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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really have mixed feelings about Off Armageddon Reef the first book in the Safehold series. Mind you, this is the first of what is already 10 books in an ongoing series, all of which are between 500 and 800 pages. I felt a bit bamboozled by this book. It started out as a Interstellar SciFi novel about an aggressive alien species, and quickly turned into what amounted to a kind of historical fiction set in the 18th century, albeit on a different planet.
I won't say that the book was bad. Although the beginning was extremely slow and boring when it wasn't focused on the main character of Merlin. It just wasn't what I was expecting. It did pick up about halfway through, once Weber had laid the foundation, and there wasn't a focus on so many different characters.
The biggest problem with this book, there are a lot of characters. I mean, so many characters. To make it worse, they all had really weird spellings, but some were unnecessarily weird spellings of common names. Zhenyfyr instead of Jennifer, Haarahld instead of Harold, Fraidareck instead of Frederick. The back of the book has around 10 pages of glossary with character names and about 25 names per page, so probably around 250 characters. I think I remember maybe 8 of them.
There are also a lot of naval terms and descriptions. David Weber really did his homework here, or else he was really good at faking it. I feel like I need to put in a few years on a navy ship in order to understand much of what was being said.
Overall, I did like the book, but only in the second half, which accounts for the lower score. The character of Merlin was an interesting take on a well known character. Also, the idea of how changes in technology could quickly alter the balance of power was an interesting concept to watch unfold in real-time.
I won't say that the book was bad. Although the beginning was extremely slow and boring when it wasn't focused on the main character of Merlin. It just wasn't what I was expecting. It did pick up about halfway through, once Weber had laid the foundation, and there wasn't a focus on so many different characters.
The biggest problem with this book, there are a lot of characters. I mean, so many characters. To make it worse, they all had really weird spellings, but some were unnecessarily weird spellings of common names. Zhenyfyr instead of Jennifer, Haarahld instead of Harold, Fraidareck instead of Frederick. The back of the book has around 10 pages of glossary with character names and about 25 names per page, so probably around 250 characters. I think I remember maybe 8 of them.
There are also a lot of naval terms and descriptions. David Weber really did his homework here, or else he was really good at faking it. I feel like I need to put in a few years on a navy ship in order to understand much of what was being said.
Overall, I did like the book, but only in the second half, which accounts for the lower score. The character of Merlin was an interesting take on a well known character. Also, the idea of how changes in technology could quickly alter the balance of power was an interesting concept to watch unfold in real-time.
Not the best written book, but interesting setup and fun story.
This riveting novel combines elements of science fiction, fantasy, and naval historical novel into one slam-bang adventure. Coming in at a daunting 772 pages in paperback, I felt a little overwhelmed when a trusted friend put a copy in my hands and told me I'd love it. He was right: once the author got the pieces into the place and story started cranking, I couldn't put this novel down.
Recommended for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Isaac Asimov, and George R.R. Martin.
Recommended for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Isaac Asimov, and George R.R. Martin.
Ah, David Weber. You do write compelling military drama. And no unnecessary romantic subplots!
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.
It's exactly what I expected from Weber. He does what he does best, which is wide-scale political intrigue with a strong military background. The universe premise is SF, although the actual book is much more fantasy than anything else. Much like the Prince Roger series, a medieval civilization is greatly advanced by an outsider with vastly more technical knowledge. In fact, the whole naval emphasis gave me an eerie sense of deja-vu, as it parallels much of the March to the Stars "uplift".
As usual, the grand plot and military actions are the strengths of this book. The characters are standard, with the usual Weber do-gooders and villains. And of course, there is a deluge of characters thrown at you straightaway. They all have incomprehensible names that look alike, which made the book much harder to get into. After the clean writing in Heroes Die, it took a while to get into Off Armageddon Reef, but once I was re-accustomed to Weber's style, it was smooth sailing.
As usual, the grand plot and military actions are the strengths of this book. The characters are standard, with the usual Weber do-gooders and villains. And of course, there is a deluge of characters thrown at you straightaway. They all have incomprehensible names that look alike, which made the book much harder to get into. After the clean writing in Heroes Die, it took a while to get into Off Armageddon Reef, but once I was re-accustomed to Weber's style, it was smooth sailing.
Bien qu'éloigné de ce que je qualifierai personnelement de SF, excepté certains points, ça reste un bon roman de gare, pour les gens qui aiment les intrigues politiques et/ou religieuse et le combat maritimes.
Sympatique.
Sympatique.
“Another thunderous rumble of thunder shook the palace.”
Unlike some works, you can see the author at work quite often here. It’s ambitious, and in later volumes the writing comes closer to matching that ambition. But really, you can practically see the flowchart of character influences, information disclosures and needful plot transitions beside the writing as this book info dumps its way into the world building and foundational character development needed to get to the events of later books.
Really, the biggest things going for this series are that it has an end in mind and it has great game diplomacy driven by the ever changing partial knowledge of the characters. It is not just a monster of the week open ended series like many authors’ main breadwinners, though it can feel like a Dragon-Ball-Z-esque grind through a never ending battle in the first few books.
Similarly, crucial info is not just a binary secret to public knowledge system like some diplomatic stories. Different groups know different mistruths at different times. In that way (and almost no others) it’s nearer to A Song of Ice & Fire than Shadow of the Hegemon. Somewhere near Wheel of Time levels of disparate information flow.
This should be required reading by any aspiring author who thinks they can whip out an epic series larger than a trilogy.
Unlike some works, you can see the author at work quite often here. It’s ambitious, and in later volumes the writing comes closer to matching that ambition. But really, you can practically see the flowchart of character influences, information disclosures and needful plot transitions beside the writing as this book info dumps its way into the world building and foundational character development needed to get to the events of later books.
Really, the biggest things going for this series are that it has an end in mind and it has great game diplomacy driven by the ever changing partial knowledge of the characters. It is not just a monster of the week open ended series like many authors’ main breadwinners, though it can feel like a Dragon-Ball-Z-esque grind through a never ending battle in the first few books.
Similarly, crucial info is not just a binary secret to public knowledge system like some diplomatic stories. Different groups know different mistruths at different times. In that way (and almost no others) it’s nearer to A Song of Ice & Fire than Shadow of the Hegemon. Somewhere near Wheel of Time levels of disparate information flow.
This should be required reading by any aspiring author who thinks they can whip out an epic series larger than a trilogy.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Post-Earth Sci-Fi meets Pre-Enlightenment era technological innovation and naval warfare. That’s a sentence I haven’t heard before. This book starts with a space-faring Human civilization and then turns into a presentation on how religion can be fabricated and used to control the masses “for their own good”. The main character is somewhat overpowered, but he does still face losses and learning from those “lesser” than him. It’s fun to hear about the innovation of humanity even in a society that has been designed to crush it.