Hell's Gate

Multiverse #1

by David Weber, Linda Evans, Joelle Presby

The Union of Arcana has expanded through the portals linking parallel universes for over a century and a half. In that time, its soldiers and sorcerers have laid claim to one uninhabited planet after another, all of them Earth, and in the process, the Union has become the most powerful, most wealthy civilization in all of human history. But all of that is about to come to a screeching halt, for the Union's scouts have just discovered a new portal, and on its far side lies a shattering revelation. Arcana is not alone, after all. There is another human society, Sharona, which has also been exploring the Multiverse, and the first contact between them did not go well. Arcana is horrified by the alien weapons of its sudden opponents, weapons its sorcerers cannot explain or duplicate. Weapons based upon something called . . . science. But Sharona is equally horrified by Arcana's "magical" weapons. Neither side expected the confrontation. Both sides think the other fired first, and no one on either side understands the "technology" of the other. But as the initial disastrous contact snowballs into all-out warfare, both sides can agree on one thing. The portal which brought them together is Hell's Gate itself!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Military Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy

816 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2006

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

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

(review November 2015 on something like the 4th or 5th complete read)

Hell's Gate is the first book from the Multiverse series which started in mid 2006 expecting to go on constantly for a few volumes, with at least 4 in the initial arc and more if sales allowed it - ending on a "now the main action starts", the second volume Hell Hath no Fury was published a little while later to end at a pause in the action (though still on a semi-cliffhanger in one of the main political subplots), but events outside anyone's control put the series on hiatus until luckily, the situation could be solved and the series resumed with a new co-author in the upcoming Road to Hell (tbp March 2016);

so while I read the 2 books a few times across the years since, I haven't been pumped for a series continuation in a long while as I am for this one - hoping Baen will offer an earc to for sale asap, with December 15th floated for now, though one hopes even earlier - and i decided to get back in the flow of the series, though my intention was to take it easy and read the books gradually until RTH is released (in mid December at least 1/2 the book will be available to purchase in a Baen bundle), but again the books engrossed me so much that I had to finish them fast now...

Let's make a few points here about Hell's Gate:

- dramatic introduction to the 2 human civilizations living on "parallel" Earths that are connected through portals and many other Earths in-between, though all have been empty until now when they meet on the Earth variant that gets the title name -

the Sharonians (hint - if an author calls a civilization/planet after his wife, they are the clear good guys, though obviously there are schemers and bad guys within as always in DW's universes), who have an early 20th century civilization (trains, steam engines, early internal combustion, machine guns, but no planes or electricity) and psy powers called "talents" manifest in some 30% of the population (usually one per person with most notable being the "Voices", telepaths allowing almost instant communication on a planet, though Talents don't work through portals); split into many states, but with a dominant Ternathian Empire (a sort of Roman Empire but based in Ireland) who has been the main power for some 5000 years and whose Calirath dynasty has powerful precognition talents; opposing them, the sneaky and treacherous Uromathian Emperor, Chava (Uromathia being our China), while the main portal through which Sharona (under the aegis of the Authority, a multinational corporation/organization) started expanding in other Earths some 80 years previously being located close to Othmaliz which is our Istanbul - formerly capital of the Ternathian Empire at its height, but now part of an independent state; notable characters from Sharona are Emperor Zindel Calirath, his heir, Marine Captain/Prince Janaki (currently not far from Hell's Gate as it happens), his oldest daughter and next in line to the throne, Andrin - still in her late teens but already seemingly the most powerful talent in the Calirath line in a while, and the Emperor himself is no mean talent too - Voice Shaylar, of Arabian origin, first woman allowed on a new Earth first exploration team (obviously Hell's Gate!), her husband, Mapper and outdoors-man, Jathmar, Voice Kinlafia (the backup at the portal to hell's gate to whom Shaylar communicates, later politician on Sharona), various officers in the Authority and later Sharonian army, various other leaders and public figures

- the Arcanans - a magic (individual wielder of magic, some 20% or so are called Gifted) based civilization with mass produced spells, war and transport dragons, enhanced horses and unicorns, spell powered weapons and transport (spells not working through Portals though), but no inkling about engines, guns, bullets, trains etc - their weapons are swords and magic enhanced crossbows and fire/lightning throwers; explorers of the Multiverse for some 200 years when the apparition of the first portal on Arcana led to a terrible war to end all wars in which spells of mass destruction almost led to the complete collapse of their civilization; ending in the "Accords" and an unified Union with local autonomy, the Arcanans have 3 major civilizations - the Andarans (the Native Americans of our Earth), martial, obligation bound, mostly patriarchal and forming some 80% of the Army though not as Gifted overall as the Ransarans (the Chinese and east Asians of our Earth), who are monotheistic, liberal, wealthy and split into many subcultures, but all regarded as hedonistic by the Andarans and decadent by the really bad guys of the series, the (Shakira - Gifted and some 20% of all Mythalans, the most powerful denoted by vos in front of their names) Mythalans (who are from Africa of our Earth and were the first who tamed magic and built civilization) and who regard themselves as superior to everyone and consider the rest of the Mythalans (the Garthan) no better than slaves, Accords or no Accords - the ultimate war was fought by the Mythalans against the alliance of the Ransarans and the Andarans and despite the superior martial prowess of the Andarans and the developed magic of the Ransarans, the Shakira mastery of magic almost prevailed, so the Accords left them with a lot of power overall and considerable autonomy in their lands; notable characters are Jasak Olderhan, Scout captain and leader of the first contact team whose father is the most powerful Andaran noble, magisters Gadrial (Ransaran) and most gifted non-Mythalan possibly ever and vos Dulainah, her mentor who left the famed magic academy at Mythal Falls (Victoria falls) when she was framed and unjustly expelled as a student, and founded a magic academy in the Andaran capital near our Niagara Falls, where they are now the main leaders, as well as testing a new portal detection device that could revolutionize Multiverse exploration (also at hell's gate of course), army general and commander of all Arcanan forces in the Hell's gate portsl chain, vos mul Gurthak (obviously Shakira and the main known villain to date), army general and commander of the Arcanan expeditionary force, Harshu (! - Andaran), diplomats Skirvon and Dastiri, various officers, dragons and soldiers

- the book starts explosively with the (botched) first contact, then there is a lull in the action and the immediate responses, followed by a slow building of tension, punctuated by some slower political maneuverings in Sharona (the one part that could have been trimmed a little, though it may become important later) with as mentioned the ending at the "now the war really starts" point...

Excellent stuff and with an implied promise of at least two more books with a reasonable ending (and obviously more if sales allow it as DW hinted at lots and lots of convolutions, including Dragons exploding through a portal on our Earth at some future time), highly recommended for a fast and addictive read with the usual inventiveness, great characters and all one expects from a David Weber universe novel

[M Hamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the finest world building i have ever read . but despite the author unsavory need for over explanation and the meaningless soul searching every character is doing

there is lots of naivety

[James Tullos · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like it when sci-fi or fantasy authors over explain everything, David Weber is the man for you!

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Corrected typos in March 23, 2016)

This one had four stars in the bag and blew it. How? An ending which left the reader not hanging on a cliff but tumbling over it.

That said, the universes (yes, more than one) involved were well conceived and developed. That the geography of all of them is identical with the Earth helped the reader locate the action somewhat. The humanoid cast was large, sprawling, and not well enough differentiated from one culture to another. In fact, the bad guys tended to blur regardless of which side they were on.

So, do you read 800+ pages of this prologue or jump to the next book in the series? I'll answer that after I've read the opening of Hell Hath No Fury. My inclination is to suggest you read a synopsis of this book and go straight to the second.

Despite that, a good space opera, as you'd expect of the author of the Honor Harrington books.

Addendum (after completing Hell Hath No Fury): no,you can't skip this book (or read the Wikipedia synopsis). Not because all of this 700+ pages is needed to set up the next book, but because if you don't enjoy this meandering, teaser-filled plot, you won't enjoy the next meandering, teaser-filled plot.)

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weber and Evans' Hell's Gate is billed, at least on the cover, as military science fiction, but that is a bit of a stretch. If you are familiar with Weber's work, such as On Basilisk Station and the rest of the Honor Harrington series, you know Weber likes to go on and on about politics; Hell's Gate is no exception. This is door stop at 1200 pages, and yet, this is basically just a set up for what is to come in the rest of the series. A set up it most be noted with more POVs than you can shake a stick at. To call it ambitious is an understatement.

What Weber and Evans do here is a massive world building effort, and not just one world, but two. We basically have two different Earths, with two very different civilizations on each. Both civilizations are located in the 'multiverse'; basically a set of parallel worlds linked via 'portals'. Each civilization has been colonizing the alternative Earths they find, and this has been going on for hundreds of years. Yet, neither of the civilizations have ever encountered other humans, until now.

One civilization is build around magic-- Arcania-- and via magic is how they sail ships, move things, lights, basically everything we might utilize some mechanical contraption for, they employ magic. Only certain people have the 'gift' of magic however, but people with gifts can 'spellcast' objects so anyone can use them.

The other civilization is more like our Earth, although right around the industrial revolution. They have people, however, with 'talents', which involve an entire array of mental powers, like telepathy, 'mapping', empathy, etc., along with their mechanical devices like guns and steam engines.

Anyway, both sides if you will encounter each other in what for each is a new universe they have both just discovered. This new universe is special in that it has several portals to other universes that have yet to be explored; a new nexus if you will. Anyway, two individuals from either side suddenly meet in the wilderness and manage to kill each other-- one with a gun, one with a crossbow. The 'science' civilization's exploring team is comprised by civilians, with the 'arcane' side is a small military force. The Arcanians track down the civilian explorers and a junior officer, against orders, shoots down the leader of the civilian exploration team when he arises empty handed in an attempt to negotiate; this leads the rest of the civilian team, who are armed with guns, to open fire. In the ensuing melee, massive carnage ensues, almost wiping out the civilians and soldiers both. One of the civilians, however, is a 'voice', or telepath, who communicated the encounter to her support team located at the portal they came from.

I will stop with the plotting here, just saying that after this brief encounter, Weber and Evans spend the next 1000 pages or so giving us massive info drops about the civilizations on either side, including exhaustive portraits of both and their histories. How will each side respond? Will there be war? It seems so, although that will have to wait for the next volume in the series for sure.

If you like Weber's work, you should like this. I am a bit ambivalent about Weber, and that goes for this as well. Some may really like the rich societies he and Evans create here, with all their nuances complete with various vices and virtues. Weber always seems to include some aspects of Feudal honor and loyalty, and this is no exception. If you are looking for military science fiction, you will probably be sorely disappointed. If you are looking for a rich fantasy environment with major info drops and reams of characters, you have found the place to be. 2.5 stars rounding up because I read the whole thing.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First in the start of a new military sci-fi series, the Multiverse. I know, it sounds like a working series title, but it is accurate.

My Take
The culture shock when Sharona and Arcana encounter each other, not knowing the language of the other, is tremendous with the story a fascinating exploration of how a simple misunderstanding can lead to mistakes that affect the governments of numerous countries and escalate military action. Weber and Evans take full advantage of the variety of human greed and its kindness to create a complex pair of worlds with characters we love and hate. It will certainly make you question the validity of sides.

The story indicates that Shaylar is madly popular on Sharona, so her supposed death rouses the entire planet to overwhelming anger with hordes of men enlisting in the army to avenge her death. But other than that she's the first woman to be part of a survey party which the Portal Authority exploits by using her as the face of their portal exploration marketing efforts, I don't understand why she is so loved and adored.

You can imagine how the Sharonians reacted when Shaylar's experience was projected by the equivalent of a Voice News channel! Their entire world is shocked and terrified of war coming to them and everyone immediately goes to a war footing — troops and logistics, a Conclave of all the rulers leading to a demand for a world government.

On Jasak's side, he's an Arcadan, we don't really learn about his world [Arcana] in general but more about how it affects him and his party. The animosity from the Mythalans comes through pretty clear and we learn about Rasnaran beliefs and history, but nothing like we learn of the Sharonians.

The dialog is definitely appropriate although the conversations between Andrina and her father are just too good to be true. Thank god for fiction where we can create the world we want!

The end sets up even more tension with the Arcanans about to attack although they're supposedly in truce talks with the Sharonians — I get the distinct impression that Jasak's people are more interested in pursuing war with their various agendas than in attempting to resolve the initial errors. And the Sharonians have finally voted on who's to run the new empire…a vote with which the cetaceans are oddly concerned. Oddly, because the dolphins and whales of Sharona have never been interested in the politics of man before. Of even greater concern was when Shaylar's parents learned of her "death", and the entire bay erupted in cetacean anger.

Weber and Evans have done a lovely job of creating two completely different universes composed of various countries each of which has its own culture, animosities, and alliances. I must admit to a partiality for the Sharonians. I love their almost universal values, and they certainly seem more interested in peace than the Arcanans!

The Story
Two separate peoples from two separate universes exploring portals, which take them to unexplored universes until, inevitably, the two exploring parties meet by accident, in accident. A scout from each side manages to kill each other in a way that terrifies their own teams, leading to a cockup of massive proportions — and points out the stupidity of promoting people based on patronage rather than merit!

The only two Sharonian survivors of a mistaken attack, Shaylar and Jathmar, are taken prisoner by Sir Jasak Olderhan, an honorable hundred who must protect their lives from his own people and is helped by Magister Gadrial Kelbryan.

Unfortunately for the Arcanans, Shaylar is a Voice and projected the entire attack to another Voice who experienced everything Shaylar did until she was struck unconscious.

The Characters
Aracana is…
…a planet that manipulates the energies of their world, using magic, to function as a manufacturing-farming-military society. Sir Jasak Olderhan's rank is hundred and he is an Andaran, a very honorable race, who takes the two surviving Sharonians prisoner. Magister Gadrial Kelbryan is a Ransaran.

Sharona is…
…a planet that runs on the standard mechanical gadgets, although a percentage of the population has Talent. Shaylar, a Voice, is married to Jathmar, whose Talent is Mapping, are the only survivors of a mistaken attack. Shalassar and Thaminar (a farmer) are Shaylar's parents; her mother has a Talent for speaking with cetaceans and is the ambassador for her country to the whales and dolphins, who have a vote on their planet.

Her Imperial Highness Andrina is the seventeen-year-old daughter of the emperor of Ternathia, Zindel chan Calirath XXIV of Ternathia is now Zindel I of Sharona.

A Voice can project their experiences to another Voice in complete Technicolor. Talent is the mental ability to speak over long distances, see the vagaries of the terrain for several miles, sense if someone is lying, speak to sentient species, etc.

Mythalans comes through pretty clear.

The Cover and Title
The cover is rather dorky. Two combatants are framed within what I'm assuming is a representation of the contested portal with one man armored and fighting with an axe atop an armored horse against a foot soldier.

The title is one thing Sharona and Arcana can agree on: the portal each came through is Hell's Gate.

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes:

Great narration by Mark Boyett.

Due to the story format with changing POV's, I'd recommend reading the print vs listening to the audio.

Technically, it was a solid setup for the trilogy. There are two established powers that collide in an unfortunate conflict. Love the concepts about dimensional travel. A lot of it made me have fond throwbacks to Stargate.

However, the authors should have focused to present the stories from key POV's vs trying to tell everything about the worlds, various states/kingdoms, cultures, etc. There's a way to show those elements via character interactions, reactions and events. That's done too, but there were more droning summaries than I like.

The bit about intelligent animals was great and I hope it's a bigger part of the series.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hell’s Gate is a newish military sci fi/fantasy series by prolific writer David Weber and Linda Evans. It’s about two separate earth-like universes exploring portals into other similar universes, leading to an unthinkable meeting in one of these alternative universes, by accident. And, to everyone’s shock and horror, both men who see each other shoot at each other simultaneously (although the Arcanan – the “bad” guys – actually shoots first) and kill each other. Unfortunately, the Sharonan team is a small civilian survey team while the Arcanans are a much larger military force and they go after the Sharonans. And they slaughter them, while taking heavy casualties.

Something of note. The interesting premise of this book and series is this: Sharona runs on the standard technology of the early 20th century, complete with standard weaponry such as rifles, revolvers, machine guns, etc., although a certain percentage of the population has “Talent,” and are “Voices” – mental abilities to speak over long distances, etc. They are invaluable for communicating over incredibly long distances in the empire. However, Arcana uses magic to function as a manufacturing/military society. Everything is run by spells and their weapons are both ancient (crossbows) and mythical (fire breathing dragons). The utter shock when both sides encounter each other is huge. Especially when they ultimately find they can’t even communicate, nor can they understand how either civilization can even work.

The only two Sharonian survivors of what turns out to be a mistaken Arcanan attack, Shaylar and Jathmar, are taken prisoner by Sir Jasak Olderhan, an honorable officer who seeks to protect their lives from his own people. He is helped by Magister Gadrial Kelbryan, a Gifted sorceress, for lack of a better description. Unfortunately, it seems the Arcanans are a war-like people, while at the same time, word of this disaster has reached Sharona and people are outraged, especially since Shaylar was the most popular woman in their universe and they mistakenly believe she was killed. Their whole world is shocked, outraged, and terrified of a possible war coming to them and preparations are made for war --- troops, logistics, a worldwide Conclave of all the rulers leading to a demand for a universal government, most likely lead by Ternathian emperor Zindel chan Calirath.

The end of the novel is a cliffhanger, as the Arcanans have sent “diplomats” out to seek negotiations with the Sharonans while they move thousands of troops and dozens of dragons to the front for a surprise attack. Sharona won’t know what hit them. And there the book ends. Weber is so good at ending his books like this. It’s damned maddening! So I immediately had to go out and buy the sequel and I’m already halfway through it.

This is a great book with a unique and great premise, but I’m only giving it four stars because there are so many wasted pages of descriptions and explanations of kingdoms and territories and populations and peoples, none of which really matter to the story – they’re just filler. And this book is almost 1,300 pages! It’s the biggest damn book I’ve ever read! If they had cut out the unessential stuff, it probably would have been closer to 800 pages or less. But as I’ve always said of Weber books, I’m convinced he’s paid by the word/page count. He writes really, really long books with tons of completely unnecessary infodumps that you learn to just skim over to save your own sanity. Four stars for what should be a five star book. Definitely recommended.

[Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dammit, Dave, would you stop writing new universes and finish... nevermind. Some of those universes you'll never finish. *sigh* First in a series, not a stand alone, so be prepared to get sucked in. And get the next book lined up now.

Openings from one parallel universe to another let the inhabitants of what seems to be the only human-inhabited universe spread out across the multiverse. Until they run into another universe's worth of humans. Even seeing the stupidities coming, it's how the good guys get out of it that makes the story. And there's good guys on both sides.

[Reuben James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Kind of, sort of a military SF genre. A bit overwrought (or maybe, over wrote), but entertaining, nonetheless. My main problem with military SF is that there isn't much fun going on in books like this. The characters are mostly either angry or terrified. This makes it hard to really enjoy the reading experience. That said, Hell's Gate is still reasonably entertaining. It has some elements of "Into The Looking Glass" by John Ringo (also a Military SF writer, so probably not an accident).

[Kjirstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling story! Two very different civilizations blunder into each other and, through a series of escalating terrible mistakes and misunderstandings, manage to get sucked into a state of war with each other. It's a little heavy on the world-building at times (long internal dialogues or expository conversations between characters), but I actually tend to enjoy that, so it's not too bad!

[Teresa Carrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very long book, with way too many POV characters. It held my attention enough to finish it but I’m not going to reread it, or read the next in the series unless I’m in a very strange mood.

[David R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice engaging read. Characters are well developed and feel like actual people with conflicted goals.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors bobble the first chapter, but thereafter it's really good.

The story: There is a multiverse of near-copies of the home world of Arcana to be explored and exploited. Scouts have have found one of the biggest portals (or gates) ever. At the same time the world of Sharona has been exploring the multiverse, but has never found another existing civilization.... until now. Arcana is a world of magic, swords and dragons. Sharona is a world of psychics, telepaths, distance seers and guns. When these two worlds meet, something happens that neither world wanted to happen, but now that it has, neither seems able to stop it. It looks like war.

As a first impression I'm saying that if you ever wanted to know how a war could start even though both sides had the best of intentions, then this is the book for you. The first chapter does get bogged down in the introduction of the main characters. I think it could have been done a lot better, but once you get through that it is smooth sailing. I suggest reading the publisher's introduction on the inside flap for a little more background before you dive in.

Any modesty issues? The F-word is used on occasion, but other than that, no real problems. There is a mention of sex between a married couple, but sex is not described. It is simply alluded to.

The book ends in something of a cliffhanger as one misunderstanding after another has led each side to prepare for war. That war will apparently be the subject of the next book in the series "Hell Hath No Fury". I'm already reading it and it is really exciting. It is going to need a third book, "The Road to Hell," to wind up the unresolved issues though.

[David Thurneysen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A multiverse society meets another multiverse society. One is technical and one is magical. The premise is amazing, the description of the societies and their history well done, and the similarities to earth geography intriguing. Unfortunately, the Publisher's Weekly quote on the cover says "Exciting military SF!" and that is simply not the case. In fact, this was one one of the most overwritten books I have ever read. (-1 star for lack of editing) And one of the slowest stories (-1 star for pacing)

There are some interesting military scenarios and a bit of story scattered amongst the 1200 pages. But most of the pages contain endless descriptions of people, confusing people and place names, and then overall avoids and delays any significant plot actions until presumably the next book. Sure there is a lot to describe here, but perhaps a clearer distinction between people and place names between the two sides and a map (or two) would have saved thousands of unnecessary words. Hint: the glossary in the back helps if you are willing to flip there constantly.

Somewhere around page 1000 new characters were still being introduced followed by obligatory pages of what they were thinking. It's not about who wins, but I stopped caring about what they were thinking and found myself skimming ahead looking for plot (-1 star) I'm grateful the next book is smaller, but unsure now that I want to go through that portal.

[Alexander Theofanidis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a surprise! I was expecting to read a mediocre story full of clichés and stumbled upon the most interesting multi-universe writing to date (IMO). If you like multi-universe stories, alternative stories and cultural conflicts*, do not hesitate to read it. It also has two excellent sequels.

*Dear Jared Diamond, this is a unique case where the "Guns , Germs and steel" law of conquer does not apply. (LOL)


* * *

The Union of Arcana has expanded through the portals linking parallel universes for over a century and a half. In that time, its soldiers and sorcerers have laid claim to one uninhabited planet after another-all of them Earth, and in the process, the Union has become the most powerful, most wealthy civilization in all of human history. But all of that is about to come to a screeching halt, for the Union's scouts have just discovered a new portal, and on its far side lies a shattering revelation. Arcana is not alone, after all. There is another human society, Sharona, which has also been exploring the Multiverse, and the first contact between them did not go well. Arcana is horrified by the alien weapons of its sudden opponents, weapons its sorcerers cannot explain or duplicate. Weapons based upon something called . . . science. But Sharona is equally horrified by Arcana's 'magical' weapons. Neither side expected the confrontation. Both sides think the other fired first, and no one on either side understands the 'technology' of the other. But as the initial disastrous contact snowballs into all-out warfare, both sides can agree on one thing. The portal which brought them together is Hell's Gate itself!


* * *

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two empires meet on a deserted world... Sharona is an emerging techno-culture that relies heavily on wide-spread psychic "talents". Arcana is a "sword-and-sorcery" culture that relies heavily on widespread magical "gifts". The tragic meeting of an Arcanian exploratory platoon with a Sharonian civilian survey team sets off a long-burning fuse which is leading to war. So are the spell-casting Arcanians, backed by dragon cavalry, ready for the machine-gun toting Sharonians, backed by ground artillery?

OK, this book is 800 pages of prologue, which seems a bit excessive to me, but for some reason, I stuck with it. I just wanted to find out what happened to the main characters, but so many other characters kept getting in the way; they kept introducing new people right to the final chapters, which I found extremely frustrating. It was also aggravating to have to figure out which world the narrative was taking place in every time the narration picked up after a logical break. But Weber has a knack for drawing up a completely believable socio-political scene, as fear, xenophobia, incompetence, and personal/political/military ambition start to triumph over calm, clear thinking. I found that I couldn't just leave it, though I did have to take frequent breaks to digest it.

The war is starting in the next book, but I'm tired of prologue here; if they don't do something with the plot, I might just give up on it.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't see ever attempting book 2: Hell Hath no Fury.

I found the military aspects of this just completely unbelievable, and with one half of the writing team an author of some of the best military SF available!

I could buy the initial opening of hostilities: two guys who don't ever expect to meet another human being, other than their own exploration party, come across another armed man in dense bush, and react badly. But everybody on both sides knows that standing orders are to avoid confrontation in this sort of situation. So when the "bad guys" (and much as this is supposed to be about what can go wrong when two well-meaning groups come into conflict, there is a "bad" side), catch up to the "good guys" and one man lets his cowardice get the better of him and shoots an unarmed person trying to parley, I can understand that too. But then the supposedly "good" member of the "bad" team proceeds to endorse his actions. Come ON! What is military training for? You teach people to ignore their own natures (for better or worse) and take the orders of those who supposedly know better, for the greater good.

This whole novel (and presumably sequel(s)) is based on the presumption that Arcana has the most terribly trained military in three universes.

Two stars, and I'm being generous.

[David L · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is unusual. It has a totally original basic premise. That is so rare in SF now that it would make this book worth reading for that reason alone. In David Weber it has one of the best authors in current SF, and Linda Evans though not first rank is a very good author as well.

So why only three stars? Because unfortunately they have ruined a great book, and turned it into a moderately good book that barely rates those three stars, with some basic errors. The book has far too much exposition, and I mean far, far, far too much. Whilst of passing interest we are overwhelmed with so much explanation the book actually gets boring, and you are left desperately hoping that the next substantive plot point or action sequence would hurry up and happen! The result of this is the book is then far too long! A good vicious old fashioned editor would have forced this book to only a third of its length. Unfortunately though the more successful a writer is, the less control editors seem willing to enforce.

And unfortunately it turns out this book is only the first in the series. I have just ploughed through what is basically an extended introduction. The real action still hasn't started, this was all scene setting!

I hope the second book delivers otherwise I may revise this book down to two stars.

[Robert Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a bit of an odd duck when it comes to choosing a book. The old saying "Never judge a book by it's cover" does not apply to my choices. This may remove me from finding great books, but it has allowed me to find gems nonetheless. The second criteria I use is mass. I can only think of 2 books, in the last 40 years, where mass was a bad thing. I want my story, my initially defined images and then a LOT of it to read.

I discovered Hell's gate by my simplistic criteria.

It is a proverbial page turner and it manages to grip you in the 2nd chapter and pull you along until the final page. The story and the craft in which it was woven, leaves you VERY anxious for the 2nd book, Hell hath no Fury.

If you are a Jordan fan you will love this mesh of magic and science and the very basis that allows each to exist. Book 2 is just as well written, with book 3 being horribly long-winded, leaving a bit of a pange of concern for the contents of book 4, but with hopeful thoughts that Weber can reign in his cowriter who has a flare for the inane and redundant level of detail that can kill a story for some

[Elizabeth Rebecca Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very long, complex and sometimes confusing book. It is about two societies that have found gateways to other worlds in their travels. Neither of them expect to meet any other human beings on their journeys and both are shocked when they do manage to meet one another. One group has technology and mind powers while the other one has magic and dragons. Their initial meeting is a bloody misunderstanding with one group wiping out all of their opponents as far as their opponents know. But they did manage to save a pair of them and the victorious group finds out that their army contingent wiped out a bunch of civilian explorers. The armed forces that follow the civilian group destroy the outpost of their opponents. Who has the upper hand and will they actually go to war is not written in this long book. It details some interesting points and differences between the two societies and has a lot of characters in it. For the life of me, I don't know why three of the major characters have to have names starting with J. It made it somewhat confusing.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really liked the Safehold series so after finishing it I was ready for something else by David Weber. I started with Hell's Gate because I liked the premise and I like big books. And that is about all the good I can say about it. After slogging through for about three hundred pages, I realized I still did not care at all about any of the characters. They did not generate any real interest because I did not feel that there was anything really at stake. They were not fighting to save humanity. Both sides were equally humanity. They seam to just be fighting because they were too afraid not to.

I did not like the way the premise was being handled and I did not like the writing style. Any emotional activity of the characters was presented with all the elegance of a two-by-four to the side of the head.

I'm not done with David Weber yet. I started reading Out of the Dark instead and am thoroughly enjoying it's humor and characters so far.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I'm completely new to the Space Opera genre, and have never really read the like, and to be honest-the size of this book intimidated me being new to the genre, but it was a fun ride that was easy to continue through, with incredibly engaging characters and a world building performance that stands with the fantasy greats.

I also found it was an easy book to put aside and pick up again, which I appreciated as I was able to read it in splurges, rather than in one marathon stretch.

The concept of bouncing back and forth between worlds was particularly well-done, providing a unique and incredibly deep understanding of the evolving conflict between worlds.

I will, without a doubt, be reading deeper into the series in the future!

*one note, don't bother reading this book if you don't want to commit to the series. The ending is unsatisfying and demands a continuation.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two fantasy civilizations exploring the multiverse run into one another, and their contact, to put it mildly, doesn't go well. (This is marketed as a fantasy civ encountering a sci-fi civ, but they are both clearly fantasy.) I was stoked for this premise, as I love multiverses, but this book kills any momentum with the worst case of excessive worldbuilding infodumps I've encountered in a very long time. Despite more than 800 pages of text (37+ audiobook hours), it feels like there are only a handful of actual plot points, and none of the cool things that are promised ever actually happen. After endless set-up, there is no payoff whatsoever.

[Kman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an interesting premise, multiple copies of earth tied together through gates. Two cultures meet, neither of them are ours. Therefore, everywhere we know has not one but two new names. To say a picture is worth a thousand words may be an understatement here; the author should have put in a map for each civilization. Maybe I am a little OCD but it started to drive me nuts trying to figure out where the characters were and where they were going.

[Stephen Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a story that was hard to get into. The first impression was that it was incredibly boring. The general world background was interesting, but the pacing was too slow. Then in the middle the pacing and story picked up, only to drag along at the end. Hard to say whether it will be worth putting the effort into starting the next book of the series.

[Ron Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

It can be annoying to read about a situation where it's quite clear that some of the participants have to be idiots to make it an ongoing story and to say that it ends with a cliffhanger would be a massive understatement... but I still enjoy anything that combines science and fantasy.

[Dantegideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Packed with incomprehensible jargon. I couldn’t make head nor tails of it. Shame as I was looking forward to some quality “My Sharona” references. “You’ve got to give us some time, Sharona!” And so on.

[Georgina Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time travel science fiction, with magic and soldier conflict.

[Allen McDonnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very complex

I have read many of David Weber's novels and this novel again shows his skill at describing complex military logistics and capabilities quite well. The problem or rather difficulty I had s neither civilisation in this novel is based on a real world history so all personal and place names are without context. I whole heartedly wish the two authors had followed the usual tactic of using current place names with suitable modification so that the map of the geographical settings had been easily understood. For example calling our Pacific ocean the Peaceful Ocean in one civilisation and the Restful ocean in the other would clue the reader in to what location was being discussed. This was particularly irritating for me because I love maps and with a clear alternative name I have a much better picture of the environment and ecosystem where events are taking place. Unfortunately without those hints I am not sure if a particular desert or mountain range being described are the Mojave or the Sahara, Swiss Alps, or Andes. Without being able to "clue in" on the locations geography it is nigh impossible to know if the transport difficulties are due to the methods used or the locations involved. I really liked the novel despite this frustration so I gave it four stars, one off for frustration.