A Mighty Fortress

Safehold Series, Book 4

By: David Weber

Narrated by: Jason Culp

Length: 35 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Young Cayleb Ahrmahk has accomplished things few people could even dream of. Not yet even thirty years old, he’s won the most crushing naval victories in human history. He’s smashed a hostile alliance of no less than five princedoms and won the hand of the beautiful young Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm. Cayleb and Sharleyan have created the Charisian Empire, the greatest naval power in the history of Safehold, and they’ve turned Charis into a place of refuge for all who treasure freedom.

Their success may prove short-lived. The Church of God Awaiting, which controls most of Safehold, has decreed their destruction. Mother Church’s entire purpose is to prevent the very things to which Charis is committed. Since the first attempt to crush the heretics failed, the Church has no choice but to adopt some of the hated Charisian innovations for themselves. Soon a mighty fleet will sail against Cayleb, destroying everything in its path.But there are still matters about which the Church knows nothing, including Cayleb and Sharleyan’s adviser, friend, and guardian— the mystic warrior-monk named Merlin Athrawes. Merlin knows all about battles against impossible odds, because he is in fact the cybernetic avatar of a young woman named Nimue Alban, who died a thousand years before. As Nimue, Merlin saw the entire Terran Federation go down in fire and slaughter at the hands of a foe it could not defeat. He knows that Safehold is the last human planet in existence, and that the stasis the Church was created to enforce will be the human race’s death sentence if it is allowed to stand.The juggernaut is rumbling down on Charis, but Merlin Athrawes and a handful of extraordinary human beings stand in its path. The Church is about to discover just how potent the power of human freedom truly is.

Listen to more in the Safehold series.

©2010 David Weber (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

such a great series.

too many wonderful things to say about this series. highly recommended. well written, and the plot is simply the best.

addictive

once I started this series I can't seem to stop. as a matter of fact I don't want this series end.

Solid Story delivered slowly.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If your reading this, you read the other ones and know the plot. Your also reading this becuase you want to read the next ones, so assuming those, your going to end up reading that.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story was slow, taking a while to get to major plot points with a lot of conversation inbetween, more then most of his other novels. That said its not NEARLY as bad as most of the reviews make it seem, the navel battles still were solid and it does advance some major plot points quickly.

What about Jason Culp’s performance did you like?

Honestly hes not that bad. I miss the first narrator, but thats more nostalgia and rose colored glasses then anything, his performance was good and he brought his own flavor to the charactors that simply did not match up with the original narrator, so after a few hours I was perfectly used to the new voice reading them.

Good story but can be tedious at times. Author

Good story but can be tedious at times. Author get's into minutia that feels like filler. needs tighter editing, but still, overall, very enjoyable.

this is AWSOME on audio! !!

I listened to all of the books on my way to and from work or driving across country. I tried reading them but got bogged down in all the charactor conversations. it is way better in audio. the only way it would be better is if it was dramatized

This is good

Yes, this is good. This response, though, requires ay least 15 words so 15th word.

Wow... best one so far!

What does Jason Culp bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Took me a while to get used to Culp's characterizations... but I like them now. They feel natural.

Any additional comments?

With so many bad reviews complaining that this one is slow and plodding, I was expecting to be disappointed. Instead, I find this one the best book so far. Perhaps all those bad reviewers were looking for more of an action novel, but the depth of intrigue and complex interdependencies make this one *very* engaging.

Another great book

This was a great addition to the Safehold series. I'm so enjoying this entire series and look forward to the next installment :)

good story bad narrator

narrator mispronounces a lot of words. but good story. extra words for requirements sake asdf.

Excellent book but some serious errors

Book was excellent however a number of times the wrong group or country were said such as saying dolaharans instead of charis. I have read the book as well and the mistakes were very obvious and numerous