Judge by Karen Traviss ***

Judge by Karen Traviss is the sixth and final book in the Wess'har Wars series. The story and the series centers around two huge philosophical issues: the ethics of ecology and immortality. The ethic of ecology is explored by comparing human to the Wess'har and Eqbas who believe that all animals are equal and motivation is irrelevant - only results matter.

Shan wondered whether humans on Earth had yet grasped the full implications of highly militarized vegans.

Immortality is explored by giving characters the choice of individual immortality or immortality through children.

As with the best science fiction, Judge raises important questions and suggests novel solutions. As with the worst science fiction too many words are expended on back story, exposition, and philosophical discussions. As an example, one to the biggest actions in this novel is the forced reduction of human population to sustainable levels (i.e. the removal of billions of people). This happens entirely outside of the story and is merely reported.