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 never had to do with a Weber book before.

Though I enjoyed the premise and those characters that I could keep straight, I gave up when I realized that this wasn't the sort of military SF that I'd anticipated. I wouldn't characterize this book as fantasy, but it isn't really SF either. It's a genre-bending mix of alternate reality world-building. Let me be clear that although I was disappointed this wasn't the beginning of a new military SF series (is it?), it was the slow pacing and the rapid introduction of way too many characters that caused me to put this book down. I have to agree with other readers that some heavier editing would have been helpful, though I also understand that authors need to pack a lot into the first book of a new series.

I'm glad that I still have a bunch of Harrington books to read. I'll have to wait and see whether I dive back into the Safehold series.