Like a Mighty Army: Safehold, Book 7

This had fewer completely asinine plot holes than the last. I've read all in the series up to Hell's Foundations. Although "read" is a bit strong. There is WAY, WAY! too much nattering insignificant detail - just pads the word count (Weber must be paid by the word, or perhaps he is under contract to deliver a manuscript with at least X number of words or pages. I hope he isn't doing it to just annoy his audience.) OTOH, I do find some of the background info interesting, it (*some* of it) gives the action more context, when he writes about leaking valves or getting a cart through the mud, but some of it is just way too much of nothing. I've taken to almost completely ignoring the sections written from the pro-Temple point of view, the book is less painful to progress through that way. But even with that, there's just too much about how many hills are on the left of the road, and whether there's a ditch on the right, how many leaves are on the trees. This is the 7th book of the series, and I'm still with it, so it can't be that bad. OTOH, if it was that good, I would be reading every word. This book is, imho, written a lot better than the last (which I gave one star). It still has one absolutely horrible plot element where a box is allowed to be placed within a couple of yards of a main character without being inspected. It couldn't be any more lame than that. Guard:"Whatcha got there?" Villian:"Oh, just ignore that large box, obviously it can't be anything dangerous" Guard: "OK, you may pass. Be sure to get a front row seat!" It's utter rubbish. The good part is that is the only BIG hole (there are a couple of other scenes that send the plot in the direction that Weber obviously wanted it to go that made little sense, but that is by far the one that wasn't even plausibly stupid.(note: I've altered the situation slightly, but not significantly, it shouldn't be a spoiler, I hope).) I recommend skipping any pro-temple section over a couple of paragraphs. You won't miss anything, imho. Or if you want, only read the dialogs in those sections. You also might want to skip the narrative paragraphs which contain no dialog, especially if they start describing the scenery. I got sick of them very quickly. The only other silly plot line was the sudden appearance of a female action hero. Her debut has her at 5'4" beating the tar out of some 6' 200 lb bully-boy in front of an audience! Yeah, no. Totally ridiculous. I will admit that young readers may accept this nonsense, since they see so much just like it on TV or in the movies now days. But it happens in the book. Is the heroine worried that her cover is blown and she'll be regarded as a demon? Of course not! I mean, Safehold is all about the Equal Rights for Women. In a way, her beating up the thug is disrespectful of the problems that women face in the (real world) workforce. It isn't the obvious difference in physical strength and size that forms the basis of discrimination, it is the discrimination in the actions, opinions and expectations of the woman's co-workers, underlings, and superiors. Women don't "fix" that by arm wrestling some guy twice their size. But I digress. Much better than Midst Toil, still isn't up to what he used to be able to write, when he still was trying. Actually, I am amazed how much technical detail he seems to have mastered. Makes me wonder whether he's writing this all himself. My guess is he's had a LOT of help (discussions about firearms, steel making, etc.). Perhaps that explains some of the really weak points. Alzheimers, drug addiction are alternative possibilities. Weber still seems to be unable to create dialogs which are either not sarcastic, jokey, and bluntly honest OR angry and sadistically threatening - its one or the other. Everybody speaks that way, right? You'll also see a continuation of the overuse of pat phrases "With all due respect, ..." and "Forgive me, your Grace/Majesty/Highness" and about two dozen others and the implausible "reading of eyes" wherein character A can intuit exactly how character B is feeling by looking deeply into his/her eyes. Magic - Just ask HW about looking into Putin's soul...Silly and the count of the times someone's eyes "speak" in this series is about 3000% too high. And my last complaint is that without detailed topographical maps, his excessive description of the terrain and troop placements are, to me, totally useless. I've read some good military history which allowed the audience to understand what is happening. If that was Weber's intent (and the only other intention I can think of is to pad the word count), then he's failed, at least with this reader (I consider myself to have above average 3D visualization abilities (and I've tested highly in that), but his descriptions leave me having to ignore entire sections as meaningless blah, blah.). I guess the only other thing I'd mention is that Weber leaves characters behind. A key character (oh, say a spymaster) in one book seems to have zero contributions in following books. Oh, one more thing: it is IRONIC that supposedly Merlin is teaching Safeholdians about the scientific method and to be curious, and yet there is one character who has inexplicable abilities, and Merlin just ignores her. (You know who I mean if you've read the previous books). "Oh, her? Yeah, I'm astounded she could do that. What? Am I curious? No, not really. Don't want to be impolite or suspicious (after all, I've looked into her eyes...).

I bought all the books, in hardcover, as soon as they were released, until the 7th one. I bought that one on Kindle, and it is the last one for me. I'm now an elderly woman, I doubt I'll live long enough to find out what happens to the people of Safehold, nor do I care any longer. I love series usually. I have the complete Wheel of Time, thanks to Brandon Sanderson completing it. And I own thirty four of the books in the "In Death" series. But in each of the series I've enjoyed, each book in the series contained a complete story arc and climax. This series has become like one huge book, divided up into six or seven hundred pages released once every twelve or so months. At this rate, I'm guessing it will take 40+ books or more to bring Safeholdian civilization back up to the level necessary for resolution of the war with the Gbaba. Over 15% of the last Kindle book was a glossary. If I had realized this was the author's plan, I wouldn't have started it. Luckily, I have never read any of his other work and won't waste any more of my time. There are so many authors writing excellent military sci-fi, this series is no longer worth my time or money.

I've really enjoyed the imaginative and unique premise for this series as manages to mix Sci-Fi, religion, technology new and old and deep character development.The problem, however, is that the story is moving at a pace best described as "glacial". 600 or so pages in this, the 7th book and we readers are only incrementally farther along that we were 3-4 books ago. At this pace it might literally take another several just to confront the Mother Church on its own grounds, never mind explore lifting its oppressiveness in an effort to get humanity back on its feet and on the offensive.In short, a great and unique story by a gifted author who tends to ever more get bogged down in minutiae and excruciatingly irrelevant detail. Tom Clancy was able to delve deeply into detail & tech, yet still kept the story from stagnating. Since we tend to see about one of these books a year I'm concerned that either the author or too many readers may expire before we actually get to experience some real forward movement in the storyline.C'mon, Mr. Weber, get the story MOVING!!

In this seventh installment in the "Safehold" series in which the major character up to now has been Merlin Athrawes, a.k.a. Nimue Alban, the land war in Siddarmark continues while people on both sides of the war are making more and more use of their own minds, something which the evil "Church of God Awaiting" wanted to stop. And there is one big surprise in the book, which the front cover nearly, but not quite, gives away.Some people love this series and others hate it. If you read this author mainly for his high-tech space battles, such as those in the Honor Harrington universe which kicks off with " On Basilisk Station (Honorverse) " you should probably leave the "Safehold" series alone.Here is a possible test for whether you will like the "Safehold" series. If you play computer games or board games, the likelihood that you will enjoy this series is directly proportional to the pleasure you get from playing Sid Meier's Civilisation (link:  Sid Meier's Civilization V ) or similar games. The heroine of this series is doing what the successful Civ player has to do: shepherd a nation surrounded by enemies one step at a time from a pre-industrial era with muscle-powered weapons and units such as swordsmen and galleys through increasingly advanced periods of history and up to the space age while balancing the competing demands of defence against hostile powers, economic development, and scientific research, and simultaneously juggling politics, culture and religion.Like previous novels in the series this is another massive doorstop of a book, with eight pages of maps and 567 pages of story followed by another 88 pages of appendices (particularly a full character index of everyone in the first seven books.) So you may be surprised to hit the end of the novel when there is still more than half a centimetre of pages to go in the hardback, or when the progress bar at the bottom of the page on the kindle reaches about 85%. However, the editing of this volume was a bit tighter than some previous installments, and the author is showing clearer signs that he knows how to move the story forward.If you're going to read this series, don't begin with this book: start at the beginning and work through in order. The seven "Nimue Alban"/Safehold books published to date are:1)  Off Armageddon Reef 2)  By Schism Rent Asunder 3)  By Heresies Distressed 4)  A Mighty Fortress (Safehold 4) 5)  How Firm a Foundation (Safehold) 6) " Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold) "7) This book, "Like a Mighty Army"Not all the ideas are new: the story is a re-working of concepts from Weber's earlier books, particularly the Dahak trilogy "Mutineer's Moon," "The Armageddon Inheritance" and "Heirs Of Empire." (That trilogy has also been published in one book as " Empire from the Ashes ".) But IMHO Weber uses the experience he has gained in the meantime to re-use the same basic ideas more effectively and with some original twists.For example, the Gbaba alien attackers who are at war against humanity at the start of the first book, and the threat of whom hangs over subsequent books, will remind many Weber fans of the Kangas from " The Apocalypse Troll " and even more of the Achuultani from the "Dahak" trilogy.The anti-technological church which the heroes and heroines are struggling against throughout the first seven books, and at least one or two to come before it is time to face the Gbaba again, bears a striking resemblance to the church on Pardal in "Heirs of Empire," the third book in the Dahak trilogy. But in both cases the presentation of those ideas is better done.None of the statements in this review are spoilers for "Like a Mighty Army" but the following comments about the setting of this seventh book may infer more than you want to know about the outcomes of the six previous books if you have not read them yet. If that is the case I suggest you navigate to the page for "Off Armageddon Reef" or the first book you have not yet read (see links above) without reading further here.The basic idea for the series begins in the 25th century, when humanity finds evidence that other intelligent races have recently existed on nearby stars but that a xenophobic alien race is exterminating them. The Terran Federation has just enough warning to make a fight of it when that enemy, the Gbaba, finds us and attacks ten years later. The war lasts fifty years - but towards the end of that time it is obvious that humanity is losing.Operation Ark, a final desperate attempt to plant a colony thousands of light years away from the area patrolled by the enemy, is launched. If they succeed, the colonists will face a choice: try to build a civilisation powerful enough to defeat the Gbaba, or abandon any technology which might attract their attentions and simply hide.The anti-technological faction in the leadership of the new colony win, and set up on the planet "Safehold" a totalitarian theocracy whose main aim is to stifle any technical change. For eight hundred years nobody on the planet knew that it was a colony, that humanity has a deadly enemy out among the stars, or that the real reason for the ban on technology was not God's command but to avoid attracting the attention of that enemy.However, eight hundred years after the founding of Safehold, a cyborg was activated with the mind and memories of Lieutenant-Commander Nimue Alban, a brilliant tactician who had been one of the thousands of people who gave their lives that the colony fleet could get through. When the corrupt leaders of the church attempted to destroy the nation of Charis for being too innovative, Nimue adopted the persona of "Merlin Athrawes," a warrior mystic, and helped them to defeat the initial church invasion.At the start of the fifth book, through a mixture of war and brilliant diplomacy, Cayleb, the young King of Charis, had with Merlin's assistance created and consolidated an empire comprising most of the maritime island nations in the part of Safehold around his original kingdom. As Charis controls the islands and the seas, while the corrupt leaders of the Temple dominate the main landmass, we appeared to have the same sort of stalemate as when the Royal Navy of Nelson's time dominated the seas while Napoleon's Army dominated the land.But then during the fifth book the villain of the series, Grand Inquisitor Clyntahn, attempted to overthrow the government of the Republic of Siddarmark on the main landmass. Beset by "Temple Loyalist" rebels and facing huge invading forces of the Temple's so-called "Army of God" the position of those loyal to the Republic of Siddarmark looks desperate. But if Charis can help them hold on, a foothold for the good guys in Siddarhark will provide them with an invasion route to the Temple itself.The sixth book described the first year's desperate campaigning in the massive land war which follows. But by the start of "Like a mighty army" loyal Siddarmark forces and their allies from Charis have held off the "Army of God" for that first year - long enough for the dynamics of the war to change.One of the things that David Weber is best at is describing events, both diplomatic confrontations and wars, from the perspective of various viewpoint characters on different sides. In this series there is a particular added element to this - the "Good Guys" don't just need to win the war, they also need to start people on the other side THINKING for themselves so that the people of Safehold may become ready to learn the truth about the massive lies they have been sold, the real history of the planet, and the true enemy of every human which is waiting out beyong the stars. Previous stories have had sub-plots showing various people on the wrong side start to think for themselves - sometimes paying a very heavy price for it. Some of those characters had to change sides, some began to walk a tightrope between what they think is right and bringing the wrath of the Inquisition down on themselves and their families.Let's just say that one or two more characters who start out loyal to the temple and the old ways of doing things have an epiphany in this book.If you are only interested in getting back to the space battles, you may agree with the other reviewer who referred to this book as "filler." If however you have any interest in land warfare between the 16th and 19th centuries, and what happened when different military technologies clashed, you may find it fascinating. At this stage of the story the good guys are still rolling out, training and equipping their forces with tactics and weapons roughly correspond to those between the American Civil War and late 19th century while the "Church of God Awaiting" has, mostly with the aid of captured and stolen Charisian designs, equipped their forces to roughly the technological level of the Napoleonic era. And one or two people working for the church have come up with their own new weapons, not necessarily inferior to those of Charis ...The author's depiction of how the pressure of war might spur the two competing society to modernise their economies, war production, weaponry and tactics is covered in enormous detail. Personally I found most of this detail interesting, but had to skim through a few passages where the detail didn't do anything for me or appear central to the plot. There will be more than a few readers who find that all this detail makes the story far too slow.This book will probably, like the last two or three in this series or "Storm from the Shadows" in the author's "Honor Harrington" universe, be one of the books which a significant part of the author's fanbase hate because there are not enough space or high tech battles. But I think most of those who have enjoyed the previous books in this series will enjoy it. On Basilisk Station (Honorverse)Sid Meier's Civilization VOff Armageddon ReefBy Schism Rent AsunderBy Heresies DistressedA Mighty Fortress (Safehold 4)How Firm a Foundation (Safehold)Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold)Empire from the AshesThe Apocalypse Troll

The story plot(s) continue. As with the other books, some slow passages but not for too long. As with this whole series, a bewildering array of personae dramatis and when a new chapter mentions someone again, it's difficult to remember if this person is a goodie or baddie! There's a lot of detail in the plot so the progress with the long term plot (vicious aliens determined to wipe out humankind) is slow. Still enjoyable.

The first book in this series, Off Armageddon Reef, was truly outstanding. But really Mr. Weber should have stopped there. Sadly, I'm hooked albeit I wait until the paperback price has dropped to a fiver before I buy. The series is suffering from worditis - a voluminous out-pouring of Mr. Weber's thoughts which at times meander all over the place. In this book, he introduces pointless characters, utterly boring descriptions of the economies of Charisia in particular, detail on the finer points of how to generate an industrial revolution, the development of a military/industrial complex in a feudal society: and advances the whole story line infinitesimally.Want to know what happens? Another avatar of Nimue is created, for no real reason other than to allow Athrawes to be in more places at the same time, there is ever increasing use of technology, despite fear of whatever is hidden beneath the Citadel; and the boys from Charisia and Chisholm start to do rather well in the war against the Faithful. Er - that's it.What saves the book are Mr. Weber's always excellent battle descriptions and the overall marvellous story arc. I fear however that at this rate I'll be long retired before we find out if humanity ever drags itself out of the 15th century in a fit shape to tackle the aliens.Buy this book cheaply and persevere to the end: better still, borrow it from someone because you'll never read it again. But you'll be happy that you read it once.

This continues the story of the last remaining human outpost, hidden on the obscure planet named Safehold after the genocidal attentions of the alien Gbaba. To keep the planet unnoticed and make sure that its nascent civilisation would not call attention to itself by emitting radio signals, the paranoidal group that seized violent control of it after it was settled, locked the civilisation into a pre-technical theocracy, called the "Church of God Awaiting". They enforced their control by setting up a system of technology censoring called the Inquisition – with all that implies. Unfortunately, the ruling theocrats have become corrupt, and the Inquisition is being used to ensure that the cozy lifestyle of the Church rulers is not threatened. Religious schism and rebellion inevitably occur, assisted by the last remnants of the high technology that had founded the planet. As the book starts, the rebels are facing a huge assault in the Holy War instituted by the "Group of Four" who control the Church, and humanity's future hangs in the balance.The book is intricately plotted, but it is well written and the many threads of the story are interwoven without losing clarity. It majors on action, not character development, and on that, you cannot fault it. I was personally happy to discover that Hector Aplyn-Ahrmahk survived the attentions of the ungodly, and I am looking forward to the next installment.

I've been reading Safehold from the start so i'm used to all the characters and Weber's storylines,but,so many pages wasted with 2 guys talking about how the new guns will fire or how to bore out the new cannons. I mean,literally hundreds of pages,chapter after chapter with unnecessary (in my view) talk. I know this is a big and epic series,but cut it down a bit.As usual,the bits with Merlin,Caleb and especially now with Irys and Hektor (which are just lovely)are brilliant,the battles brilliantly described but,oh my gods,this one is slower than Midst Toil...Regardless,i cant stop reading Safehold until the series is done.Hopefully the next book wont be so...boring?!?!