By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.43 You Save: $21.52 (83%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.28 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of By Schism Rent Asunder
Book Review: Good but not great
Summary: 4 Stars
The 2nd book in David Weber's Safehold series is a good book but somehow not as satisfying as the first installment. Perhaps it is the fact that with the crushing Charis victory over the Church's assembled navy in the last book there is no longer a sense of "certain" doom hovering over Charis. There is nothing left to threaten Charis proper and the tension of the last book is not there. In fact, Charis will clearly be the uncontested ruler of the Safehold seas for several years at least, and probably longer when the Church starts rebuilding a navy of dubious worth.
There are several interesting revelations, and Merlin does finally come completely clean with Cayleb as well as another, rather suprising, character. There is also of course Cayleb's marriage to the queen of Chisholm which will definetly have ramifications all through the rest of the books.
Fans of epic naval battles will probably be dissapointed, and in general, there isnt as much action as I had hoped.
There IS a lot of setup for the following book, a look at some people and POVs that we hadnt seen before and will probably play a large role in future books.
Overall, I liked the book and will definetly buy the next book in the series. Especially to see how all the events started in this book fall out.
Book Review: fun reading
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is second in series. You can read alone but much better if read in sequence. It is entertaining, fun read with good battle scenes and development of continued theme. The analogy to the protestent revolution and heavy handed reference to the evil of hieracal religous organizations may put off some, especially catholics. But if you can ignore the moral lectures and focus instead on a battle of the individual over meglomaniac driven social structures it includes wonderful battles, triumph of good over evil and David versus Goliath wars, where David grows into his own as a new power on the horizon.
This book maintains the standards David Weber has demonstrated in the past. It is not one of his best novels; but is solidly in the overall grouping. If you like other books by David go for it, although I would generally recomend the Honor Harrington series as better (except for the latest "Storm from the Shadows" in that series which was a terrible dissapointment)
A good fun read, try Honor Harrinbgton series first as introduction to David Weber but if you loved those , you will like this series.
Book Review: Setting things up for the future
Summary: 4 Stars
I don't want to give any of the story line away (unlike others!), so I'll remain vague. The focus in this book moves away from Merlin and toward the developing schism between Charis and Zion. It reads like the midgame in chess in which the pieces are being moved around in order to set up the endgame. Although some in the Church (read: Clyntyn) seems to take the occasional shot with his queen deep into enemy territory, these moves don't pay off just like they rarely do in a chess game.
Cayleb is astutely arranging for the future which means that the story can appear a bit slow at times (as others have noted). But, I appreciated the growth of the characters from caricatures to full-blown individuals. It all has me wondering where this is all going to end up. I hope that David eventually takes us forward to the inevitable conflict with the Gbaba!
Book Review: Building a background, but no climatic battles
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the second book of the Safehold series, following the novel Off Armageddon Reef. From discussions on Baen's Bar website, the author has (at least) a seven book contract for this series. This volume is primarily setting the stage for the climatic battles for which Weber is famous and is mostly concerned with political alliances of lands and individuals for the big showdown. For this reason, I gave it only four stars.
The third book (By Heresies Distressed) is supposed to have some major battles involving the growth and consolidation of the Empire. However, the major showdown with the "Group of Four" and Mother Church is quite a few thousand words away. Hopefully, the quality of those words will maintain Weber's usual high standard.
Book Review: I have really enjoyed this series so far
Summary: 4 Stars
Mr. Weber has taken a bit of a left turn in producing this series but I have really enjoyed it so far. He has moved away from the space opera format that served him well in the Honor Harrington and Bug Wars but I have really enjoyed his character development and plot twists that he has in this series. I sat down and read book two in about 1 1/2 days and came away convinced that it is one of the best books I have read this year. I am eagerly awaiting #3
For someone looking at this series to read it is a combination of revolt in 2100 meets the day after tomorrow by Heinlein in a lot more detail. I think if you come into this series without any preconceptions of what a Weber book is you will enjoy the series