David Weber Safehold and Dahak

jbcohen · 08-17-2012, 07:36 PM

What do you think of David Weber's Safehold and Dahak series?

dgillette.rm · 08-17-2012, 07:58 PM

It can get a little fragmented, like most of his work. It is hard to keep everyone in the same place in stories like his. If you can live with that, I enjoy his work in general and this in specific.

Apache · 08-17-2012, 09:59 PM

I like Safehold, although the last two were more like filler while you wait for the next good one.
Apache

mewmartigan · 08-17-2012, 10:28 PM

I am most of the way through the second Safehold book and I am enjoying the series quite a bit.

fjtorres · 08-17-2012, 10:50 PM

The first two Dahak books are great. The third isn't bad but its not a great fit with the scope of the first two; it is a generic castaway adventure while the first two are full-scale space opera. It's odd in that he had a perfect setup for an entirely different story that followed the main plot of the first two and he ignored it. The OMNIBUS at Baen is a great buy. But if in doubt, MUTINEER'S MOON is in the free library.

Safehold is readable with a great premise held back by excruciatingly s-l-o-w plot development. It is in many ways an alternate history series in Space Opera drag. And not cheap, being Agency Priced.

mewmartigan · 08-18-2012, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Safehold is readable with a great premise held back by excruciatingly s-l-o-w plot development. It is in many ways an alternate history series in Space Opera drag. And not cheap, being Agency Priced.

Hopefully this will be fixed when TOR gets their own DRM free store going...

Strether · 08-18-2012, 12:54 PM

These two series are my favorite Weber books. The Dahak books, while military sci-fi, at least have a different kind of battle in each of the books, unlike the Honor Harrington books which have... yawn ...space battles in each book.

I've often wondered if the last Dahak book didn't give Weber the idea for the Safehold series, because it works out in great detail the process of dealing with the church that the Dahak book left out, but which I'd always wished he'd included. It would have been interesting to know all the events that led up to that message received in the final pages.

Jim

fjtorres · 08-18-2012, 01:04 PM

My biggest gripe with Safehold is that he has the protagonist and subject matter for a brilliant generational saga and instead he's running it at a pace of a few months per volume. Unless he intends a Perry Rhodan-style franchise the story looks to be headed for a deus-ex-machina at best or abandonment at worst...

Strether · 08-18-2012, 02:38 PM

According to Weber's blog, it's going to be an eight-book series, and the Gbaba will be featured. The next one coming in September will be book number 6, so I figure maybe the last book will resolve the problems with the church, and then there'll be a long epilog.

But who knows. If the books are selling well, maybe he'll expand the series. Heaven knows he's prolix enough to expand the series even if it's selling so-so.

Jim

jbcohen · 08-18-2012, 02:54 PM

Dahak and Safehold are the last two series by David Weber that I have not yet gotten around to reading, I am still working my way through the War God series however, I think that I might tap safehold next as I am trying to read all the series books that David Weber wrote.

Apache · 08-18-2012, 05:17 PM

I will be getting the new Safehold book when it is released in on September 18th. It irritates me that he did not go with Baen for this series. With Baen I would pay $6.00. With TOR it is going to be more than double that at $14.99.

Apache

fjtorres · 08-18-2012, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I will be getting the new Safehold book when it is released in on September 18th. It irritates me that he did not go with Baen for this series. With Baen I would pay $6.00. With TOR it is going to be more than double that at $14.99.

Apache

I'll get it whenever the library can get it to me. No rush.

Weber gets plenty of money from me via Baen (even the odd eARC) but not one cent via Tor. Print or ebook.

pwalker8 · 08-18-2012, 06:31 PM

To a certain extend, I think that the Safehold series suffers from the same issue that the Wheel of Time series does, which is to say it seems to be more oriented towards generating word count than finishing to story. Weber is a very, very talented story teller. I greatly enjoy reading his books (well, the Dracula saves the world book wasn't one that I plan to re-read, by other than that).

One of the big differences between the early Honor Harrington books and the later Honor Harrington books is that each early Honor Harrington book stood pretty much on it's own. For the most part, each book drove towards it's own internal conclusion rather than drive to a conclusion that was coming two, three, four books forward. This is one of the reasons that Tolkien described LOTR as a single book that was broken up by the publisher rather than a trilogy. The last two Honor Harrington books had no real conclusion, just a big to be continued. The Safehold series has that same flavor for me. The first couple of books had internal conclusions, but the last several have not.

jbcohen · 08-18-2012, 08:11 PM

Safehold for $15. Forget it, no one is worth that I don't care who it is or how good and/or bad it is no one is worth that kind of dollars. I will require at least a $7 discount. I think he went with TOR because they offered him more $$$ for the book. Don't care no one is worth that.

rhadin · 08-19-2012, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I will be getting the new Safehold book when it is released in on September 18th. It irritates me that he did not go with Baen for this series. With Baen I would pay $6.00. With TOR it is going to be more than double that at $14.99.

Apache

I agree. Had he gone to Baen, I would have bought both the hardcover and the ebook but I won't pay $14.99 for the ebook, so I'll just buy the hardcover. I have it on preorder and am looking forward to it.

08-17-2012, 07:36 PM	#1
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	David Weber Safehold and Dahak What do you think of David Weber's Safehold and Dahak series?

08-17-2012, 10:50 PM	#5
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	The first two Dahak books are great. The third isn't bad but its not a great fit with the scope of the first two; it is a generic castaway adventure while the first two are full-scale space opera. It's odd in that he had a perfect setup for an entirely different story that followed the main plot of the first two and he ignored it. The OMNIBUS at Baen is a great buy. But if in doubt, MUTINEER'S MOON is in the free library. Safehold is readable with a great premise held back by excruciatingly s-l-o-w plot development. It is in many ways an alternate history series in Space Opera drag. And not cheap, being Agency Priced. Last edited by fjtorres; 08-17-2012 at 10:53 PM.

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08-17-2012, 07:58 PM	#2
dgillette.rm Connoisseur Posts: 95 Karma: 10072 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: sony	It can get a little fragmented, like most of his work. It is hard to keep everyone in the same place in stories like his. If you can live with that, I enjoy his work in general and this in specific.

08-17-2012, 09:59 PM	#3
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,137 Karma: 89858112 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I like Safehold, although the last two were more like filler while you wait for the next good one. Apache

08-17-2012, 10:28 PM	#4
mewmartigan Guru Posts: 852 Karma: 8242060 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Kindle Oasis (2019)	I am most of the way through the second Safehold book and I am enjoying the series quite a bit.

08-18-2012, 12:54 PM	#7
Strether Guru Posts: 746 Karma: 2825929 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fresno Device: Kindle 1; iPad Air; iPhone 7; Kobo Libra; Kindle Oasis 3	These two series are my favorite Weber books. The Dahak books, while military sci-fi, at least have a different kind of battle in each of the books, unlike the Honor Harrington books which have... yawn ...space battles in each book. I've often wondered if the last Dahak book didn't give Weber the idea for the Safehold series, because it works out in great detail the process of dealing with the church that the Dahak book left out, but which I'd always wished he'd included. It would have been interesting to know all the events that led up to that message received in the final pages. Jim

08-18-2012, 01:04 PM	#8
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	My biggest gripe with Safehold is that he has the protagonist and subject matter for a brilliant generational saga and instead he's running it at a pace of a few months per volume. Unless he intends a Perry Rhodan-style franchise the story looks to be headed for a deus-ex-machina at best or abandonment at worst...

08-18-2012, 02:38 PM	#9
Strether Guru Posts: 746 Karma: 2825929 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fresno Device: Kindle 1; iPad Air; iPhone 7; Kobo Libra; Kindle Oasis 3	According to Weber's blog, it's going to be an eight-book series, and the Gbaba will be featured. The next one coming in September will be book number 6, so I figure maybe the last book will resolve the problems with the church, and then there'll be a long epilog. But who knows. If the books are selling well, maybe he'll expand the series. Heaven knows he's prolix enough to expand the series even if it's selling so-so. Jim

08-18-2012, 02:54 PM	#10
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	Dahak and Safehold are the last two series by David Weber that I have not yet gotten around to reading, I am still working my way through the War God series however, I think that I might tap safehold next as I am trying to read all the series books that David Weber wrote.

08-18-2012, 05:17 PM	#11
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,137 Karma: 89858112 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I will be getting the new Safehold book when it is released in on September 18th. It irritates me that he did not go with Baen for this series. With Baen I would pay $6.00. With TOR it is going to be more than double that at $14.99. Apache

08-18-2012, 06:31 PM	#13
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	To a certain extend, I think that the Safehold series suffers from the same issue that the Wheel of Time series does, which is to say it seems to be more oriented towards generating word count than finishing to story. Weber is a very, very talented story teller. I greatly enjoy reading his books (well, the Dracula saves the world book wasn't one that I plan to re-read, by other than that). One of the big differences between the early Honor Harrington books and the later Honor Harrington books is that each early Honor Harrington book stood pretty much on it's own. For the most part, each book drove towards it's own internal conclusion rather than drive to a conclusion that was coming two, three, four books forward. This is one of the reasons that Tolkien described LOTR as a single book that was broken up by the publisher rather than a trilogy. The last two Honor Harrington books had no real conclusion, just a big to be continued. The Safehold series has that same flavor for me. The first couple of books had internal conclusions, but the last several have not.

08-18-2012, 08:11 PM	#14
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,025 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Piper College Device: Samsung A21	Safehold for $15. Forget it, no one is worth that I don't care who it is or how good and/or bad it is no one is worth that kind of dollars. I will require at least a $7 discount. I think he went with TOR because they offered him more $$$ for the book. Don't care no one is worth that.

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