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Safehold #1
Off Armageddon Reef
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 measures: with mind control and hidden high technology, they've built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever.
800 years pass. In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. This "rebirth" was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion. Via automated recordings, "Nimue" - or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban - is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking the technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent.
Nothing about this will be easy. To better deal with a medieval society, "Nimue" takes a new gender and a new name, "Merlin." His formidable powers and access to caches of hidden high technology will need to be carefully concealed. And he'll need to find a base of operations, a Safeholdian country that's just a little more freewheeling, a little less orthodox, a little more open to the new.
And thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new era of invention. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Church...and, inevitably, lead to war.
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 measures: with mind control and hidden high technology, they've built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever.
800 years pass. In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. This "rebirth" was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion. Via automated recordings, "Nimue" - or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban - is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking the technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent.
Nothing about this will be easy. To better deal with a medieval society, "Nimue" takes a new gender and a new name, "Merlin." His formidable powers and access to caches of hidden high technology will need to be carefully concealed. And he'll need to find a base of operations, a Safeholdian country that's just a little more freewheeling, a little less orthodox, a little more open to the new.
And thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new era of invention. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Church...and, inevitably, lead to war.
605 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
David Weber
356 books4,415 followersDavid 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 is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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 is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 755 reviews
June 8, 2015
For imagination and scope of vision this must have high praise.
For an entertaining and thought provoking blend of science fiction and fantasy, this also gets high praise.
But ...
It is very long, tends towards space opera melodrama and somewhat collapses under its own weight. It was also formulaic and predictable, though in fairness to Weber, he fills in the predictable gaps with great attention to detail. Some of the dialogue was flat, but most of the narrative was OK to read.
Just … too much, kind of like the feeling you have after eating at an all you can eat discount buffet.
For an entertaining and thought provoking blend of science fiction and fantasy, this also gets high praise.
But ...
It is very long, tends towards space opera melodrama and somewhat collapses under its own weight. It was also formulaic and predictable, though in fairness to Weber, he fills in the predictable gaps with great attention to detail. Some of the dialogue was flat, but most of the narrative was OK to read.
Just … too much, kind of like the feeling you have after eating at an all you can eat discount buffet.
November 5, 2011
Great premise, but mostly unreadable. I guess the editor thought so, too, because I lost count of the typos, repeated words, and grammatical mistakes. Name spellings were a silly distraction throughout the entire book.
Even without the cosmetic errors, however, this book is a slog. The pacing is uneven, and ironically slows to a crawl whenever "intrigue"—I use the word advisedly—is afoot, as the characters discuss every nuance of every potential course of action. There's really not much for the reader to do except let all this didactic dialogue wash over him, because for all the political maneuvering and extraneous characters, the story is utterly predictable.
Weber stops explaining every little thing only after the story turns into the naval epic it always wanted to be (yeah, that happened). Suddenly, the reader must be an expert on 18th-century sailing terms, since there's no time now for even the briefest explanation. At least there's a return to action, however, and stuff actually happens.
If you must, read the first 200 pages and the last 100. The 500 in the middle add nothing.
Even without the cosmetic errors, however, this book is a slog. The pacing is uneven, and ironically slows to a crawl whenever "intrigue"—I use the word advisedly—is afoot, as the characters discuss every nuance of every potential course of action. There's really not much for the reader to do except let all this didactic dialogue wash over him, because for all the political maneuvering and extraneous characters, the story is utterly predictable.
Weber stops explaining every little thing only after the story turns into the naval epic it always wanted to be (yeah, that happened). Suddenly, the reader must be an expert on 18th-century sailing terms, since there's no time now for even the briefest explanation. At least there's a return to action, however, and stuff actually happens.
If you must, read the first 200 pages and the last 100. The 500 in the middle add nothing.
January 13, 2018
Swashbuckling read that dragged on a bit at times.
Don't get me wrong. I liked it, but could have trimmed a bit or maybe I'm just a whiner because it spent more time on the conflict of secular and spiritual forces and less on boats. More boats!
This basically reinterprets the Age of Sail and how innovation drives economy, growth and change. Not everyone likes change, but it is a result of innovation. New ideas, new solutions cause one to question fundamental principles. Either one embraces it or not, and the ensuing battle goes from metaphorical to physical faster than you think.
At the end of the day, a civilization either moves with the tide or gets drowned by it. Stagnation is death, just slow. I guess the blatant manipulation in this book is amusing/ironic/slightly terrifying when you think of present day consequences, but in establishing the world, Webber cribbed it straight out of history-- 15th and 16th century. If you don't know it, then it's probably necessary, but if you have a grasp of it then you spend your time saying, "Come on, come on--Let's go!"
Then there's the tedious repetitions as multi-players are pulled into a scheme and we have to hear how each one reacts to the same event and I think it could have been tightened. Second thing that really made me roll my eyes, not aggravate, more quirked brow, was the spellings of names. I love sci-fi fantasy; I get it. I'm all for weird. But taking essentially the same names and just replacing all or the majority of vowels with "Y"s was... lame.
On the other hand, love the references to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal. Yeah, I read that Hannibal book last year so this passing/throwaway nod was nice. There's a bunch, some dorkier than others, but fun.
If you've read enough reviews of mine then you've probably noticed a slight fixation on boats, sailing, islands, etc. and this was a big draw for the book. And I was NOT disappointed. Innovations in boat design as well as a good eye for naval military maneuvers were stellar. Seriously, the naval warfare and all the intensity and horrific consequences, the best two hundred pages of the book. As much as this dragged on, I'll give the sequel a go, because Duh... BOATS and I like the main characters.
To sum up in LA Style: this is Henry VIII meets Pern on a bed of Borg and Lucifer.
Don't get me wrong. I liked it, but could have trimmed a bit or maybe I'm just a whiner because it spent more time on the conflict of secular and spiritual forces and less on boats. More boats!
This basically reinterprets the Age of Sail and how innovation drives economy, growth and change. Not everyone likes change, but it is a result of innovation. New ideas, new solutions cause one to question fundamental principles. Either one embraces it or not, and the ensuing battle goes from metaphorical to physical faster than you think.
At the end of the day, a civilization either moves with the tide or gets drowned by it. Stagnation is death, just slow. I guess the blatant manipulation in this book is amusing/ironic/slightly terrifying when you think of present day consequences, but in establishing the world, Webber cribbed it straight out of history-- 15th and 16th century. If you don't know it, then it's probably necessary, but if you have a grasp of it then you spend your time saying, "Come on, come on--Let's go!"
Then there's the tedious repetitions as multi-players are pulled into a scheme and we have to hear how each one reacts to the same event and I think it could have been tightened. Second thing that really made me roll my eyes, not aggravate, more quirked brow, was the spellings of names. I love sci-fi fantasy; I get it. I'm all for weird. But taking essentially the same names and just replacing all or the majority of vowels with "Y"s was... lame.
On the other hand, love the references to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal. Yeah, I read that Hannibal book last year so this passing/throwaway nod was nice. There's a bunch, some dorkier than others, but fun.
If you've read enough reviews of mine then you've probably noticed a slight fixation on boats, sailing, islands, etc. and this was a big draw for the book. And I was NOT disappointed. Innovations in boat design as well as a good eye for naval military maneuvers were stellar. Seriously, the naval warfare and all the intensity and horrific consequences, the best two hundred pages of the book. As much as this dragged on, I'll give the sequel a go, because Duh... BOATS and I like the main characters.
To sum up in LA Style: this is Henry VIII meets Pern on a bed of Borg and Lucifer.
October 9, 2014
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 church politics and lackluster espionage side stories. Granted they are integral to the story, but it's just far too damn long.
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 church politics and lackluster espionage side stories. Granted they are integral to the story, but it's just far too damn long.
February 9, 2012
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 it was exhausting and unrewarding, and what I dislike about that is that Weber is a good writer who evidently has lost control of his pen. He needs a good editor to keep him in line, and it doesn't appear that he's getting one.
September 18, 2024
I have something of a love/hate relationship with Weber's work; he usually starts with a good premise and story that gets me hooked, but all too often drags the story along with endless details, characters, infodumps, etc., to the point I think he loses the plot. That stated, I did like the first installment of this long series (Safehold) and will proceed to the next, but I fear the story will become bogged down as usual pretty quickly.
Off Armageddon Reef starts with a bang, as humanity encounters a ruthless alien race fairly early in their space colonization. The Gbaba never communicate, but just keep sending in warships until the colonies become dust and bereft of humanity. In a last ditch effort to save the human race, 8 million or so humans are covertly transported to Safehold, a distant planet far from human (and hopefully Gbaba) space. After an exciting 50 pages or so chronicling this, Weber gets down to business building the Safehold world and the story there.
The leaders of the rump human enclave, e.g., the military commanders of the the exodus, planned Safehold from scratch. Worried that evidence of energy emissions may attract the Gbaba, they carefully planned out a new society, one largely based upon 10th century European feudalism (for Weber fans, no surprise there!) complete with a pseudo Roman Catholic Church to maintain tradition. Further, they 'mind-wiped' the colonists, informing them that they were basically the chosen by the gods and Safehold a haven, if not heaven itself. The Church, via its Canon Law, proscribed innovation and any movement toward the scientific method. Things went fairly swimmingly until the actual story starts.
A small group of the original crew did not like the the extreme proscriptions via the church on Safehold and managed to smuggle some hi-tech stuff to the planet. In that 'stuff' resided a robot, a 'PICA', implanted with the memories of an officer in the Humanity's navy. The robot 'awakened' roughly 900 years after the colony became established and became quickly apprised of the situation. After half a year or so of studying the planet via tiny spybugs and such, she had the robot reconfigure itself as a male (patriarchal society don't you know) and headed out to the one kingdom that seems fairly progressive-- Charis. Weber models Charis basically as England circa 1600 or so; a navel power, largely due to its extensive merchant marine, and as distant as possible from 'Rome' (e.g., Zion). The population of Charis have a reputation as innovators, albeit along strictly proscribed lines, but still.
The Church of God Awaiting long before the story starts oozed corruption, very much like the Roman Catholic church prior to the Reformation. In fact, if you know any history of the era, Weber models the Church along the exact same lines; he even has the Church selling indulgences! The leaders of the Church, very rich due to bribes and skimming tributes to live lavishly, have a problem with Charis. Oh, they pay their taxes nicely, but perhaps they are becoming a bit too powerful and wealthy. In any case, they devise a pretext to essentially wipe Charis out. The king of Charis and his young son already feel the pinch, and the Church actively plotting against them puts them between a wall and a hard place. 'Luckily', they have the cybernetic avatar, Merlin Athrawes, who befriended the Prince and King in Charis, and 'he' possesses some tech that just may give them the edge they need to survive. If only they could find their own Martin Luther! Oh, it seems they may have just their man, the Bishop of the kingdom who seems to think the relationship between the gods and one's soul need not be mediated by the Church to obtain salvation, especially given the corrupt nature of the Church!
As you might expect given Weber, the bulk of the book contains many characters engaged in all kinds of feudal intrigue. While the beginning and ending contain some exciting navel battles (first in space, then on the actual sea), most of this revolves around politics and Merlin hinting about innovations that just skirt the edge of the proscriptions enforced by the church. Fun, albeit a pretty rough and ready 'borrowing' of European history, but man, can Weber drag out the politics. 3.5 feudal stars, rounding down for excess verbiage.
Off Armageddon Reef starts with a bang, as humanity encounters a ruthless alien race fairly early in their space colonization. The Gbaba never communicate, but just keep sending in warships until the colonies become dust and bereft of humanity. In a last ditch effort to save the human race, 8 million or so humans are covertly transported to Safehold, a distant planet far from human (and hopefully Gbaba) space. After an exciting 50 pages or so chronicling this, Weber gets down to business building the Safehold world and the story there.
The leaders of the rump human enclave, e.g., the military commanders of the the exodus, planned Safehold from scratch. Worried that evidence of energy emissions may attract the Gbaba, they carefully planned out a new society, one largely based upon 10th century European feudalism (for Weber fans, no surprise there!) complete with a pseudo Roman Catholic Church to maintain tradition. Further, they 'mind-wiped' the colonists, informing them that they were basically the chosen by the gods and Safehold a haven, if not heaven itself. The Church, via its Canon Law, proscribed innovation and any movement toward the scientific method. Things went fairly swimmingly until the actual story starts.
A small group of the original crew did not like the the extreme proscriptions via the church on Safehold and managed to smuggle some hi-tech stuff to the planet. In that 'stuff' resided a robot, a 'PICA', implanted with the memories of an officer in the Humanity's navy. The robot 'awakened' roughly 900 years after the colony became established and became quickly apprised of the situation. After half a year or so of studying the planet via tiny spybugs and such, she had the robot reconfigure itself as a male (patriarchal society don't you know) and headed out to the one kingdom that seems fairly progressive-- Charis. Weber models Charis basically as England circa 1600 or so; a navel power, largely due to its extensive merchant marine, and as distant as possible from 'Rome' (e.g., Zion). The population of Charis have a reputation as innovators, albeit along strictly proscribed lines, but still.
The Church of God Awaiting long before the story starts oozed corruption, very much like the Roman Catholic church prior to the Reformation. In fact, if you know any history of the era, Weber models the Church along the exact same lines; he even has the Church selling indulgences! The leaders of the Church, very rich due to bribes and skimming tributes to live lavishly, have a problem with Charis. Oh, they pay their taxes nicely, but perhaps they are becoming a bit too powerful and wealthy. In any case, they devise a pretext to essentially wipe Charis out. The king of Charis and his young son already feel the pinch, and the Church actively plotting against them puts them between a wall and a hard place. 'Luckily', they have the cybernetic avatar, Merlin Athrawes, who befriended the Prince and King in Charis, and 'he' possesses some tech that just may give them the edge they need to survive. If only they could find their own Martin Luther! Oh, it seems they may have just their man, the Bishop of the kingdom who seems to think the relationship between the gods and one's soul need not be mediated by the Church to obtain salvation, especially given the corrupt nature of the Church!
As you might expect given Weber, the bulk of the book contains many characters engaged in all kinds of feudal intrigue. While the beginning and ending contain some exciting navel battles (first in space, then on the actual sea), most of this revolves around politics and Merlin hinting about innovations that just skirt the edge of the proscriptions enforced by the church. Fun, albeit a pretty rough and ready 'borrowing' of European history, but man, can Weber drag out the politics. 3.5 feudal stars, rounding down for excess verbiage.
December 3, 2009
The prologue portion of "Off Armageddon Reef" is a fascinating, compelling and interesting set-up for what could have been a great book.
Humanity is facing extermination at the hands of a ruthless enemy. The last remnants of a fleet are making a last stand in space in an attempt to hide a colony effort that will remove technology from humanity and, hopefully, render the colony off the aliens' radar.
The plan succeeds with some fancy tricks, but then it's revealed there are schisms within the human fleet on how take our technology level back in time and make sure we stay there.
It's at this point the novel takes a left turn for the next 500 or so pages, looking at the colony world. The story goes from epic sci-fi to a fantasy novel with a few elements and questions about the nature of belief and religion thrown in for good measure.
The problem is that in the tonal shift, the narrative slows down to the point that watching paint dry would be faster. Weber seems to be in a need of a good edit or two to trim out some of the fat of this novel (which I hear this series could go as far as eight books...) and maybe the series as a whole. There are some naval battles that you can tell Weber is having a good time writing, but the book as a whole ends with a sigh rather than on a rousing note.
Humanity is facing extermination at the hands of a ruthless enemy. The last remnants of a fleet are making a last stand in space in an attempt to hide a colony effort that will remove technology from humanity and, hopefully, render the colony off the aliens' radar.
The plan succeeds with some fancy tricks, but then it's revealed there are schisms within the human fleet on how take our technology level back in time and make sure we stay there.
It's at this point the novel takes a left turn for the next 500 or so pages, looking at the colony world. The story goes from epic sci-fi to a fantasy novel with a few elements and questions about the nature of belief and religion thrown in for good measure.
The problem is that in the tonal shift, the narrative slows down to the point that watching paint dry would be faster. Weber seems to be in a need of a good edit or two to trim out some of the fat of this novel (which I hear this series could go as far as eight books...) and maybe the series as a whole. There are some naval battles that you can tell Weber is having a good time writing, but the book as a whole ends with a sigh rather than on a rousing note.
January 3, 2018
Think of this as Commander Data at Trafalgar. 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, following the exploits of a super-strong, super-fast, almost indestructible being augmented by global spy devices gets boring.
Typical Honor Harrington-style plot and action otherwise.
A good read, but . . . .
Typical Honor Harrington-style plot and action otherwise.
A good read, but . . . .
August 29, 2022
This series is awesome, it pits the virtues of grace and innovation against the dogmatic suppression of freedom.
The strength of character possessed by the book's characters is manifest in their struggle against the evil machinations of the corrupt leadership of a world spanning perverted "church".
Overcoming a "religion" attempting to keep their whole world locked in servitude and breaking it's limitation of the human spirit.
The strength of character possessed by the book's characters is manifest in their struggle against the evil machinations of the corrupt leadership of a world spanning perverted "church".
Overcoming a "religion" attempting to keep their whole world locked in servitude and breaking it's limitation of the human spirit.
June 10, 2024
Oh look, another male author who wrote an epic (fantasy, sci-fi, etc.) sausage-fest.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I did enjoy the story. The characters were a bit....thin. They all spoke exactly the same way with the exact cadence, word choice, and inflection. Even so, I didn't have any issue differentiating between the many, many, many different men. It's a bit of a slog to get through and there are many excessive info dumps. It truly could've gone through a couple more editing passes, and it definitely could've been much shorter and still told a great story.
However, I did enjoy it and will continue with the series. It looks like the next book with have a female character and the world is quite interesting.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I did enjoy the story. The characters were a bit....thin. They all spoke exactly the same way with the exact cadence, word choice, and inflection. Even so, I didn't have any issue differentiating between the many, many, many different men. It's a bit of a slog to get through and there are many excessive info dumps. It truly could've gone through a couple more editing passes, and it definitely could've been much shorter and still told a great story.
However, I did enjoy it and will continue with the series. It looks like the next book with have a female character and the world is quite interesting.
October 23, 2014
Excellent world with a wonderful problem & plenty of sea action. Well set up for a more books & I really had high hopes for it, but I was disappointed. Weber's tendency for data dumps was evident, but even worse, he seemed to think his readers were idiots. It was nice to see an issue from both sides, but not every time & in so much detail. Often, even the same character would recap their thinking & plans, often in gory detail. Once was plenty, twice was boring, but the third time around was insulting & he was often insulting.
Still, the basics were all very good. If I could have skimmed this in a book, it would have been a lot better. As an audio book, it was almost painful at times.
Still, the basics were all very good. If I could have skimmed this in a book, it would have been a lot better. As an audio book, it was almost painful at times.
June 14, 2010
This book has gotten very good reviews from people well-versed in the field of science fiction. I'm getting back into science fiction after having been gone for a decade or so, and I forgot something very important about the field: Sometimes SF fans will rave over a book for the quality of its ideas, even if the writing isn't very good. I think that's the case here. The premise of this book (an uber-religious lifeboat population of human established on a planet far, far away to protect it from humanity's tech-savvy destroyers) is absolutely fascinating. However, in execution, this book fell short.
First of all, the protagonist is the sort of beautiful, wise, funny, self-sacrificing character that gets old very fast if s/he isn't Lymond. Of course, Weber has an explanation for this and he almost pulls it off, but every now and then Nimue/Merlin (and I'm sorry, but those name choices really irritated the heck out of me) slips from being interesting to being grating and annoying.
Second, the world-building was very interesting but extremely confusing, and not very complete. Much was left out that I would have been interested to learn, if Weber was going that direction. I would argue, though, that we didn't need nearly that degree of exposition and that the story would have played better without it.
Thirdly, there were just WAY too many characters and rulers for me to keep straight. Again, I know this is a trait of the sub-genre and I used to love it, but anymore I just feel like the author should have done a better job drawing fewer characters.
Finally, the whole thing is too long! Now, I don't want you to think I'm a wuss about long books. Actually, I love them. The fatter the book and the longer the series, the better. As long as there's enough story to support it, which I felt like there wasn't here. It took an awesome work of will for me to finish this book (I did want to know how this was all going to end up) only to figure out that it was the first in the series. I sincerely doubt I will be reading the rest.
First of all, the protagonist is the sort of beautiful, wise, funny, self-sacrificing character that gets old very fast if s/he isn't Lymond. Of course, Weber has an explanation for this and he almost pulls it off, but every now and then Nimue/Merlin (and I'm sorry, but those name choices really irritated the heck out of me) slips from being interesting to being grating and annoying.
Second, the world-building was very interesting but extremely confusing, and not very complete. Much was left out that I would have been interested to learn, if Weber was going that direction. I would argue, though, that we didn't need nearly that degree of exposition and that the story would have played better without it.
Thirdly, there were just WAY too many characters and rulers for me to keep straight. Again, I know this is a trait of the sub-genre and I used to love it, but anymore I just feel like the author should have done a better job drawing fewer characters.
Finally, the whole thing is too long! Now, I don't want you to think I'm a wuss about long books. Actually, I love them. The fatter the book and the longer the series, the better. As long as there's enough story to support it, which I felt like there wasn't here. It took an awesome work of will for me to finish this book (I did want to know how this was all going to end up) only to figure out that it was the first in the series. I sincerely doubt I will be reading the rest.
April 24, 2020
Mini-Review:
4 Stars for Audiobook, 3.5 Stars for Story
4 Stars for Great Narration by Oliver Wyman
4 Stars for Characters (Fun Mix)
3 Stars for Foundation Background/Religion/Current Society
3 Stars for Chunky Progression
3.5 Stars for Battles
The book was written in 2007 but the phrasing definitely feels like an older piece that could have come from the 80's. I had to double check the published date because I could have sworn it was before 2000.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. It felt like one of those old epic fantasy tales with daring heroes. The setting and characters are drawn in clean lines of good and bad. There's no guessing on who is on what side. The broad outlines of the plot are simple but the details that make them come to life were varied and layered. The characters were the strong point for sure.
I wanted more depth to the plot/characters/etc but realized that this isn't that kind of story. It's more of a what if game with a handful of conditions. All of the elements have been configured and tossed into the ring. I can sit back, enjoy the ride and see how it collides. I'm okay with that.
Sometimes, I read the book blurb to re-check names/etc while I write the review. I'm glad I didn't read it before reading the story because it basically summarizes the whole plot for Off Armageddon Reef. LOL
4 Stars for Audiobook, 3.5 Stars for Story
4 Stars for Great Narration by Oliver Wyman
4 Stars for Characters (Fun Mix)
3 Stars for Foundation Background/Religion/Current Society
3 Stars for Chunky Progression
3.5 Stars for Battles
The book was written in 2007 but the phrasing definitely feels like an older piece that could have come from the 80's. I had to double check the published date because I could have sworn it was before 2000.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. It felt like one of those old epic fantasy tales with daring heroes. The setting and characters are drawn in clean lines of good and bad. There's no guessing on who is on what side. The broad outlines of the plot are simple but the details that make them come to life were varied and layered. The characters were the strong point for sure.
I wanted more depth to the plot/characters/etc but realized that this isn't that kind of story. It's more of a what if game with a handful of conditions. All of the elements have been configured and tossed into the ring. I can sit back, enjoy the ride and see how it collides. I'm okay with that.
Sometimes, I read the book blurb to re-check names/etc while I write the review. I'm glad I didn't read it before reading the story because it basically summarizes the whole plot for Off Armageddon Reef. LOL
March 17, 2024
Not a bad book at all. It just didn't live up to how great I thought the premise and the first third was for me. It turned in a direction away from sci fi elements and into detailed and protracted 18th century naval warfare and religious conflict. I'm not really interested in that so I don't think I'll be continuing sadly.
October 17, 2013
The last 100 pages were unbelievable. Book was a bit long, though.
-------------------------------
http://abitterdraft.com/2013/10/off-a...
Picture this: an incredibly powerful race of aliens known as the Gdaba halted the human exploration in space and all but wiped humanity out. The remainder of the human fleet splits up – one half cloaks and stops moving, the other continues flying to draw the Gdaba away. The half of the fleet that cloaked and escaped colonized an Earth-like planet called Safehold.
Here’s the catch – the Gdaba can detect any technology of the industrial level or higher. Humanity is forced to revert to a medieval society, where Safeholdians know nothing of their space-faring past and all believe in one religion run by a very strict church. Nimue Alban’s mind awakes in the body of an android and she is given the task of helping Safehold break away from its medieval prison, despite the teachings of the oppressive church, and eventually take on the Gdaba. Since Safehold is a medieval society, Nimue’s android body is made male, and she takes on the pseudonym Merlin Athrawes. Merlin ventures to the Kingdom of Charis, an island much like Old Earth’s England, to kickstart this scientific revolution.
I’ve never read Weber’s Honor Harrington series, but I’ve heard nothing but praise for the man’s talent. The premise for Safehold seemed awesome, and with Weber’s credentials I couldn’t imagine being disappointed.
I noticed a few things right off the bat that I found questionable, the first being the unconventional names. I’m all for having fantasy-like names such as Tisamon or Bayaz as opposed to modern names like Jim or Tom. Weber decided utilize the fact that humanity had to restart in picking names, so we’re left with ones like Haarahld instead of Harold and Bynzhamin rather than Benjamin. The idea makes sense and it’s kind of cool when you think of how names evolved, but on paper and with a cast as large as Safehold‘s, it’s a bit of a struggle to remember them (though this is a nonfactor with the audiobook). They’re definitely something you get used to the more you read, and you have plenty of time to get used to them with 800 pages in the paperback, which leads me to my next point.
The Honor Harrington books were rather average in length, floating between 350 and 450 pages for the most part. Safehold books are more or less all upwards of 700 with some even pushing close to 1,000 pages. In most reviews of the series you’ll find that people comment on Weber’s infodumps. While trudging through Off Armageddon Reef‘s 800 pages, the infodumps are readily apparent, and they really mess with the pacing. Occasional bits of information are nice, especially where background is needed. It seemed like Weber was almost flaunting, though flaunting is too harsh a word, his being a font of knowledge, for dozens and dozens of pages at a time. The book could have been slimmed by several hundreds of pages and been truly outstanding.
I bet an eyebrow or two were raised at the mention of Nimue taking the form of a man to make acquiring a position of influence easier, especially with Weber’s ability to write strong female characters. While Merlin is a man, Nimue’s female mind is definitely still inside the android. She doesn’t just magically lose her attraction to men, which leads to some hilariously awkward situations. Like I said, the cast of characters is huge, full of bastards like Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald and people you ‘t help but love like King Haarahld and Prince Cayleb of Charis.
Weber’s infodumps are sometimes very useful and necessary, but often extremely slow the pace of the tome that is Off Armageddon Reef. The final 150 or so pages made everything worthwhile, though, as they include some of the most outstanding depictions of naval combat I have ever read. Off Armageddon Reef, while overlong, was definitely worth the read, and while I’d like nothing more than to avoid getting caught up in a series that may very well exceed ten books of over 800 pages each, I will definitely be attempting to catch up.
-------------------------------
http://abitterdraft.com/2013/10/off-a...
Picture this: an incredibly powerful race of aliens known as the Gdaba halted the human exploration in space and all but wiped humanity out. The remainder of the human fleet splits up – one half cloaks and stops moving, the other continues flying to draw the Gdaba away. The half of the fleet that cloaked and escaped colonized an Earth-like planet called Safehold.
Here’s the catch – the Gdaba can detect any technology of the industrial level or higher. Humanity is forced to revert to a medieval society, where Safeholdians know nothing of their space-faring past and all believe in one religion run by a very strict church. Nimue Alban’s mind awakes in the body of an android and she is given the task of helping Safehold break away from its medieval prison, despite the teachings of the oppressive church, and eventually take on the Gdaba. Since Safehold is a medieval society, Nimue’s android body is made male, and she takes on the pseudonym Merlin Athrawes. Merlin ventures to the Kingdom of Charis, an island much like Old Earth’s England, to kickstart this scientific revolution.
I’ve never read Weber’s Honor Harrington series, but I’ve heard nothing but praise for the man’s talent. The premise for Safehold seemed awesome, and with Weber’s credentials I couldn’t imagine being disappointed.
I noticed a few things right off the bat that I found questionable, the first being the unconventional names. I’m all for having fantasy-like names such as Tisamon or Bayaz as opposed to modern names like Jim or Tom. Weber decided utilize the fact that humanity had to restart in picking names, so we’re left with ones like Haarahld instead of Harold and Bynzhamin rather than Benjamin. The idea makes sense and it’s kind of cool when you think of how names evolved, but on paper and with a cast as large as Safehold‘s, it’s a bit of a struggle to remember them (though this is a nonfactor with the audiobook). They’re definitely something you get used to the more you read, and you have plenty of time to get used to them with 800 pages in the paperback, which leads me to my next point.
The Honor Harrington books were rather average in length, floating between 350 and 450 pages for the most part. Safehold books are more or less all upwards of 700 with some even pushing close to 1,000 pages. In most reviews of the series you’ll find that people comment on Weber’s infodumps. While trudging through Off Armageddon Reef‘s 800 pages, the infodumps are readily apparent, and they really mess with the pacing. Occasional bits of information are nice, especially where background is needed. It seemed like Weber was almost flaunting, though flaunting is too harsh a word, his being a font of knowledge, for dozens and dozens of pages at a time. The book could have been slimmed by several hundreds of pages and been truly outstanding.
I bet an eyebrow or two were raised at the mention of Nimue taking the form of a man to make acquiring a position of influence easier, especially with Weber’s ability to write strong female characters. While Merlin is a man, Nimue’s female mind is definitely still inside the android. She doesn’t just magically lose her attraction to men, which leads to some hilariously awkward situations. Like I said, the cast of characters is huge, full of bastards like Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald and people you ‘t help but love like King Haarahld and Prince Cayleb of Charis.
Weber’s infodumps are sometimes very useful and necessary, but often extremely slow the pace of the tome that is Off Armageddon Reef. The final 150 or so pages made everything worthwhile, though, as they include some of the most outstanding depictions of naval combat I have ever read. Off Armageddon Reef, while overlong, was definitely worth the read, and while I’d like nothing more than to avoid getting caught up in a series that may very well exceed ten books of over 800 pages each, I will definitely be attempting to catch up.
Read
December 31, 2010I'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.
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.
May 5, 2016
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
Personally, I give it a "7".
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 now!
It began as a difference of opinion over how man was safest: evolving or remaining static. What it has become is a very corrupt society in which priests take bribes or pay them out to get the results that benefit the individual priest or the upper ranks of the priesthood.
The names crack me up. Weber took normal names and then substituted "y"s for "a"s, "i"s, "o"s, and "u"s at times. Check 'em out. Read it quickly and you'll find the standard name we're accustomed to, lying within. Toss in the odd "h" and it really throws things off. Okay, I do appreciate the effort to accomplish this, and it does add to the atmosphere, but personally, I'd rather have the normal name as it would make it easier to keep track of who's who. And I wouldn't spend so much time stumbling over the odd spellings as I read! I am curious as to the why of "Nimue" and "Merlin". I rather expected the primary good guy to be named "Arthur"! (We do get an Excalibur!)
Okay, here's an e-reader function I want…a way to replace names in the story on your own personal version…!
If you are particularly religious and believe in the sanctity of Church, don't read this. You'll hate it. If you acknowledge that a Church is made up of fallible men and can handle most of the Church being presented as the bad guy, you'll at least enjoy the story. I'm agnostic so…
Fortunately, Weber provides a quick synopsis of the Books of the bible as written by the different archangels of Langhorne and Bédard's side with most of them practical guides to life, although it doesn't appear until late in the story.
The push behind all the innovation in Charis is a result of the Church's political machinations and envy but the best part of the story is the progress we are involved in with the improvements in foundries, shipbuilding, designing sail layouts, the introduction of the abacus — can you imagine trying to add and subtract using Roman numerals!?!?! Arghhhh!!! Merlin introduces other hand-operated machines as well.
It's a very busy story with all but two countries actively against Charis. Thanks to Merlin's SNARCs, we get to listen in on the plotting and planning of Charis' enemies. Do not however think that Weber doesn't throw in the tension. Hah! My heart was in my mouth and my eyes were racing across the pages desperate to know what would happen next. And Weber doesn't make it easy. There are plenty of action sequences that leave you wondering in fear if this character or that will survive. There isn't any romance; the closest is the mention of a couple of wives (I suspect that Nahrmahn's daughter Princess Mahrya (Moira??) will end up betrothed to Cayleb in a future installment) and some issues Merlin has with body reactions…well, hey, it's still the female Nimue underneath that male sculpting, and she is definitely reacting to all those nude men playing rugby in the water!
Oh, I do love Cayleb's words to Thirsk after the battle at Crag Reach!!
The Story
A species humans named the Gbaba are intent on erasing mankind from existence, and humanity is damned if they'll go gently. There are not many humans left, and they have concocted an elaborate ruse to gain mankind time to reestablish themselves on a planet as far away beyond possible from any Gbaba detection. Using what they've learned from past Gbaba destructive raids, they design a new past for man. One in which there is no technology beyond muscle, no desire to innovate.
The dividing factor was Langhorne, Bédard and their clique's choosing to make themselves out as archangels who were revered as messengers of the god and who refused to permit mankind to ever realize what they had managed to achieve. Unfortunately for Pei Kau-yung, Langhorne and his won and Pei Shan-wei and her colony were wiped off the planet Safehold and the "bible" was re-written to showcase Shan-wei as evil.
Over 800 years later, the AI secreted by Pei Kau-yung, Pei Shan-wei, and their sect revives a PICA, a Personality-Integrated Cybernetic Avatar, using Nimue's personality. A recording by Pei explains the founding and history of why Safehold was established as well as the reasons for the infighting. The PICA's mission is to decide if she should interfere with mankind's current existence. An existence in which the Temple of God, Mother Church, rules the entire planet. Enough time has passed, 890 years, that corruption has settled deeply into the Church as they manipulate kings and countries to the Church's benefit.
Today they are threatened by Haarald VII of Charis whose father established a Royal College dedicated to finding new ways to combine current knowledge to enhance efficiency — terrifying, for it promotes change. Charis is far enough away from the Temple of God in Zion that there is less Church oversight. It's not really the Charisians' innovations that are the problem. It's more that their Navy and their merchant fleet makes Charis a powerful nation. A threat to Mother Church's autonomy. A threat that builds up the Church's fears and sets change in motion.
Events are already in motion in Charis for Merlin Athrawes, a.k.a., the PICA Nimue, erupts into their lives when he saves Cayleb from an assassination attempt. Bringing with him all the knowledge and his interface abilities with OWL (Ordoñes-Westinghouse-Lytton RAPIER tactical computer) which will aid the Charisians in their coming fight against those who envy them.
The Characters
There is a cast of thousands, so I'll only relate the more important names.
Merlin Athrawes (?) is the male version of Nimue the PICA. Quite conveniently, the PICA can affect minor physical changes and since Safehold is male-oriented, Nimue has chosen a male physique. Cayleb is the Crown Prince of Charis. Young, but brought up in his forefathers' shadow of kindness, decency, and responsibility to his people. Ahrnahld Falkhan (Arnold Falcon), a Charisian Marine, is in charge of the prince's security.
King Haarahld VII (Harold) of Charis is Cayleb's father — you'll absolutely love him and wish more rulers could be like him. Rayjhis Yowance (Regis ??), Earl of Gray Harbor, is his first councillor. Bynzhamyn Raice (Benjamin Race), Baron Wave Thunder, is his spymaster. Sir Rhyzhard Seafarmer (Richard) is Wave Thunder's second-in-command. Kahlvyn Ahrmahk (Calvin Armac??), Duke of Tirian, is Gray Harbor's beloved son-in-law, raised as a brother with the king and Haarahld's staunch supporter, fourth in the succession, and a much-loved cousin of Cayleb's. And a traitor. Bishop Maikel Staynair (Michael) is a Charisian and appointed by the king much to Mother Church's dismay; he is also an honest man with a Christian interpretation of Writ. Um, the original definition of "Christian".
High Admiral Bryahn Lock Island (Brian), Earl of Lock Island, commands key fortifications at Tellesberg's harbor mouth in Charis. Doctor Rahzhyr Mahklyn (Roger Maclin?) is the Dean of the Royal College of Charis. Ehdwyrd Howsmyn (Edward Houseman) "owns two of the kingdom's three largest foundries and one of the largest shipyards and a small fleet of merchant ships". Raiyan Mychail (Ryan Michael) is the Royal Navy's primary sailmaker. Sir Dustyn Olyvyr (Dustin Oliver) is one of the top ship designers and the "chief naval constructor of the Royal Charisian Navy". Sir Ahlfryd Hyndryk (Alfred Hendrick), Baron Seamount, is a Navy captain and the gunnery expert of Safehold.
Enemies of Charis
Oskahr Mhulvayn (Oscar Mulvayne?) is a spy for Prince Hektor in Tellesberg. His boss is Zhaspahr Maysahn (Jasper Mason). Zhames Makferzahn (James MacPherson) replaces Mhulvayn after the purge. Communication is through Captain Whaite (Wait? White?), a.k.a., Lieutenant Robyrt Bradlai (Robert Bradley) of the League Navy. Braidee Lahang (Brady Lang) is another spy.
Prince Nahrmahn (Norman) of Emerald is a greedy jerk without a longterm view; he spies and plots against Charis. Baron Hahl Shandyr (Hal Sander?) is his spymaster. Trahvys Ohlsyn (Travis Olson), Earl of Pine Hollow, is his chief councillor while Gharth Rahlstahn (Garth Ralston), Earl of Mahndyr, is the commander of the Emerald Navy.
Prince Hektor of Corisande hates the Charisians. Phylyp Ahzgood (Phillip Osgood) is his spymaster. King Rahnyld (Ronald) of Dohlar. Samyl Cahkrayn (Samuel Cochrane), Duke of Fern, is Rahnyld's chief councillor. Admiral Lywys Gardynyr (Lewis Gardener), Earl of Thirsk, is second-in-command of the Dohlar Navy sent out to ravage Charis. Good thing he's not in charge! That honor goes to the very incompetent Admiral General Duke Malikai (gads, you can almost tell how incompetent he is by the number of titles!). King Gorjah of Tarot (?) has an alliance with Charis against which he chafes.
Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm is one of the few rulers very reluctant to war against Charis. Mahrak Sandyrs (Mark Sanders), Baron Green Mountain, is First Councillor in Chisholm. Sir Lewk Cohlmyn (Luke Colman) is the Earl of Sharpfield and the senior admiral for the Chisholm Navy. Together, they come up with their best plan to "comply" with Mother Church with the least damage to Charis.
The Church
Father Paityr Wylsynn (Peter Wilson) is the intendant (inquisitor) in Charis; the Church's problem is that he's honest. Erayk Dynnys (Eric Dennis) is the Archbishop of Charis spending the majority of his year in Zion and a month in Tellesberg. Bishop Executor Zherald Ahdymsyn (A French "Gerald"?? Adamson) is Dynnys' representative in Charis year-round. Father Symyn (Simon) is Dynnys' new secretary — and a zealous spy for Clyntahn.
There are four priests who form a Council of Vicars, the Church's rulers: Zhaspyr Clyntahn (Jasper Clinton) is the Grand Inquisitor as well as a glutton and has a major hate on against Father Paityr and his family; Zahsyn Trynair (Jason Trainer??) is the true power of the Council, the Chancellor; Rhobair Duchairn (a French "Robert"? ??), the Treasurer General; and, Allayn Magwair (Allan ??) is the Captain General. Erek XVII is the Grand Vicar, but a figurehead (it's said that Erek "demonstrates his independence by choosing which pair of shoes he would wear")
"Archangels" Langhorne and Bédard prevailed and created a society which follows the Langhorne Bible religiously and forbids any innovations that may create emissions.
The Cover and Title
The cover is split horizontally in three sections with a deep gunmetal gray as top and bottom containing the author's name and the title while the middle band is a yellow-bordered window into the world of Safehold with its castle-like buildings with a space skimmer flying through its sky.
The title refers to a reef created by the winners in a philosophical fight over man's evolution when they obliterated the city located in Armageddon, specifically it refers to a sea battle lost Off Armageddon Reef.
My Take
Personally, I give it a "7".
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 now!
It began as a difference of opinion over how man was safest: evolving or remaining static. What it has become is a very corrupt society in which priests take bribes or pay them out to get the results that benefit the individual priest or the upper ranks of the priesthood.
The names crack me up. Weber took normal names and then substituted "y"s for "a"s, "i"s, "o"s, and "u"s at times. Check 'em out. Read it quickly and you'll find the standard name we're accustomed to, lying within. Toss in the odd "h" and it really throws things off. Okay, I do appreciate the effort to accomplish this, and it does add to the atmosphere, but personally, I'd rather have the normal name as it would make it easier to keep track of who's who. And I wouldn't spend so much time stumbling over the odd spellings as I read! I am curious as to the why of "Nimue" and "Merlin". I rather expected the primary good guy to be named "Arthur"! (We do get an Excalibur!)
Okay, here's an e-reader function I want…a way to replace names in the story on your own personal version…!
If you are particularly religious and believe in the sanctity of Church, don't read this. You'll hate it. If you acknowledge that a Church is made up of fallible men and can handle most of the Church being presented as the bad guy, you'll at least enjoy the story. I'm agnostic so…
Fortunately, Weber provides a quick synopsis of the Books of the bible as written by the different archangels of Langhorne and Bédard's side with most of them practical guides to life, although it doesn't appear until late in the story.
The push behind all the innovation in Charis is a result of the Church's political machinations and envy but the best part of the story is the progress we are involved in with the improvements in foundries, shipbuilding, designing sail layouts, the introduction of the abacus — can you imagine trying to add and subtract using Roman numerals!?!?! Arghhhh!!! Merlin introduces other hand-operated machines as well.
It's a very busy story with all but two countries actively against Charis. Thanks to Merlin's SNARCs, we get to listen in on the plotting and planning of Charis' enemies. Do not however think that Weber doesn't throw in the tension. Hah! My heart was in my mouth and my eyes were racing across the pages desperate to know what would happen next. And Weber doesn't make it easy. There are plenty of action sequences that leave you wondering in fear if this character or that will survive. There isn't any romance; the closest is the mention of a couple of wives (I suspect that Nahrmahn's daughter Princess Mahrya (Moira??) will end up betrothed to Cayleb in a future installment) and some issues Merlin has with body reactions…well, hey, it's still the female Nimue underneath that male sculpting, and she is definitely reacting to all those nude men playing rugby in the water!
Oh, I do love Cayleb's words to Thirsk after the battle at Crag Reach!!
The Story
A species humans named the Gbaba are intent on erasing mankind from existence, and humanity is damned if they'll go gently. There are not many humans left, and they have concocted an elaborate ruse to gain mankind time to reestablish themselves on a planet as far away beyond possible from any Gbaba detection. Using what they've learned from past Gbaba destructive raids, they design a new past for man. One in which there is no technology beyond muscle, no desire to innovate.
The dividing factor was Langhorne, Bédard and their clique's choosing to make themselves out as archangels who were revered as messengers of the god and who refused to permit mankind to ever realize what they had managed to achieve. Unfortunately for Pei Kau-yung, Langhorne and his won and Pei Shan-wei and her colony were wiped off the planet Safehold and the "bible" was re-written to showcase Shan-wei as evil.
Over 800 years later, the AI secreted by Pei Kau-yung, Pei Shan-wei, and their sect revives a PICA, a Personality-Integrated Cybernetic Avatar, using Nimue's personality. A recording by Pei explains the founding and history of why Safehold was established as well as the reasons for the infighting. The PICA's mission is to decide if she should interfere with mankind's current existence. An existence in which the Temple of God, Mother Church, rules the entire planet. Enough time has passed, 890 years, that corruption has settled deeply into the Church as they manipulate kings and countries to the Church's benefit.
Today they are threatened by Haarald VII of Charis whose father established a Royal College dedicated to finding new ways to combine current knowledge to enhance efficiency — terrifying, for it promotes change. Charis is far enough away from the Temple of God in Zion that there is less Church oversight. It's not really the Charisians' innovations that are the problem. It's more that their Navy and their merchant fleet makes Charis a powerful nation. A threat to Mother Church's autonomy. A threat that builds up the Church's fears and sets change in motion.
Events are already in motion in Charis for Merlin Athrawes, a.k.a., the PICA Nimue, erupts into their lives when he saves Cayleb from an assassination attempt. Bringing with him all the knowledge and his interface abilities with OWL (Ordoñes-Westinghouse-Lytton RAPIER tactical computer) which will aid the Charisians in their coming fight against those who envy them.
The Characters
There is a cast of thousands, so I'll only relate the more important names.
Merlin Athrawes (?) is the male version of Nimue the PICA. Quite conveniently, the PICA can affect minor physical changes and since Safehold is male-oriented, Nimue has chosen a male physique. Cayleb is the Crown Prince of Charis. Young, but brought up in his forefathers' shadow of kindness, decency, and responsibility to his people. Ahrnahld Falkhan (Arnold Falcon), a Charisian Marine, is in charge of the prince's security.
King Haarahld VII (Harold) of Charis is Cayleb's father — you'll absolutely love him and wish more rulers could be like him. Rayjhis Yowance (Regis ??), Earl of Gray Harbor, is his first councillor. Bynzhamyn Raice (Benjamin Race), Baron Wave Thunder, is his spymaster. Sir Rhyzhard Seafarmer (Richard) is Wave Thunder's second-in-command. Kahlvyn Ahrmahk (Calvin Armac??), Duke of Tirian, is Gray Harbor's beloved son-in-law, raised as a brother with the king and Haarahld's staunch supporter, fourth in the succession, and a much-loved cousin of Cayleb's. And a traitor. Bishop Maikel Staynair (Michael) is a Charisian and appointed by the king much to Mother Church's dismay; he is also an honest man with a Christian interpretation of Writ. Um, the original definition of "Christian".
High Admiral Bryahn Lock Island (Brian), Earl of Lock Island, commands key fortifications at Tellesberg's harbor mouth in Charis. Doctor Rahzhyr Mahklyn (Roger Maclin?) is the Dean of the Royal College of Charis. Ehdwyrd Howsmyn (Edward Houseman) "owns two of the kingdom's three largest foundries and one of the largest shipyards and a small fleet of merchant ships". Raiyan Mychail (Ryan Michael) is the Royal Navy's primary sailmaker. Sir Dustyn Olyvyr (Dustin Oliver) is one of the top ship designers and the "chief naval constructor of the Royal Charisian Navy". Sir Ahlfryd Hyndryk (Alfred Hendrick), Baron Seamount, is a Navy captain and the gunnery expert of Safehold.
Enemies of Charis
Oskahr Mhulvayn (Oscar Mulvayne?) is a spy for Prince Hektor in Tellesberg. His boss is Zhaspahr Maysahn (Jasper Mason). Zhames Makferzahn (James MacPherson) replaces Mhulvayn after the purge. Communication is through Captain Whaite (Wait? White?), a.k.a., Lieutenant Robyrt Bradlai (Robert Bradley) of the League Navy. Braidee Lahang (Brady Lang) is another spy.
Prince Nahrmahn (Norman) of Emerald is a greedy jerk without a longterm view; he spies and plots against Charis. Baron Hahl Shandyr (Hal Sander?) is his spymaster. Trahvys Ohlsyn (Travis Olson), Earl of Pine Hollow, is his chief councillor while Gharth Rahlstahn (Garth Ralston), Earl of Mahndyr, is the commander of the Emerald Navy.
Prince Hektor of Corisande hates the Charisians. Phylyp Ahzgood (Phillip Osgood) is his spymaster. King Rahnyld (Ronald) of Dohlar. Samyl Cahkrayn (Samuel Cochrane), Duke of Fern, is Rahnyld's chief councillor. Admiral Lywys Gardynyr (Lewis Gardener), Earl of Thirsk, is second-in-command of the Dohlar Navy sent out to ravage Charis. Good thing he's not in charge! That honor goes to the very incompetent Admiral General Duke Malikai (gads, you can almost tell how incompetent he is by the number of titles!). King Gorjah of Tarot (?) has an alliance with Charis against which he chafes.
Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm is one of the few rulers very reluctant to war against Charis. Mahrak Sandyrs (Mark Sanders), Baron Green Mountain, is First Councillor in Chisholm. Sir Lewk Cohlmyn (Luke Colman) is the Earl of Sharpfield and the senior admiral for the Chisholm Navy. Together, they come up with their best plan to "comply" with Mother Church with the least damage to Charis.
The Church
Father Paityr Wylsynn (Peter Wilson) is the intendant (inquisitor) in Charis; the Church's problem is that he's honest. Erayk Dynnys (Eric Dennis) is the Archbishop of Charis spending the majority of his year in Zion and a month in Tellesberg. Bishop Executor Zherald Ahdymsyn (A French "Gerald"?? Adamson) is Dynnys' representative in Charis year-round. Father Symyn (Simon) is Dynnys' new secretary — and a zealous spy for Clyntahn.
There are four priests who form a Council of Vicars, the Church's rulers: Zhaspyr Clyntahn (Jasper Clinton) is the Grand Inquisitor as well as a glutton and has a major hate on against Father Paityr and his family; Zahsyn Trynair (Jason Trainer??) is the true power of the Council, the Chancellor; Rhobair Duchairn (a French "Robert"? ??), the Treasurer General; and, Allayn Magwair (Allan ??) is the Captain General. Erek XVII is the Grand Vicar, but a figurehead (it's said that Erek "demonstrates his independence by choosing which pair of shoes he would wear")
"Archangels" Langhorne and Bédard prevailed and created a society which follows the Langhorne Bible religiously and forbids any innovations that may create emissions.
The Cover and Title
The cover is split horizontally in three sections with a deep gunmetal gray as top and bottom containing the author's name and the title while the middle band is a yellow-bordered window into the world of Safehold with its castle-like buildings with a space skimmer flying through its sky.
The title refers to a reef created by the winners in a philosophical fight over man's evolution when they obliterated the city located in Armageddon, specifically it refers to a sea battle lost Off Armageddon Reef.
July 10, 2021
Actual rating: 1.5 stars
DNF at 282/788 pages. I just don't care about this book whatsoever. The pacing is glacially slow, and I don't particularly like any of the characters. The character names were also very unnecessary (examples like Bynzhamyn, Zhenyfyr, Zhorzh for Benjamin, Jennifer, and George I believe) and actively irritated me.
DNF at 282/788 pages. I just don't care about this book whatsoever. The pacing is glacially slow, and I don't particularly like any of the characters. The character names were also very unnecessary (examples like Bynzhamyn, Zhenyfyr, Zhorzh for Benjamin, Jennifer, and George I believe) and actively irritated me.
August 2, 2015
This is a really good book starting what is probably a really good series, yet it has some problems. First, it is about a world called Safehold, humanity's last planet, because an alien race that can detect technology has wiped out the rest of humanity. As a result, this planet was colonized by people who were mind wiped and given medieval technology and given a theocratic rule, by the Church of God Awaiting, founded by "Archangels," who are the people who founded the colony. Nine hundred years later, an AI "wakes" up in a cave to discover she/he has been lying dormant, waiting for the right time to emerge and wake humanity up and bring technology back to the people. The Church, which rules all, is completely corrupt. Merlin, the indestructible AI, goes to the kingdom of Charis, which he feels is most likely to accept change. He saves the prince from an assassination attempt, and then the first councilor from another assassination attempt, and is given a spot in the king's court.
And so it begins. The Church decides it no longer likes Charis. Merlin has been helping make changes in Charis, introducing looms, sails, muskets, quick firing cannons, etc., and the Church forces five neighboring kingdoms to gang up on Charis and sail in their navies to destroy the kingdom. There are a couple of major naval battles, which are written pretty well, and the book ends. At about 800 pages. It's a long book. And it could have done with an editor. It's too long.
Some of the problems. There are far too many characters. Weber loves characters. He loves to introduce them in his Honor Harrington series, but this is ridiculous! There must be hundreds of them here, and they all have titles -- Sir, Earl, Duke, Prince, King, Vicar, etc. And to make matters worse, he thinks he's being clever by intentionally misspelling them. Instead of spelling common names normally, he adds vowels and consonants, so that the names look like Haarahld, Nahrmahn, Maysahn, Kahlvyn, and Makferzahn. It's freaking stupid and it makes it totally impossible to remember them all. Impossible. Did I say stupid? Also, if I have to see the phrase, "He bared his teeth" one more time, I'm going to puke! Weber -- people don't bare their damn teeth!!! Dogs do. Wolves do. People don't. And he wrote this at least 15 times. It was damned annoying. And did I say the book was too long? Talk about infodumps! He could have pruned this book by 200 pages and still made it good. Was he being paid by the word?
Irritants aside, it was a pretty good book. He handles separation of church and state pretty well. The naval battles are really well done. The heroes are heroic and the bad guys are pure evil. Merlin is a little two dimensional, but he kicks ass and that's cool. I've already started on the next book, so I obviously wanted to know what happened next. This isn't exactly sci fi. It's partially fantasy, I guess? World building? Whatever the case, it's recommended.
And so it begins. The Church decides it no longer likes Charis. Merlin has been helping make changes in Charis, introducing looms, sails, muskets, quick firing cannons, etc., and the Church forces five neighboring kingdoms to gang up on Charis and sail in their navies to destroy the kingdom. There are a couple of major naval battles, which are written pretty well, and the book ends. At about 800 pages. It's a long book. And it could have done with an editor. It's too long.
Some of the problems. There are far too many characters. Weber loves characters. He loves to introduce them in his Honor Harrington series, but this is ridiculous! There must be hundreds of them here, and they all have titles -- Sir, Earl, Duke, Prince, King, Vicar, etc. And to make matters worse, he thinks he's being clever by intentionally misspelling them. Instead of spelling common names normally, he adds vowels and consonants, so that the names look like Haarahld, Nahrmahn, Maysahn, Kahlvyn, and Makferzahn. It's freaking stupid and it makes it totally impossible to remember them all. Impossible. Did I say stupid? Also, if I have to see the phrase, "He bared his teeth" one more time, I'm going to puke! Weber -- people don't bare their damn teeth!!! Dogs do. Wolves do. People don't. And he wrote this at least 15 times. It was damned annoying. And did I say the book was too long? Talk about infodumps! He could have pruned this book by 200 pages and still made it good. Was he being paid by the word?
Irritants aside, it was a pretty good book. He handles separation of church and state pretty well. The naval battles are really well done. The heroes are heroic and the bad guys are pure evil. Merlin is a little two dimensional, but he kicks ass and that's cool. I've already started on the next book, so I obviously wanted to know what happened next. This isn't exactly sci fi. It's partially fantasy, I guess? World building? Whatever the case, it's recommended.
June 1, 2016
My first experience with the works of David Weber was reading the first five Honor Harrington books very rapidly and then taking a long break when I found out how many there are! Like those books, Weber's Safehold series offers deep and wide world-building, excellent character development (with highly relatable characters), and a protagonist nation clearly influenced heavily by British history. It also comes with an interesting premise: powerful aliens have annihilated humanity - but in a daring move, one last colony was established far away. However, to avoid detection, the colony would have to forego advanced technology for centuries. Unfortunately, the leaders of the mission went a bit too far in their zeal to eliminate technology and decided to make it a permanent change, leaving no memory of humanity's history and creating a religion centered on themselves. They killed the members of their team that resisted and firmly established their legacy in the form of a domineering church. Fast forward several hundred years and the personality of one of the early characters is downloaded into a robotic body and informed by recordings of what happened. She disguises herself as a warrior named Merlin and seeks to undo the damage by supporting the more free-thinking peoples of the world.
The book introduces several of the series' important characters and spends a great deal of time on the political machinations of the various nations. After the introductory chapters, everything takes place in a medieval world, which is contrasted with the technology and knowledge available to Merlin. If you enjoy Dune, Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones, you would likely enjoy this series. It's far less mystical than Dune, far more grounded in reality than Lord of the Rings, and far less brutal than Game of Thrones (your favorite characters probably aren't going to be killed every few chapters...) but shares much of the depth and density that those books bring.
The book introduces several of the series' important characters and spends a great deal of time on the political machinations of the various nations. After the introductory chapters, everything takes place in a medieval world, which is contrasted with the technology and knowledge available to Merlin. If you enjoy Dune, Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones, you would likely enjoy this series. It's far less mystical than Dune, far more grounded in reality than Lord of the Rings, and far less brutal than Game of Thrones (your favorite characters probably aren't going to be killed every few chapters...) but shares much of the depth and density that those books bring.
April 26, 2020
What a great notion—a space opera deliberately tuned to fans of Napoleonic naval stories. I’m a geek of both genres, so I looked forward to this series. And it was fun to recreate—with sailing ships, on an Earth’s daughter deliberately denied technology—the great naval battles of history. The reader is treated to at least the Battle of Cape St. Vincent; Trafalgar; French overwhelming the British off the Virginia coast to end the Revolutionary War, and perhaps others I missed. Some jolly good fun.
But this is David Weber writing. One imagines his house as a tesseract of rooms, each with a different set of characters, maps, plot lines, pinned up on the wall, so Weber doesn’t mix books. Except for the “Honorverse,” Weber punches out a great first book, then s l o w s the pace so that two novels should be three, or three two. I found myself skimming quite a bit—not just for the next battle; we all know Weber puts one at the end—but for the next bit of information interesting enough to read before the battle.
I quit after book four. The first was a good four stars; second one three stars; number two gets two stars—well you see where this geometric progression is heading.
I’m afraid were I to keep reading books in the series, my ratings would be:
____
\/ -1
But this is David Weber writing. One imagines his house as a tesseract of rooms, each with a different set of characters, maps, plot lines, pinned up on the wall, so Weber doesn’t mix books. Except for the “Honorverse,” Weber punches out a great first book, then s l o w s the pace so that two novels should be three, or three two. I found myself skimming quite a bit—not just for the next battle; we all know Weber puts one at the end—but for the next bit of information interesting enough to read before the battle.
I quit after book four. The first was a good four stars; second one three stars; number two gets two stars—well you see where this geometric progression is heading.
I’m afraid were I to keep reading books in the series, my ratings would be:
____
\/ -1
December 5, 2016
I have never read any David Weber, but have to say that I enjoyed this first entry into this long series, titled Safehold.
Here the survivors of a genocidal Earth attack (by the Gdada) flee to the planet Safehold to rebuild their civilization. Half the fleet is destroyed the remaining survivors have to revert to a medieval, religious society, as the Gdada can detect any technology, industrial level or higher, and with that as centuries pass the settlers know nothing of their space-faring past.
However, Nimue Alban's (a heroic military officer from the original expedition)) mind awakes in the body of an android and takes on the character of Merlin Athrawes to assimilate and kick start the planets scientific revolution.
There is a long cast of characters in the 800 page tome, some slow parts but a good story, there are quite a few large books in this continuing series, for those who enjoy that.
Here the survivors of a genocidal Earth attack (by the Gdada) flee to the planet Safehold to rebuild their civilization. Half the fleet is destroyed the remaining survivors have to revert to a medieval, religious society, as the Gdada can detect any technology, industrial level or higher, and with that as centuries pass the settlers know nothing of their space-faring past.
However, Nimue Alban's (a heroic military officer from the original expedition)) mind awakes in the body of an android and takes on the character of Merlin Athrawes to assimilate and kick start the planets scientific revolution.
There is a long cast of characters in the 800 page tome, some slow parts but a good story, there are quite a few large books in this continuing series, for those who enjoy that.
October 8, 2013
I loved the premise of this book, mankind seeking a safe haven to hide from an enemy race with vastly superior technology. And I loved Merlin and the use of magic/science contrasted with the prohibitions of the church, but the pace of the book really slowed to a crawl at times and the characters did not always live up to their potential. While there was plenty of action, not enough happened to advance the overarching plot. In this series, the author really shines in writing the sea battles. Some of the best sea battles I've ever read. I just wish the rest of the book lived up to the sea battles. I give the premise and the sea battles 5 stars, but the rest of the book is closer to 3 stars, so I averaged it to 4 stars.
September 3, 2012
This is a style of book I really love: science fiction in a pre-industrial society. Not quite "steampunk", more like fantasy.
Weber is an author I often choose just for light and easy reading, but every now and then he comes up with something with great characters and a deep plot, and this is one of his best.
Weber is an author I often choose just for light and easy reading, but every now and then he comes up with something with great characters and a deep plot, and this is one of his best.
July 17, 2021
This is an interesting series that seeks to check a lot of different boxes while still feeling relatively familiar to a scifi-reading audience. What we get is essentially three different (and usually unconnected) settings all merged into one. Quite conveniently, these three settings can all be explained through a quick plot summary:
The fun thing about these different genres is that they slot together quite well. Truthfully, the majority of the book falls into the gearing down category, but the fantasy and scifi elements are essential to the plot. So if the basic idea of developing technology to advance an empire sounds like fun you’re probably in the target range of this book.
One of the interesting things for me is how strongly this book is based on the Reformation. All Fantasy novels are heavily influenced by actual civilizations and history, often explicitly as Game of Thrones is riffing off the War of the Roses. But the Reformation isn’t a commonly used one because holy war is difficult to really sell. The only example I know of where I’ve felt the theology (and therefore heresy) were genuinely worked out was the Videssos series (based on the Byzantine Empire). This book is no exception. Weber has done a lot of work to create a religion (and the fact that it’s supposed to be artificial and cribbed from Earth religions helps) but he’s not really interested in theology so the actual holy war aspect can seem a little underbaked. The difference of opinion is entirely political – the Church is led by corrupt men for their own benefit and the Charisians want to establish their own church. That’s a motivation that can be easily understood and sympathized with today, but it feels somewhat simplistic in context.
Actually, there are a number of things that feel a little undercooked. Merlin for example is (or rather was) actually a woman called Nimue (funny) but nothing is really done with this. There should be all sorts of identity and gender issues to pop up here, but all we get is questioning of whether she is alive and has a soul now that she’s a machine. An interesting question of course, but what is the point of having a woman pretend to be a man if its never going to be an issue? For that matter, we’re told sexism is a big deal, but we never actually see it. In Renaissance and Early Modern times men talked about the vile corrupting power and mental inferiority of women quite openly. Are we meant to assume it’s like that? If so, why does nobody talk like that? Weber’s phenomenally good at presenting the logic behind different viewpoints in a way that makes sense to the characters, but here again there are limitations to how effective this can be. Because it is always a question of logic – nobody ever acts out of pique or ego. Certainly not the heroes. Which makes the process of building up a new way of doing things rather simplistic.
What I get from this is that while Weber has done a lot of work building this society, he only really shows us a pretty narrow viewpoint focused on the issues he wants to talk about. Which is kind of amazing in a book over 700 pages long. There’s a lot of exposition that doesn’t need to be there and scenes we don’t need to see to understand what’s going on. Tell don’t show is a common approach, even in the good bits. Later books are pretty astoundingly inconsistent in terms of length too. Some are longer than this, others are only half as long and have far less going on. The good news is that this isn’t (quite) like his Honor Harrinton books, where he’s completely lost the ability to keep the story under control. Not yet at least. But the length will likely be a factor that turns some people off.
I really enjoyed this book, which shouldn’t be a surprise given that I like those gearing down alternate history/time travel stories as well. Merlin can be a bit OP for the story’s own good and the victories, when they come, can be a bit too one-sided, but overall the story’s balance works. I like the blending of genres and since the Reformation is a fascinating period (as are the period of papal dominance in the 12th/13th century and the industrial revolution, the two other key periods he draws from) it’s nice to see it adapted for a story in a way that brings the cool elements to the fore. I’m a bit worried that this will be another series that just goes on forever with no scheduled end in sight (it should really take a more generational approach to cover all this) but that doesn’t affect the quality of this book. A good start to a new series.
The Space Opera – An alien race is exterminating humanity and to survive as a species a group of individuals is sent out to establish a low-tech safe haven (hence the name) where they can hide for a few centuries before carefully building back their technological base. The first several chapters deal exclusively with this, which makes it a bit of a jump when we go to the actual story – the leaders of this group have a falling out, with the victor being a megalomaniacal man with a god complex who’s convinced that the only way to preserve humanity is to ensure that it never develops technology again and that the best way to do this is to mindwipe everyone and establish a theocratic state based on the suppression of innovation with himself and his assistants as angels. Oh, and he has the weaponry and inclination to murder anyone who opposes this plan. By the millions.
The Fantasy – Which brings us to the current day, which is nine centuries after these events. The Church rules a decidedly medieval world and has done since the creation of the universe (so far as anyone knows) but a crewmember from humanity’s pre-Safehold days has been preserved in a robotic body and programed to awaken and make Safehold into what it was supposed to be using what technology she has on hand. She calls herself Merlin and is basically a figure out of a fantasy novel – someone who can fight at a superhuman level and observe people at great distance using remote drones.
The Alternate History – To achieve this she needs to introduce a whole lot of novel concepts and technologies and teach people how to develop and build on this innovation themselves. In this (which is most of the novel) the book feels a lot like one of those alternate history novels (the 1632 series for example) featuring time-travelers stuck in the past and gearing down all their tech to allow it to be mass produced and used by contemporaries. The whole thrill of these novels is seeing the inventive ways modern (or somewhat premodern) technology and techniques can be incorporated into old approaches.
The fun thing about these different genres is that they slot together quite well. Truthfully, the majority of the book falls into the gearing down category, but the fantasy and scifi elements are essential to the plot. So if the basic idea of developing technology to advance an empire sounds like fun you’re probably in the target range of this book.
One of the interesting things for me is how strongly this book is based on the Reformation. All Fantasy novels are heavily influenced by actual civilizations and history, often explicitly as Game of Thrones is riffing off the War of the Roses. But the Reformation isn’t a commonly used one because holy war is difficult to really sell. The only example I know of where I’ve felt the theology (and therefore heresy) were genuinely worked out was the Videssos series (based on the Byzantine Empire). This book is no exception. Weber has done a lot of work to create a religion (and the fact that it’s supposed to be artificial and cribbed from Earth religions helps) but he’s not really interested in theology so the actual holy war aspect can seem a little underbaked. The difference of opinion is entirely political – the Church is led by corrupt men for their own benefit and the Charisians want to establish their own church. That’s a motivation that can be easily understood and sympathized with today, but it feels somewhat simplistic in context.
Actually, there are a number of things that feel a little undercooked. Merlin for example is (or rather was) actually a woman called Nimue (funny) but nothing is really done with this. There should be all sorts of identity and gender issues to pop up here, but all we get is questioning of whether she is alive and has a soul now that she’s a machine. An interesting question of course, but what is the point of having a woman pretend to be a man if its never going to be an issue? For that matter, we’re told sexism is a big deal, but we never actually see it. In Renaissance and Early Modern times men talked about the vile corrupting power and mental inferiority of women quite openly. Are we meant to assume it’s like that? If so, why does nobody talk like that? Weber’s phenomenally good at presenting the logic behind different viewpoints in a way that makes sense to the characters, but here again there are limitations to how effective this can be. Because it is always a question of logic – nobody ever acts out of pique or ego. Certainly not the heroes. Which makes the process of building up a new way of doing things rather simplistic.
What I get from this is that while Weber has done a lot of work building this society, he only really shows us a pretty narrow viewpoint focused on the issues he wants to talk about. Which is kind of amazing in a book over 700 pages long. There’s a lot of exposition that doesn’t need to be there and scenes we don’t need to see to understand what’s going on. Tell don’t show is a common approach, even in the good bits. Later books are pretty astoundingly inconsistent in terms of length too. Some are longer than this, others are only half as long and have far less going on. The good news is that this isn’t (quite) like his Honor Harrinton books, where he’s completely lost the ability to keep the story under control. Not yet at least. But the length will likely be a factor that turns some people off.
I really enjoyed this book, which shouldn’t be a surprise given that I like those gearing down alternate history/time travel stories as well. Merlin can be a bit OP for the story’s own good and the victories, when they come, can be a bit too one-sided, but overall the story’s balance works. I like the blending of genres and since the Reformation is a fascinating period (as are the period of papal dominance in the 12th/13th century and the industrial revolution, the two other key periods he draws from) it’s nice to see it adapted for a story in a way that brings the cool elements to the fore. I’m a bit worried that this will be another series that just goes on forever with no scheduled end in sight (it should really take a more generational approach to cover all this) but that doesn’t affect the quality of this book. A good start to a new series.
July 14, 2022
I’m a very forgiving reader. A book can be slow to get started but if at some point in the story I can’t put it down it gets a five star rating. And yes this one was very very slow in the beginning and the cast of characters was huge but I don’t care because you know what? There was a huge naval battle (possibly the last fourth of the book) and I was able to grasp what they were doing and where they were going!!!!!!! First time ever!! Best naval writing for the non- naval gal award! Cannot wait to read the next one in the series!!
May 29, 2023
DNF. Where are the women? C'mon, it's the 36th Century. Why are we once again relegated to footnotes and baby factories. This book was published in 2007. Women can vote and everything. Ten books in this series and it seems meaty, but I just can't.
August 11, 2022
An incredible start to a sci-fi journey I cannot wait to continue on. The story contains an unforgettable main character, whose all-knowing and all-powerful powers are excused by the looming threat the reader knows exists.
The way the book follows a lot of different characters from both sides of each conflict, make the struggles more human and blur the lines between good and evil in a way you rarely see in fantasy series.
The way the book follows a lot of different characters from both sides of each conflict, make the struggles more human and blur the lines between good and evil in a way you rarely see in fantasy series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2019
David Weber is a good author with a few glaring weaknesses. Sadly, all of that is readily apparent in this novel.
The basic setup is that humanity gets to the stars, runs into an alien race apparently intent on wiping out everything other than itself, and after a tough war, looses. Earth, and all of the colonies, are destroyed, leaving one fleet with a last-ditch plan to start a new colony somewhere out of the way, avoid technology, and tell-tale high-energy emissions that will give the new colony away.
The prologue for all of this is excellently done, but is big and detailed enough that you'd think the point of the series is the buildup of Safehold to where it can try for a round two against the aliens.
Apparently not, it's all set up for a long series of novels with lots of Age of Sail-style action. Not necessarily a bad thing, and let's be honest, it's Weber's first love. But after all the initial high-tech setup, and the fact that that is the supposed end goal, I was hoping for a thick novel that deals with, shall we say, an inflection point in Safehold's history, and then the next one could be a couple generations later, and so on, back to actually revisiting that prologue.
Inside of what we do have here, we Merlin, who's basically Superman. As a high-tech android with the personality of a dead Earth naval officer, he's got everything you can ask for: super strength, lightning reflexes, a library full of banned scientific knowledge... and a lack of allies. Actually, he does find those, and of course, war and action result.
The world building that surrounds this is excellent. That's always been one of Weber's strengths, and it is on display here, and is one of the primary reasons to read this. The plot is fairly strong as well, though it's not really an 800-page plot; the book doesn't need as much trimming as some other reviews say, but it does need some overall tightening up. If you want some lower-tech space opera, definitely read this, and I certainly plan on going on with the series eventually, but I can't give it much more than a weak recommendation for particular audiences.
The basic setup is that humanity gets to the stars, runs into an alien race apparently intent on wiping out everything other than itself, and after a tough war, looses. Earth, and all of the colonies, are destroyed, leaving one fleet with a last-ditch plan to start a new colony somewhere out of the way, avoid technology, and tell-tale high-energy emissions that will give the new colony away.
The prologue for all of this is excellently done, but is big and detailed enough that you'd think the point of the series is the buildup of Safehold to where it can try for a round two against the aliens.
Apparently not, it's all set up for a long series of novels with lots of Age of Sail-style action. Not necessarily a bad thing, and let's be honest, it's Weber's first love. But after all the initial high-tech setup, and the fact that that is the supposed end goal, I was hoping for a thick novel that deals with, shall we say, an inflection point in Safehold's history, and then the next one could be a couple generations later, and so on, back to actually revisiting that prologue.
Inside of what we do have here, we Merlin, who's basically Superman. As a high-tech android with the personality of a dead Earth naval officer, he's got everything you can ask for: super strength, lightning reflexes, a library full of banned scientific knowledge... and a lack of allies. Actually, he does find those, and of course, war and action result.
The world building that surrounds this is excellent. That's always been one of Weber's strengths, and it is on display here, and is one of the primary reasons to read this. The plot is fairly strong as well, though it's not really an 800-page plot; the book doesn't need as much trimming as some other reviews say, but it does need some overall tightening up. If you want some lower-tech space opera, definitely read this, and I certainly plan on going on with the series eventually, but I can't give it much more than a weak recommendation for particular audiences.
July 19, 2016
I had a hard time rating this book... I wavered between 2 and 5 stars at various times. To some extent, there's a bit of a bait and switch.. the description and the first 50 pages or so are an alien invasion story. One could picture it taking place in the distant past of the Honor Harrington universe (which is alluded to but never discussed). Sadly for the book's characters, the aliens are overwhelming and unwilling to communicate, so they resort to sending 1/2 the last fleet secrets thousands of lightyears away to start anew.
They plan to not use any technological emissions until they can outpace the aliens, but some of the survivors instead set themselves up as a new religion, which is based around not using technology involving emissions (electricity, radio, etc). Some disagree, and they fight, but the god makers win.
Fast foward 800 years, and society is quite settled with their made up religion, when an android of one of the technological people wakes up, and decides to try to take the society forward to fight the aliens some day.
All that sounds really interesting, but, sadly, there's no other mention of the alien threat... I suspect ever again in the series (I poked through a later book in the series, and only a few years pass). What the book REALLY is, is a 'tech development' type series(like Ring of Fire or Destroyermen). The 'good guys', Charis, are, much like Manticore, an idealized British analogue with an enlightened Royal family and smart, innovative, plucky citizens.
The Church of God Awaiting (the religion that got made up way back to keep technology down), has developed in 750 years into an analogue of the worst corrupted version the dark ages Christian church, just before the reformation. The book essentially becomes 'what if Henry the VIII had spy satelittes and better cannons than anyone else'.. which is actually quite fun and well done. It's just not at all what the book advertised.
There were also a few very annoying tics that served to repeatedly through you out of the story . . All the names are 'regular' ones that are spelled in a strange, phonetic way (like Zhan for John... Zhysstyn for Justin, Norhmahn for Norman, etc). I get he's trying to show the drift of the language, but it gets annoying really fast.
There's also a few times where he forgets it's not a modern story. The religion has one woman named 'Shen-Wei' as the leader of the resistance to the original gods.. she essentially becomes the devil, and her name is used in place of 'hell' and 'damn'... except when Weber forgets. He also uses a few other modern expressions that make no sense in context.
Worse, though is the cuteness. For some reason, baseball gets into the religious rules, and Weber uses real players (with annoying spelled versions of their names) in the game, which seems to serve no purpose other than to be a shout out to the Atlanta Braves. Then there's a valet named Jeeves.. a couple others that I don't recall.
Overall, though, I was exciting and interested to see what happened in the end, and I'm excited to read the next one, so that definitely qualifies as a good book.
They plan to not use any technological emissions until they can outpace the aliens, but some of the survivors instead set themselves up as a new religion, which is based around not using technology involving emissions (electricity, radio, etc). Some disagree, and they fight, but the god makers win.
Fast foward 800 years, and society is quite settled with their made up religion, when an android of one of the technological people wakes up, and decides to try to take the society forward to fight the aliens some day.
All that sounds really interesting, but, sadly, there's no other mention of the alien threat... I suspect ever again in the series (I poked through a later book in the series, and only a few years pass). What the book REALLY is, is a 'tech development' type series(like Ring of Fire or Destroyermen). The 'good guys', Charis, are, much like Manticore, an idealized British analogue with an enlightened Royal family and smart, innovative, plucky citizens.
The Church of God Awaiting (the religion that got made up way back to keep technology down), has developed in 750 years into an analogue of the worst corrupted version the dark ages Christian church, just before the reformation. The book essentially becomes 'what if Henry the VIII had spy satelittes and better cannons than anyone else'.. which is actually quite fun and well done. It's just not at all what the book advertised.
There were also a few very annoying tics that served to repeatedly through you out of the story . . All the names are 'regular' ones that are spelled in a strange, phonetic way (like Zhan for John... Zhysstyn for Justin, Norhmahn for Norman, etc). I get he's trying to show the drift of the language, but it gets annoying really fast.
There's also a few times where he forgets it's not a modern story. The religion has one woman named 'Shen-Wei' as the leader of the resistance to the original gods.. she essentially becomes the devil, and her name is used in place of 'hell' and 'damn'... except when Weber forgets. He also uses a few other modern expressions that make no sense in context.
Worse, though is the cuteness. For some reason, baseball gets into the religious rules, and Weber uses real players (with annoying spelled versions of their names) in the game, which seems to serve no purpose other than to be a shout out to the Atlanta Braves. Then there's a valet named Jeeves.. a couple others that I don't recall.
Overall, though, I was exciting and interested to see what happened in the end, and I'm excited to read the next one, so that definitely qualifies as a good book.
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