There are strong threads of anti-war messages in Dawn, and plenty of examples of extremist factions, short-sighted management and how a democratic civilization can go wrong. It was also commenting a whole lot on the selfishness of the higher echelon and political leaders who would gamble with the lives of soldiers and their families back home, all for the sake of maintaining their own power, or increasing it. Rather than lasers, pew-pew, it was all the more about fleet formations, tactical maneuvering, attempts to outwit the opponent. Well, of course I would pick this book up next, not fully realizing just how many of those I would get! However, as large as they are described, I felt that every battle was firmly anchored around the overall strategies and generals, their reactions to the enemy and also their follies. I previously said in my review of The Emperor Expects that I'm not usually fond of space battles. It is the full package of what I enjoy about science fiction. This is a scifi story with large-scale space battles (with thousands of battleships on either side, usually), intriguing characters, strong politics and exploration of human history, fascism, patriotism, philosophy and more.

None of the trappings of modern japanese light novels are present here, so leave your prejudices in the drawer when it comes to the heavily trope-laden stuff you see nowadays. As somebody who only saw glimpses of the anime adaptation at best, I can tell you that this is a cracking read with more depth and character than many modern SciFi works.

Dawn by Yoshiki Tanaka