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87th out of 257 books
—
686 voters
Off Armageddon Reef (Safehold #1)
by
David Weber
Humanity pushed its way to the stars - and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out.
Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary me...more
Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary me...more
Hardcover, 605 pages
Published
January 9th 2007
by Tor Books
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The idea behind this series is amazing, so much potential it almost boggles the mind. Unfortunately the author is not up to the challenge he sets for himself. It is limited by one man's imagination and occasionally klunky writing to a naval military history with minor sci-fi elements when it could be so much more.
Don't get me wrong, there are some poignant moments and great battles to be found, but too thinly dispersed in a morass of 3 or 4 times too many characters and too much dwelling on chur...more
Don't get me wrong, there are some poignant moments and great battles to be found, but too thinly dispersed in a morass of 3 or 4 times too many characters and too much dwelling on chur...more
Think if this as Commander Data at Trafalgar. A The science fiction framing story rarely impinges on the sixteenth century technology of the main story, except in the form of a superhuman android who, not surprisingly, turns everything upside down. The "how" and "why" are well told, but the premise is so weak that it flunks the logic of the framing story--trying to minimize the technological signature of the last human colony world against a superior, but technologically frozen alien race. Plus,...more
Humanity got waxed by the evil aliens. In order to not be exterminated we set up a world and invented a religion that keeps technology down. Eventually progress comes a calling and a small kingdom is at odds with a world spanning church that makes the Spanish Inquisition look tame.
Oh yeah, the small kingdom has an android imbued with the soul of a woman centuries dead on their side.
-- The battle scenes are very detailed. If you academically would like to know how to fight and possibly die in a w...more
Oh yeah, the small kingdom has an android imbued with the soul of a woman centuries dead on their side.
-- The battle scenes are very detailed. If you academically would like to know how to fight and possibly die in a w...more
I confess, I am a David Weber fanatic. Ever since a friend introduced me to his Honor Harrington series nearly thirty years ago, I have been hooked. I have saved chunks of his work to savor, and the Safehold series was well worth waiting to enjoy. I dived into this series with the second book, then backed up. #1 is the huge backstory to #2, a sweeping adventure filled with intrigues which began more than eight centuries before the current action. The reader becomes privy to the founding of the h...more
I could go on and on about the series but I think Wikipedia sums it up best...
Off Armageddon Reef begins with a prologue where the humans are making a last-ditch effort to preserve at least some humans from the genocidal Gbaba. The Gbaba, however, are found to have located all of the colony ships sent out by the humans up to that point, and the humans make one more attempt to relocate a colony to a new location, eventually dubbed "Safehold" by the leaders of the colonial expedition. Once they ar...more
Off Armageddon Reef begins with a prologue where the humans are making a last-ditch effort to preserve at least some humans from the genocidal Gbaba. The Gbaba, however, are found to have located all of the colony ships sent out by the humans up to that point, and the humans make one more attempt to relocate a colony to a new location, eventually dubbed "Safehold" by the leaders of the colonial expedition. Once they ar...more
Story:
Or, I should say, pre-story: Humans have spread to the stars. A human ship finds an alien world with evidence of advanced life, but that life had been destroyed. Most believe the advanced intelligent life was destroyed by another intelligent race (Gbaba).
Gbaba finds one of human’s far-flung colonies. Gbaba destroy colony. War erupts. Humans were about even technology wise with Gbaba, even though the Gbaba had been around for 1000s, if not millions of years longer than humans. But the Gbab...more
Or, I should say, pre-story: Humans have spread to the stars. A human ship finds an alien world with evidence of advanced life, but that life had been destroyed. Most believe the advanced intelligent life was destroyed by another intelligent race (Gbaba).
Gbaba finds one of human’s far-flung colonies. Gbaba destroy colony. War erupts. Humans were about even technology wise with Gbaba, even though the Gbaba had been around for 1000s, if not millions of years longer than humans. But the Gbab...more
Personally, I give it a "7".
First in the Safehold military science fiction series revolving around a god-like being and the path he prefers for what remains of mankind.
My Take
Oh, wow!! Damn it, it's a David Weber. I simply could not put it down once I got into it. Weber really knows how to create a cast of characters you cheer on and boo. For those of you who enjoy Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series or naval histories like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, you will pick this up no...more
First in the Safehold military science fiction series revolving around a god-like being and the path he prefers for what remains of mankind.
My Take
Oh, wow!! Damn it, it's a David Weber. I simply could not put it down once I got into it. Weber really knows how to create a cast of characters you cheer on and boo. For those of you who enjoy Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series or naval histories like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, you will pick this up no...more
There's a lot to like here for David Weber fans. It's a new series for one thing, and (aside from some brief introductory chapters) there's no space opera.
There's sea opera, instead.
There are classic Weber themes here -- multiple nations vying against each other, the advantages that technological advances give, massive battles, tragic and noble deaths, incompetent commanders leading to military disaster, the dangers of Ludditism, and the venality of churches that take on temporal power (vs. the...more
There's sea opera, instead.
There are classic Weber themes here -- multiple nations vying against each other, the advantages that technological advances give, massive battles, tragic and noble deaths, incompetent commanders leading to military disaster, the dangers of Ludditism, and the venality of churches that take on temporal power (vs. the...more
What a fantastic idea. Admittedly, it's pretty similar to a storyline in one of Weber's Dohak series, but this one was 3-d and in color compared to the other one. Short idea: earthmen spread to the stars, encounter a race called the Gbaba, and lose the fight. In order to survive, they send an ark (with 8 million people) to a planet they call Safehold, to hole up with a pre-industrial civilization for 300 years or so. But the project managers decide that the best way to make it work is to tell th...more
First in a series by the author of the "Honor Harrington" books.
Plot in a nutshell: Humanity, having been hunted nearly to extinction by an alien race that homes in on the electrical and radio emissions from their planets, risks all to send out one last colony. The colonists agree to have their minds wiped of even the memory of any tech dating from the industrial revolution or beyond - what you don't remember, you cannot be tempted to build. They do Not agree to be programmed to believe that th...more
Plot in a nutshell: Humanity, having been hunted nearly to extinction by an alien race that homes in on the electrical and radio emissions from their planets, risks all to send out one last colony. The colonists agree to have their minds wiped of even the memory of any tech dating from the industrial revolution or beyond - what you don't remember, you cannot be tempted to build. They do Not agree to be programmed to believe that th...more
I'm a fan of Weber's Honor Harrington books, and as I read the prologue to Armageddon, I settled in with a smile, anticipating some heart-pounding space battles in which clever strategy and human determination would eventually vanquish the foul Gbaba foe.
What I got was unexpected--a plot set dirt-side amidst a complex theocracy peopled by so many characters that I couldn't keep track of them. About a third of the way through, I realized that I was forcing myself to keep reading--something I've...more
What I got was unexpected--a plot set dirt-side amidst a complex theocracy peopled by so many characters that I couldn't keep track of them. About a third of the way through, I realized that I was forcing myself to keep reading--something I've...more
Humanity has reached the stars and there they meet a genocidal alien race who sets out to exterminate humanity. Humans are plucky...they put up a fight....but eventually realize they are going to lose. So a plan is hatched where a group of humans will escape in a last ditch effort to preserve the species.
The plan is to hide humanity until a way is found to defeat the Gbaba....but some of the leaders of the expedition decide to wipe humanity's memories, make themselves out to be gods and set up...more
The plan is to hide humanity until a way is found to defeat the Gbaba....but some of the leaders of the expedition decide to wipe humanity's memories, make themselves out to be gods and set up...more
It's exactly what I expected from Weber. He does what he does best, which is wide-scale political intrigue with a strong military background. The universe premise is SF, although the actual book is much more fantasy than anything else. Much like the Prince Roger series, a medieval civilization is greatly advanced by an outsider with vastly more technical knowledge. In fact, the whole naval emphasis gave me an eerie sense of deja-vu, as it parallels much of the March to the Stars "uplift".
As usua...more
As usua...more
Armageddon reef does not take you on the norm of rides though a single view. through the eyes multiple characters who interact with one another and others who live thousands of miles away from each other. Speculating each others moves and coordinating the moves that follow. Thus one get to absorb and grasp the world and the predicaments of the situation of all characters. The seriousness is convey with a stark outlook in the future that soon becomes a gamble, a chance as a main protagonist beco...more
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An epic but finally finished. Its a "Space Opera" of sorts in that it takes place in the future. Humanity has run into an implacable foe who gives no quarter and no explanation as it wipes one human settled planet/star system after another. In an desperate attempt to save at least a remnant of humanity two groups of survivors take desperate measures. One group acts as a decoy as the other escapes to a distant planet selected and prepared for a last ditch stand. The population is mentally program...more
It's not often that I find a new to me, well established author that I really, really enjoy in the sci-fi or fantasy space. The overall story is that an alien race has kicked humanity's ass in intergalactic war and in order to save the human race, a planet is settled and then given NO technology as to avoid the notice of the aliens. A rogue contingent of the leadership decides that a short interval without tech is not sufficient and hardwires the genetic memories of the settlers to erase all kno...more
I picked this book up because I found it as an ebook for $2.99 and I have enjoyed Weber's other books.
In this story an alien race that has destroyed other civilizations is doing the same to humanity and a desperate escape to a new system where they hope not to be found. The leaders of this escape plan the new colony to be devoid of technology to keep the aliens from ever becoming aware of them. This suppression of technology occurs via a church directed towards keeping science from ever being de...more
In this story an alien race that has destroyed other civilizations is doing the same to humanity and a desperate escape to a new system where they hope not to be found. The leaders of this escape plan the new colony to be devoid of technology to keep the aliens from ever becoming aware of them. This suppression of technology occurs via a church directed towards keeping science from ever being de...more
Love the idea, and it opens up a long series.
Humanity flees from an alien enemy and establishes a new home. The leaders
decide that the best way to stay off the radar is to not develop a high
tech society, and a low tech Theosophy is engineered. Centuries later one
of the original crew, a mind upload, wakes in a robot body with a mission
to raise society back to the heights it had know before humanity moved to
Safehold. Masquerading as a Sword Saint, the officer aids the most
advanced society on...more
Humanity flees from an alien enemy and establishes a new home. The leaders
decide that the best way to stay off the radar is to not develop a high
tech society, and a low tech Theosophy is engineered. Centuries later one
of the original crew, a mind upload, wakes in a robot body with a mission
to raise society back to the heights it had know before humanity moved to
Safehold. Masquerading as a Sword Saint, the officer aids the most
advanced society on...more
I loved this book. A great story, amazingly well researched, and entertaining as hell. The basic premise is this: after a war with genocidal aliens, humanity has a single unknown colony left. But this colony has been ruled for thousands of years by a church that has erased all memory of humanity's history in order to further its own rule. Only a single cybernetic "man" knows the full truth, and he alone has the knowledge and experience to drag humanity from a sail and horse powered civilization...more
A couple of minor complaints: there were at least three spelling errors ("then" for "than"), and why did they choose to call their week a "five-day" I can't understand. Consider the facts that year is still called a year, even though it's only ten months, and month is still called a month, even though they are all 30 days long unlike the Old Earth months. It's a bit distracting.
An interesting element in the book is that while the written language was preserved (because of the Holy Writ etc) the...more
An interesting element in the book is that while the written language was preserved (because of the Holy Writ etc) the...more
I LOVE the Safehold series. I love the mixing of the genres. It's what Asimov and Robert Jordan would have written had they merged their writing soulds. It's somewhat like Harry Turtledove.
This is a fantastic story that essentially tells the story of the corruption of the Catholic church and the inquisition through the lense of science fiction. Safehold is a world populated by humans who are the last descendants of a planet called Earth. Only all their technology is gone and they live by the swe...more
This is a fantastic story that essentially tells the story of the corruption of the Catholic church and the inquisition through the lense of science fiction. Safehold is a world populated by humans who are the last descendants of a planet called Earth. Only all their technology is gone and they live by the swe...more
I was steered onto this series by an amazon.com description of a Taylor Anderson book that somehow included an email exchange between Taylor Anderson and David Weber about naval artillery. So I decided, "if these two authors are exchanging emails about common book topics, and I love one author's series, then I'm going to love this." The premise is certainly very interesting and I'm certainly looking forward to reading other books in this series. However, I have several complaints. The sci-fi asp...more
I enjoyed the start to the "Safehold" series, though I did not know it was a start of a series when I started it or even the basic premise of the book. I was expecting more of a space opera since that's where it starts, but it's really the story of a new human civilization on planet Safehold. Humanity had been wiped out by an extremely xenophobic alien species, but this colony on Safehold was created as a last-ditch effort to save our existence. Since the aliens could detect radiation signatures...more
"Off Armageddon Reef" was the second David Weber novel I have listened to. The first was the first book in the Honor Harrington series. That book was good, but this book and the introduction to this series is amazing. It's a great mix of Science Fiction and Fantasy. I am the SciFi geek in the family, but I am dying for my wife to listen to the book. Being the Fantasy reader, I am wanting to hear her take on it. It mixes space battles with ancient sea battles and the rift of religion in the middl...more
I started this book expecting space opera similar to a Neal Asher or Alastair Reynolds. What I got was more akin to one of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin Age of Sail novels.
In the future mankind is utterly defeated in its first interstellar war with the Gbaba. In an effort to secure the continuation of the species, a group of ships with colonists are sent out to find a home for the remnants of humanity. A world, Safehold, is found, and a colony is started.
Hundreds of years after Safehold's...more
In the future mankind is utterly defeated in its first interstellar war with the Gbaba. In an effort to secure the continuation of the species, a group of ships with colonists are sent out to find a home for the remnants of humanity. A world, Safehold, is found, and a colony is started.
Hundreds of years after Safehold's...more
Thys bhuck ys seew ehnnoieng!!!
There is much to love about this book so far. I'm nearly halfway through it, and the world-building has been intriguing enough so far as to propell me forward.
But I'm afraid I'll have to shelve it for awhile. The ridiculous "have to use all my Scrabble tiles" method of character name spelling is too much of a barrier for my brain right now. I'm constantly having to dart back and forth during conversations to see who is speaking. In a story filled with intricate in...more
There is much to love about this book so far. I'm nearly halfway through it, and the world-building has been intriguing enough so far as to propell me forward.
But I'm afraid I'll have to shelve it for awhile. The ridiculous "have to use all my Scrabble tiles" method of character name spelling is too much of a barrier for my brain right now. I'm constantly having to dart back and forth during conversations to see who is speaking. In a story filled with intricate in...more
David Weber ... oh my. David Weber has a horrible, bad habit of going on and on and on and on and on and on and on -- and on and on some more -- in this book about things that could simply be edited and still leave the story intact. Quite aside from the fact that, reading about him going on and on and on about muzzle-loading cannons made me wonder where I'd read it before, and then I realized it was in the Honor Harrington series, about the multi-drive missiles. I read this book to the end but i...more
This book was recommended by my brother-in-law, and after the first few pages I was afraid he was possibly smoking crack. However, I kept going (I'm stubborn that way), and soon found myself quite enjoying the story.
The residents of Safehold are the last surviving earthlings - they were hidden away after the rest of humanity was destroyed by a technologically advanced alien race (I know, right?) and have lived in a world devoid of (and with religious proscriptions AGAINST) technology for over 8...more
The residents of Safehold are the last surviving earthlings - they were hidden away after the rest of humanity was destroyed by a technologically advanced alien race (I know, right?) and have lived in a world devoid of (and with religious proscriptions AGAINST) technology for over 8...more
c2007. 782 pages of the paperback version - and sadly it was an uphill battle. I loved the first couple of chapters and then the story, for me, became very confusing - not helped by the character names which I soon worked out were just differently spelt to the "old earth" names but my mind obviously couldn't cope with both complex names and complex plot. I will readily admit that this is probably more my fault than the poor author's. As an example, we have a King Haarahld VII, Ahrnahld, Cayleb e...more
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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 whose alliterated name...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 whose alliterated name...more
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Jan 15, 2012 02:50am