen worlds to where they have spread. One clanless group, called the Overclan, is the seat of power. The Zhirrzh protagonist, Thrr-gilag, is summarily stripped of his job as alien specialist, due to the escape of the Human prisoner, Pheylan Cavanagh and his bond-engagement with a woman with a rival clan is stricken. But, Thrr-gilag is also attempting to, illegally, help his brother, Thrr-mezaz, commander of the Zhirrzh forces at Dorcas, a hotspot beachhead claimed by both Zhirrzh and Humans, to gain a tactical advantage by providing him with a fsss cutting for and Elder to spy on the Humans.

The question begins to seep out...Who is the Conqueror?? The Zhirrzh (from the Human point of view in book one) or the Humans (from the Zhirrzh point of view)? Both say that the other attacked first. One Elder finds out at the end of Heritage.

Heritage continues immediately where Pride left off, although this book has more of a political plot with a few skirmishes. It's not slower or harder to read, just a different color, especially since it's from an alien point of view. I think Zahn does a great job in creating an alien world of tradition and slow change contrasting with the character of Thrr-gilad, who is an educated but free mind. He's not so sure that his society is telling the truth.

A review of Conquerors' Legacy will be forthcoming.

Conquerors' Legacy by Timothy Zahn

We come to the conclusion of the Conqueror trilogy with only a couple of characters with a complete understanding why wars with the Zhirrzh have taken place. This book, unlike the first two, alternate points of view between the Human and Zhirrzh perspectives.

There are a several different story lines going by this time, a few with the Zhirrzh and a couple with the Humans. For the Zhirrzh, war preparations are being prompted by a warring faction and the Overclan Prime is only wanting to go to war if it's needed. They are also fighting social upheaval related to the Elders and their dependence on the fsss organ. The Humans are struggling identifying which races are their allies. One warring race may turn out to be an ally while a seeming ally that are experts at double-talk are attempting to get on the side of the Zhirrzh.

The key to the upcoming conflict is whether or not those few that understand that it's radar used by the Humans and the Commonwealth is a deadly weapon against the Zhirrzh. But will that knowledge make it to the key characters in time to save lives and avoid more conflict?

The suspense of Conquerors' Legacy seems to be overdrawn out in relation to the first two books. It's almost as if the story lines are dragging a bit to resolution. It's been around 10 years since I last read this trilogy. I remembered several details from the first two books, but I don't remember much from the Legacy. But overall, it's a good cap to the story. The main characters have to make some hard decisions, choosing between family/friends and the larger picture of interstellar racial war.

Conquerors' Pride by Timothy Zahn

Conquerors' Pride is the first book in a trilogy by Timothy Zahn dealing with human/alien first contact. It takes place a few hundred years in the future and Earth has already come in contact with several other "neighborhood" civilizations. It is at this point when Pheylan Cavanagh, commander of a battle group, encounters a new and unknown spaceship. His attempts at contacting this new race ends in disaster. His entire group is wiped out and he is the sole survivor...He has been captured as a prisoner of war.

Pheylan's father, Lord Stewart Cavanagh is a former politician and leads an illegal band of friends and associates to try to find his clues to his son's location as they have not found his remains in the wreckage.

Meanwhile, Pheylan undergoes interrogation from the alien species, calling themselves Zhirrzh. His main interrogator, Thrr-gilag, is a patient expert on alien contact and is in charge of extracting information from Pheylan to gain and advantage over the humans in the coming war. The thing that they cannot agree on is which side fired first. Thrr-gilag accuses the humans of using an Elderdeath weapon on the Zhirrzh ships and Pheylan says that the Zhirrzh they only tried to communicate with them and the honeycomb-shaped ship fired their deadly lasers and wiped out the the human force.

This is a very entertaining space opera with quick chapters, smart characters and interesting alien features. I'd read this series several years back and in a lull in my reading material, decided to pick it up again. I'm glad I did. It's an excellent sci-fi story.