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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this book a lot more when it was called Heirs of Empire.
The premise is pretty cool. At some point in the future, interstellar humanity encounters a genocidal alien empire. Overmatched by sheer numbers, they come up with a desperate plan to plant a secret colony, hinder its technological development until the threat has passed, and then tech back up and kick alien ass. The plan gets highjacked by the high command, who brainwash the colonists to regard them as divine entities and set up an even more brutally stultifying theocracy. Internecine fighting wipes out these 'archangels', and 900 years later a contingency plan of an AI based off a young officer wakes up in a robot body with instructions to kick off the scientific revolution.
That's the first three chapters, and then the rest is a slog though Weber's usual themes. The superiority of enlightened despotism; using 18th century military technology to beat up more primitive weapons; adoration of Nelsonian England; multiple points of view, including the antagonists. The story pits Merlin and his chosen maritime power of the Kingdom of Charis as the seed for the industrial revolution. We get descriptions of ships of the line, intrigues, swordfights, etc, as Merlin and Charis build a navy that outmatches anything on the planet. Galleons armed with carronades and backed up by satellite recon and bugs in the chambers of the holy alliance against them give Merlin's forces an incredible advantage, and they win a lopsided victory that took the Honorverse five books to settle into. The king is dead, but his sacrifice creates a noble example against the harsh repression of the anti-innovation Church.
This book basically mashes up a bunch of Weber's previous works, and it's overlong and melodramatic to boot. I got this book for free, and I still feel like I overpaid. The only reason for two stars is that Weber is still a decent writer on a sentence to sentence level, and hey, you didn't expect to do much thinking. I'll be passing on the rest of the Safehold series.
The premise is pretty cool. At some point in the future, interstellar humanity encounters a genocidal alien empire. Overmatched by sheer numbers, they come up with a desperate plan to plant a secret colony, hinder its technological development until the threat has passed, and then tech back up and kick alien ass. The plan gets highjacked by the high command, who brainwash the colonists to regard them as divine entities and set up an even more brutally stultifying theocracy. Internecine fighting wipes out these 'archangels', and 900 years later a contingency plan of an AI based off a young officer wakes up in a robot body with instructions to kick off the scientific revolution.
That's the first three chapters, and then the rest is a slog though Weber's usual themes. The superiority of enlightened despotism; using 18th century military technology to beat up more primitive weapons; adoration of Nelsonian England; multiple points of view, including the antagonists. The story pits Merlin and his chosen maritime power of the Kingdom of Charis as the seed for the industrial revolution. We get descriptions of ships of the line, intrigues, swordfights, etc, as Merlin and Charis build a navy that outmatches anything on the planet. Galleons armed with carronades and backed up by satellite recon and bugs in the chambers of the holy alliance against them give Merlin's forces an incredible advantage, and they win a lopsided victory that took the Honorverse five books to settle into. The king is dead, but his sacrifice creates a noble example against the harsh repression of the anti-innovation Church.
This book basically mashes up a bunch of Weber's previous works, and it's overlong and melodramatic to boot. I got this book for free, and I still feel like I overpaid. The only reason for two stars is that Weber is still a decent writer on a sentence to sentence level, and hey, you didn't expect to do much thinking. I'll be passing on the rest of the Safehold series.
The possibilities of this series literally blow my mind! The set up is like a Military sci-fi nerds wet dream. It remains to be seen if the author can truly do justice to what he has laid the groundwork for...
A fascinating premise and a good story but almost unreadable due to bizarre spellings of names. I understand why this has been done and other people may not find this such a distraction but it spoiled the book for me.
If it is possible to top the Honor Harrington series, Weber may have done it. This series has tons of potential, but this is a solid start, paced just right. Easily one of the best series starts I've ever encountered and I can't wait to read the next one.
I enjoyed this audiobook a lot and perhaps it not being five star for me is the product of two things that aren't the book's fault at all. The first is that it was rather complicated to listen to, rather than read -- especially as many names sounded kind of the same. The second is that sometimes I don't really read much of a book's description before reading it. So many of them hint at enough that it spoils surprises in the plot. Because of thus, I was super excited by the prologue and the story of humanity's last stand. Then it turns out... Nope, none of that is going to be resolved any time soon. It's a very different story and a quick peek at the summary of book nine doesn't indicate the story I was most interested by is coming soon.
Despite my thwarted expectations, the story is quite fascinating and I can think of tons of people I would recommend the book to. For me, I may go on to book two eventually, but I'm going to have to read instead of listen to it.
Despite my thwarted expectations, the story is quite fascinating and I can think of tons of people I would recommend the book to. For me, I may go on to book two eventually, but I'm going to have to read instead of listen to it.
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
This book was quite ambitious. Sci fi, fantasy, space battles, androids, sword fighting, dragons, epic naval battles, religious wars, all wrapped up in one package. For the most part, it succeeded in being an entertaining read. There were some parts that made it hard to put the book down, and some that dragged. All-in-all a good book for anyone interested in books that blend science fiction and fantasy themes.
I think one of the things that really deterred my enjoyment of this book was the character names. I think they were supposed to represent linguistic drift from English on old Earth, but they ended up making it impossible to keep characters straight. It also detracted from immersion as each name made me pause and attempt to sound out what it was supposed to be descended from, over and over.
I'm a big fan of David Weber's military space novels, but not so fond of his others. Off Armageddon Reef was an iffy selection for me, since it really wasn't a scifi space story at all.
What it is, however, turned out to be quite fascinating. Essentially, the story is that of a small, plucky nation, eager with innovation, versus a much larger world of old technology and no desire to change. All in a pre-industrial revolution world of wooden ships and simple cannons.
And it worked. It worked really well. There was lots of good character building, which centered (eventually) on just two or three people, so it didn't get that often unbearable overcrowding effect. There was lots of fun in the "technological marvel" vein. And lots of explosions.
Worth reading. 4.5/5
What it is, however, turned out to be quite fascinating. Essentially, the story is that of a small, plucky nation, eager with innovation, versus a much larger world of old technology and no desire to change. All in a pre-industrial revolution world of wooden ships and simple cannons.
And it worked. It worked really well. There was lots of good character building, which centered (eventually) on just two or three people, so it didn't get that often unbearable overcrowding effect. There was lots of fun in the "technological marvel" vein. And lots of explosions.
Worth reading. 4.5/5