Liz Williams’ sophomore effort, EMPIRE OF BONES, has all the flaws of a second novel: too many characters, too many subplots, and a breakneck pace. Williams’ develops a future where a highly regimented social structure is maintained by vast intelligences in “The Core” of the galaxy. This social structure resembles the caste setup in India. This is where the novel starts to go wrong. One of the lead characters is Jaya who just happens to be the leader of the anti-caste faction in India. She is also a Receiver who has the power to communicate with the aliens’ depth ship. So part of the novel concerns the revolutionary struggle on Earth and the second part of the novel concerns the galactic conspiracy of the castes to destroy up-and-coming castes like humans. If you can put up with the flaws, there’s still enjoyment in this crammed novel.