OK, military fiction- and I'm not especially a fan of such. Still, though the characters are simplistic, the plot is nice and twisty, and i do like me a twisty plot.

I'm quite sure that any resonances between the 'godly" here and modern politics are completely accidental.

I do find the weird spelling of names annoying, even though I'm sure that's how Weber can call one kingdom's ruler "Norman Bates" and have it not immediately obvious! And it is probably not a coincidence that The Big Bad here's name transcribes to "Clinton," though I think it's a mite tacky.

Still, a fun read, and I'll read the next installment. ( )

Why is Weber ruining all of his series?

Let me reiterate that another way. David Weber has turned from writing could action paced, politically based stories to doggerel.

What is bad about this. Well the names are now distracting and logically stupid. Why have the names all be written in a way that you have to phoenitcally sound them out to figure out what they are, but every other word, noun, verb, adjective is spelled in english? So why are the titles of all these nincompoops not Rawk Hylynn for instance? Weber is too full of himself is why.

What else do we have wrong in these novels. We are really reading superhero comic books instead of Fantasy or Science Fiction. I think Weber wants an options deal from Stan Lee, or now from Mickey Mouse...

All of a sudden there is no death amongst the heroes... Without conflict there is no drama. See the commercial for it.

Our protagonists always win. Not only do they win, they do so by slaughter and stupidity.

Spolier

The Empress is attacked. She is so good that only a man who is wounded is put next to her to reload weapons, the reserve defense force is used all in, just like Texas Hold Em... Not a couple last men to stand with her. So the two last men from the last line before her, rush to the door and the heroic sergeant who Weber has put in at least three pages lives, but the other who has one of those horrid names that you slowed your reading for to sound out, dies of course, just as you expect, in the doorway, saving the other man. What black and white western did Weber watch before writing that, but then it is so cliche because there were so many...

Or worse, the world knows that the heroes have been making better weapons and have had months to know this and the spy system has been great for assassinations and church counter insurgency. But when the enemy army which outnumbers the heroes by a great deal meets up, the enemy are annihilated and the heroes not even wounded.

An army.

This was so in need of a rewrite. Weber obviously has a free hand and no editor to stop him, or no one that understands history or war. Which Weber certainly does not.

Sure he should have done damage to the enemy, but should have lost. Give the rest of the world some credit. Not everyone is stupid on the other side.

Citing contemporary sources, such as Churchill and Arthur C Clarke also do not make Weber a stronger writer. Here he has a universe set up thousands of years in our future, but the citations are from the decades that Weber grows up in. Talk of Gilgamesh and Churchill and some activity from the year 2300 AD to give it credence.

But then it wouldn't be Weber showing off that he knows a thing or two... Except he has forgotten how to craft the tale. And in a transitional book that you want full price for... Hey reader, let me rob you of your money.

So to read or not to read. If you haven't read this series stay away. If you are reading this series, find the book for free at the library. Weber doesn't need the money and he didn't give you a book that deserves it. ( )

The third book in another of Weber's endless series. As such, it's part of an ongoing story, with no real endpoint in sight (I would love to be surprised about that). For excellent world-building reasons, the personal names are all distortions of common English names (although some ought to be Chinese!). They're very distracting, though, and far too many of them have 'y's in them.

The planet of Safehold is at about an 18th-century tech level, kept that way by a powerful Church, one with a very corrupt leadership. Aided by a 900-year-old cyborg, the Empire of Charis is working on changing that.

Unlike most of this series, the major battle sequences are all on land, not naval battles. If you liked the others in this series, you'll like this one. If you like Weber in general, you'll probably like this series. But if you haven't read the first two books, for G-d's sake, don't start here! ( )