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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I love the Safehold series and it was fun returning to the world that David Weber created before starting on his latest release in the series. I had planned to re-read the whole series before the book was released, but just never had the time.
I can’t finish… it’s killing me to pick it up. I just read about the “thunderous rumble of thunder” after which I dropped the book into my lap, thus loosing my page, and decided that the page can just stay lost.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As a big fan of the Honor Harrington series, I didn’t think the premise of the Safehold series was going to be that compelling. I was wrong. The first couple of books are mostly age-of-sail with just a little sci-fi thrown in, but it’s a lot more accessible than, say, Patrick O’Brien’s writing.
Loved the idea of the series with humans getting clapped and trying to rebuild society with people disagreeing on how to go about it. Plot progression had me on the edge of my seat. All the talk of ships I recognize to be completely necessary I just could not get into it and felt my eyes glazing over more than not. Outside of that a cracking start to a series that I imagine I'll be getting to here and there throughout the years.
The good: scratches the uplift itch, also features age of sail naval battles, if that's your thing.
The mediocre: definitely leaves no stone unexplained. Lots of plotting and lots of explaining plotting in minute detail. It kinda makes it feel like the characters are engaging in statecraft for the first time.
The disappointing: the protagonist is a shapeshifting robot with the memories and personality of a dead woman who assumes the role of a male battle-wizard. You might expect some themes of body dysphoria and trans experience. What you get is a single scene where they get an awkward unwanted boner.
Also, there is definitely unresolved and completely unacknowledged sexual tension between the protag and the prince, but nothing is done with it.
Also also, this definitely fails the bechdel test. Protag puts on male parts and refers to themselves as 'he' with no explanation at all. The only other woman that features is a princess who is helpless to act against the bad guys on her own but it is implied that she'll marry the protag's BFF and totally not lover, the prince.
Also also also, the setup of this book would be great for complex themes about the human experience, progress, scientism, and the search for truth. What this setting ends up being used for is naval battles.
This is a bit more negative than I intended, but it was a somewhat enjoyable book. Would recommend if you like naval battles.
The mediocre: definitely leaves no stone unexplained. Lots of plotting and lots of explaining plotting in minute detail. It kinda makes it feel like the characters are engaging in statecraft for the first time.
The disappointing: the protagonist is a shapeshifting robot with the memories and personality of a dead woman who assumes the role of a male battle-wizard. You might expect some themes of body dysphoria and trans experience. What you get is a single scene where they get an awkward unwanted boner.
Also, there is definitely unresolved and completely unacknowledged sexual tension between the protag and the prince, but nothing is done with it.
Also also, this definitely fails the bechdel test. Protag puts on male parts and refers to themselves as 'he' with no explanation at all. The only other woman that features is a princess who is helpless to act against the bad guys on her own but it is implied that she'll marry the protag's BFF and totally not lover, the prince.
Also also also, the setup of this book would be great for complex themes about the human experience, progress, scientism, and the search for truth. What this setting ends up being used for is naval battles.
This is a bit more negative than I intended, but it was a somewhat enjoyable book. Would recommend if you like naval battles.
David Weber takes his time in setting up the story for the Safehold series, but in his description of the world he makes it very easy to get lost in the illusion of how present day earth is and lets you almost forget the fact that there is a galactic war going on in the back. However, in the scenes of conflict and battle, it's very exciting and a fast writing pace. Definitely a great read, though it takes a while to get used to a slower writing pace, it was well worth it.
I really enjoyed this first book of Weber's non-Harrington series. Although it has a lot of the political maneuvering and plotting for advantage that show up in the Honor Harrington books, it doesn't get bogged down in overly close narrative like some of the later Harrington books do. Here, Weber is more content to show his characters' thoughts through description and actions rather than explicitly walking us through their thought process, and I like it much better this way.
That said, this book still sticks pretty much to the standard Weber formula -- a hundred or so pages of basic setup and introduction to the characters and setting, another few hundred pages of politics, plotting, steadily increasing tension between the two sides, a hundred pages or so of the preparations for war/battle, and then in the last hundred pages or so the fireworks happen and all that setup pays off in the Big Decisive Battle. Personally, I happen to enjoy the standard Weber formula for a novel, and this one was no exception, especially given the novelty of a new world and new. characters and the difference in technology levels (old fashioned sea navies and early cannon battles, as opposed to far future space navies and ever more powerful missiles and sensors). Not everyone does, however.
Therefore, I present the tl;dr version of this review. If you like the Weber formula, you will enjoy this book. If you don't, your enjoyment will be much less certain but it might be worth a try anyway. Just to be sure.
That said, this book still sticks pretty much to the standard Weber formula -- a hundred or so pages of basic setup and introduction to the characters and setting, another few hundred pages of politics, plotting, steadily increasing tension between the two sides, a hundred pages or so of the preparations for war/battle, and then in the last hundred pages or so the fireworks happen and all that setup pays off in the Big Decisive Battle. Personally, I happen to enjoy the standard Weber formula for a novel, and this one was no exception, especially given the novelty of a new world and new. characters and the difference in technology levels (old fashioned sea navies and early cannon battles, as opposed to far future space navies and ever more powerful missiles and sensors). Not everyone does, however.
Therefore, I present the tl;dr version of this review. If you like the Weber formula, you will enjoy this book. If you don't, your enjoyment will be much less certain but it might be worth a try anyway. Just to be sure.
Fantastic character development with a very intriguing fantasy/sci-fi mixed environment.
Definitely for readers who like world building and the methodical progress of stories. Very well written with a lot of political, emotional, and thematic dynamics
Definitely for readers who like world building and the methodical progress of stories. Very well written with a lot of political, emotional, and thematic dynamics
This book features a very long (44 pages!) prologue, and a slow start afterwards. There's more set up, talking, and politics than feels absolutely necessary. But it did pick up, plunging right into intrigue, assassinations, and sea battles.
The cast of characters is large, and many aren't well developed, but a few are. As many books as this series has, I suspect more development will follow. The set up, though drawn out, leaves room for multiple levels of conflict and world-building. I'm curious enough to try book 2.
The cast of characters is large, and many aren't well developed, but a few are. As many books as this series has, I suspect more development will follow. The set up, though drawn out, leaves room for multiple levels of conflict and world-building. I'm curious enough to try book 2.
Very well written. However, I didn't enjoy the storyline, probably just too military for my taste.