My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Hell's Gate (Multiverse #1)
The Union of Arcana has expanded through the portals linking parallel universes for over a century and a half. In that time, its soldiers and sorcerers have laid claim to one uninhabited planet after another—all of them Earth, and in the process, the Union has become the most powerful, most wealthy civilization in all of human history. But all of that is about to come...more
Mass Market Paperback, 1236 pages
Published
April 29th 2008
by Baen
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
608)
It’s the start of a new military sci-fi series, the New Multiverse. I know, it sounds like a working title but it is accurate.
The Story
Two separate universes exploring portals, which take them to unexplored universes until, inevitably, the two exploring parties meet by accident, in accident. A scout from each side manages to kill each other in a way that terrifies their own teams leading to a cockup of massive proportions. It certainly points out the stupidity of promoting people ...more
The Story
Two separate universes exploring portals, which take them to unexplored universes until, inevitably, the two exploring parties meet by accident, in accident. A scout from each side manages to kill each other in a way that terrifies their own teams leading to a cockup of massive proportions. It certainly points out the stupidity of promoting people ...more
Hell’s Gate by David Weber and Linda Evans
Book one of the Multiverse series is a most engrossing 1200 pages. Evan’s and Weber portray two unique civilizations on a road to conflict. Arcana bases their technology on magic. Sharona has psychic talents but bases their technology on science. The multi-universal aspect is that both civilizations have discovered portal to alternate earths that have no populations until they confront each other.
David Weber and Linda Evans ...more
Book one of the Multiverse series is a most engrossing 1200 pages. Evan’s and Weber portray two unique civilizations on a road to conflict. Arcana bases their technology on magic. Sharona has psychic talents but bases their technology on science. The multi-universal aspect is that both civilizations have discovered portal to alternate earths that have no populations until they confront each other.
David Weber and Linda Evans ...more
Ah David Weber. How much I used to like you. At this point I think I've just read too many of his books. I was really enjoying this one most of the way through, but then it just kept playing the same kind of scenes that I've seen in too many of his books already, and there isn't any good climax to the book at all. Disappointing.
Slight Spoiler follows:
It was an intriguing idea on the surface (Science world and magic world run into each other at the end of a long chain of p...more
Slight Spoiler follows:
It was an intriguing idea on the surface (Science world and magic world run into each other at the end of a long chain of p...more
Two empires meet on a deserted world... Sharona is an emerging techno-culture that relies heavily on wide-spread psychic "talents". Arcana is a "sword-and-sorcery" culture that relies heavily on widespread magical "gifts". The tragic meeting of an Arcanian exploratory platoon with a Sharonian civilian survey team sets off a long-burning fuse which is leading to war. So are the spell-casting Arcanians, backed by dragon cavalry, ready for the machine-gun toting Sh...more
Boring as heck. I'd write a more in-depth summary but really. Folks will still buy it simply because it's David Weber and he's a bloody genius but obviously it's not his natural style. I will no be reading any more from this union. I consider this a failed experiment.
Yep, it's Weber all right, noble monarchs and all. On the other hand, it's an interesting setup, and unpleasantly plausible in the way one screw-up can lead to potentially millions of deaths. I think I got enough hours of entertainment from it to justify the $7 I paid for it used.
Disappointing. Boring ~1200 pages, supposedly "military scifi" but very naive and not realistic. Neat concept, but nothing new, if this was meant for grown ups, I think I'll pick another teenage (young adult) book next, they have been a lot better lately.
Enjoyable, but it suffers from the same problem as David Weber's other series, such as Honor Harrington -- he spends large numbers of pages on the characters' desire for peace, but we all know that he'll never allow them to sustain peace, because that's not what Weber writes.
Hoo boy! Weber once again makes clear that he OWNS the military science fiction novel! How he came up with this idea...does he ever sleep?
Good analysis of people's reactions to events, and like a few other authors (David Brin, Anne McCaffrey), he manages to make each character distinct (Brin is perhaps superior in this ability). But he has SO MANY characters in this series! I keep having to backtrack to reread who he's talking about. At least the second book (currently reading) ...more
Good analysis of people's reactions to events, and like a few other authors (David Brin, Anne McCaffrey), he manages to make each character distinct (Brin is perhaps superior in this ability). But he has SO MANY characters in this series! I keep having to backtrack to reread who he's talking about. At least the second book (currently reading) ...more
I have to give up on this book because it is total crap. It's really disapointing because I like some of the ideas in the story and I think better writers could make a decent book out of it. I got about 600 pages into its 1200 pages and really not a whole lot had even happened yet. I was just slogging through reading about all these two dimensional characters who I could give a damn about waiting for the moment when maybe something would happen in the plot to justify it. Frustrating. So if you s...more
This would have been an excellent 400 to 500 page novel. Unfortunately it was 1200 pages long.
I actually think the multiverse books are Weber's best. The whole story idea is a little silly, I'll admit, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well Weber and Evans pulled it off. I found myself really caring about the characters and their relationships, cheesy though they may be. This book is not full of profound ideas, but it does pose the challenge of making both sides of a violent conflict seem "right" in their own ways and sympathetic to the reader, and Weber and Evans pulled it...more
A great 5 star idea, but 800 pages when it would have been better at 400.
Abby
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of military sci fi
Shelves:
fantasy,
science-fiction
The beginning is annoyingly slow, because they are setting up two entirely different cultures on two separate other-universe earths, and each has multiple cultures. The complexity is realistic, as (I think) are the military issues, and once the story really got under way, I was completely sucked in. It's an interesting combination of military sci-fi, anthropology, and politics.
Now, if only Evans would write the sequel to "Far Edge of Darkness!
Now, if only Evans would write the sequel to "Far Edge of Darkness!
This is an interesting mix of fantasy (very interesting magic system, too) and military science fiction. The only thing which was very confusing at the beginning (and still is to a lesser extent by the end) is how the POV keeps jumping from character to character (and there are a fair number of "main" characters, too).
Outside of that, I'm enjoying the series quite a bit, though it's not my favorite collaboration by David Weber and company.
Outside of that, I'm enjoying the series quite a bit, though it's not my favorite collaboration by David Weber and company.
Terrible
magic, dragons, technology, multiverse, military SF, clusters of transit portals - looking forward to reading this and the next book in this series by David Weber with Linda Evans (tho book #3 is not yet published)... not a part of the Honorverse but the same strong and in-depth character development.
The only book I've ever read that seemed longer than The Stand. Interesting mix of technology and magic, with capabilities spread evenly between the two factions.
Supposedly there will be additional volumes to follow.
Supposedly there will be additional volumes to follow.
I'm a big David Weber, especially the Honor Harringtom series. This is the 1st of a very different series about two human cultures clashing in alternate universes. It is very good but lots of charaters to follow.
Ehh,
It's OKay
I skimmed major 'social interaction, societal studies, personalities' sections.
The battles were typicaly David Weber excellence...but the story didn't sustain the book
It's OKay
I skimmed major 'social interaction, societal studies, personalities' sections.
The battles were typicaly David Weber excellence...but the story didn't sustain the book
I finally gave up on this book after 800 pages. It's a very long buildup, reasonably well written, with interesting concepts, but damn 1200 pages is too much.
Hate to admit that I could not finish this one. I tried, but I just couldn't get into it. Interesting premise though.
read 12.28.06
read 03.21.07
read 03.21.07
Paul Torres
added it
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Weber--yet another fine series! | 2 | 11 | May 04, 2009 09:11pm |
Readers Also Enjoyed
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington...more
More about David Weber...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
