Webdancers (Timeweb Chronicles) [Hardcover]

Brian Herbert (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The third Timeweb Chronicles space fantasy episode (after 2007's The Web and the Stars) concludes eco-warrior Noah Watanabe's personal journey. Watanabe has unprecedented access to the disintegrating Timeweb that spans the universe, but interaction with it begins to change him into something more than human. Meanwhile, the threat of the mysterious Hib-Adu Coalition unites the human Merchant Prince Alliance and the shape-shifters of the Mutati Kingdom in common cause. As the political situation and the Timeweb decay, Watanabe struggles to protect his people from the forces imprisoned within the Web. Only diehard fans will last to the end of the novel, which suffers from clunky writing, a plethora of sketchy characters, a confusing plot, stakes so high as to be meaningless and a pace alternately breathless and leaden. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 523 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME) (December 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594142181
• ISBN-13: 978-1594142185
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BRIAN HERBERT is a widely-published science fiction author in his own right. This is his first novel to call on his father's work: previously, he has created his own worlds, sometimes in collaboration. He has also written Dreamer of Dune, a comprehensive biography of his illustrious father.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exciting outer space adventure, December 25, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Webdancers (Timeweb Chronicles) (Hardcover)

The Timeweb that links time and space in the galaxy is rapidly deteriorating. If this cosmic transportation infrastructure should disintegrate as the trends currently seem, the galaxy could collapse into something not much removed from the Stone Age; that is if it survives as nobody knows what the devastation will be.

While galactic ecologist Noah Watanabe tries to prevent the cosmic eco disaster, his interactions with the Timeweb has changed him from human to something else. At the same time Noah heroically works on saving the Timeweb, war is imminent between the Hib-Adu Coalition and the newly formed allies the Merchant Prince Alliance humans and the Mutati Kingdom shape-shifters, who were enemies before their mutual cooperation to stop their common foe. Time is running out on all fronts as Noah struggles to keep the web from destruction which would release unknown energy forces across the galaxy leaving behind nothing but dust.

The third and final Timeweb Chronicles outer space adventure (see TIMEWEB and THE WEB AND THE STARS) is an exciting tale that never slows down as the two major subplots begin to merge into what looks like a cataclysmic end to the galaxy. The fast-paced story line is diminished somewhat by having two significant threats in which either could turn the galaxy into dust; the parts overwhelm the sum so that neither comes across as cosmic as intended. Still Brian Herbert finishes the Timeweb Chronicles with a doomsday scenario with the only hope to avoid the Big Crunch being Noah.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor ending with some editing flaws, July 30, 2010

By 

Dune Fan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Webdancers (Timeweb Chronicles) (Hardcover)

This book was a dissapointment. The first 2 books were a good light read that left you hanging to see how the saga would end. The premise and underlying ecological message were not up to those in Brian Herbet's fathers creations but overall the books told a good story that had you turning the pages. This third book has some serious flaws that makes you wonder if anyone edited the book for Mr. Herbert prior to publishing. Facts in the storying line that were secret to most characters in one chapter are suddenly common knowledge in another chapter. In the final chapters, characters and whole planets that were destroyed earlier in the timeline come back into the story without explantion. These books also gave you the feeling the plot was building towards some revelation or twist at the end of the story. This was not the case. The whole epic ending seemed too fantastic and predictable (superman to the rescue). It left me feeling dissappointed with the entire series of books.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unintentional Cautionary Tale, May 8, 2009

By 

Feo T. "A published author . . . or I will be... (Probably shouldn't add this) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Webdancers (Timeweb Chronicles) (Hardcover)

When creating a benevolent character who's much, much more powerful than everyone else around him, there are three main ways of inhibiting him: give him a philosophy that restricts when he'll interfere (The Watcher in Marvel Comics), give him an exploitable weakness (Superman), or make him a total idiot (Peter on the TV show "Heroes.") Brian Herbert uses none of these, so it's to his credit that for two whole books the mysterious but amazing abilities of Noah Watanabe didn't seriously impact the storyline. But by the time the "primal energy" is introduced, Noah becomes just another Marty Stu--a well-thought-out, psychologically complicated one, but a Marty Stu nonetheless. And let's not get into the psychological changes various characters abruptly make to facilitate the plotline (or, for the matter, the complete undermining of the previous books' message that ugliness does not equal evil.)