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Dahak #2
The Armageddon Inheritance
Colin MacIntyre, a NASA astronaut kidnapped by a starship impersonating Earth's moon, has just suppressed a fifty-thousand-year-old mutiny, but now he faces an even bigger challenge. By the author of Mutineers' Moon. Reissue.
344 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1993
23 people are currently reading
643 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
330 books4,537 followersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
January 3, 2009
4.5 stars. Fantastic military SCIFI. Excellent story, great characters and non-stop plot movement (i.e., NEVER BORING). Highly recommended!!
November 11, 2011
The second book in the Dahak trilogy picks up right where Mutineer's Moon left off. Earth faces attack from the Achuultani, while Colin is off looking for help and what happened to the Fourth Imperium. The book covers a lot of ground quickly as Weber almost rushes to get us to the point where we see some action. Without being a spoiler - yes, there are answers to most of the big questions from Book One.
I think my only complaint about this book was the lack of effort on Weber's part to deal with real universe physics. Not the complicated parts, like how warp missiles would function at a quantum entanglement level, but just the basics of: if ships are on opposite sides of a solar system (which is presumably at least a few light hours in width), how is it they see each other in real time?!? Sorry, I know this isn't something most folks care about, but ever since I read The Dread Empire's Fall series by Walter Jon Williams, this is the kind of thing I think about in epic space battles that make these kind of mistakes (detection based on hyper signal? sure! based on seeing the ship appear on the other side of the system instantly? Light doesn't work that way!!!)
But I digress, because despite that physics problem, the story is about the characters and the struggle, and as with the first book, it continues in good spirits here. Off to the third book!
I think my only complaint about this book was the lack of effort on Weber's part to deal with real universe physics. Not the complicated parts, like how warp missiles would function at a quantum entanglement level, but just the basics of: if ships are on opposite sides of a solar system (which is presumably at least a few light hours in width), how is it they see each other in real time?!? Sorry, I know this isn't something most folks care about, but ever since I read The Dread Empire's Fall series by Walter Jon Williams, this is the kind of thing I think about in epic space battles that make these kind of mistakes (detection based on hyper signal? sure! based on seeing the ship appear on the other side of the system instantly? Light doesn't work that way!!!)
But I digress, because despite that physics problem, the story is about the characters and the struggle, and as with the first book, it continues in good spirits here. Off to the third book!
May 16, 2018
I didn't realize this was part of a series when I got it, and thus began in the middle of the action. That didn't turn out to matter - Weber does a great job of catching the reader up so that I could completely follow what was going on.
The book reads much like Honor Harrington books. Sure there are different characters and different technology, but if I were to have picked it up without knowing who the author was, I'd have had a really good chance of guessing who the author was. This wasn't a negative for me, but if you like novelty in novels, then this may not be the book for you (Harrington is better as a series, so if you're choosing one, go for the Harrington series).
There were nice touches in this - the alien enemy has twelve fingers instead of ten, and thus their math system is all in base twelve, which affects their language, technology, cultural organization, etc. Weber is consistent in applying that logic, and it works. Similarly, he has clearly thought through the implications of the tech he created and world builds around it in interesting ways.
The biggest downside is a particular character who inexplicably speaks in archaic (i.e. Shakespearian jargon) and also is both whiny and overly emotional. I ended up skimming through every scene she was in, which made those parts more tolerable, but since she is a fairly major character, meant that I did more skimming than I'd like to do. I almost docked this a star for that character alone, but felt that was probably too harsh a reaction.
In the end, I'm glad I picked this up, as it was a pleasant read. But I wasn't so enthusiastic about it that I'd recommend it to anybody, unless they were looking specifically for a series similar to the Honor Harrington series.
The book reads much like Honor Harrington books. Sure there are different characters and different technology, but if I were to have picked it up without knowing who the author was, I'd have had a really good chance of guessing who the author was. This wasn't a negative for me, but if you like novelty in novels, then this may not be the book for you (Harrington is better as a series, so if you're choosing one, go for the Harrington series).
There were nice touches in this - the alien enemy has twelve fingers instead of ten, and thus their math system is all in base twelve, which affects their language, technology, cultural organization, etc. Weber is consistent in applying that logic, and it works. Similarly, he has clearly thought through the implications of the tech he created and world builds around it in interesting ways.
The biggest downside is a particular character who inexplicably speaks in archaic (i.e. Shakespearian jargon) and also is both whiny and overly emotional. I ended up skimming through every scene she was in, which made those parts more tolerable, but since she is a fairly major character, meant that I did more skimming than I'd like to do. I almost docked this a star for that character alone, but felt that was probably too harsh a reaction.
In the end, I'm glad I picked this up, as it was a pleasant read. But I wasn't so enthusiastic about it that I'd recommend it to anybody, unless they were looking specifically for a series similar to the Honor Harrington series.
February 27, 2023
Great book loved the story and the narration can’t wait to listen to the next one first two books are great I highly recommend listening or reading this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
October 22, 2012
Sorry, George. I just couldn't do it. I tried, by golly. I just couldn't get through it. I finished the first in this trilogy, and got about a hundred pages away from finishing the second. But in the end, I just couldn't make it happen. Let me tell you why.
I had so many problems with this book that I find it hard to remember them all. First of all, the author introduced so many characters at once that I couldn't follow who was whom. And another sub-point to that: when you introduce that many characters, you tend to blow right over any attributes that might be important just trashing any hope of character development. You're too busy dropping new names to care about giving them any depth. You don't care, so I, therefore, do not either.
Secondly, he made large leaps in time. And I'm not talking about time travel. I would have actually liked that. But instead of a quick dot-dot-dot, "Six Months Later" or something, it just popped forward. So literally from one paragraph saying they had this long amount of time before something happened, to the next paragraph where it was happening, I was like, "Oh. Okay. So I guess that time has passed." He did this with a frequency that was unforgivable.
Thirdly, Mr. Weber expected us all to know what his acronyms stood for, and understand all his science. I'm okay with hard science. I'm like Bill Mothereffing Nye, doodz. But don't drop some big hi-tech device on me and expect me to know what it is, and how it works. Just give me a sentence or two.
Fourthly, I don't think it's necessary to delve into the minds of the Alchultaani. They're the bad guys. And so when he says, "Whatever-his-name-was sat on all four legs and both of his stomachs were in knots..." I got a bad taste in my mouth. I almost put the book down at that point. Onely, because I just don't really dig space warfare crap. Twoly, because dude, why do I need to know what he's thinking? He's the bad guy! Keep him a mystery! Let's tell it all from the perspective of the humans and give it a shroud of unknowing, like it would be in real life! We may never know why those aliens were hostile, and attacked us! Don't try to humanize them by giving me their POV. Just bad writing.
Fifthly, I had to invoke rule number 23, section 5, paragraph C-1, of my reading allowance rules, where it says there are just too many good books out there to spend time reading horse shit like this. (And there's another reason right there.) Yeah, he would do that very frequently. Several times throughout the books, someone would quote some rule or law or policy, referring to the page, chapter, subtext, paragraph, section, sector, blah blah like people actually remember that crap. Dude, just don't. Okay?
In closing, I wanted to finish this because it's the first book George has recommended to me. Sadly, it was part of a trilogy. Well, this doesn't bode well for George. But really, there are just too many tales out there, and even a bunch in my to-read collection on my reader for me to be wasting time reading something I just don't like. Bad writing, too many characters with less depth than the paper the words were printed on (and that's especially bad considering it was an ebook), and no feeling of connectedness. Just sourly disappointed.
Oh, and one more thing real fast... One of the human characters spoke in medieval tongue. Huh? "Thou hath not seen thy breasts ha'thy?" Huh? Why? What the effing eff. Why in... Where does... How... Just effing NO.
Writing:
Storyline:
Storytelling:
Total Score:
I had so many problems with this book that I find it hard to remember them all. First of all, the author introduced so many characters at once that I couldn't follow who was whom. And another sub-point to that: when you introduce that many characters, you tend to blow right over any attributes that might be important just trashing any hope of character development. You're too busy dropping new names to care about giving them any depth. You don't care, so I, therefore, do not either.
Secondly, he made large leaps in time. And I'm not talking about time travel. I would have actually liked that. But instead of a quick dot-dot-dot, "Six Months Later" or something, it just popped forward. So literally from one paragraph saying they had this long amount of time before something happened, to the next paragraph where it was happening, I was like, "Oh. Okay. So I guess that time has passed." He did this with a frequency that was unforgivable.
Thirdly, Mr. Weber expected us all to know what his acronyms stood for, and understand all his science. I'm okay with hard science. I'm like Bill Mothereffing Nye, doodz. But don't drop some big hi-tech device on me and expect me to know what it is, and how it works. Just give me a sentence or two.
Fourthly, I don't think it's necessary to delve into the minds of the Alchultaani. They're the bad guys. And so when he says, "Whatever-his-name-was sat on all four legs and both of his stomachs were in knots..." I got a bad taste in my mouth. I almost put the book down at that point. Onely, because I just don't really dig space warfare crap. Twoly, because dude, why do I need to know what he's thinking? He's the bad guy! Keep him a mystery! Let's tell it all from the perspective of the humans and give it a shroud of unknowing, like it would be in real life! We may never know why those aliens were hostile, and attacked us! Don't try to humanize them by giving me their POV. Just bad writing.
Fifthly, I had to invoke rule number 23, section 5, paragraph C-1, of my reading allowance rules, where it says there are just too many good books out there to spend time reading horse shit like this. (And there's another reason right there.) Yeah, he would do that very frequently. Several times throughout the books, someone would quote some rule or law or policy, referring to the page, chapter, subtext, paragraph, section, sector, blah blah like people actually remember that crap. Dude, just don't. Okay?
In closing, I wanted to finish this because it's the first book George has recommended to me. Sadly, it was part of a trilogy. Well, this doesn't bode well for George. But really, there are just too many tales out there, and even a bunch in my to-read collection on my reader for me to be wasting time reading something I just don't like. Bad writing, too many characters with less depth than the paper the words were printed on (and that's especially bad considering it was an ebook), and no feeling of connectedness. Just sourly disappointed.
Oh, and one more thing real fast... One of the human characters spoke in medieval tongue. Huh? "Thou hath not seen thy breasts ha'thy?" Huh? Why? What the effing eff. Why in... Where does... How... Just effing NO.
Writing:
Storyline:
Storytelling:
Total Score:
August 22, 2018
A very good read, better, even, than the first book.
July 5, 2022
Lu en anglais.
Les mutins ont été vaincus et les terriens ont pris possession du gigantesque vaisseau Dahak, en fait notre lune. Mais cela ne fait que commencer, car l'invasion des Achuultani va se produire dans deux ans. Il faut se préparer. L'Impérial Horus, allié des terriens, a la charge de préparer les défenses de la terre (champ de force, forts orbitaux, vaisseaux spatiaux, recrutement et formation, etc.). Pendant ce temps Colin McIntire part avec le vaisseau Dahak demander l'aide du 4 ième Empire et de ses énormes ressources. La force d'invasion devrait se produire en deux vagues. Premièrement, une flotte (quelques centaines de vaisseaux) de vaisseaux rapides servant d'éclaireurs qui ont la mauvaise habitude de bombarder les planètes avec des astéroïdes. Ensuite, c'est le gros de la flotte ennemie, des centaines de milliers de vaisseaux de guerre. Et les terriens ont très peu de chance d'arrêter la flotte d'éclaireurs, et aucune d'arrêter la flotte principale. C'est la course contre la montre. Bon, je ne veux pas raconter l'histoire.
Et là, on passe à un autre niveau, des flottes immenses, des vaisseaux gigantesques, des batailles spatiales, les terriens le dos au mur pour protéger la terre, des ennemis implacables et de l'action à la manière de David Weber.
J'ai adoré. Ce livre est bien meilleur que le précédent. Et, bien sûr, je me suis jeté sur le suivant.
Les mutins ont été vaincus et les terriens ont pris possession du gigantesque vaisseau Dahak, en fait notre lune. Mais cela ne fait que commencer, car l'invasion des Achuultani va se produire dans deux ans. Il faut se préparer. L'Impérial Horus, allié des terriens, a la charge de préparer les défenses de la terre (champ de force, forts orbitaux, vaisseaux spatiaux, recrutement et formation, etc.). Pendant ce temps Colin McIntire part avec le vaisseau Dahak demander l'aide du 4 ième Empire et de ses énormes ressources. La force d'invasion devrait se produire en deux vagues. Premièrement, une flotte (quelques centaines de vaisseaux) de vaisseaux rapides servant d'éclaireurs qui ont la mauvaise habitude de bombarder les planètes avec des astéroïdes. Ensuite, c'est le gros de la flotte ennemie, des centaines de milliers de vaisseaux de guerre. Et les terriens ont très peu de chance d'arrêter la flotte d'éclaireurs, et aucune d'arrêter la flotte principale. C'est la course contre la montre. Bon, je ne veux pas raconter l'histoire.
Et là, on passe à un autre niveau, des flottes immenses, des vaisseaux gigantesques, des batailles spatiales, les terriens le dos au mur pour protéger la terre, des ennemis implacables et de l'action à la manière de David Weber.
J'ai adoré. Ce livre est bien meilleur que le précédent. Et, bien sûr, je me suis jeté sur le suivant.
December 13, 2021
Book two is a different type of experience from book one, but still enjoyable. The exploration of a vast dead empire is fun, and around every planetary corner you hope to find high-tech machines of war to defend endangered Earth. This feeling of exploration and going to new places is something I also try to evoke. It can be a satisfying, danger filled, treasure hunt.
As some have mentioned in their reviews, Dahak, the ship AI, is their favorite character. As I can personally attest, writing convincing personalities and motivations for AI characters can be challenging. But the results, in Dahak's case and for mine, are satisfying characters from a very different, non-human perspective. And when they do show human characteristics, it resonates with us.
The political hijinx in trying to wrestle a united Earth government (in short order before the various cultures are ready for it) are understandable. One can definitely see the factions depicted in the book causing trouble when compared to the headlines of today. That part of the book might be less fun, but the ending is exciting enough to make the journey worth it.
A fun read for the right audience with expectations adjusted.
As some have mentioned in their reviews, Dahak, the ship AI, is their favorite character. As I can personally attest, writing convincing personalities and motivations for AI characters can be challenging. But the results, in Dahak's case and for mine, are satisfying characters from a very different, non-human perspective. And when they do show human characteristics, it resonates with us.
The political hijinx in trying to wrestle a united Earth government (in short order before the various cultures are ready for it) are understandable. One can definitely see the factions depicted in the book causing trouble when compared to the headlines of today. That part of the book might be less fun, but the ending is exciting enough to make the journey worth it.
A fun read for the right audience with expectations adjusted.
December 22, 2019
Teil 2 der Dahak-Triologie
Actionmässig besser als der erste Teil und auch etwas besser ausgearbeitet. Charakterentwicklung ist nahezu nicht vorhanden. Auch versucht der Autor Ansätze von Pathos in den Roman reinzubringen, die für mich allerdings eher nach unbeholfenen Gefühlsduseleien klingen (vielleicht liegt es auch an der Übersetzung). Was mir auch fehlt sind genauere zeitliche Angaben zwischen den einzelnen Ereignissen.
Meister Yodas Weisheiten sind verständlicher als Jiltaniths Gebabbel. Ich mag den Jiltanith-Charakter ja eigentlich, aber die Sprache geht einfach gar nicht.
Als Fazit gezogen, die Weltraumschlachten sind in Ordnung, der Rest lächerlich
Und auch hier hat der Übersetzer keinen guten Job gemacht: Mal abgesehen von der restlichen Übersetzung, two = zwei ≠ zwo, Yes = Ja ≠ Jou <--- nervt.
Actionmässig besser als der erste Teil und auch etwas besser ausgearbeitet. Charakterentwicklung ist nahezu nicht vorhanden. Auch versucht der Autor Ansätze von Pathos in den Roman reinzubringen, die für mich allerdings eher nach unbeholfenen Gefühlsduseleien klingen (vielleicht liegt es auch an der Übersetzung). Was mir auch fehlt sind genauere zeitliche Angaben zwischen den einzelnen Ereignissen.
Meister Yodas Weisheiten sind verständlicher als Jiltaniths Gebabbel. Ich mag den Jiltanith-Charakter ja eigentlich, aber die Sprache geht einfach gar nicht.
Als Fazit gezogen, die Weltraumschlachten sind in Ordnung, der Rest lächerlich
Und auch hier hat der Übersetzer keinen guten Job gemacht: Mal abgesehen von der restlichen Übersetzung, two = zwei ≠ zwo, Yes = Ja ≠ Jou <--- nervt.
August 7, 2021
Book 2, as the earth fleet tries to fight-off the Achuultani and, also try to convince them to stop fighting. Earth sustains great damage. The alien ships outnumber the earthling by huge numbers.
Spoiler ;The Achuultani fleet is composed of lower-level beings that are all male and genetically nearly all identical. Colin and the Imperial Guard are somewhat victorious against the Achuultani and discover that they are under the control of a 'super-computer' that has led them to believe that all other planets/beings as threats to their nest. Thus, to be in constant battle through the ages.
Spoiler ;The Achuultani fleet is composed of lower-level beings that are all male and genetically nearly all identical. Colin and the Imperial Guard are somewhat victorious against the Achuultani and discover that they are under the control of a 'super-computer' that has led them to believe that all other planets/beings as threats to their nest. Thus, to be in constant battle through the ages.
April 1, 2019
The first book reminded me of the science fiction I was reading back in the ‘50s’, but this one is much more like the author’s usual style of space opera.
There was a decent story with a few unexpected twists, but the majority of the book was a series of big battles. My problem with the battles is although they included a few interesting tactics, they usually just turned into huge ‘slug-fests’, which I don’t really like.
There was a decent story with a few unexpected twists, but the majority of the book was a series of big battles. My problem with the battles is although they included a few interesting tactics, they usually just turned into huge ‘slug-fests’, which I don’t really like.
October 8, 2023
A sci-fi space opera dealing with big weapons (moon-sized, capable of destroying planets) in a big war (against an alien fleet a million or so strong with comparable firepower and genocidal intent) against a big background (a galactic empire which has suddenly died out). Weber manages to make individual people stand out in all this scope--not always; sometimes the book reads like it is playing with technological toys; but often enough.
April 22, 2020
I listened to the audiobook version of this story, and found it to be mind numbing. The narrator has very little voice inflection, so I found myself listening to long segments but not being able to recount what happened. My rating is based on this. I will give this book another chance via ebook, because I really like the author and have read many of his books.
September 11, 2020
In an ebook that included all three stories. The first was mediocre, this isn't as good. Very standard and cardboard, then add how easily people in a supposedly near-modern earth take to an emporer, cap it off with the stupidity of two leaders in was deciding to have kids on a warship. Inane. I'm not interested in the third book.
December 9, 2019
Always good to read another David Weber novel. This one seems a bit more condensed than his more recent work, and the battles not as intricately described as the ones in the Harrington universe, but still good to read.
June 27, 2020
Good story with lots of space battles and human alien interaction. Once again I'm dumb enough to start reading a series at book 2! But the author gives enough background for it not to be a huge problem. Now I need to find the previous book...
September 16, 2025
This book was enjoyable but more convoluted than the first. Lots of moving parts and side character POVs. The audiobook is mind numbing, this book is much better to read than to listen to.
Age rating: 13+ (A few random F words, incongruous with the rest of the book)
Age rating: 13+ (A few random F words, incongruous with the rest of the book)
October 22, 2025
Colin and his posse have a really smart AI, a really big warship, some awesome alien technology, and an empire to rebuild. Yes, it is over-the-top in so many ways. But if you have run out of Honor Harrington novels and liked Mutineers’ Moon, go for it! Really is the word of the day. 3.5.
August 4, 2017
Good bad guy. Exciting new things. Overall, I really liked it, but my criticisms remain the same as the first book - not enough character development and a bit too much violence for my tastes.
September 5, 2017
Absolutely engaging.
And one of the few times where the travails of an artificial intelligence have brought tears.
And one of the few times where the travails of an artificial intelligence have brought tears.
November 4, 2019
Glad i didn’t stop reading after the miserable first book. I was rewarded by a well developed story with deeper characters and nice ending.
January 26, 2020
Une très bonne suite!
March 28, 2020
The character building is really good, especially Dahak’s transition to become more human. Didn’t see the plot twist about the Achuultani.
August 28, 2021
Dahak continues to be amazing!
Earth defends against the Acuultani scout force while Colin and his troops go for help.
The Cinder, the core tap, too many monents to mention.
Real well written.
Earth defends against the Acuultani scout force while Colin and his troops go for help.
The Cinder, the core tap, too many monents to mention.
Real well written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2022
The saga continues. The same fight with new hardware. I’d give it a 4 if it weren’t for the quaint but regular 20th century Christian expletives. One suspects and hopes religions will fade by then
May 24, 2023
Colin, Dahak and friends fight with aliens.
July 9, 2023
Solid 4. The space battles were quite interesting, and it is a great conclusion to the 2 book 'series'. I think Dahak would make a really great movie.
May 19, 2024
ok i have to say that i almost gave up on this one but it picked up enough to finish and look forward for the next one.
July 19, 2024
Note: I enjoyed this title as an audiobook.
No one does space combat like David Weber. Great second installment of this series.
No one does space combat like David Weber. Great second installment of this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews