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A Mighty Fortress

(Safehold #4)

David Weber

4.12 · Rating details · 6,174 ratings · 208 reviews

Young Cayleb Ahrmahk has accomplished things few people could even dream of. Not yet even thirty years old, he's won the most crushing naval victories in human history. He's smashed a hostile alliance of no less than five princedoms and won the hand of the beautiful young Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm. Cayleb and Sharleyan have created the Charisian Empire, the greatest nava ...more

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Paperback, 1152 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by Tor Science Fiction (first published 2010)

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· 6,174 ratings · 208 reviews

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May 30, 2010 Group_Captain_Lionel_Mandrake rated it it was ok · review of another edition

A lot of talky-talk, very little plot. Talk about sound and fury signifying nothing! Geez, Weber get on with the story, already. Too many characters. How come every other word is spelled properly EXCEPT for characters names? Would it have been asking too much for Zhamsyn Clyntahn to be Jamison Clinton or Hauwered Wylsyn to be Howard Wilson? For Pete's sake it is hard enough to break through 800 some odd pages of this book to get to the other side, and to have to pay a bunch of money for it, but ...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Chris Perrin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I am of two minds on this book. Let's start with the good.

Let me say with no hesitation that had I never read any Honor Harrington books, I would be the Safehold series' biggest fan. It has action, politics, characters to cheer for, villians who are villians not because they are eeeevil, but because they have a different (though understandable) viewpoint.

So, if you haven't read Honor Harrington, stop readig this review right now and go buy the entire Safehold series.

Sadly, I have read pretty muc ...more

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Feb 20, 2010 Jeffrey rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: If your into the series only

Shelves: read-in-2010

Boring. Two little plot advancement, too little science, a lot of talking. Feels like the last few Weber books in the Honor Harrington series, and I do not mean that in a good way.

Weber devotes a lot of time to discussing the bad guys and their strategy. He also devotes a lot of time to the Prime Directive. In other words, how much do we tell the natives about the powerful Merlin in their midst. Lost in this 600 pages is the original story of how Merlin advances science.

Now the only seeming scie ...more

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Jan 03, 2014 Dan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, 2019

Another superb installment in this great series!

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May 21, 2012 Kathy Davie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, history, military, political

Fourth in the Safehold military science fiction series that blends high tech with early 19th century weapons. It's a war of David and Goliath proportions pitting the valiant Empire of Charis against the might and power of a corrupt Church.

My Take
It's all so reasonable with Green Valley thrilled to be blending his marines with the Chisholmian army — their soldiers have taken Green Valley's tactical ideas and absorbed and improved them. Cayleb is insisting that Chisholmians are treated exactly the ...more

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Sep 17, 2010 John rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy

I like a lot of what DW does, but the editing on this one is terrible. Corisande and Charis are not the same place, and there were several other places where names did not get cleaned up properly.

Also this series is getting bogged down in moving the fleets and the plot from place to place. The world would be just as enjoyable, or actually more enjoyable to read about if it were about half as large as it seems to be.

Some great ideas, but this story needs to speed up or end.

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Dec 03, 2010 Louis rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: nook-kindle-ebook, fict-sci-fi

In this book Weber continues the Safehold series where he is able to go back to the ship battles of old. The problem is that in this book he is dealing more with the description of the politics than in the action. Basically the balance is way off. Part of the problem is the increased number of people that are being tracked. In the past books in the series, he dealt with four of five players as they interacted with secondary ones (even if in some cases those secondaries were more important in the ...more

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Jul 27, 2010 Lindsay Stares rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This series seriously needs a “Last Time, On Safehold...” prologue. I'm not going to re-read, or even re-skim, one or more additional 600-plus page doorstops to reorient myself in preparation for reading this one. This is part four, incidentally, of what seems to now be shaping up to be Arthurian motifs plus Protestant Reformation plus Industrial Revolution plus Interminable Boring Warfare, In Space.

After the action pace of By Heresies Distressed, A Mighty Fortress felt like filler. Not much hap ...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Elizabeth Galewski rated it liked it · review of another edition

Why do I read these Safehold books?!?! Unlike the Honor Harrington series, in which Weber held me rapt with an increasingly complicated and humanized protagonist, these books feature a robot who doesn't evolve or grow. And I often get the sense that nothing much actually happens in a given volume of this series. Yet I still tend to queue the next one up when I'm done with the last. And at times, I even act as though I am addicted to them.

Perhaps I just like the violent battle scenes. These are u ...more

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Jun 02, 2010 Guy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-and-fantasy

Overlong given the paucity of plot advancement and character development, frankly the book could have used a rigorous edit. By this time in the series we know most of the major characters and the issues they are wrestling with well enough so as not to need additional detailed exposés of what they think and why they do and don't do things and what the implications of minor events are. Weber would be well-advised to concentrate on advancing the plot while providing detailed exposition only of the ...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Shannon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

BEWARE: I DON'T THINK I PUT IN SPOILERS, BUT SINCE I'M A BIT HAZY AS TO WHAT THEY ARE, I MIGHT BE WRONG!
This is the 4th book in the saga. So much to like about it, but some stuff that gets in the way of rapture. For an Honor Harrington fan, it does not disappoint. Whereas the Honorverse deals in political ideological themes attached to a kind of female Horatio Hornblower in space, the Safeholdian universe deals in another version of grand mariner saga, only this time, the ideological themes rel BEWARE: I DON'T THINK I PUT IN SPOILERS, BUT SINCE I'M A BIT HAZY AS TO WHAT THEY ARE, I MIGHT BE WRONG!
This is the 4th book in the saga. So much to like about it, but some stuff that gets in the way of rapture. For an Honor Harrington fan, it does not disappoint. Whereas the Honorverse deals in political ideological themes attached to a kind of female Horatio Hornblower in space, the Safeholdian universe deals in another version of grand mariner saga, only this time, the ideological themes relate to the power of religion in a secular world of kings.

While it would be easy to say the religious theme is simply about abuse of power and corruption in the church, and one kingdom's battle against that abusive power, things are much more complicated than that, as the religion was created at a time when humanity was being obliterated by aliens who hunted H. sapiens down, using our own technology to track us. The purpose of the religion was to suppress technology in a small colony of 'survivors' and their descendants, until the time for resurgence was right. Fortunately for the reader, there were disagreements between the survivors who planned this, and while the the factions were blowing themselves up, one person's personality is recorded, to come back hundreds of years later to live in an avatar body and to attempt to assist humanity on the road 'back', only to run up against the religion put in place to limit the slaughtering-alien attracting technology. A twist on the religion versus science trope with many battles between sailing ships on the high seas.

What I appreciate in these books, is that, while some of the church hierarchy is evil, many are not, and the struggle which I find myself in in my own life is mirrored by many of the series' 'men of god', who involve us in the consideration of themes such as, "if the leaders of my church are doing things I think are wrong, are they truly wrong, or is 'the evil one' supporting my hubris to doubt the leadership"? When Peter said to Christ, 'Dude, you don't have to die!, Christ responded, "get thee behind me, Satan!"

While the good and bad guys are pretty much two dimensional (that can be okay because) it's the non-major characters who provide depth to the story. What are you when you agree to work in law enforcement of your country,for the king who just kicked your butt and took over your country, killing your rightful, but oppressive king in the process? Are you a good guy, or a traitor?

Sounds like 5 stars, right? What I find irritating are (1) the names are supposed to be English plus 300 years. They're just irritating. Just give me Jasper Clinton; don't make me try to figure out what Zhaspar clyntahn is. My spelling teacher persona goes f-ing nuts on just about every name, and it detracts from the damn good story, (2) likewise, the people's titles are too similar...baron wave-thunder, baron green-mountain, baron scraggly rock....puhleeze, especially when each of these folks has one of those damnable surnames also attached! There are just too many characters in this story to keep straight without the english/spelling struggle, and the fact that everyone has a name, followed by a title 'baron thunder-mountain-not-to-be-confused-with-baron-thunder-pants" (3) this series is so long because there is an overabundance of techno-babble. I don't know what the developmental history of bullets or rockets is, and I still don't after many pages of discussion of their development in the stories is, either. The long passages about the sailing ("pull up the main, mizzen, poop mast,yardarm, admiral!") are good enough! (4) the maps don't cover all of the places referred to in the story, so I can't 'see' where I am, sometimes (I think Silkiah is that blank space next to dehlfarak?)

I still really like this series because of its deep, struggle questions, its good guys versus bad guys, its complex secondary characters, its great battles, and its intriguing politics. As I have for Honor Harrington, I'm buyin' hardback and building more shelving for this series. ...more

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Jan 18, 2016 Johnny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Although the title of this fourth book in the fabulous Armageddon’s Reef series doesn’t mean exactly what Martin Luther meant when he penned that poem/hymn in our world, A Mighty Fortress is an appropriate title for a work that brilliantly weaves science-fiction concepts and background into a world where a parallel Reformation (and in this volume, Counter-Reformation) is occurring. I sometimes read fiction for pure escape value, but this series both deepens my real faith and helps me reflect on Although the title of this fourth book in the fabulous Armageddon’s Reef series doesn’t mean exactly what Martin Luther meant when he penned that poem/hymn in our world, A Mighty Fortress is an appropriate title for a work that brilliantly weaves science-fiction concepts and background into a world where a parallel Reformation (and in this volume, Counter-Reformation) is occurring. I sometimes read fiction for pure escape value, but this series both deepens my real faith and helps me reflect on the human sacrifices (in addition to the divine sacrifice) that made my faith possible. You don’t need to be “Christian” to be fascinated by the technology tree in this series, the intricate conspiracies, the tragic deaths, and fascinating plot.

And, while the reader’s sympathy (or, at least, my sympathy certainly) is with the Empire of Charis (Greek for “grace”), there is an elephant outside the immediate plot (more appropriately a leviathan in outer space) that makes you wonder, on occasion, if perhaps the bad guys (the ecclesiastical reactionaries in this case) may have something of a point. Even though one hopes that Charis and its pro-technology, pro-freedom perspective will win, there is an overarching danger for which some of the founding fathers (dubbed “Archangels” in the book) had good intentions in instituting their archaic and repressive laws.

So, A Mighty Fortress deals with reform inside the original Holy Mother Church which, in this series so far, has been neither holy, nurturing, or following the mission of what a church should accomplish. Take all of the excesses which led to the Reformation in our world, triple the ingredients, vilify the antagonists to a Darth Vader level, and shake in a Martini mixer. the state of this colony, founded to protect humankind from an ultimate threat, but taking away what is authentically human with its rigid, legalistic structure. Fascinating!

But if the basis of this global war with limited (by proscription) technology isn’t fascinating to you, you will probably enjoy the strategic maneuvering and the way Weber deals with the problem of what happens after a disruptive technology has won decisive battles but the enemy starts to build up their version of that technology? How long does the advantage hold? And how does a smaller coalition of two kingdoms manage its larger conquests without completely digesting them or losing them with a costly rebellion? Does a self-proclaimed empire which conquered primarily as a buffer between themselves and a larger, wealthier coalition really want to hang onto its conquests? Can it afford to?

What would happen if that smaller empire was given a costly defeat, a costly Kadesh on the sea where both sides tried to “spin” the victory but the battle proved devastating to the ambitions of both sides? At what point does access to heretofore forbidden technology prove a liability and play into the hands of the nations which are loyal to the original church? Can an institution as corrupt as Weber portrays Holy Mother Church actually have a Counter-Reformation that can succeed? Only some of these questions are answered in A Mighty Fortress, but that just means there are wonderful and horrible events to occur in the future. I hope these events turn out beneficial to the people with whom I identify. Yet, like the infamous deaths of protagonists in The Game of Thrones series, there are no guarantees.

This series has become one of my absolute favorites.
...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Alistair rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: great-fiction, fantasy

This is the fourth book in what must turn out to be a never ending series of "Safehold" novels from Weber. The size and scope of the Safehold world and the increasing cast of charaters introduced by Weber, and the authors own sometimes cumbersome writing style (why use one word when you can use three) insurers that this book at over 700 pages does not move the overall plot along very much.

This is the problem, I am not sure at this point what the end game is in this series of books....is it the o ...more

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Aug 18, 2017 Jeremy Dambrose rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Reading this book was like watching a TV series where all your favorite characters decided to drop the show. You barely get to see the main characters, and honestly, what I saw of Merlin (my favorite character) seemed infuriatingly uncharacteristic. The rest was barely more than political discussion from secondary characters. The series started so strong! The second and third books kept getting progressively political, but the characters held my attention. Without that, I have little desire to c ...more

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May 23, 2015 Child960801 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

The series continues. Things happen. There is a conversation in this book between two named female characters and it isn't about a man. There might even be two in this book. ...more

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Sep 16, 2015 Roger rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Should have been the kind of story I enjoy....but after way too many chapters, the character development left no characters one could care about at all.

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Sep 17, 2020 Tim rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. HEY! This is Book #4 in this series! As such it may contain some spoilers, so I’d recommend reading this series from thebeginning, starting with “Earth is Dead,” before reading this review. Just sayin’.
I was given this book by a fellow SFF fan. It’s part of a ten-volume (so far) set, “The Safehold Series,” of which “A Mighty Fortress” is #4. So, a little background (and gratitude to Wikipedia for summaries of the previous books). By the 31st Century, humans have developed space travel and hav HEY! This is Book #4 in this series! As such it may contain some spoilers, so I’d recommend reading this series from thebeginning, starting with “Earth is Dead,” before reading this review. Just sayin’.
I was given this book by a fellow SFF fan. It’s part of a ten-volume (so far) set, “The Safehold Series,” of which “A Mighty Fortress” is #4. So, a little background (and gratitude to Wikipedia for summaries of the previous books). By the 31st Century, humans have developed space travel and have been forced to leave Earth because of imminent invasion by the “Gbaba,” who are looking to eliminate humanity and take and use up Earth’s resources. (sound like “Independence Day?”) The Gbaba are acutely aware of electronic and digital technology and would be able to find the escapees by following such technology, and have indeed done so for several colonized worlds. The remaining humans do escape, to Safehold, a planet similar to Earth in terms of compatibility with human life. The leader is Pei Shan-Wei. However, once there, the leaders of the expedition know it will be necessary to suppress technology in all its advanced forms to avoid detection by the Gbaba. The administrator, Eric Langhorne, leads the process of wiping out the memories of the colonists, planting instead the notion that they are all the first humans, with no knowledge of technology (termed the “Langhorne Lie”). He founds a religion, the Church of the Awaiting God, which reflects these values. Shan-Wei disagrees with this plan, and is executed, and in doing so she becomes a martyr to a revolutionary movement, which arose after a few centuries against the Church of the Awaiting God.
The revolutionary church is named the Church of Charis, after the island which is its seat. During the time of the revolution, some 900 years ago, a sentient android was made, a female named Nimue Allan. In the events of the current book, Nimue has an avatar, Merlin Athares, and yes, he’s a wizard with both magical and technological powers, designated male because in the male-dominated theocracy, women are not allowed to have influence. The current leaderof the Church of Charis, King Harrald, is assassinated, and his son, Cayleb, is now in open rebellion against the Church of the Awaiting God and its curia, the Group of Four, imbued with corruption and ruthless methods of getting what they want, sort of a version of the Spanish Inquisition (which NOBODY expects, but I digress…). These scenarios have, of course, set up both open battle between the churches and their followers, but also infighting within the sects, treachery, torture, massacres and other atrocities. Both sides have built fleets of wooden ships, essentially from Earth’s Age of Sail, with little or no technology. The proscriptions for ships allow for the use of “allowable technology” in the form of “wind, muscle and water.”
The events of “A Mighty Fortress” occur during the last part of the 9th Century after the landing on Safehold. After all this time, the leaders, especially of the Church of Charis navies, are concerned that their technology may be obsolete, and are working on techniques which will, for example, increase the efficiency of their cannons.
There are, of course, many more characters and relationships amongst them, as well as events, but this appears to be the basics. For me, most of this book is very “talky,” even amidst a lot of the power struggles. Indeed, all that talk goes on for what seems an interminable 200 pages (out of 1132) before the first naval battle, and then BAM! Fifty pages of suspenseful action, played out in short sections scattered among the ships in the opposing fleets. Mr. Weber certainly knows his naval terminology and communications, as well as the nature of ships and what even a random cannonball can do. The reader is exhausted by the end of it, I assure you. AND there’s another such battle close to the end of the book, just as exciting. You just gotta swim through innumerable pages of bureaucratic Jell-O to get there.
Which leads to another unanswered question: The Gbaba are not even mentioned in “A Mighty Fortress,” which indicates that there is no memory of them since Langhorne’s Lie. However, with some of the increased technology, especially in naval areas, I do wonder if the Gbaba might detect the spoor thereof and again become a threat.
Also, the maps (3) that are in the book were vague and at times confusing and certainly didn’t supplement and clarify the text, like I would suppose maps are supposed to do. The fellow who gave me this book also provided a larger, better map from the Internet, which helped. Nonetheless, I found myself going to Safehold Wiki numerous times for geographic details, which did help a lot. To be fair, I figure this might not have been such a problem had I started at the beginning.
So, four stars for “A Mighty Fortress.” I will likely return to this series, but will take my own advice and begin at the beginning. Indeed, the descriptions of the first two books appear to be closer to pure S-F than this one.
...more

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Dec 03, 2020 Alex rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy

I loved this book.

I loved the first and second books of this series, as well, but I found myself growing weary of its world during the third installment. After several months away, I was ready to dive back in, and I'm glad I did.

This is the part of the review where I usually offer a brief description of a given book's story or subject, but I'll skip that here. Suffice it to say that this is the fourth volume in a ten-volume science fiction adventure. If I've piqued your interest with my enthusia ...more

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Aug 06, 2015 Scott Holstad rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, david-weber

Oh.My.God. I can't believe I finally finished this near-1200 page monster of a book! It was brutal at times. I usually try to write complete or thorough reviews after reading a book, but I'm afraid I won't for this one. Just too damn long, too damn much. So, a short review for a long book.

This is the fourth book in Weber's Safehold series. It's not a standalone book. You need to start with the first one and read them in order to know what's going on and who's who. In this book, the Empire of Cha Oh.My.God. I can't believe I finally finished this near-1200 page monster of a book! It was brutal at times. I usually try to write complete or thorough reviews after reading a book, but I'm afraid I won't for this one. Just too damn long, too damn much. So, a short review for a long book.

This is the fourth book in Weber's Safehold series. It's not a standalone book. You need to start with the first one and read them in order to know what's going on and who's who. In this book, the Empire of Charis is still defending itself from the Church of God Awaiting, which intends to destroy Charis. Emperor Cayleb and Empress Sharleyan are splitting their time between Charis and Chisholm, although they spend most of this book in Chisholm. They also have their first child, a girl, so they have produced an heir to the throne.

The Church's Group of Four (vicars), led by Grand Inquisitor Clyntahn, who is a raging insane maniac, decides to build a navy to attack Charis, so they pay the various mainland kingdoms to start building ships and armaments, as well as training seamen, for the attack. When they do attack, they will vastly outnumber Charis's fleet and it could be brutal.

Speaking of the Charisian navy, it's always been the best in the world, but the Dohlarians now have a navy of their own and they go out looking for Charisian galleons. And they kick the Charisians' asses. Of course, it was a 38-4 ship advantage, so look at it however you want to, but it was the first time Charis has ever lost a naval battle and the mystique is tarnished.

Meanwhile, the conquered princedom of Corisonde is producing rebels. One rebel priest and his goons torture and murder a popular priest and Merlin, who we don't see much of in this book, gives the authorities his location so that they can arrest he and his cronies and execute them. Of course, this infuriates the Group of Four. Additionally, there's an uprising in the making in the northern section of the country, but it's put down too.

The book drags in many places. It has slow plotting. It plods. It gets boring at times, for instance, when Coris has to go to Zion in the winter. That section could have been pared down by about 20 pages at least. There's not much action. Until you get to the very end. The Church finally has its navy and is joined by Harchong's puny navy, sailing to meet the Dohlar navy. Of course, because of Merlin and his technology, the Charisians know about this and they send most of their fleet to guard Chisholm, which they think is the intended destination. They also worry about the navies joining, because when that happens, there will be over 300 ships against Charis's 97. Not good odds. High Admiral Bryahn Lock Island takes 25 Charisian galleons, some with new weapons, to attack the Church's navy. It will be 25 Charisian ships against 130 Church ships. Terrible odds. The only thing he thinks he can do is to attack at night in a storm with driving rain, when the Church won't be expecting an attack. And he does. And he obliterates the first 14 Church ships before sailing into the teeth of the Church navy, taking heavy fire and casualties. But he gets his ships in the midst of the Church's navy and the galleons with the new weapons fire and a Church ship literally explodes! Everything they hit is blown to hell. It's not much of a fight. Most Church ships surrender. Only nine get away. Ninety three are taken by Charis, which itself has only eight ships left. And they have 60,000 Church prisoners now. It's a huge Charisian victory. Again. And that's where the book ends. And I had to know what happened after that, so I immediately started reading the next one. Which is where I am now.

Still, problems exist with the book. The names are still freaking ridiculous! First, there are too many in this book to keep track of. There's an index of them in the back of the book and I think there are close to 500 characters named in this book. That's freaking cruel. There's no way we can keep track of them all. Also, they all have titles! They're Baron this, Earl that, Prince this, Vicar that, Duke this, Bishop that. It's too much. And to make matters even worse, Weber writes the names in old English spelled phonetically so that the names are virtually unpronounceable and appear to look stupid as hell and interrupt the flow of the sentence or paragraph since you have to stop and try to figure out who or what this person is. It's damned ridiculous! It's insulting. It's stupid. I'm used to it now, since I've read four of these, but I still hate it.

Additionally, Weber likes to use certain words and phrases over and over again, beating them into your head until you want to rip your eyes out. People are constantly "baring their teeth." As I wrote in my review for the last book, Weber -- no one bares their damn teeth, moron!!! Dogs bare their teeth. Wolves bare their teeth. People don't bare their teeth. And certainly not multiple people on the same damn page. It ticks me off. He also likes to write that people "snort." Constantly. It's cute the first three dozen times he writes it, but after seeing it 100 times, you want to kill any character who freaking snorts. What are they -- horses?

The book also moves at a glacial pace. I think it covers about 11 months, give or take. At this rate, publishing one book a year, maybe the series will be finished by the time I die??? It's driving me insane. As everyone says, he needs an editor. Maybe three. Cause apparently he has none. They need to speed him up and cut down on the word count.

Weber is a talented writer. I have to be honest though, these books drive me crazy. The whole time I read them, I ask myself why I'm putting myself through this torture. But like many others, I'm addicted. It's a good story and well told. Just slow as hell and from too many points of view. I want to know what happens next and what happens ultimately. I just don't want to have to read 25 1000 page books to do it. This is a five star book in terms of quality that deserves three stars because of all of its faults and problems, so I'm giving it four stars. Cautiously recommended for those reading the series. ...more

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May 06, 2018 Daniel rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

5 minutes later:
This feels like another leadup book instead of something with substance unto itself.

There was some politics, but its mostly just a few plots getting wrapped up so we can move forward.

There were a few rather satisfying moments. And moments where a few characters really shined. But there were equally frustrating moments, and more of them (especially those related to 'the circle' complaining how spoiled they are)
Basically I expected a lot more from a book over 1000 pages long.

Over ...more

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May 16, 2019 Joe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

These are my kind of book, tightly written, fast moving plots with frequent shifts in the action. They are also all around 285,000 words or around 700 to 800 pages! Weber's created world is interesting, and just like in his spectacularly engrossing Honorverse series, he makes the characters real to you. You begin to expect things or find things satisfying because of how they begin to become real people you'd want to know, or truly hate! There is FAR too much going on in each of these books for m ...more

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Mar 12, 2020 Sabrena Phillips rated it liked it · review of another edition

Less is more!

Don't get me wrong, I love David Weber and would normally give him 5 on anything he writes, however....these books, while the storyline is amazing and holds your attention, the books are at least twice as long as they need to be. I find myself being bored by some of the tedious details he inserts in every sea battle, every explanation of a new/old invention etc. The books would be so much better with a faster pace and truth to tell, I would pay the same price for 1/2 the book if the ...more

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Jan 20, 2020 James Edwards rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

I never thought I’d finish this book. That I did is a testament to its ability to encourage me to keep turning page after page. It was a long journey, not always exciting, not always moving the plot, but it did consistently hold my interest. The details of the world created by Weber here are remarkable. They sometimes get in the way of the storyline & definitely slow the pace of where you’re going, but these details are like little pieces of candy you can’t stop eating. Weber does his job well, ...more

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Mar 04, 2020 Brian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The fourth in the Safehold series moves the action away from Emperor Cayleb and Empress Sharleyan and focuses more on the efforts of the rest of the Imperial Navy's campaign against the Group of Four and the Church of God Awaiting.

The Charisians suffer their most devastating losses and yet continue to take the fight to the Group of Four regardless. The tide swings back and forth as the superior numbers of the Church navy are more than balanced by the technological advancements of the Charisians. ...more

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Sep 30, 2020 Timothy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

These books are well worth the work. If you like epic fantasy/science fiction doorstop novels that combine the best of both, look no further. Oh, did I mention the liberal dose of Patrick O'Brian thrown in? Massive sea battles with all the blood and violence those maritime wars were like is on full display.
One word of caution you have to start at book 1, Off Armageddon Reef, or you will be utterly lost. As I said, these books are work, but well worth it. I will add more to this review shortly.
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Aug 12, 2017 Robert Aldrich rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Good addition to series

This book was a monster in size, but I loved reading it. There is a lot of great things that take place--great as in for the story, because some of them are actually truly horrible.

I have really enjoyed reading this series. My biggest beef remains the names, and I sometimes get lost in who is who because of the strange twisting of the names, but I deal with it.

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Aug 07, 2018 Lee Belbin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Weber is a tad verbose for me, but many would say meticulous when it comes to character development and social interactions. There were a few places where I skipped the inevitables like what someone was wearing and tedious minor conversations that didn't relate to the main game. That said, it is a good read and buil obviously on the previous in the series. This one moved too slowly for me, but after a break, I'll continue on to see the inevitable win by the goodies. ...more

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Jul 31, 2019 Jules Bertaut rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: spaceships-and-lasers, the-future-is-not-spaceships, future

This one had more fighting and less speeching than the last one in this series, which is good.

One thing I like about this series is the good guys have given up torture because it's Wrong. Some of the bad guys scorn them for that, because it makes them "weak" but those guys are also mostly kinda cartoonishly awful and this is just another way they're awful. I appreciate a strong anti-torture stance. ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Peter rated it liked it · review of another edition

An even longer book this time and even less happens. But somehow David Weber manages to keep my attention. It feels like I've been up and down the rigging so many times I have calluses on my hands and salt up my nose. However I think I'm running out of steam a little, spoiler alert, I think they're just about to discover steam so I imagine there will be an ironclad on the horizon soon. If you like wooden ships being blown to pieces by cannon fire this may be the series for you. ...more

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Jun 23, 2017 Tm Buffalo rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Oh vey this one was not very good at all sad but it seemed like very little plot development lots of talking and thinking this series seems bogged down or stretched out not sure if I will read any farther too many names and folks to keep track of sad really I wanted to like it but had to force myself to skim and plow thru to the end.

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About David Weber

David Weber

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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