This third volume in Weber's (www.-davidweber.net) "Safehold" series-following By Schism Rent Asunder (2008), also available from BBC Audiobooks America and Macmillan Audio-continues his tale of an epic struggle between religion and technology on a distant planet populated by human colonists in the remote future. Jason Culp's (The Finder) workmanlike narration is adequate but does not greatly invigorate Weber's often pedestrian prose. Given Weber's popularity, this title should attract plenty of listeners; those unfamiliar with the series, however, might have trouble making sense of the narrative. [The Tor hc was described as "another fascinating chapter in an sf epic" that "series fans will demand," LJ 5/15/09; the fourth volume, A Mighty Fortress, will release in March 2010.-Ed.]-R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In this tangled follow-up to 2008's By Schism Rent Asunder, the corrupt Church of God Awaiting has ruthlessly suppressed technology on the planet Safehold for the past 800 years. Merlin Athrawes, a cybernetic avatar bodyguard serving the king of Charis, has introduced a sequence of innovations that allow the united island kingdoms to defeat the Church's agents, but the Church's rulers soon adopt the very technology they proscribe. Their greater resources, combined with a fanatical fifth column not averse to assassination, make the long-term prospects of the "heretical" empire appear bleak, especially as Charis must pause to pacify new territories while responding to recent massacres. The personalities and motivations of the numerous characters are particularly well drawn and credible, and Weber makes grand strategies and political machinations easily accessible to casual readers. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Weber (At All Costs, 2007, etc.) delivers the third installment in his ongoing Safehold saga. In the first two books, the planet Safehold was colonized by the last remnants of humanity, fleeing an Earth destroyed by aliens. They forged a society dominated by religion, to prevent the building of new technology that might attract the alien threat. Dissenters, however, created a cybernetic being, Merlin, who awakened some 800 years later and helped the nonconforming kingdom of Charis develop technology and fight against the powerful Church of God Awaiting. In this volume, Charis and its allies battle Corisande, a Church-assisted princedom. Like its predecessors in the Safehold series, the novel paints a vast, stunningly complex political and military tapestry, with wonderful battle scenes that compensate for occasionally overlong stretches of dialogue. Weber's portrayal of the Church and criticism of organized religion also continue to make these books interesting. That said, readers shouldn't pick up this volume without first reading Off Armageddon Reef (2007) and By Schism Rent Asunder (2008); the glossary and list of characters bringing newbies up to speed spans 15 pages. Initiates will be more than satisfied by this ambitious fantasy variant on the timeworn tale of a monolithic world institution challenged by reformers. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The third book in Weber's new saga of Safehold begins in optimism. A dynastic marriage has united the kingdoms of Charis and Chisholm in an empire that may be able to hold its own against the repressive theocracy of Mother Church. It has also brought Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm personal happiness she hadn't expected to find in a dynastic marriage. Unfortunately, the Group of Four that runs Mother Church has hidden resources, accumulated over the last thousand years of its dominance, and the alien Gbaba will surely wax menacing should now-imperial humanity break out of cultural stasis. The android warrior-monk Merlin may hold the key to human survival if those seeking its liberation ever realize that possibility. A formidable mixture of romance, intrigue, action, and well-realized settings, this book seems a trifle ambiguous about the saga's future direction. Faithful readers of Off Armageddon Reef (2007) and By Schism Rent Asunder (2008) will give Weber the benefit of the doubt as well as their full attention.--Green, Roland Copyright 2009 Booklist