By Heresies Distressed

May 4, 2009
In this tangled follow-up to 2008's By Schism Rent Asunder
, the corrupt Church of God Awaiting has ruthlessly suppressed technology on the planet Safehold for the past 800 years. Merlin Athrawes, a cybernetic avatar bodyguard serving the king of Charis, has introduced a sequence of innovations that allow the united island kingdoms to defeat the Church's agents, but the Church's rulers soon adopt the very technology they proscribe. Their greater resources, combined with a fanatical fifth column not averse to assassination, make the long-term prospects of the “heretical” empire appear bleak, especially as Charis must pause to pacify new territories while responding to recent massacres. The personalities and motivations of the numerous characters are particularly well drawn and credible, and Weber makes grand strategies and political machinations easily accessible to casual readers.

The planet Safehold has not seen the advancement of technology for nearly a thousand years due to the corrupt Church of God Awaiting, which reigns supreme over the land. When one man believes he has found the technology necessary to overthrow the leaders, they turn the tables and accept what they have so long denied. Jason Culp's narration lags in places, particularly while relating Weber's lengthy descriptions, but his characters are rich and layered. Demonstrating the ability to create believable accents with little descriptive help from the prose, Culp allows listeners to lose themselves in the story regardless of its lack of narrative drive. L.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

November 1, 2009
This third volume in Weber's (www.davidweber.net) "Safehold" seriesfollowing "By Schism Rent Asunder" (2008), also available from BBC Audiobooks America and Macmillan Audiocontinues his tale of an epic struggle between religion and technology on a distant planet populated by human colonists in the remote future. Jason Culp's ("The Finder") workmanlike narration is adequate but does not greatly invigorate Weber's often pedestrian prose. Given Weber's popularity, this title should attract plenty of listeners; those unfamiliar with the series, however, might have trouble making sense of the narrative. [The Tor hc was described as "another fascinating chapter in an sf epic" that "series fans will demand," "LJ" 5/15/09; the fourth volume, "A Mighty Fortress", will release in March 2010.Ed.]R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA

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