The Road to Hell

Multiverse #3

by David Weber

Entry #3 in the popular Hell's Gate series by 28 times New York Times best-selling author David Weber and Joelle Presby.

The war between magically-gifted Arcana and psionically talented Sharona continues to rage. The dragon-borne Arcanan assault across five universes has been halted at Fort Salby by a desperate defense, but at atrocious cost. One of those costs was the life of Crown Prince Janaki, heir to the newly created Sharonian Empire, who went knowingly to his death in the tradition expected of the House of Calirath. And another price will be the sacrifice of his younger sister, Grand Imperial Princess Andrin, now heir of Sharona, for the accords creating the Sharonian Empire require the marriage of the heir to the Crown to wed a Uromathian prince. 

Andrin bears her family's Talent, the Glimpses, which show flashes of events yet to come. She knows the accords must be secured . . . and like her brother, she will pay any price, make any sacrifice for her duty to her people. 

Sharona's soldiers dig in, facing the Arcanans in a tense standoff which cannot last long. Both sides continue rushing reinforcements towards the front, but how do armies fight wars when they can reach one another only through the portals which join the universes? And far, far behind the front, carried by dragons, a young Voice name Shaylar and her husband Jathmar hurtle deeper and deeper into Arcanan captivity, their only protection the fierce personal honor of the Andaran officer whose men massacred all of their companions in the horrendous misunderstanding which began the entire conflict.

Men and women of honor on both sides must grapple with the terrible costs and deadly secrets of the spreading cataclysm, and in the shadows, those who will balk at neither treason nor murder drive the conspiracies which pour fuel into the furnace. The stakes are high and the pieces are in motion, but there are factors known not even to the conspirators and not even a Calirath can Glimpse the final outcome.

The Hell's Gate Series:
The Road to Hell
Hell Hath No Fury
Hell's Gate

About the Hell's Gate series:
"Magic and high tech collide in this exciting military SF novel from bestseller Weber . . . The authors treat both societies sympathetically and realistically, with human vices and virtues evenly distributed."–Publishers Weekly

About the Honor Harrington series:
“Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in this long-awaited Honor Harrington novel…Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.”–Publishers Weekly

“. . .everything you could want in a heroine …. Excellent … plenty of action.”–Science Fiction Age

“Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!”–Anne McCaffrey

“Compelling combat combined with engaging characters for a great space opera adventure.”–Locus

“Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice . . ."–Publishers Weekly

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

Audible Audio

First published February 16, 2016

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

[Leons1701 · Rating 2 out of 5]

We waited 10 years for this? Weber's weaknesses as an author are on full display here, too much infodumping, not enough actually moving the plot, ridiculously over done foreshadowing, too many minor characters nobody gives a damn about but we're getting a full description of them anyhow (this may be one of the few times I agree with the common complaint about names) and surprised declarations of how important something is that will never be mentioned again in this book. I suppose it could count as a cliffhanger, if it didn't happen halfway through the book. There are some good points, Weber still writes an excellent action scene (this book just needed a few more of them) and does a pretty good job with good people who are stuck on the wrong side (the actual villains are cardboard though).

Not a terrible read, but not something I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a pretty hardcore Weber fan.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I waited years for another book in this awesome series. It was so worth the wait. What a great read!

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished my 2nd read of the novel so I will add a few thoughts; first for an overview of the series, here is my review of Hell's gate:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

- Despite the 8 year hiatus and a change of co-author, the novel (RTH for short) fits naturally and smoothly in the series, starting where HHNF (book 2 Hell Hath No Fury) ends and carrying the story to a good stopping point, not unlike the one of HG (first book Hell's gate) except that now it is from the opposite side; some story-lines are finalized (Andrin's marriage, Jasak's trial) though of course only to continue in new ways, new story-lines are introduced, reunions happen, new talents and magic appear (the Djinn are among the most interesting, but I really liked the three headed Sea Drakes and the Sharonan cetaceans, most notably the Orcas and Tooth Cleaver in particular)

- there is little warfare per se (the cover is accurately representing the main such), but as mentioned the ending being the analog of HG's one presages lots such in the next volume

- this being an e-arc (currently available to buy on baen's website so not restricted to reviewers, while the book will be officially out in March) there are the usual typos and such, though the most notable was an Arcanan reference to saints which is something that should be obviously edited, but nothing truly annoying or out of the ordinary - the final book may or may not have a glossary/character list (the e-arc doesn't), but the portal map is useful and enough if you are up=to=date with books 1/2 which is a must as this one is another chapter in the saga as mentioned

- no real " jaw dropping surprise" moment, a few sentimentalisms and a few fairly predictable story-lines, but a few 'wow" sf-nal moments (most notably, the first look at Portalis, the two universe capital of Arcana which is a 22nd century city with skyscrapers, aerial transport, all based on industrial magic and no technology as we understand it), while the new mechanized Sharonian advanced strike force (which is in a some ways at a WW1 tech base though with the psy powers adding a big multiplier in communications and such), is so different and still so naturally fitting...

- more or less everyone from the books so far (and surviving) appears or is mentioned, while new interesting characters are also introduced, so in that way there is a massive expansion which i actually liked, though it leaves pretty much everyone with few pages here and there

- overall - high expectations and a book that delivers what i expected and fits perfectly despite the long delay within a series that has huge potential due to its superb (and ingenious) world-building, with great characters, lots of mysteries and potential of expansion in so many ways; a book4 seems to be guaranteed with some closure and then of course one hopes the series does well enough to allow the promised expansion to more volumes and more universes; highly recommended as a complex series with lots of interesting characters, civilizations and world building

[M.L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad the story picks up and things progress more rapidly. However, like all Weber books, there are certain chapters that deal with such useless minutae and minor logistical concerns that I was forced to skimmed over them. Another thing that disappointed me in this book is that the political opposition of both sides are unambiguously portrayed as evil. Some nuance would have been better.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

After about a decade, Weber returns to the Multiverse with the third installment and I feel sorry for those who waited with baited breath for this one. In the last book, we finally got some excellent battle scenes after about 2000 pages of buildup. I am not sure how Baen calls this series military science fiction and especially TRTH. The Multiverse may interest those with a passion for Feudal era politics, but other than that, there is not much to recommend it.

The Multiverse is built on an interesting concept-- two parallel earth civilizations discover via 'portals' other Earths without any people. This leads to colonizing efforts to tap the untouched natural resources. One society is built upon magic and the other science and one day the spearheads of the colonizing efforts met each other unexpectedly in a newly discovered world. Tragedy ensues as the two sides slaughter each other with each side blaming the other.

The excellent premise is ruined, however, with Weber's excessive world building, which often comes in large data dumps. Further, there must be over 100 POVs developed along the way and endless subplots that often run tangential to the main story line. I was definitely expecting some military action in this one, but no. Weber serves up endless details about logistics and political intrigue on both sides, but that is about it.

I have read a fair amount of Weber and while not exactly a fan boy, I like a lot of his work. This series, however, was beyond disappointing. 1.5 stars only because I did finish it.

[Kevin Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The largest portion of this novel deals with the logistics of crossing large swaths of land. Which unfortunately detracts from the story rather than building up the universe. Those large sections drag the narrative down in an otherwise good story.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the magic versus technology theme but the heroes and villains are so black and white. It also ends on a cliffhanger which given the last book was written nine years ago, is annoying. You must read the previous books, it cannot be read as a standalone.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Hell's Gate series by David Weber. This one is also co-written by Joelle Presby. It has been a long wait for this book as the first two were released in 2008. This book is what I would call Science Fiction/Fantasy. It has two different races of humans from two different universe's traveling from one universe to the next by the way of naturally occurring portals. One group, the Sharonians, have steam power and a large percent of their people have ,"Talents", which amount to mental powers of various types. The other race, the Arcanains, have ,"Gifts", which let them control magic. Their entire technology is depend on this magic. They both have parties out exploring the different universes, which have planets near identical to their home worlds but with one exception, they have never found other humans, until now. They accidentally run into each other while exploring the same universe. A misunderstanding and an accidental killing starts a conflict which quickly escalates into open warfare. This book has a myriad of characters who are brought to life by the excellent writing of David Weber and Joelle Presby. I highly recommend this book and this series to fans of David Weber. Also the next book in the series is reportedly already in the works, so we shouldn't have another 8 year wait. :)

[James Tullos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot kudzu has taken hold and nothing is happening anymore.

[MAB LongBeach · Rating 3 out of 5]

The continuation of the Hell's Gate series begun in 2006 by Weber and Linda Evans. After two books, the series seemed to have been abandoned; now, nine years later, it continues with a different coauthor, Joelle Presby.

Multiple almost-identical universes are connected by a series of portals connecting disparate spots on the planets. Both the Sharonans and the Arcanans have been exploring their nearby universes for hundreds of years. When they meet, a bitter war breaks out, fueled by misunderstandings and malice on both sides. Many Sharonans have psychic Talents, including a kind of telepathy that can broadcast news very quickly across the multiverses; they have reached a roughly Victorian tech level, with steam trains and rifles and cannon. Arcana, on the other hand, relies heavily on magic and uses dragons and spells in warcraft. The collision of the two is horrific to both sides.

This is very much a middle book. When "The Road to Hell" begins, the war has paused in the aftermath of a major battle. Both sides are being whipped to a fever pitch by their losses and by inflammatory reports from the front. There is very little actual fighting in this book, but a lot of maneuvering both military and political. The Sharonans and the Arcanans both have deep divisions in their societies that affect their responses to the war and may yet rip their empires apart.

Recommended for those who enjoyed the first two books--and the series as a whole is recommended for those who like military fantasy in general and/or Weber in particular--but this is not the place to start. Hopefully the series will continue--without another nine-year hiatus--and hopefully it will come to a conclusion at some point.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like David Weber and have read almost all of his books. This book could have used some thinning, maybe up to a third of the book. So many of the words did so little to move the story forward. I finished the book (all 600+ hard cover pages of it) but it was a real slogging read. Otherwise it would have been a 4 star review.

[W.E. Crusio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. Booooooring... Weber and Presby have forgotten that a good writer can convey an idea in a paragraph. To do this, they need page after page of boring details on logistics. Conversations between characters are difficult to follow. One pronounces a phrase, then we get two pages of inner musings and explanations, and only then do we get the response of the other character and you have to go back to remind yourself what the whole conversation was about... Unfortunately, this is a trend in all of Weber's recent books. He spends hundreds of pages of ever more boring detail. Too bad, because his earlier books were real page turners.

[Jonathan Scotese · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of David Webers writing style. I find it too slow and with details other people clearly appreciate, but which just gets in the way of the meat of the story. I like his ideas, and have been waiting for a conclusion to this series for a while. This isn't it, but it looks like the ball is rolling again.

[Bookwirm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this storyline, but each book has such a slow build up to the dramatic ending. Looking forward to the next one, but I hope it moves the story forward more.

[Andrew Garrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great detail and world building. plot needs to speed up though.

[Yev · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book came out a year after the first, but the third book came out almost ten years after the second. That's a long time. It's been six years since the second book released, so it's anybody's guess when the next book would be. The series is clearly not anywhere near finished, so for those hoping for that, you'd be out of luck. Considering the author is sixty-eight as I'm writing this, it's entirely possible that the series won't ever be finished, but that doesn't matter to me overly much. The third book has a different co-author, but I didn't really notice much difference, though it's certainly questionable whether I would even if there was much difference. If there ever is a fourth book, I'll read it.

The third book is much more like the first book than the second, which was mildly disappointing. It's entirely focused again on war logistics, political maneuvering, and general day-to-day activities. In terms of action, not much happens until the last 20% or so. For me, the slowest part was the many consecutive pages describing the precise technical details of the military vehicles. Thankfully that was the sole infodump of it its kind.

The most amusing and interesting part of this for me exploring in detail what was hinted at in the previous book, which was that role that belief plays in terms of physical constants and universal mechanics in general. Hopefully it will be used to amusing effect in any potential future book.

Although they were included in the two previous books, the sentient animals play a larger role in this book and based on what occurs, will certainly have a larger role at later time. The two main sentient animal groups are cetaceans and simians. The portrayal of orcas as bloodthirsty warmongers who want to join the war effort to have a reason to eat humans again was certainly unexpected. The simians are also preparing for war in their own way as well.

At various points it seemed more like they would have preferred this to be straight up historical fiction rather than was it is, as there were various references to real world events and some of the actions they took seemed like they would more appropriate to the real world than this setting.

It continues to be the case that I have stylistic and aesthetics disagreements, but that's to be expected at this point, especially with some of the dialogue as it can be entirely too bombastic and tries to drive its point home with all the excessiveness of hammering in nails with a sledgehammer. I did a fair bit of eyerolling, especially with any dialogue involving women or traditional concepts, but it only mildly detracts overall.

Will I have forgotten a lot of it if there's another book? Yeah, probably, but it doesn't really matter, and I'm sure it'll work out just fine.
Rating: 4/5

[Alexander Theofanidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not often that an alternate universe series with... 3 writters retains a high level of storytelling and plot. Well, this is one of these rare cases.


* * *
The war between magically-gifted Arcana and psionically talented Sharona continues to rage. The dragon-borne Arcanan assault across five universes has been halted at Fort Salby by a desperate defense, but at atrocious cost. One of those costs was the life of Crown Prince Janaki, heir to the newly created Sharonian Empire, who went knowingly to his death in the tradition expected of the House of alirath. And another price will be the sacrifice of his younger sister, Grand Imperial Princess Andrin, now heir of Sharona, for the accords creating the Sharonian Empire require the marriage of the heir to the Crown to wed a Uromathian prince.

Andrin bears her family's Talent, the Glimpses, which show flashes of events yet to come. She knows the accords must be secured . . . and like her brother, she will pay any price, make any sacrifice for her duty to her people.

Sharona's soldiers dig in, facing the Arcanans in a tense standoff which cannot last long. Both sides continue rushing reinforcements towards the front, but how do armies fight wars when they can reach one another only through the portals which join the universes? And far, far behind the front, carried by dragons, a young Voice name Shaylar and her husband Jathmar hurtle deeper and deeper into Arcanan captivity, their only protection the fierce personal honor of the Andaran officer whose men massacred all of their companions in the horrendous misunderstanding which began the entire conflict.

Men and women of honor on both sides must grapple with the terrible costs and deadly secrets of the spreading cataclysm, and in the shadows, those who will balk at neither treason nor murder drive the conspiracies which pour fuel into the furnace. The stakes are high and the pieces are in motion, but there are factors known not even to the conspirators and not even a Calirath can Glimpse the final outcome.
* * *

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you loved the first two books in the series, then you will love this one too. It winds up everything, not exactly neatly, but well enough to be satisfying. Since this book was first published in 2016, it seems unlikely that yet another sequel will appear, but stranger things have happened.

The story: Well... if you don't know the story by now, you need to go back to the first book, "Hell's Gate," and update yourself. The war between Arcana and Sharona continues with Arcana being the obvious bad guys in this war that should never have happened. But there are bad guys on both sides, each vying for political control in their own universes.

Any problems with this story? It depends on what one calls a "problem". If you don't like a lot of detail and several pages of background for every new major character then you will hate this book. But if you have come this far, you already know that. I'm OK with the detail.

Any modesty issues? The F-word is used. I don't recall any sex, but the idea of sexually abusing women is discussed. It isn't discussed in any detail, but it is discussed.

The ending ties up most of the threads in this series, but leaves room for a continuing story. I doubt a sequel will come. If there was one on the way then [name deleted] would have been killed off so that the reader would be left wondering how the survivors could possibly move forward. Then the next book would be about exactly how they did move forward.

I'd read this book again as part of reading the entire series.

[TanguiDom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the series, despite the writing style being extremely detailed and logistics heavy. I really liked the many POVs we get, even from minor or unimportant characters: it really makes it feel like a living world unlike books that only focus on relevant characters. The plot could certainly move a bit faster, but it’s all very satisfying to see the threads coming together slowly, and learning about more aspects of the worlds and the way Arcanans and Sharonians relate to each other. The war is very compelling, and the political intrigues on both sides make this a really complex affair (although the characterization is very black and white).
I’m hoping a 4th (and final, can’t be dragging this out too much longer) book comes out eventually, although considering what I’ve read online it doesn’t seem likely to happen soon but I’ll be holding out hope

[Allen McDonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best in the series

This is he third book in an incomplete series and IMO is the best yet. I hope the fourth novel arrives soon. You do need to read the first two novels for this one to make much sense as there is very little review of the back story until you are well into this novel.

[Jim Purcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good entry in a complex series. The provoked confrontation that concluded the previous book continues to reverberate between the two parallel but quite different societies. Tentative and difficult cooperation seems to making headway when a terror attack seriously threatens the royals as this installment concludes.

[Dirk D · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the story continued to entertain and keep my attention at the end it felt unfinished with far too many story lines unresolved, leaving the door open for a fourth volume. It never happened so all this does is leave us hanging. Still the storytelling was enough to give it four stars, just disappointed at the ending.

[Ivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to love this since the concept was amazing. But ... like always, world building is interesting but characters are way too one dimensional that it's becoming quite frustrating. One side of the conflict is too dumb to live, the other has perfect human beings.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuing tale of these two distinct empires examines how fear leads to war even when the wiser course may be peace. A few startlingly well done characters really bring this tale to the fore

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic vs. psychic powers (plus steam power) continues. The characters remain compelling, and the saga clearly isn't over.

[Joe Jungers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoping to see the 4th tale at some point.

[Jim Tapscott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done

Very well expressed story! Great characters. On to book 4!!!!!!! Next adventure in the universes. Want Chavas head on a platter!

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

could have used some editing down a bit

[William Nelson]

If Weber is not going to finish this series, I would like my money back.

[Chance]

Toke 8 years between the last book to get released and still full of annoying sequtions and no improvements in military doctrine or weapons at all that time for the story chacthers