Required Reading

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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The Road to Hell by David Weber and Joelle Presby


This is book three of the Multiverse series, Book two which I reviewed back in 2010 was Hell Hath No Fury by David Weber and Linda Evans. Evan’s and Weber’s portrayal of two unique civilizations on a road to conflict progressed to the actual conflict itself.  This book deals with the aftermath of the initial confrontation.   Arcana base magic technology challenges Sharona’s psychic talents and their science based technology. The multi-universal aspect is that both civilizations have discovered portal to alternate earths that have no populations until they confront each other.   My review back in 2010 closed with a concern that the series might never be finished.  David Weber made it pretty clear six years ago that a third book was not on his calendar.   Seeing his name on this book and not Linda Evans make me wonder if she was the stumbling block or Weber was.   Regardless it was a well done book but... since it was six years since the 2nd volume it was really hard to get up to speed.   I read a lot of books and in six years I have read an average of 100 books a year of scifi/fantasy and a like number of general literature.   So I had a lot of trouble getting up to speed on the story. 

Since the last review was six years ago,  I will indulge in some repetition.

David Weber and Linda Evans do a superb job in describing two dissimilar cultures and those cultures’ idiosyncrasies. As they alternate back and forth from culture to culture you find your sympathies vacillating as well. The beauty of their work is that you truly find things that are both laudable and stimulating for each culture. They are being drawn into conflict by serendipitous contacts and malicious behavior in spite of their root similarities.

The contrast of opposing technologies is interesting. What makes the book great is the emotional undertones. The ability to evoke strong emotions regarding the characters is rare. I cared for Emperor on Sharona and his family and loathed the Arcana villains. This book adds a laudable Duke of Arcana and some thoroughly despicable Sharona villains.  

This was an excellent follow up to book 2 and I have no idea if a future book is in the works.  There may something worse than a woman scorned and that is a deeply involved reader scorned which is how I felt six years ago.

I recommend the book.

websites: http://www.davidweber.net/
http://joellepresby.com/index.html



This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

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