"Like a Mighty Army" is book 7 of the Safehold series by David Weber. It's good. It's not great. If you've followed the series to this point it's worth reading. It can stand on its own but if you haven't read the whole series, it won't have the same impact. You'll have the feeling that you are missing something because you have. Also, new characters are introduced.The story: Zhaspahr Clyntahn has expanded his holy jihad against the Charisian Empire to include Siddarmark which is on the mainland. This book seems to be an extension of the previous book... more of the same battle against Siddarmark. Development of weapons is moving along at a reasonable pace and steam engines are being developed and used in the war. The implications of that are staggering. I'm not complaining but I'm wondering when this series is going to make it back into space. I thought that was the goal and I'm not seeing how we get there yet.There are new characters introduced... significant ones. Old characters are more fully developed for significant reasons. (I don't want to give anything away but one character comes back from the dead. You find that out in the first line of the book so it's not a spoiler per se.)I liked the book. I've read it twice so it wasn't a burden to read it. I've seen so many hints about what mysterious force lies beneath the Temple that I thought we would have found out by now. Maybe next book. I will buy that one too. ( Sigh... I'm hooked, David Weber...you so-and-so! :-) )Alex I've been faithfully reading every book in this series, but with this one I have hit the wall. How can a book have so much detail and dialogue with so little plot advancement? Then there is the problem with the names: not only are they difficult to track because of the bizarre spellings, but there are so many that this book includes a 67 page character list along with the glossary. Clearly I will have died from old age before we get back to space, so I am giving up and moving on to another book that really is SPACE OPERA!
Battles rage across East Haven as Charis pushes back the Jihad.
—Rieme
Great right up to the last word! Left you wondering at the end.
—Terra
Good for what it is, a fun military pastiche.
—mary
The pace of the series is agonizing.
—gundi01
