Customer Reviews

The Armageddon Inheritance

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The Armageddon Inheritance is the second book in a series that so far stretches three books. The series begins with Mutineers' Moon and concludes, so far, with Heirs of Empire. Often middle books are just a bridge from a great beginning to a great ending. Not so with Armageddon Inheritance. This is, in my opinion, the best of the three books in this series. This is also a relatively short novel, a mere 344 pages (Baen paperback edition). I don't think that this is an accident. David Weber is a fun author who has a great deal of talent. I do believe, however, that his best books are his shortest ones. This is true with his Honor Harrington series as well. Strip the fat away and there is only a lean mean story left.

This book takes place after the suppression of the fifty one thousand year old mutiny by Anu, see Mutineers' Moon. Humanity, with the great Spaceship Dahak captained by Colin MacIntyre in the lead, must prepare for the imminent invasion of the Achuultani. The Achuultani are to humanity what locus are to corn. Get enough of them together and Humans and everything they rely upon to exist ceases to exist. The Achuultani's only purpose seems to be to sweep the Galaxy in cycles stretching millennia and exterminating all life. I can't tell you why, but you can find out in the book.

The book is handled as a split novel. Half of the book covers Colin and crew aboard Dahak searching for aid from a possibly extinct Imperium and Horus staying on earth preparing for the imminent invasion.

The novel is non-stop and very exciting. The book has two climatic points that would have served as a books climax by themselves. I can't really tell you what happened after all but I can tell you that enough of humanity survives to provide a third book in the series. I can also strongly recommend this book. It would be helpful to read the first book before attempting to enjoy this one but I do not think it is necessary. Have fun!

What a book! Imaginative, well written, funny in places, sad in others. Why aren't David Weber's books published in England? I have to go to America to buy them! The storyline of this book was great, revolving around Colin MacIntyre's journey across the Galaxy to find more Imperial Starships to fight off the genocidal Achuultani, culminating in a really great ending. (I won't say what happens though!) The characters developed in Mutineer's Moon are explored in greater depth in this second volume of his series. Anyone reading this review- don't. Just go and buy the book. I'll give you all the encouragement you need.

This book is the middle one in a trilogy, commencing with Mutineer's Moon and ending with Heirs of Empire. Weber wrote these in the early 90s and never extended these, as of 2007. He has certainly been busy writing much else in science fiction.

But it turns out that this year, 2007, he has recast this trilogy in a new series, that starts with "Off Armageddon Reef". The latter just came out, in hardcover, and is ubiquitous in many bookstores. A far more numerous presence than those earlier books, when they first came out.

The overlap in the basic premises between the trilogy and OAR is striking. Out there in space is a genocidal race, deploying immense fleets. A mortal threat to humans. The opening chapter in OAR talks about 24th century humans, being destroyed on its worlds by far more numerous fleets. In Armageddon Inheritance, we see in a different universe how this conflict might have gone otherwise. Here, the enemy fleets are millions strong. But Weber writes ingeniously, in the tradition of grand space opera, of an embattled human fleet, that takes them on and wins, at least for now. Readers of OAR who gritted their teeth at the human defeat can read a different conclusion.

I do wonder at the coincidence of "Armageddon" in this book's title and in OAR. The plots clearly overlap. Was this recurrent word an explicit hint to the reader?

If you have read OAR, but not this trilogy, and are waiting for Weber to write more in the new series, then you should check out these books.

I first discovered David Weber via "Path of the Fury." It was an amazing book, with excellent, well thought out technical writing along with more wonderful use of language than I have come across in most all of my reading (which is a lot!). My second book, "Mutineer's Moon" lived up to the same standards. However, Weber's use of language unfortunately doesn't stand up in "Armegadon". Excellent story, but had I not read "Moon" first, I would have been somewhat lost in characters and plot. I will definately read more Weber, hoping for more of the first two examples of his work.

The Armageddon Inheritance (1993) is the second novel in the Dahak series, following Mutineers' Moon. In the previous novel, Senior FleetCaptain Colin McIntyre, Imperial Battle Fleet, and former Lieutenant Commander, USN, has led the assault against the mutineers' enclave and has singlehandedly defeated Anu, launching him in a lifeboat toward the Dahak. Having identified the occupant of the lifeboat as the only remaining mutineer at large, the Dahak had let it come within the five thousand kilometer kill zone, destroyed it with a single burst of energy, and then marked its Alpha Priority task as completed. Two months later, Colin has pronounced himself Planetary Governor, re-established peace, appointed a Lieutenant Governor and Imperial Councilors to run the planet, executed all the unrepentant mutineers, created an Imperial technological and industrial base, and prepared to embark on a mission to find the lost empire.

In this novel, the hypercom transmitter has been repaired and used to broadcast to all Imperial stations, but has not received any responses. Colin takes the Dahak to Sheskar, the nearest known Imperial military base, but finds it has been destroyed by weapon fire, probably in a civil war. They then travel to Defram, but find it completely devoid of life; they speculate that this was caused by a biological weapon. Before leaving the immediate vicinity, they go to Kano, a nearby star, and are greeted with sublight missiles; after destroying the opposing orbital installations, they discover that the planet, Keerah, is also devoid of life, but one of the orbital stations still contains plants in its hydroponics facility. Sending a volunteer aboard, they find valuable information and equipment. From there, they travel to the Bia system and the Imperial capital, Birhat.

Back on Earth, Horus and the Imperial Council direct a vigorous program of retooling and rearming with Imperial technology to meet the threat of the Achuultani. The Supreme Chiefs of Staff expands to nine members, co-opts Marshal Tsien of the Asian Alliance, and directs him to select three others from the Alliance. The Planetary and Orbital Defense Centers are almost on schedule when an attempted coup by Alliance officers severely wounds General Hatcher, the Chairman of the Supreme Chiefs, so he appoints Marshall Tsien as the Acting Chairman. Deeply shamed by the mutiny of his own officers, Tsien promptly, and thoroughly, quells the attempted coup. However, two Asian PDCs have been sabotaged and fall far behind schedule. Although other problems occur, Earth should be ready to defeat the first assault by the enemy advance party, but probably will not be able to withstand the following attacks by the vanguard and the main force unless Colin can bring reinforcements from the empire.

This novel has a basic plot much like the Ringo's Legacy of the Alldenata series, but without the ground combat, or like Dickson's Hour of the Horde. For that matter, it is much like an old western, with the settlers circling their wagons and the scout riding off to get the cavalry. Obviously, the enjoyment comes from the details, which have the precision and realism that we have come to expect from Weber.

Recommended for Weber fans and anyone who enjoys realistic space war stories.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This was my first DW book, and it made a lot more sense after I read Mutineers' Moon. In this book, Senior Fleet Captain Colin MacIntyre, having defeated the mutineers and restored the Imperial Planetoid Dahak to working order, goes off to find as much of the Fifth Imperium Battle Fleet as he can, because the Achuultani have returned, and this time, they're going to finish the job. But at the first few stops he makes, certain clues lead Colin to suspect an unthinkable conclusion--maybe the Achuultani aren't the only danger to the Imperium this Galaxy holds! Finally, Colin decides the heck with it and sets sail for the capital system, where he's sure to find someone who can help him, right? Those who are into Solar geography will be pleased or outraged as Weber "juggles borders," while tipping a hat to Arthur C. Clarke's 2001. The battle scenes are very realistic (as far as the word "realitic" can apply between starship battles) and the human interest is very touching. Those readers who are active Whovians will recognize the obvious ripoff--the names have been changed to avoid copyright infringement. For those of you who like battles, bureaucracy, alien enemies, and imponderables like how a Galactic Imperium fifty-odd thousand years ahead of us can fall apart in a matter of months--without the Achuultani's help--then this book is for you!

This was the first David Weber book I read, and it is still my favorite of all books I have ever read, and that number is legion. In the military sci-fi triumvirate of Drake, Stirling and Weber, Mr. Weber reigns supreme. When the sublight parasite battleship Nergal refuses assistance and lands on her own power after a fierce battle, your heart will swell as if John Williams had written a score to the prose. When frightened morons sabotage installations out of spite while the greatest enemy humanity has ever known is bearing down on them, your hands will clench with rage. And when the heavens are ablaze with gravitonic fire and starships are burning in the blackness of space you will flip pages faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo. Not only will you read about glory and duty and honor, but the true cost of aggression and war. Only David Drake can match the horror of a battlefield's aftermath; while so many books and TV shows and movies show a joyous celebration with diverse liquors and singing and such, in reality people are dead and families are shattered. Too many hours of DOOM can make you want to kill, but only an author of Mr. Weber's prodigious talent will send you off to fight with courage and with sadness. I wish I had space to discuss the incredible universe he has created, with the dead Fourth Imperium living on in ghostly remnants or of the valiant struggle the ageless Imperials have waged to safeguard humanity through millenia of loneliness. If you read only one book in your life, read this one. And then read the rest. You won't regret it

Fast paced, imaginative and intense, this books is a page turner that never stops for you to catch your breath! Alien ships of immense size, technology thousands of years advanced..this book has it all! Simply...the best.

This is the 2nd book from the "Empire from the Ashes" Trilogy. It is a fast-paced and fun read.

It is an improvement in virtually every way versus the original book from the Trilogy - Mutineer's Moon, which was a decent offering itself. It is larger, faster-paced, and has a less confusing presentation. Especially improved is the "maturity level" of the writing style, which was a definate sore spot in the first book, but which still could stand some improvement here. Another major advancement is in the area of Earth-bound politics - the first book was published in 1991, and still carried a lot of Cold War baggage, this book came out in 1994, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, so there are less political non-sequitors.

Dahak's evolution into a sentient being is one of the highlights of the book... along with numerous and exciting battle scenes. The Achuultani are interesting and worthy alien enemies, and many surprises await potential readers(I don't want to spoil the ending).

Another point worth commenting on, this trilogy appears to offer enough material to form the basis for a television series, and possibly even a feature-length movie or two.

I'm looking forward to getting started on the final and largest book from this trilogy - Heirs of Empire.

This book was almost perfect for me. It was the first book I've read where mysterious and power beings come into our contemporary world (I did not read Mutineer's Moon beforehand.). Thousands, even millions of warships each with the firepower to render Earth lifeless slug it out in glorious, titanic battles. That is the stuff I love the most. However, I believe that the negative impact of the sudden introduction of Imperium technology was unrealistic. People should have been ecstatic not panicked by the sudden boon of advanced technology. If you suddenly told people today that an alien library containing advanced knowledge have been found and that would allow space travel, tripled lifespan, eradication of all diseases and health concerns that currently trouble us, and not to mention technology that would allow us to avoid annihilation, we would throw a bigger party than the one we are hosting for the Millenium! Of course if you are a Neo-Luddite. . .