Judgment at Proteus

By Timothy Zahn

The climactic novel of the star-spanning Quadrail space opera

In Timothy Zahn's Judgment at Proteus, the Quadrail that connects the twelve civilizations of our galaxy has been the flashpoint of a battle for dominance fought mostly unnoticed by humankind. But Frank Compton of Earth, aided by the enigmatic woman Bayta, has fought on the front lines, using every bit of his human ingenuity and secret agent skills to outwit the Modhri, a group intelligence that would control the minds of every sentient being it can touch.

Following a trail of deception and death to Proteus Station, Compton has discovered a conspiracy that threatens all life in the galaxy: the Shonkla’raa, an ancient enemy thought to be long dead, is rising again. So serious is the danger that the Modhri, the enemy of his enemy, may now be his friend, as the burgeoning threat of a race of invincible soldiers emerges.

If Compton and Bayta can’t stop them, the Shonkla’raa will decimate all who oppose them, destroying the Quadrail and billions of lives throughout the galaxy.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jun 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781429987455

Timothy Zahn

Timothy Zahn is the author of more than forty science fiction novels. He has also written many short stories, as well as Cascade Point, which won the Hugo Award for best novella. His other works include the Dragonback series, of which Dragon and Thief was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and the bestselling Star Wars™ novel, Heir to the Empire. Zahn lives in Oregon.

Reviews for Judgment at Proteus

[librisissimo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fifth in a series, but I never felt like I had missed anything prior, although I would have benefitted from reading them beforehand (this is typical of Zahn, who is IMO the best "enter in the middle of the series" writer in SF).(Apparently, in 2012, I read #2 in the series "The Third Lynx" and didn't like it as well.)

[bespen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When Frank finally gets to the end of his quest, he finds out that he has been fighting the wrong war all along. But at least he's not on a train anymore!Much of the action in Judgment at Proteus takes place on the eponymous Proteus station, centerpiece of the Filiaelian Empire and proud showcase of their mastery of genetic engineering. Unfortunately, Frank killed some Filiaelian walkers back in book 3, so now he has some 'splaning to do. Which of course he doesn't want to, since his battle against the Modhri has been an unauthorized shadow war waged for the benefit of the Spiders and their secretive masters.That simple hook is enough to set in motion the denouement of a five book series, wrapping up a number of loose threads, and being a hell of a lot of fun in the process. I blew through these books over the course of a couple of weeks, thanks to a timely family vacation, but being able to pick up four of five volumes at once really helped a lot. There is something to be said for waiting until a series is complete to get started.While these are quick and easy reads, this is not simply the equivalent of popcorn fare summer blockbusters, fun to watch and quickly forgotten. You could read the Quadrail series that way, and come away having had a good time. Zahn writes in an accessible style, and has been a popular writer for a very long time, so he's good at it. But I wouldn't have enjoyed the Quadrail series quite so much if there wasn't something more lurking under the surface.Zahn just never makes a big deal out of the ideas he explores here. Frank is a bit of a loose cannon, always trusting in his brains, guts, and luck to get him through to the end. That is a perfectly acceptable strategy when you are just a cog in the intelligence apparatus, high risk and high reward if you are indeed both clever and lucky. It clearly worked for Frank, right up until it didn't, and he got fired for making a big stink about something obviously stupid, that ended up being part of the Modhran shadow war before Frank knew what that was.This is less good as a strategy when you are on your own, with the fate of galaxy riding on your luck. Unfortunately, Frank doesn't really know any other way to operate. Fortunately for him, others who are less clever but more systematic, are available to back him up. There are hints of this fundamental tension throughout the five books in the series, but it isn't a major plot, nor does it take up a lot of space in the text. It is just there to think about, if you find it interesting. There are other interesting themes that clearly form the background of this series but are only mentioned in passing: unintended consequences, the price of making yourself open and vulnerable enough to love, how to ensure enough of an advantage to defensive warfare to make interstellar war unprofitable, what happens when you introduce a large number of fundamentally dissimilar alien species to one another. Each one of these things is big enough to write a whole book about, but Zahn did a good enough job on each one to just make it a background detail.This makes his written worlds feel complete, rather than fantastical sets upon which his characters act out their lines, requiring suspension of disbelief to make the plywood and paint feel real. I could just relax into the story, and go along for the ride. The fact that Zahn can write this kind of thing year after year, over a career now stretching almost 40 years, is a remarkable accomplishment. And it is a hell of a lot of fun too.

[soraki_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Frank and Bayta must ally with the Modhri against the Shonkla'raa. However, can the Modhri be trusted?

[davidlerickson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Judgment at Proteus is the last in the Quadrail series, tales that span the width and breadth of galaxy.Frank Compton, a human troubleshooter, is hired by the Chahwyn to escort a young and pregnant earth girl to another world where the inhabitants are masters at genetic manipulation. But this small task is itself fraught with danger and Frank has been secretly assigned to uncover the mystery of the Shonkla-raa, an insidious parasitic species bent on galactic domination. The Shonkla-raa had been destroyed 1600 years prior, but there were increasing signs they hadn’t been completely eliminated.It took me several pages to get into the flow of this novel because of the plethora of alien names and also because I hadn’t read the 4 novels that preceded it.It is a convoluted story heavily laden with plot twists, hidden agendas and edge-of-the-seat moments that never end. You have no idea from one moment to the next just who is on Frank’s side and who isn’t, as such players as the Shonkla-raa and Modhri are able to take control of anyone, even Frank’s friends and allies.This isn’t a light read pumped out in the vein of mass-market writers like James Patterson. Once you get into it, it is a deep, thrilling ride, a real page turner. I had difficulty pulling myself away for such mundane tasks as eating and sleeping.I felt like I needed a mind vacation once I read the last page, which is why I intersperse such reads with light action adventures, like Cussler’s novels.This is a science fiction novel, but if you like unraveling mysteries and deducing hidden agendas, peppered with mind-boggling technology, this is an awesome read.

[sferguson_79 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book and great conclusion to the series. I'm only sorry that it's over, the Quadrail series was one of the best of recent scifi that I've read.