Hell's Foundations Quiver

Safehold #8

by David Weber

TURNING OF THE TIDE
Centuries ago, the human race fought its first great war against an alien race—and lost. A tiny population of human beings fled to distant Safehold. Centuries later, their descendants have forgotten their history; for them, life has been an eternal Middle Ages, ruled by the Church of God Awaiting, whose secret purpose is to prevent the reemergence of industrial civilization.
But not all of Safehold's founders were on board with this plan. Those dissidents left behind their own secret legacies. One of those is Merlin Athrawes, cybernetic avatar of one of Earth's longdead defenders, now reawakened after a thousand years to restart human progress and reclaim our place in the universe. Merlin has intervened in the small Safeholdian realm of Charis, seeding it with ideas and innovations and helping it to rise to challenge the hegemony of the Church.
It's been a long and bloody fight, but aided by a stream of inventions—breechloading rifles, signal rockets, claymore mines, new approaches to manufacturing and supply—Charis and its few allies seem to have finally gained the upper hand. Now major realms have begun to consider switching sides.
To all these ends, Merlin Athrawes has been everywhere, under multiple disguises and wielding hidden powers. The secret of who and what he is has been closely held. But a new player has arrived, one who knows many secrets—including Merlin's own.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Military Fiction, Audiobook, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy

609 pages, ebook

First published October 13, 2015

About the author

David 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...

Reviews

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has become an incredibly long serialized novel. In this case, that is not a criticism, but it is a warning to new readers. Don't start here. While reading Honor Harrington out of order is possible--although I wouldn't recommend it, New readers of Safehold must start with Off Armageddon Reef or you will be hopelessly lost.

Because Weber continues to expand roles and introduce new characters, the pace of this novel is sluggish. As always, the naval sequnces are more interesting than the land battlles. It is time to start answering questions and crush the group of four.

Still this series continues to suck me in.

[Brett T · Rating 1 out of 5]

At almost 800 pages, Hell's Foundations Quiver is the longest of David Weber's eight "Safehold" books. You could make a good argument, too, that it does the least to move the story of Safehold forward of any of those eight.

We begin with the forces of the Charisian Empire solidifying their control over the nation of Siddarmark and preparing to face the immense armies of the Church of God Awaiting marshaled by the nation of Harchong. We end with most of that mopping up finished and the forces of the Charisian Empire preparing to face the immense armies of the Church of God Awaiting marshaled by the nation of Harchong.

In between, Weber tests our patience harder than a doughnut tempts a desert hermit by doing almost nothing to advance the main storyline of attempts to wrest control of Safehold from the Church so technology can be rebuilt enough to fight and defeat the genocidal Gbaba race that has almost wiped out humanity. He tests it with multiple-paragraph diversions like one that explains why a ship attacked by two of our heroes has a poop deck for grappling hooks to catch on.

Or long conversations that inform characters about events we readers have just witnessed happen. Or third and fourth and fifth run-throughs of chief villain "Zhaspar Clyntahn" causing more concern and worry to those around him when he is menacingly quiet instead of exploding with volcanic rage as he usually does. Or used to, anyway.

Or repeated reminders that Safeholdian years are not Old Earth years. Or the ridiculous variant spellings of proper names that are used according to no logic whatsoever to try to demonstrate language drift. "Cayleb Ahrmahk" and the like are bad enough, but since the Harchongese have mostly Mandarin-derived names they achieve a whole new level of narrative killing. Every other word Safeholdians use, which we would presume would also show the language drift, is plain ol' English, as are almost every proper noun that's not a person's name -- "Green Valley" doesn't become "Grayn Vahlay," for example.

The frustration level hits such a high mark because Weber is a top storyteller with a great tale to offer who still has some great scenes and character development gems buried in the landfill of undisciplined prose that clogs the rest of the book. The Safehold books can be better. They have been better. So it's tough to figure out why it's going to be very hard for one of them to be worse than this one is.

Original may be found here.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN A GREAT DEAL OF PROFANITY. IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY PROFANITY, PLEASE DO NOT READ IT.


Hell's Foundations Quiver (Safehold #8) was a fantastic book. But David Weber, the author, is a first class ASSHOLE and I'm getting really sick of this addictive fucking series he's written. This is the fourth straight book with the war in Siddermark and with where the book ended, it's clear to me that there will need to be between two and four more books before this war is concluded, if then. And that's too goddamn much. Damn it, the first war was over in one book, the first. The second war, between Charis and Corisonde, was over in one book. Why the fuck can't this fucking war be over in one fucking book??? Why the hell does it have to stretch over four fucking books, and now apparently many more? WTF? Weber is obviously a greedy fuck who has discovered that if you write 1,000 page books in such incredible detail from so many perspectives, you can draw a war out six or eight or 10 books and suckers like you and me will pay countless millions for them. Cause it's admittedly an awesome story. In fact, it's the best story I've ever read. That's why I keep coming back to it, even with all the stupid names I resent so much and even with all of the phrases Weber has his characters repeat on virtually every other page until you want to bash your head into the wall. Countless reviewers have commented on how slow the plot is. Well, he's slowed it down even more. Even though this book is probably the best Siddermark book in the series, and even though it's full of action and battles, nothing really happens. There's no progression. No resolution. Just a military stalement for yet another year, basically. So why write the fucking book at all? Because Weber wants to make bank, that's why? Greedy prick! I'd love to tell that SOB off. He's the most amazing writer, even with his bad, annoying habits, and can create the most amazing worlds, but damn, he manipulates his readers with his unbelievably slowed down and unresolved plots. Yes, it was good to see the vicars, the Group of Four, freaking out. Yes, it was good to see Charis and Siddermark settling some debts, militarily. Yes, it was damn good to see Merlin slaughter some bastard Army of God fanatics again. And, yes, like the ending of the last book, the ending of this book was pretty good, with Merlin appearing out of the blue before Earl Thirsk of Dohlar. Presumably in an attempt to save his life. And since this book began with where the previous book left off, it's safe to assume the next one will too. (And the first chapter of this book was excellent!) But, dammit, do I have to wade through umpteen more battles I'll never remember with newer weapons that barely progress technologically with lots of politics and religion and realistically nothing at all happening? Cause if I do, I'll never read another fucking Weber novel again. I already hate his guts for doing all this shit to us. I already resent him for his obvious manipulations of his readers. Does he really have to string it out so damn long? And not only that, but when the war in Siddermark is finally over sometime in, oh, book 12 or so, will we FINALLY get to see Charis invade the Temple Lands and attack Zion and finally pay back the Group of Four like we all have been dying to see for the last eight books? When the hell is that going to happen? Or is Weber going to string that war out for five or eight books too? Cause if he does, I'll be dead before this series is done and frankly, he's no younger than me, so he might want to consider finishing the fucking series before he dies himself. Asshole. And what about getting humanity back to space? When the hell is that going to happen? In book 35? I mean, really? WTF? Weber started an excellent series and then got carried away and now he's dug everyone a hole they'll never get out of. What a cruel bastard. Honestly, if you read this book on its own merits, it's a five star book. It's really good. But you can't do that. Because it's part of the series and because it's a big part of the war in Siddermark sub-series, which Weber has yet to come close to completing and I'm so damn pissed about that, I'm inclined to give the book one star. Because that's what Weber deserves. So I'm compromising and giving it three undeserved stars. I guess if you're reading the series and haven't already given up, you'll have to read this, so it's recommended, but otherwise, give up now while you still can. Cause this series isn't going to be over for the next 20 fucking years.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still enthralling at volume 8 and with a great beginning (snippeted to a large extent until today though there are a few more surprises there) and a fast pace furious ending with the last sentence in the volume 7 style, while the rest of the 700 or so pages follow organically what happened before with battles on land, sea, intrigues and positioning for the finale (of the current arc) which i can see happening in the next volume though as per the author it could take two more

very similar with volume 7 in structure though this one has more excitement (the seijins multiple persona shine here as does the Zion action both in the Temple and from the "fist of God"), heart wrenching moments (mostly in the concentration camps but also in other places) and more direct set-up for the finale

despite its length, I could not stop turning pages to see what happens until the end and I definitely plan a more leisurely read as I am sure I missed many details about this or that technical aspect of this or that advance, so if you liked what came before you will definitely enjoy this one

overall continuing volumes 6 and 7 in the same style, though more excitement and emotion here, while the main revelations are basically in the beginning so volume 9 (or 10) will clear the mysteries about the past as after the Kohdy stuff the book is all about the present action; excellent stuff and a top 10 for the year as it had considerably more memorable moments than the last 3 volumes -

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really good book, in one of my favorite series!

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, generally David Weber is one of my favorite SF/Fantasy authors of all time.

That said, this particular book--while better than the previous one or two--is still kind of unfocused. I hate to say it, but even Robert Jordan spent more time on each character, despite having so many main characters.

I will admit that NO ONE gets military, military technical, or historical details down in exemplary story print form the way David Weber does. He always spends just enough time, in an entertaining way, to demonstrate all sorts of details you never knew about historical war and how to apply that to modern thinking. Hell's Foundations Quiver is no different, and the whole series has been phenomenal in that regard.

Unfortunately, the focus on particular characters in the story has gone way down. For example, in the Honor Harrington novels, Weber would spend a fair amount of time on internal or external enemies of the Kingdom/Empire of Manticore, to show where they were coming from. But 70% or better of each book was focused on Honor herself, or a subordinate who was more or less an extension of her story. And then about 5% spent on allies talking to each other about "There she goes, again! Maybe we can sock it to the Conservatives and/or Liberals with what she's done for us this time!"

In the Safehold novels, we started with an interesting character (Nimue/Merlin) who seemed to be the beginnings of another Honor Harrington hero type. We spent a lot of time with Merlin, initially. Even when we started to spend more time with Cayleb, Prince of Charis, that was cool and he made a good alternate main char. But as the series wore on, each nifty character we met was getting less and less overall time in each book. By Safehold #7, Merlin was getting about 5% of the book if we were lucky, and most of the "main" characters were only used to comment or shed light on what everyone else was doing, like sportscasters. Even in #8, most of the main characters didn't do all that much and we spent most of our waking time seeing what previously minor supporting cast members did. Merlin did finally get 1% or 2% increase in actual activity this novel, for which I was grateful. But with the additional members to the "inner circle," we now actually get less time per character. Hell, we got more time watching fat fornicating Clyntahn throw rages than we got to see Merlin doing anything, though at least Merlin got to kick butt a couple times during this book.

I've noticed the last book or two in the Harrington series was starting to take the same pattern, unfortunately.

So, to summarize, Merlin (and even the new Nimue) kicks ass a couple times, Eastshare and Hanth kick ass for a couple scenes, some new supporting cast get thrown in the wood chipper, the Grand Inquisitor gets his panties in a bunch a number of times, the Church again stumbles on Charisian technology to put more pressure on the good guys, and we're subjected to lots of rounds of peanut gallery comm conversations that are occasionally amusing. Also, we learn that it took Merlin 7 years to figure out how to put highly effective lower tech weapons on his stealth vehicles. We could've used THAT development a bit sooner, hehe.

I hate to say it, but I actually think I prefer Weber's last book in the Empire From the Ashes (Dahak) series. Nearly the same plot, more interesting characters, and the whole war was over in one novel.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again bloat, taken to absurd extremes, makes the latest entry almost unreadable. As with the last volume, the contents of this one probably don't even justify half the page count; and it's difficult to see why, in a series that has now reached 8 volumes, the author feels it's necessary to pad to this extent.

I'm honestly not sure at this point whether I'll bother with any further entries in the series. Apart from the huge length and the scarcity of action (and what action there is consists, essentially, of the same thing happening over and over again), I have doubts about some of the choices in plot development, that seem to be made purely to draw things out.

It's a shame, as in outline the series is ideally suited to my tastes - and indeed the first volume or two were very good. But execution has got progressively worse.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I read of David Weber's newer work the more I come to the conclusion that he either needs an editor or he is trying to imitate GRR Martin.

There are tons of characters that aren't needed, entire chapters of events that don't need more than a paragraph of description, and worst of all it *barely* moves the plot of the entire series along.

Where once he could tell an interesting self-contained story that fit into a larger series now all we get is sprawling door stoppers that don't do *anything*.

This book and the last two in the series could have been combined, and had most of it cut out, and it would have been fine. But three volumes? Outrageous.

Stop treading water David and get a move on with the plot!

The worst thing is I started off really liking this series and I love the idea behind it, but so much dross in the later books just makes it a slog to read.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eighth in the Safehold military science fiction series and devolving around a religious war between a corrupt Church and the decent people the Church claims are heretics.

My Take
It starts off with Aivah's story about Saint Kohdy and the secretive order that has kept his grave and journal safe. Boy, talk about a horror. The cover-up on this, while well done, is disgusting. Rewriting their holy book to cover up their sins. Adding new books to reflect the changes later generations of vicars and priests want. Huh, I wonder who this reminds me of…

Saint Kohdy's story is a great opportunity for Weber to fill in more of the back story on what happened in the original war between the scientists, the "archangels".

It's similar to Like a Mighty Army , 7, in that there are lots of battles with victories and defeats on both sides. Fortunately, there was really only one incident that made me cry. Khapahr's decision still makes me want to weep. I don't know how he could have been so clumsy at the last minute like that. It doesn't make sense for his character.

Mother Church is catching up weapons-wise with Charis, which is a scary proposition. But no scarier than getting the dummy generals weeded out and the Church finding more competent ones. Fortunately, that jerk Clyntahn is still insisting on calling the shots based on his emotions.

It also helps that the Charisian policy of dealing with the inquisitors has them quaking in their boots — every time an Army of God unit is captured or about to be captured, the inquisitors all commit suicide. Yep, couldn't happen to a "nicer" bunch of fellas. Interesting as well that some of the Church military men are thinking that Charisian policy has its bonus points.

You may be wondering why I'm giving this a "4". Well, as annoying as I found this latest installment with all the battles and the story not getting much further forward than where we were in Midst Toil and Tribulation , 6, it's those cameos. Portraying regular soldiers of both sides as individuals performing their tasks, learning their fears, and getting a sense of how different levels of people view what's happening in their world is a brilliant way to pull the reader in, to make this behemoth of a book more intimate.

I do NOT love the weird spellings Weber has been using from the start. With such a huge cast of characters, these odd spellings makes it impossible to keep track of who belongs where. Your best bet is to skim the names and remember: Church bad, Charisians and their allies good.

I do have to wonder why Seijin Merlin couldn't have blown up that last capture and kept it out of Dohlaran hands. It's not like the previous Charisian arguments about making Mother Church sit up and take notice.

I love the argument that rages about the gold Charis has found. Clyntahn insists it indicates how desperate Shan-wei is to succeed while others point out that if God were truly on their side, he would have prevented the demon from finding the gold.

The really excellent bit of the entire story is Thirsk, and even that is just a taste of what may be possible. It was most unfair of Weber to end it right there! Now I have to wait a year to find out what Merlin says to him and how Thirsk responds!

The Story
With Merlin on their side, with his access to all the technology of the Terran Federation, Charis has stepped out beyond the careful technological restraint placed on their planet that is enforced by the Church of God Awaiting. An institution, a powerhouse, that has become corrupted beyond belief and that the tiny kingdom — now an imperial empire — has taken on and is beating.

Mother Church claims that Charis and its allies are pawns of the demon Shan-wei, but many — from its allies, its faithful, and even within its own ranks — are beginning to question who the demon truly is.

The Characters
Goodreads only allows so many words in a review and the cast of characters got truncated. I pared out even more characters
— I only included major characters important to Hell's Foundations Quiver or those I thought might be important later on — so if you want the full list of what I wrote up, check out my website for that review anytime after November 4, 2015.

Merlin Athrawes is an avatar, a PICA along with Nimue Chwaeriau. Both began "life" with Nimue Alban's memories imprinted into them. Merlin became aware some seven years ago with the goal of returning the original mission parameters to Safehold. Nimue was brought to "life" a short time ago. Both have all the knowledge of the now-vanished, highly technical Earth. They can alter their physical appearance at will, can't be killed, have tremendous strength, and are incredibly skilled in combat.

Nimue's Cave is…
…the hiding place where the original scientists who settled Safehold hid their high tech computers and equipment. Owl is a computer program with which Merlin, Nimue, and those in the inner circle can interface. The SNARCs are small spy devices scattered throughout Safehold. Nahrmahn Baytz was a prince who died ( How Firm a Foundation , 5) but they managed to upload his memories and personality to the computers and now he interacts as a hologram with our side.

Seijin Kohdy is one of those folkloric tales but against the usual type, more of a conjurer or vagabond of fun. Turns out he wasn't all that fictional. Cody Cortazar was an Adam in the Zion Enclave (he had been a sergeant major in the Terran Federation Marine Corps); his wife, Sandra, was killed three years after being awakened. Kynyth Tompsyn had been his closest mortal companion.

The Imperial Kingdom of Charis and Its Allies
The Imperial Kingdom of Charis is…
…the good guy who has been spearheading the war effort, a war which began as a defensive measure. Tellesburg is its capital city. Cayleb and Sharleyan Ahrmakh are the emperor and empress. They have a daughter, Alahnah. Sergeant Edwyrd Seahamper is still alive and now Alahnah's personal armsman. Archbishop Maikel Staynair is the head of the Charisian Church. Father Paityr Wylsyn, the Intendant in Charis, is still in charge of granting patents. Ehdwyrd Howsmyn has been building or inventing almost everything the empire needs through the Delthak Works, which employs well over 100,000 men. Zhain is his wife and the daughter of the Earl of Sharpfield. Brahd Stylmyn is re-inventing the railroad. Master Taigys Mahldyn is in charge of rifles. Earl Pine Hollow is first councilor.

The Imperial Charisian Navy (ICN)
Sir Domynyk Staynair is High Admiral Rock Point and Maikel Staynair's brother. Payter Shain is sent to wipe out Desnarian privateers. Admiral Sir Dunkyn Yairley, Baron Sarmouth, commands HMS Destiny and gets brought into the inner circle; Hektor is his flag lieutenant. Sylvyst Raigly is Sarmouth's longtime steward and valet. Captain Rhobair Lathy is his flag captain.

Sir Lewk Cohlmyn, Earl Sharpfield, is in command of the naval contingent sent to Claw Island in the Gulf of Dohlar (I think Talisman Island is the same thing or nearby). Sir Mahrak Tymplytyn is his flag lieutenant. Commander Symyn Makgrygair will command the base facilities on Rahzhyr Bay; Major Qwentyn Ohmahly will command the Marine garrison. Sir Bruhstair Ahbaht commands the ironclad HMS Thunderer, sister ship to the Dreadnought. Lieutenant Daivyn Kylmahn is its first lieutenant, and Ahlber Zhaksyn is its second lieutenant. Captain Raimahnd Tohbyais of the Sickle deliberately turned back to give the rest a chance. Captain Kahrltyn Haigy commands HMS Dreadnought.

The Imperial Charisian Army
Sir Hauwerd Breygart, the Earl of Hanth, commands the Army of Thesmar; Mairah is his wife. Rushyl Thairis, the Duke of Eastshare (a Chisholmian, he's now the first high general), routed the Army of Shiloh under Duke Harless' command. General Ahlyn Symkyn commands the Army of the Daivyn. Earl High Mount commands the Army of Cliff Peak. The Army of the Branaths. Sir Kynt Clareyk, the Baron of Green Valley, commands the Army of Midhold. General Trumyn Stohnar fought hard at the Sylmahn Gap last spring.

The Republic of Siddarmark
Aivah Pahrsahn (she has an eidetic memory) has her own various identities, including Ahnzhelyk Phonda as her most public one as a madame for a brothel catering to the fathers in Zion; Frahncyn Tahlbaht; Mother Superior of the Abbey of St. Kohdy; Nynian Rychtair was her original name; and, Arbalest is her Helm Cleaver code name. Sister Klairah of the Convent of Saint Ahnzhelyk recruited this bastard daughter of a vicar. Sister Klairah was actually part of the Saint Kohdy order, a secret underground group who held a truth about the archangels. Sandaria Ghatfryd had been Aivah's personal maid for twenty years and her second-in-command of the Sisters of Saint Kohdy. I think Helm Cleaver is Aivah's spy organization. Daryus Parkair is the Republic's chancellor of the exchequer and seneschal. Lord Protector Greyghor is its ruler. Archbishop Klairmant Gairlyng is the head of the Siddarmark branch. Archbishop Cahnyr Zhasyn raised the Glacierhearters in Midst Toil and Tribulation , 6; Fraidmyn Tohmys has been his valet for years.

Corisande is…
…a Charisian ally with Manchyr as its capital. Princess Irys is Daivyn's sister and regent, and she's married to Hektor Alply-Ahrmahk, the Duke of Darcos.

Chisholm is…
…Sharleyan's original kingdom with Cherayth as its capital.

The Church of God Awaiting is…
…referred to as Mother Church, and they're the enemy with their headquarters in Zion, the Temple Lands. More specifically, the enemy is Vicar Zhaspahr Clyntahn, the leader of the Inquisition and one of the Gang of Four. He's a pathological pig with great powers and an overwhelming need to gather up power. He's willing to lie, cheat, steal, or murder to get his way with his Jihad. Wyllym Rayno, Archbishop of Chiang-wu, is his spymaster.

Vicar Rhobair Duchairn is the treasurer. Vicar Allayn Maigwair is the Captain General of the Church's military. Vicar Zahmsyn Trynair is the Church's chancellor, a powerhouse at the start, he's firmly under Clyntahn's heel today. Dynnys Zhwaigair and Brother Lynkyn Fultyn are inventing new weapons to try and catch up with the Charisians. Archbishop Militant Gustyv Walkyr is Vicar Allayn's chief assistant.

The Army of God (AOG) enemy commanders include…
…General Sir Fahstyr Rychtyr commands the Army of Seridahn. Sir Rainos Ahlverez, a cousin of the deceased Sir Faidal Ahlverez, Duke of Malikai (who died in Off Armageddon Reef , 1), who was himself a cousin by marriage to the Duke of Thorast, manages to salvage a very small part of the Dohlaran Army of Shiloh, which was routed by Eastshare. Bishop Militant Bahrnabai Wyrshym, who commands the Army of the Sylmahn and Auxiliary Bishop Ernyst Abernethy are wondering about Clyntahn. Bishop Militant Cahnyr Kaitswyrth commands the Army of Glacierheart; Father Sedryk Zavyr is his intendant. Sir Clairync Dynvyrs, Baron Wheatfields is with the Army of Glacierheart, and must send his friend, Sir Daivyn Wynstyn, the Baron of Tryfield, to his death to buy that army a chance.

Taychau Daiyang, the Earl of Rainbow Waters, is the commander (and lord of horse) of the Imperial Harchongese Mighty Host of God and the Archangels. His nephew, Medyng Hwojahn, the Baron of Wind Song, is captain of horse and Rainbow Waters' senior aide and adjutant. Lord of Horse Zhowku Seidyng, the Earl of Silken Hills, will command the Southern Mighty Host of God and the Archangels. Captain of Horse Kaishu Hywanlohng is a reliable soldier and chief of staff to Silken Hills. Baron Falling Rock commands another part.

Mother Church's concentration camps are…
…holding possible heretics. Inquisitor General Wylbyr is in charge of those camps. In Camp Dynnys, the vicious Father Zheryld Cumyngs is trying to burn all evidence of his corruption. The commanding officer at Dynnys, Colonel Ahgustahn Tymahk, says no to Bishop Maikel Zhynkyns. Camp Chihiro surrendered happily. Camp St. Tailahr outside Lake City was particularly brutal. Archbishop Arthyn Zagyrsk intervened and insisted they be adequately fed and given minimal medical care.

Helm Cleaver in Zion
Alahnah Bahrns and Zhorzhet Styvynsyn work in Mistress Marzho's Fine Milliners in the City of Zion. Marzho Alysyn is actually Sister Marzho of the Sisters of Saint Kohdy. Ahrloh Mahkbyth, a.k.a., Barcor, is an ex-Temple Guardsman who opened Mahkbyth's Fine Spirits and Wines. Zhak Myllyr is his senior employee and a Church spy. Father Byrtrym Zhansyn, a.k.a., Banister, is a Schuelerite and a spy for Helm Cleaver.

Kingdom of Dohlar is…
…an ally of the Church. Rahnyld is its ineffective king and his son, Rahnyld, isn't old enough to take over. Archbishop Ahbsahlahn Kharmych is the Kingdom's intendant. The Royal Council includes Baron of Yellowstone, who is the foreign secretary; the Duke of Thorast hates Thirsk and, fortunately, no longer has day-to-day oversight of the navy; the Duke of Fern is King Rahnyld's first councilor; and, the Duke of Salthar is the commander of the Royal Dohlaran Army. Father Chermyn Suzhymahga, the senior agent inquisitor, beards Thirsk in his cabin.

The disillusioned Lewys Gardynyr, the Earl of Thirsk, is the kingdom's senior fleet commander. Gorath Bay is where Thirsk is based. His flag ship is the Chihiro . Bishop Staiphan Maik is on Thirsk's side. Commander Ahlvyn Khapahr is Thirsk's chief of staff and intensely loyal to him. Stywyrt Baiket is Chihiro's CO and Thirsk's flag captain; Sir Ahbail Bahrdailahn is his flag lieutenant. Mhartyn Rahlstyn is first lieutenant. Mahrtyn Vahnwyk is Thirsk's personal secretary.

Sir Dahrand Rohsail commands the Royal Dohlaran Navy's Western Squadron from his flag ship, the Defiant, and is very competent. Markys Hamptyn is his flag captain. Admiral Caitahno Raisahndo is Rohsail's second-in-command and aboard his own flag ship, Demonslayer.

Sir Gwylym Manthyr and his men surrendered honorably to Thirsk in How Firm a Foundation , 5. Now their murders are a rallying cry for the Charisians. The Writ is the Safeholdian holy bible that has been rewritten time and time again, beginning with "Archangel" Langhorne. The Book of Schueler and the Book of Chihiro were later additions. Saint Evyrahard. Pei Shan Wei and the Fallen were actually the scientists who disagreed with Langhorne, Bedard, Chihiro, Schueler, and the others over how to implement their mission. Kau-yung did kill Langhorne and others. Aliens, the Gbaba, destroyed Earth which is why the small colony of earthlings were sent out into space.

The Cover and Title
The cover is a really deep green metallic background with the author's name (at top) and the title (at bottom) in an embossed silver. The middle third is a graphic band of the rescue at sea and Merlin's skimmer blowing up the Saint Frydhelm. The image has a narrow band of copper at top and bottom with promotional information.

When Hell's Foundations Quiver, Clyntahn is beginning to realize that he might not be on the winning side.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 8th book in the Safehold series by David Weber. I really enjoyed this book as well as the entire series. That being said the last couple of books while good were burdened down with a multitude of characters and a lot of background filler. This book did have several characters to keep up with but they were more significant to the series. There was also much more action and more appearances by the main characters from the beginning of the series. I recommend this book to fans of David Weber and the Safehold series.

[Emms-hiatus(ish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weakest book of the series. I hope that's not a sign of how that last 2 books are going to go.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had the EXACT same problem as its predecessor, Like a Mighty Army. Two problems in fact. The first is the book ends too soon, which is to say, 83% of the way through (according to my kindle app), which is about ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY PAGES from the end of the book if you're on the dead-tree edition. The next 13 % of the book (again 100+ pages for the analogue edition) is taken up with a list of characters (I'm not kidding, here's a screenshot from the start, and here's one from the end). That's beyond absurd. Which leads into the second issue.

Characters. 70% of them are nothing more than extras. instead of being nameless people though, they've got a name, and like all those in the book, it's a heavily modified name (such as Nahrmahn Baytz - Norman Bates) which then makes it even HARDER to keep track of who everyone is. Having to think so hard about names that are, for wont of a better term, mis-spelled, means you don't tend to remember who exactly was who, because you've moved onto another confusing name. This only gets WORSE when the story jumps between the forces of Charris, and those of the Mother Church, and you've got colonels, lt's, sergeants and other similar ranks with no immediate indication which side they're on. It's not until their either explicitly reference the other side ('church boys' or 'heratics') or someone specific to one side (usually an inquisitor/intendant) is brought in. Harchong troops have their own ranks, which makes them easy to tell, but Baron this, and General that - no chance.

I re-read through the entire series over the 3 weeks prior to this, and so knew exactly where the story was at. As far as the story goes, it goes well, although there is a major plot-hole where a previously discussed SNARC capability was not even mentioned at a key point, as if they forgot. The problem is, just as the pace finally picks up and you're sure it's going to get interesting, you suddenly hit the wall-of-nobodies from 5 books back.

It's a decent book, but with all the core problems with the writing, it's definitely become more of a chore to read, as Weber tries to show off his extensive wikipedia-ing. If he dials back on the characters, and focuses more on story and plot than trying to write a technical paper on weapon development or get the biggest cast list ever, then the series would be much better overall.

I can't say now that I'l continue to recommend the books to people (not when almost a fifth of the last two books have not been relevant to telling the story) but I'll give the next one a last chance, to see if Weber has remembered that what drives a story is story, not Tom Clancy-esqu tech specs, or an attempt to name every person on safehold. I don't hold my breath though.

[Rick English]

Hells Foundations Quiver
The eighth book in this saga is more of the same. A slow progress through the industrial revolution necessitated primarily by the need to develop weaponry. A world war on land and sea being fought with 18th to 19th century weapons. Some major characters are reasonably well developed. Others, too many, are defined more by their rank and affiliation than anything else. I started out loving this series and will probably continue to read it. But, I have some reservations.

I read the first two books in hardcover. The last six books I have heard as audio books. The production of the audio books and the quality of the reading are very good. There are so many characters that one must listen closely at the start of any scene to remember the characters and determine their affiliations. It is also a good idea to keep a map of Safehold handy but don’t look at it while you are driving.

I started to notice around the fourth book, Weber’s incredibly slipshod use of language. Every character uses the same expressions, idioms and phraseology. It doesn’t matter if they are male or female, educated or rich, military or civilian, apostate, heretic, true believer or Pica.

For example all the characters including the non-corporeal narrator are constantly using the phrase “On the other hand” Sometimes you will hear it three or four times in the same conversation. Why not use “instead”, “conversely”, “alternatively” “then again” “oppositely” “contrariwise”. Or just drop the phrase and see if there is any impact.

Another annoyance is “If { [I am, (s)he is, they are] to be} perfectly honest” or “honestly”, or “the truth is” or “truth to tell” These phrases are repeated endlessly and do little more than give the speaker a chance to catch some air. Why do people on Safehold need to keep reminding each other that they are being honest or telling the truth?

Nobody on Safehold seems to laugh they either “snort” or “chuckle”. When Safehold gets the internet will they use shortcuts like SOL (snorting out loud) or ROTFC (rolling on the floor chuckling)?

Another oft repeated phrase is “for that matter.” The dictionary says that this phrase is used for emphasizing that something else is also true. “He doesn’t like young women, or any women for that matter.” There have to be other ways to express this. “Now that I think about it” also pops up often.

You may be sorry that you read this review. You, like me, will find that these phrases will start to jump off the page (or out of the speakers) at you. It can be quite distracting.

On the other hand, for that matter, now that I think about it, the truth is, that if I am to be perfectly honest then I’ll probably keep reading until the Gababa come back and try not to snort or chuckle when they do. For that matter, the Gababa may have better dialogs.

[Trey · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fucks sake. He got me again.

I was at 80% of this book this morning and doing a bit of reading before going to work. I figured I would finish it by the end of the day. Catching a few hours at lunch and in between projects to read. Nope, at the 84% mark I hit the first page of the character list. One of these days I won't be surprised by the ending of a Safehold book.

That being said I think this was a much better book than the previous one. Most of the conversations with Cayleb and his cronies are still pretty cringeworthy but those seem to be fewer and further between (the sly grins and fierce, cold smiles are still very prevalent however).

A decent amount happened in this book, a majority of it on the seas. At least it seems that way looking back on it since we get a play-by-play account of every second in the sea battles but always seem to cut out of the ground battles. I don't think we'll see much more action on the seas though, I can't see the church being able to stand up to what Charis is bringing to bear.

I honestly can't see more than a couple more books in this series. As the fighting moves out of Siddamark and into the Temple Lands I'm hoping the scale of things shrinks quite a bit to make it a bit easier to follow.

NOTE TO SELF: Don't be a lazy asshole, re-read the entire series before the next book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This continues to be the craziest crossing of purple prose and rivet counting. Oliver Wyman continues to be an excellent reader for it, though I do wonder how many times he found himself saying "you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it."

I'm not even really sure what the point behind this one was. It wasn't even really about moving the deck chairs around for the next scene. Nothing really happened. As a matter of fact, all of the things that looked to be happening this book got inexplicably delayed. My "big" complaint though is the good guy's single reversal is mostly an own goal past the event itself. There was an earlier scene in the book that easily explains how the good guys could have easily mitigated the problem, but no. Then the penultimate scene in the book goes further and shows explicitly how they could have handled the earlier problem. Again, no.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

When we decided to review the winners of the Dragon Awards, prior to the announcement of said winners, I quickly raised my hand and volunteered to review the Military Science Fiction/Fantasy category. I’m not sure what part of my brain thought this was a good idea because, to be quite honest; I am not all that interested in the minutiae of military fiction,- but I do understand and appreciate it. Weber’s attention to detail when it comes to the intricacies of the long fought war–whether it be maneuvers, weapons and ammunition, the chain of command, etc.–is spectacular, creating a vivid image of the battles on land and sea.

read more at Women Write About Comics

[Keira F. Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Much like the book, my review is going to be long and rambling....

I set this series down around 2015 after binging several of the books in a row. At the time I thought maybe I was just a little burnt out (they're *long* volumes) and it's an extremely well constructed and complex universe, with a technologically repressed and hyper-religious society being "uplifted"

Fast forward to this year. As sort of an experiment I re-read book 1 before jumping to this one.

Book 1 was solid. A fair bit to keep track of, but largely manageable in its cast of characters and things to keep track of. I love me some good world building.

Jumping back to book 8 (yes, I have read 2-7, just didn't feel like re-doing the whole series), I saw the contrast and it highlighted what a confused mess these books have become. Having to keep track of literally dozens of characters, some of them with the same first name, but different last names, some changing how their referred to based on who they're talking to because of lordly titles and familiarity etc.... its too much. Then add in numerous literary band-aids and duct tape and the story is *still* dragging.

This is a *cool* book, lets be clear. I love the ideas, and the broad arcs are great. But when you've got a list of characters thats literally *dozens* of pages long, each with first name, last name, lordly title, national affiliation, sometimes ranks.... it desperately needs editing. All too often there will be literally *pages* of digressions and back rambling in between TWO FREAKING LINES OF DIALOGUE. Never mind the generic names spelled with an excess of Ks and Is because Maikel and Angelique Parsnip Pernsickets Phlibber, dame of upper crunch, duchess of the eastern isle of bumbelch.... forgot where I was going. And pretty sure the author did too.

Will I keep going? Well.... yeah. Cause after all that I do really like the story. But good lord is it a slog at this point.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Captain Klyzbgrd looked at Father Zhjfryd with a raised eyebrow; "Care for a vowel, Father?" It was unlikely as the heretics would be attacking Borgfeld tomorrow morning, having marched through Culner's Gap and Zvarfinheim only three days before. None of the places would appear on any map though, so they were not be worried about. They key thing to remember was that they were dragging fourteen pounder guns, which were at least six pounds heavier than the eight pounders which had been shooting distance of over three thousand yards, and now could be expected to shoot well over five thousand yards. What followed was a great deal of exposition regarding how one number was quite a lot larger than another, but on the other hand, some others numbers were also larger than some other ones. In all cases, this was a bad thing for the Church, as numbers were the work of the heretics. Sadly, there were quite a lot of numbers. In previous books, the author had talked about this sort of thing for twenty percent of the text, but here he raised that to twenty-six and proved his opposition to Mother Church.

Reading this book, I am reminded why I gave up with this series and decided not to bother following it up... but time has passed and I kind of felt in the mood for something I thought was sort of in this vein. I was not really, but I kind of got curious to see how a couple of events turned out. If you have read this far, you probably are enough of a fan to forgive the general tedium of interchangeable military leader attacks opposing forces with numbers in some place which is entirely irrelevant to the reader. Some of the politics are interesting, a few of the battles, none of the commentary by the ever growing crowd of observers whose personalities and stories are told in other books, but yet... there are still some great little Weber scenes which give you a little emotional tug here and there.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly read this one on a long trip riding in a car from Utah to Texas and back again. The book ended on a note that made me look forward to the next book.

Again, I love the science fiction and character-focused aspects of this series. After eight books, I'm fairly attached to some of the characters. I look forward to reading the ninth book, and especially finishing the series eventually. It's husband-required reading for me, but it's okay. I've learned to speed read through the boring parts. My dentist expressed interest in the series when he asked me what I was reading. So that says something.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uff, ostatnia część z czytnika wymęczona.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Events occur in Hell’s Foundations Quiver that I wasn’t expecting to happen in the Safehold series. In spite of the proscriptions against advancing technology, the evil Zhaspar Clyntahn decides to allow his craftsmen, manufacturers, and inventors enough leeway to actually leapfrog Charisian technology in a couple of advanced weapon systems. One of these advances isn’t quite a U-boat, but the potential effect of these small but stealthy vessels on the “Holy War” on Safehold has similar parallels to U-boat warfare in the Atlantic of WWII. In addition, the cover painting on my volume showed Merlyn’s ship firing on an enemy vessel. Even as I picked up the book, I was telling myself that the artist must not have read the previous books or this manuscript because the monitoring satellite in the sky would detect certain technologies and initiate a sudden, destructive attack on the location where the forbidden technology was used. Well, Weber had a surprise for me on that subject and, I was not expecting that. But I liked it.

One weakness that I personally felt in this volume was that there wasn’t enough of the creative brainstorming that led to excitement of discovery in the earlier volumes. Indeed, on the Charisian technology front, it seemed like setbacks were the order of the day. That’s not necessarily bad. One doesn’t advance beyond the limiting frontiers of known science without risk. Further, this fascinating series would not be as fascinating if Charis simply kept inventing and rolling over the armies of the “Church” without significant failures and disappointments. Still, I have to confess I really love those decisive Charisian victories. Of course, the reason I love them is because of the diabolical nature of the Council of Four—even those I once thought were merely being browbeaten into submission.

Another consideration that occasionally disrupts my suspension of disbelief is that the inner circle, formed of those who know the secret of Nimue’s cave, the SNARCs, and the truth of the so-called “true church,” is simply growing much faster than is ideal. It sort of reduces the “conspiracy” factor and need for stealth and solves problems seamlessly that would have posed a dilemma earlier in the series. This is good in terms of moving the action along, but doesn’t keep me holding my breath as I sometimes did in earlier volumes.

On the positive side, one matter I continue to appreciate in this series is that it handles people of faith, even when serving in ignorance of some of the abuses in their church with respect. Even the established faith which has devolved a long way from authentic faith is treated with respect—unlike the vicious accusations and counter-accusations made during the Reformation Wars in our earth-bound history. Don’t get me wrong. Merlyn’s SNARCs are still posting propaganda wherever there is space (even on temples of the “True church”) and it fries Clyntahn to no end. The Four just can’t believe that infiltrators, fifth columnists are operating in the “holy city” of Zion itself. The fifth columnists are there, but not exactly like Clyntahn was thinking.

For those who want action, Hell’s Foundations Quiver isn’t a slacker. The land campaign moves forward, but those who remember my lamentation that Weber is most excellent at portraying naval battles will not be disappointed in this volume. As with all the books, there are terrible costs to pay in war. As a reader, I lost characters that I cared about. And that keeps me reading—probably as long as Weber sticks with this series. Hell’s Foundations Quiver would definitely get the “Johnny Wilson Gold Seal of Quality” if such an award existed and if anyone cared.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hell's Foundations Quiver" is the latest in the Safehold series. I just loved it. The story moves along and Merlin's alter-ego Nimue gets more more face time in this book.

The story: This is the account of a religious war on the planet of Safehold. It parallels the Protestant Reformation on Earth, but two androids (PICAs) holding the memories of Nimue Alban are nursing civilization from out of the Middle Ages into modernity. The story widens by resolving the jaw-dropper ending of the previous book, Like a Mighty Army, and resolves most of the issues introduced in the present book.

Any problems with the book? References are made to events in book #1 Off Armageddon Reef and since it is a continuation of the previous book probably with less than an hour or two of time passing, one should have read the previous book, Like a Mighty Army, to get the full context.

The F-word appears from time to time. It is usually used by the bad guys, but always in context.

The violence is terrible. Specifically, a child becomes the focus of the story for a while and she is in danger.... deadly danger. That is not a spoiler. Everyone in the book is in danger, but the focus on the danger to this one child compels me to warn the reader.

The ending is reasonable and while it doesn't exactly end in a cliffhanger, it leaves a lot of desire in the heart to read the next book. It is not too bad, and the ending is telegraphed well in advance. I will have to wait another year.

I'd definitely read this book again.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
Some thoughts:
This volume, like the several preceding it, suffers from 'middle book syndrome'. There is action galore, most of which consists of moving people around the map interspersed with battles, which sets the stage for the next book.
There is some forward progress in the grand story arc, with some interesting developments on both sides of the conflict.
The author introduces new characters with the same abandon as he introduces new weaponry (both sets coming with the typical Weber info-dumping). Indeed, the cast is now so large, the some of the main players don't seem to get much page time.
The action really picks up in the last 1/4th of the book, leading to an ending that makes for a great opening in the next book.
I greatly suspect that this book would make little sense to someone who had not read at least some of the previous books.
I find the maps just this side of useless, which annoys the heck out of me, as I love maps and keeping track of where the action is taking place. I would love at Atlas of Safehold, with the detailed battle maps placed it better context to the world map.

[Steven Bragg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has a large amount of writing skill, and can crank out long battle scenes that are quite entertaining. However, this story suffers from several items. One is his extremely odd naming convention that involves throwing in a "y" instead of some more suitable vowel whenever possible. The result is hundreds of names that are nearly indistinguishable, forcing the reader to skim over names instead of trying figure out who is in the middle of the action. Also, the cast of characters is so incredibly long that the summary of names and terms at the end of the book is over 100 pages long. Finally, if the author has a choice between saying something succinctly and going the long route, he always takes the long route. This series is getting incredibly long, and probably has several more volumes to go; I wonder if he would have been done by now if his writing style were more compressed.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book 8 of the neverending story of Safehold, technically a Sci-Fi, but with Fantasy overtones. It is a highly complex political/military series, requiring constant looking up of whose who in the immense appendices. I think Weber is trying to compete with Cherryh's Foreigner series and fails, IMO. The latter is much better done and engaging with better developed characters. Still, if you like complex political/military SciFi-Fan this series is for you.

My main complaints is that the maps are not detailed enough without referring to earlier books or searching the web for better maps, but who wants to interrupt reading to do that.

6 of 10 stars.

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down with a large caveat.

The story elements are great, the entertainment value is all there, but this is starting to feel like the middle third of WoT, where lots of things happen but not really anything takes place. It seems like the story arc is ready to be closed though but on the other hand we're still so far away from the ultimate conclusion of the Gbaba arc.

I will continue to read the series and will continue to enjoy it, but we're 8 books in and it's about time to start wrapping up.

[Ove · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Safehold story continues with more of the same. The writing is entertaining at times but the story doesn't move forward by much with every thick volume.
I will probably buy the next book but if that doesn't get us to the Temple i will probably give up.

[Cindy Stiverson · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUTSTANDING

Definatly for the keeper shelf. I want the next one NOW!!!!
Please write faster!!!!!
I can't wait to recomend this book and series.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too long, too many characters with too similar names and too many different settings and locations. If Weber wanted to portray the confusion and assault on the senses a war presents to its participants, he has made some strides towards achieving such a goal. However, the same attributes impede an entertaining and exciting reading experience.

At times it is hard not to notice than even the author has lost the track of his many characters. They become little more than cutout general types, repetitive and annoying. Whereas Weber was always known for recycling the names he uses for his characters, his limited pool of names has been long ago depleted by his most expansive fictional world. In the eighth novel of this series we find most of the first and surnames repeated more than once, often giving similar names to people fighting on opposite sides. While that might introduce an element of realism if one considers the propability of finding similar names amongst soldiers in any of the real wars, it defeats the purpose of having fiction present a more understandable and memorable picture. I, for example would be unable to name even most of the major characters in this book, even the main protagonists are burdened with hard to remember surnames. The author's propensity to change his characters' names after ennoblement adds another layer of difficulty.

If this is the first of this series you have picked up, you should carefully consider whether it is worthwhile to start at this point or even go back to power through the first seven, similarly massive and only marginally less confusing books. For those starting to lose patience with the series but reluctant to simply give up after having made it this far: this is the second to last book. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Red Tide · Rating 5 out of 5]

The protestant reformation re-imagined

I just reread this volume and it reads differently than it did a couple of years ago. After writing reviews for a couple of years, I think about things that I noticed but didn't dwell on or even put into words before.

I like the series very much but I saw how much room in the book is devoted to technical description of the weapons (guns, ships, armour, artillery, ammunition) and the manufacturing of same. I like that kind of stuff (being a sort of nerd, I guess) but those details drive the series more than the struggle of the major characters.

Without them, it's probably difficult to visualize the horrors of the battles, both military and naval. The distances are given and the travel times but without better maps, they read like a travelogue entry rather than key story elements.

The character of Merlin and his non-royal allies are probably the best part of the books. The constraints on his ability to act on information are twisty good. Imagine seeing disaster loom and being unable to act, not because of lack of resources but of the necessity of disguising those resources. It gets complicated and some episodes are reminiscent of a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy. They are uncomfortable but you feel that you have to bear witness and so you read. The drama is fairly compelling. The dialogue of the inner circle is less than stellar and too cutesy for my taste but he doesn't do intimate relationships that well.

The books are worth the read and the action spanning a globe is not as hard to follow as you might expect from a bald description of the plot. It's written in Turtledove's style and like Turtledove, packs a lot of movement in time and place in well planned chapters. You can almost jump into the story from any book but it's much better to begin at the beginning.