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isaac_petherbridge's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
barkerjm's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhat inevitable conclusion to this phase of the series, not a whole lot in the way of surprises.
In previous books the land campaign has been somewhat hard to follow, and the included maps have helped a lot. In this book, there is only 1 included map, of all of Safehold. (The book directs you online for more maps, but when I'm reading. an 800 page hardback, I'm not likely to be simultaneously looking at maps online.
In previous books the land campaign has been somewhat hard to follow, and the included maps have helped a lot. In this book, there is only 1 included map, of all of Safehold. (The book directs you online for more maps, but when I'm reading. an 800 page hardback, I'm not likely to be simultaneously looking at maps online.
apryde6226's review against another edition
5.0
When this book came out, just recently, I had to read the series from the beginning. It was like rediscovering a great story all over again.
It left a number of pieces open, for example how was the Rakuri disarmed? By the end of the book, it wasn't, but the "Grand Fornicator" was killed far more mercifully than such a mass murderer deserved. As usual, Weber described naval fighting and land warfare as good, if not better than Clancey does. It's a great conclusion to the Safehold series.
According to the author's note, at the end, there are still a lot of stories to come, but the story of Nimue's quest to destroy the "Church of God Awaiting" has finally come to its conclusion. It's a great book series. David Weber is one of my favorite authors and Baen Publishing is also the best.
It left a number of pieces open, for example how was the Rakuri disarmed? By the end of the book, it wasn't, but the "Grand Fornicator" was killed far more mercifully than such a mass murderer deserved. As usual, Weber described naval fighting and land warfare as good, if not better than Clancey does. It's a great conclusion to the Safehold series.
According to the author's note, at the end, there are still a lot of stories to come, but the story of Nimue's quest to destroy the "Church of God Awaiting" has finally come to its conclusion. It's a great book series. David Weber is one of my favorite authors and Baen Publishing is also the best.
wetdryvac's review against another edition
5.0
A fitting conclusion/start. I'm fascinated to see if this gets run in a new direction now that the initial line of storytelling has played through. Seriously enjoyable series, and well concluded if this does turn out to be the last book.
brucehoward's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t bother reviewing the others in this series; Goodreads really needs a mechanism for reviewing books in a series as a whole - reviewing individual books, particularly in a series as long (and unfortunately, at times, tedious ) as this is not practical.
The long and the short of it...great idea, very interesting first novel, occasionally clever but way to slowly developed over far to many novels.
By the time the 3rd or 4th book came out, I was spending more time waiting for the obvious oncoming plot twists to fully develop just so I could find out how the story ends.
I really loved the premise but feel quite certain the final 3-4 books could have been more usefully repurposed to developing what happens after the bad guys on Safehold are defeated and on how humanity take on what forced it to shelter on Safehold in the first place.
This kind of left me feeling cheated in the end, sigh.
Anyhoo, good first book, mostly reasonable closing of arcs on Safehold modular my aforementioned complaints above.
The long and the short of it...great idea, very interesting first novel, occasionally clever but way to slowly developed over far to many novels.
By the time the 3rd or 4th book came out, I was spending more time waiting for the obvious oncoming plot twists to fully develop just so I could find out how the story ends.
I really loved the premise but feel quite certain the final 3-4 books could have been more usefully repurposed to developing what happens after the bad guys on Safehold are defeated and on how humanity take on what forced it to shelter on Safehold in the first place.
This kind of left me feeling cheated in the end, sigh.
Anyhoo, good first book, mostly reasonable closing of arcs on Safehold modular my aforementioned complaints above.
jercox's review against another edition
3.0
As opposed to the last two books (two stars for being very slow and not really getting anywhere), this one is slightly more worthwhile, because some plot lines actually complete. If you have read the other books, that is not a spoiler, since they have been dragging up to this point quite predictably.
I was hoping that 9 books would be enough to get humanity back to the stars, and start telling the story of the war vs the Gbaba, or whatever the relevant aliens are called. Tighter writing could have finished this series comfortably in 6 books. But if you enjoyed the first 4-5 books of the series before getting frustrated, this one at least finishes the story you were drawn into at the beginning.
I was hoping that 9 books would be enough to get humanity back to the stars, and start telling the story of the war vs the Gbaba, or whatever the relevant aliens are called. Tighter writing could have finished this series comfortably in 6 books. But if you enjoyed the first 4-5 books of the series before getting frustrated, this one at least finishes the story you were drawn into at the beginning.
travelgirlut's review against another edition
2.0
Well, that was an ending...of sorts. I was only reading this series for the sci-fi aspect of the hidden and lost technology, and nothing about that was resolved at all. I'm disappointed I waded this far for no reason.
chutten's review against another edition
3.0
That this novel has many things happen, finally, is weighed down by how all of them are victories. Sure, there's a bit of a setback in the Gulf, but it's not a reversal.
A perfectly adequate end to the arc, with plenty left over for playing with at a later time.
A perfectly adequate end to the arc, with plenty left over for playing with at a later time.
towo's review
3.0
While making story progress, the book itself is essentially boring. That's not to say it's badly written - the quality is the usual.
But it is very easy to guess what will happen in the entire book, without there ever being any significant tension except in rare cases - mostly limited to characters. But since there are quite a few of those, the overall tension stays rather low.
None of the story comes as a surprise, and the whole experience, despite some important events, is more akin to a filler. It needed to be written to progress the story, but even Weber got fed up with it, as can be seen in the tempo and scope of the last few chapters.
If you're reading the series, you'll have to read it anyway.
But it is very easy to guess what will happen in the entire book, without there ever being any significant tension except in rare cases - mostly limited to characters. But since there are quite a few of those, the overall tension stays rather low.
None of the story comes as a surprise, and the whole experience, despite some important events, is more akin to a filler. It needed to be written to progress the story, but even Weber got fed up with it, as can be seen in the tempo and scope of the last few chapters.
If you're reading the series, you'll have to read it anyway.