What do you think?
Rate this book
The Gordian Division #6
The Thermopylae Protocol
NEW NOVEL IN THE BEST-SELLING GORDAIN DIVISION SERIES FROM NYT BEST-SELLING AUTHOR DAVID WEBER AND JACOB When a ship from an uncharted universe explodes, it soon becomes apparent that someone is building a massive weapon away from the watchful eyes of the Gordian Division. Agent Cho and Detective Cantrell are deployed to get to the bottom of the mystery. If they don’t it means destruction on a universal scale.
A Time Storm is Brewing.
After an industrial ship carrying advanced self-replicating machines explodes on its way to Mercury, analysis of the wreckage reveals it to be forty years too old. Raibert Kaminski, the Gordian Division’s top agent, and his crew on the TransTemporal Vehicle Kleio soon discover the ship was transported to an uncharted universe, one with temporarily accelerated time. Forty years passed for the ship’s industrial machines while everyone else experienced only a few short days. Raibert is certain a powerful weapon of some nature has been built out in the unexplored reaches of the multiverse, but where and by whom remains unknown.
The search is on, and the Gordian Division musters its fleet of time machines at Providence, a massive transdimensional station under construction. They call upon their allies from the militaristic Admin for aid in their search—but before plans can be formalized, the leader of the Admin’s Department of Temporal Investigation is murdered while visiting Providence, and the joint operation is thrown into chaos.
Accusations fly and tensions mount between the two organizations. Detectives Isaac Cho and Susan Cantrell—both fast becoming experts in transdimensional crime—are dispatched to Providence. But the clock is ticking for the detectives and Raibert’s crew. A vast, powerful conspiracy has shuddered into motion, and the two teams may be all that stand between it and destruction on a universal scale.
A Time Storm is Brewing.
After an industrial ship carrying advanced self-replicating machines explodes on its way to Mercury, analysis of the wreckage reveals it to be forty years too old. Raibert Kaminski, the Gordian Division’s top agent, and his crew on the TransTemporal Vehicle Kleio soon discover the ship was transported to an uncharted universe, one with temporarily accelerated time. Forty years passed for the ship’s industrial machines while everyone else experienced only a few short days. Raibert is certain a powerful weapon of some nature has been built out in the unexplored reaches of the multiverse, but where and by whom remains unknown.
The search is on, and the Gordian Division musters its fleet of time machines at Providence, a massive transdimensional station under construction. They call upon their allies from the militaristic Admin for aid in their search—but before plans can be formalized, the leader of the Admin’s Department of Temporal Investigation is murdered while visiting Providence, and the joint operation is thrown into chaos.
Accusations fly and tensions mount between the two organizations. Detectives Isaac Cho and Susan Cantrell—both fast becoming experts in transdimensional crime—are dispatched to Providence. But the clock is ticking for the detectives and Raibert’s crew. A vast, powerful conspiracy has shuddered into motion, and the two teams may be all that stand between it and destruction on a universal scale.
- GenresScience Fiction
400 pages, Hardcover
Published June 4, 2024
24 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
329 books4,562 followersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 9, 2024
Book 6 in the Gordian Division Series, and after a solo outing by Jacob Holo in book 5, David Weber returns for another colaborative effort. I have not read the first two books in the series. While books 3-5 were mostly police procedurals, in this multiverse setting with time travel and AIs, the Thermopylae Protocol returns to a much larger stage. The Sys Gov and the Admin are two alternates of Earth, trying to coexist and actually reconcile after an near apocalyptic war.
While I somewhat missed the cop/buddy aspect to the last three books, this is a very layered story with many characters at play. If you don't remember, Thermopylae is the site of the Persian/Spartan war depicted in the movie the 300, and figures in the penultimate scene. While the Sys Gov and Admin are facing continued tensions as people doubt the wisdom of working with each other, a terrorist organization is set to destroy this cooperation centered around each's treatment of AIs. The Sys Gov gives full citizenship to AIs while the AI treats them as property.
There is continued detective work trying to figure out who is behind an attempted political assassination, but also space battles, and battles in virtual reality. There is an excellent blending of multiple types of people: those in one body, those who are housed in a connectum [?] and able to plug into artificial bodies like changing clothes, and true virtual AIs. The Thermopylae Protocol is a very optimistic take on the ability of humanity to deal with very difficult, and basic existential questions in the future.
I want to thank the authors and Baen for providing me with an eARC of this book, in return for an honest review.
While I somewhat missed the cop/buddy aspect to the last three books, this is a very layered story with many characters at play. If you don't remember, Thermopylae is the site of the Persian/Spartan war depicted in the movie the 300, and figures in the penultimate scene. While the Sys Gov and Admin are facing continued tensions as people doubt the wisdom of working with each other, a terrorist organization is set to destroy this cooperation centered around each's treatment of AIs. The Sys Gov gives full citizenship to AIs while the AI treats them as property.
There is continued detective work trying to figure out who is behind an attempted political assassination, but also space battles, and battles in virtual reality. There is an excellent blending of multiple types of people: those in one body, those who are housed in a connectum [?] and able to plug into artificial bodies like changing clothes, and true virtual AIs. The Thermopylae Protocol is a very optimistic take on the ability of humanity to deal with very difficult, and basic existential questions in the future.
I want to thank the authors and Baen for providing me with an eARC of this book, in return for an honest review.
June 10, 2024
The Thermopylae Protocol by David Weber and Jacob Holo is the sixth book in "The Gordian Division" series. I have long been a fan of David Weber and after reading the books in this series I have also become a fan of Jacob Holo. The books in this series are a combination of far-future science fiction and they are also part police procedural. I have come to enjoy this series greatly and look forward to future books in this series. I recommend this series to all fans of science fiction and police procedurals/detective novels.
July 1, 2024
I read the HC, not the kindle - why is the HC not listed as an option?
July 7, 2024
"The Thermopylae Protocol" is my first Gordian Division novel, and in fact the first thing I have ever read by David Weber or Jacob Holo. I enthusiastically recommend it.
In this fast-moving police procedural/political thriller the authors describe a spectacularly detailed far-future multiverse that is entirely believable, and understandable even by readers who may not be completely comfortable with hard science. There is a great deal of universe-hopping, but the book is mainly about people--organic, artificial and otherwise.
David Weber is unfortunately a member of the National Rifle Association. Normally, something like that would cause me to place an author on my "no thank you" list, but as long as he does not become right-wing preachy (as so many political thriller writers are), I will look forward to reading more of his books.
In this fast-moving police procedural/political thriller the authors describe a spectacularly detailed far-future multiverse that is entirely believable, and understandable even by readers who may not be completely comfortable with hard science. There is a great deal of universe-hopping, but the book is mainly about people--organic, artificial and otherwise.
David Weber is unfortunately a member of the National Rifle Association. Normally, something like that would cause me to place an author on my "no thank you" list, but as long as he does not become right-wing preachy (as so many political thriller writers are), I will look forward to reading more of his books.
November 2, 2024
Transtemporal warfare!
The joint transdimensional space station is put on hold after a massive explosion tears apart a ship carrying advanced self-replicating machines needed in its construction. Analysis reveals a temporal contradiction in the debris - the ship is much older than it should be. As terrorist strikes and assassination attempts increase the pressure is on to find the perpetrators before the fragile peace between Admin and SysGov is destroyed. Time is against them!
This series keeps getting better! I can’t get enough of it. This book is even better than the last one. I received a free copy but my review is honest and voluntary.
The joint transdimensional space station is put on hold after a massive explosion tears apart a ship carrying advanced self-replicating machines needed in its construction. Analysis reveals a temporal contradiction in the debris - the ship is much older than it should be. As terrorist strikes and assassination attempts increase the pressure is on to find the perpetrators before the fragile peace between Admin and SysGov is destroyed. Time is against them!
This series keeps getting better! I can’t get enough of it. This book is even better than the last one. I received a free copy but my review is honest and voluntary.
April 26, 2025
If I had read the series from book one, maybe this one would perhaps have made more sense.
I get the concepts; time travel, alternate universes and people that aren't exactly people any more.
It's more than 900 years in the future and the technological progress is astonishing, but the characters sound just like 2025 dudes.
Anyway, I quit at around pages 50, so one star could be seen as too harsh, but then again it's the authors' task to hook readers early and keep them wanting more.
I get the concepts; time travel, alternate universes and people that aren't exactly people any more.
It's more than 900 years in the future and the technological progress is astonishing, but the characters sound just like 2025 dudes.
Anyway, I quit at around pages 50, so one star could be seen as too harsh, but then again it's the authors' task to hook readers early and keep them wanting more.
August 31, 2025
Exciting and fast paced sci-fi mystery set in the Gordian series of books by Weber and Holo. David Weber fans won't be disappointed. Although it would stand alone it's best if read in sequence in the series as they build on each other in typical David Weber novel fashion.
June 27, 2024
It took me a few pages to 'get back in' the multiverse, but then ... action, chaos, twists and turns. A fun read.
Want to read
August 22, 2024SM
March 13, 2025
Complicated multi-verse & time travel story combing detective work with combat SF. Maybe 3rd in a series.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews