SKU
A9781476780672
Rating:
83 % of 100
$15.00

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.

Write Your Own Review
Only registered users can write reviews. Please Sign in or create an account
Customer Reviews

6 Item(s)

Show per page
  1. finally!!
    Quality
    80%
    I have been hanging out for this. On the whole I am happy with the story, however agree with another reviewer that there was too much info dump which detracted from the pacing. Otherwise the elements of the story is excellent

    Review by

    Posted on

  2. Excellent
    Quality
    100%
    The book may be a bit more expository on the differences of viewpoints between Arcanans and Sharonians, along with the differents in science-based technology and magic-based technology, Talents vs Gifts, but it didn't detract from the story at all for me.

    The good were good, the evil were evil..but there were good amongst the evil and evil amongst the good. ...In other words, it was no Game of Thrones with characters dying off left and right, everyone a gray character, but the depth of characters are further deepened, and previously hinted at / seemingly minor characters come to the fore in unexpected situations.

    The overall character list *is* smaller than the Honorverse or Safehold series, but then again, this is only the third (and long-anticipated) novel. I look forward to the next book!

    Review by

    Posted on

  3. Product Review
    Quality
    80%
    I'd rather this at 3.5 stars if possible. I reread the first two books in the series so I'd hit the ground running with this one, and the intervening years have added length to the infodumps. After one particularly long description of the latest Sharonian weapons, I was ready to skip ahead to where the plot picked up - and that happened more than once. I simply DO NOT DO THAT in David Weber's books, which shows how long and complex the infodump was. Since the devices in the infodump are under consideration for use in the Safehold series, I suspect that the extra long infodump may exist to explain the concept here so it can be shortened there.

    As for the plot, the villains are evil, the good guys are saints, and the soldiers of both sides realize that the other guys are human. The ending seems to set up an "Ashes of Victory" outcome in the sequel, although I sure hope not!

    My favorite line: "seated in the temple

    Review by

    Posted on

  4. Product Review
    Quality
    80%
    Long time coming but a good read overall. I am concerned with the increased exposition that seems to occur at the expense of story progress. Major plot point is discovered and then forgotten, do not know if editing will smooth this out...

    Review by

    Posted on

  5. Product Review
    Quality
    100%

    Review by

    Posted on

  6. Product Review
    Quality
    60%
    The pacing and tone differ greatly in this book when compared to the previous two in the series. Given the length of time between the original books and this one, as well as the development of Weber

    Review by

    Posted on

6 Item(s)

Show per page