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172 of 193 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tedious, little action -- should be called "A Mighty Long-Winded Fortress", April 17, 2010
This review is from: A Mighty Fortress (Safehold Book 4) (Hardcover)
I'm a fan of David Weber's books, but not this one. Sometimes a book or movie starts with exceptional promise, but its sequels drift off course, and by the third or fourth you're wondering why you even bothered. That is, I'm sad to say, what has happened with the Safehold series. It's the Rocky VI of the Weberverse.
"A Mighty Fortress" is tedious and rambling, with extensive dissection of religious nuance and military logistics but little action or intrigue. Most of the elements that made the series worth reading in the first place have vanished. Most of what is left is buried beneath the leaden weight of a cast of hundreds, meaning each makes relatively brief appearances. (This is no exaggeration -- the list of characters at the end is 21 pages of single-spaced names. What was Weber thinking?)
If you like swordplay, look elsewhere. There is none. If you enjoy cannon-and-grappling-hook naval battles, don't bother. The first significant naval engagement happens, by my count, on page 509 of 690. By that time, your eyes have glazed over from 10-page disquisitions into the salient chemical properties of gunpowder. Or you've simply given up after reading word-for-word transcripts of Archbishop Maikel's sermons. It's no exaggeration to say I fell asleep at least twice reading what probably should be called "A Mighty Long-Winded Fortress."
We know Weber can do better. His Honor Harrington series remained a good read all the way through the most recent installment. Weber's Mutineers' Moon was a delight, as was his collaboration with Eric Flint on the 1632 series. And the Safehold universe remains the most intriguing intersection between advanced science and high fantasy I've ever encountered.
It's come to this: Weber badly needs an editor with the seniority to stand up to one of Tor's better-selling authors. This book would be excellent if it were cut by two-thirds and merged with its predecessor (By Heresies Distressed) and its sequel. As it is, with a few exceptions, the fourth Safehold book is about as entertaining as being forced at gunpoint to read John Galt's 70-page speech about Objectivist philosophy from Atlas Shrugged. Twice.
The problem is, as Merlin Athrawes might say, one of too much love. Weber has created a fascinating premise and dropped his characters into a dangerous universe. But along the way, he's come to love Safehold so much that he began writing more about the world -- its politics and its theology and its gunpowder manufacturing processes -- and forgot his readers are buying his books because they simply want to read a good story.
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96 of 106 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
500 Pages of Meeting Minutes, April 20, 2010
This review is from: A Mighty Fortress (Safehold Book 4) (Hardcover)
I'm a huge fan of Weber's previous work and found the Safehold series extremely compelling. And what's not to like? A lost human colony with 19th century technology is slowly being manipulated back towards modernity by an android with a love for constitutional democracy and a secret stash of gravtanks. But as so many other readers have noted, Weber offers us detail at the cost of action.
And by action, I don't just mean titanic battles or desperate sword fights. I'm about 200 pages into the book and nobody is really doing much of anything. It's not exaggerating to say the book has mostly consisted of chapter after chapter of meeting minutes.
I will certainly finish the latest installment to the Safehold series, since the story is still fundamentally sound and Weber can still take it (and us) in interesting directions. Having said that, A Mighty Fortress feels like something the author wrote as an assignment for his fans, rather than a work intended to entertain them.
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88 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Long on Talk, Short on Action: Weber needs an Editor! Cut to the Chase!, April 14, 2010
This review is from: A Mighty Fortress (Safehold Book 4) (Hardcover)
The Safehold Series has a fascinating premise:
Even with access to space age technology, how can one 'man' single handedly sow the seeds of change to modernize/democratize a 1600 century culture/world steeped in the dogmatic teachings of a corrupt and all powerful Inquisition/Church determined to halt any Reformation/Renaissance?
Plus an evil alien empire (which has already wiped out the Terran Empire & the rest of humanity save for this one hidden away colony) lurking in the background potentially ready to pounce on any sign of emerging advanced civilization.
Actually a prequel on this conflict would be nice tho challenging to write a story with downer end already known. So.... for a decent plot with some suspense, Weber could create other escaped colonies or orphan military fleets (which found allies? hidden stock piles of ancient weapons from prior civilizations? Cloaking technology? wormholes to another part of the galaxy? explaining how they survived when main battle fleets didn't?) that are other wise occupying the aliens also adding to the reasons why this colony has yet to be found and wiped out (current reason: its technology is too backward to attract attention).
Also wondering if Weber ever intends to advance the Safehold series sufficiently so that searching out & taking on and defeating/exacting revenge on the aliens become a possibility. He is soooo dragging out the series that it does not seem likely; at the rate it is going both he and his readers will be ensconced six foot under before the story advances to that point!
David Weber is EXCELLENT in battle/combat sequences. Unfortunately, in between, he waxes on and on, long & exceedingly boring, taking waaaay too long to set up/resolve conflicts.
Massive skimming is the only way to 'read' this book. There are good parts, they are just few and far between. The book is 700 pages, it could've easily been 275 and a LOT better book,
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