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By Schism Rent Asunder | 
 enlarge | Author: David Weber
Publisher: Tor Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $14.57
You Save: $11.38 (44%)
New (28) Collectible (2) from $14.57
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 2475
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 0765315017
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780765315014
ASIN: 0765315017
Publication Date: July 22, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The world has changed. The mercantile kingdom of Charis has prevailed over the alliance designed to exterminate it. Armed with better sailing vessels, better guns and better devices of all sorts, Charis faced the combined navies of the rest of the world at Darcos Sound and Armageddon Reef, and broke them. Despite the implacable hostility of the Church of God Awaiting, Charis still stands, still free, still tolerant, still an island of innovation in a world in which the Church has worked for centuries to keep humanity locked at a medieval level of existence.
But the powerful men who run the Church aren’t going to take their defeat lying down. Charis may control the world’s seas, but it barely has an army worthy of the name. And as King Cayleb knows, far too much of the kingdom’s recent good fortune is due to the secret manipulations of the being that calls himself Merlin—a being that, the world must not find out too soon, is more than human. A being on whose shoulders rests the last chance for humanity’s freedom.
Now, as Charis and its archbishop make the rift with Mother Church explicit, the storm gathers. Schism has come to the world of Safehold. Nothing will ever be the same.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
 windy August 20, 2008
I have been a fan of Weber for a long time, but it is getting difficult to hang in there. This book is OK, but does not expand the story all that much. Also, it is hard to get into the characters, let alone remember their names. He must like "y's" My biggest gripe is "the story" Between the political discussions ad nauseum, and the military discussions, ditto, the story gets lost in the shuffle. Honor Harrington set everything out by example and told a hell of a story. Once Weber started explaining every little thing, things deteriorated and he needed an editor with a very large blue pencil which noone ever provided. Too bad. However, if you skip the rambling, there is a story there somewhere and it is readable, when you don't care to take your time. It sure doesn't grab you though, which some of the previous books did.
 Intermission Time for the Safehold Series August 19, 2008
As other here have already stated, 'By Schism Rent Asunder' is the followup to 'Off Armageddon Reef' and book two of three in the Safehold Series. Compared to Armageddon Reef, this book moves forward at a much slower pace with relatively little action except for a few naval battles. The battles themselves are often told from one brief point in the battle (i.e., beginning, middle or end) instead of an overview of the entire conflict. However even with the reduced action the novel does engage the reader with several interesting revelations and sets the stage for the conclusion of trilogy.
My only issues with the book were that I was extremely disappointed in the role Merlin played. Whereas in Armageddon Reef Merlin played a key role and we were presented with numerous insights into his thoughts, use of technology, physical abilities, etc, in Schism he was reduced to little more than an advisor and mentor. Also, I felt Weber spent way too much time detailing the the process the Charisians and others went through to create new and effective guns/artillery. I found myself skimming or skipping several pages that could have been summed up as 'They invented a new artillery piece using iron.' Those passages felt more like they belonged in a non-fiction book detailing the history of modern weaponry.
It will be interesting to see how Weber concludes this trilogy in the next book as given his current pace it doesn't seem he will be able to resolve the larger plot of humanity's rise back to the stars. Unless of course he pulls out a Deus Ex Machina solution which would be extremely disappointing.
 Disappointed August 18, 2008
I read the second book in this series with great anticipation. I consider the first book of the series some of Mr. Weber's finest work.
The pace of this book is much, much slower than the first book. In fact, once I reached the halfway point, I realized that not a single truly significant event had occurred. The second half at first seemed like it was going to be better, but reverted back to the same glacial pace. In fact, I don't believe the story has progressed significantly with this book.
The structure of the book seemed very disjointed as well. The story jumped from subplot to subplot with very little transition, especially in the first half of the book. In fact, there did not seem to be a coherent story line from start to finish. What I mean is in other serial books by this author, such as the Harrington novels, each book though fitting into a grand scheme, has a story of its own. This book did not seem to do this. It simply rearranged a few allies, introduced a couple of secret societies and discussed what would be done in the future.
Bottom line, while I do think this book was worth reading, it was not my favorite work by this author. It seems like its only purpose is to set the stage for the next book in the series. If I had it to do over, I would wait for the paperback.
 One of the best David Weber yet! August 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a long time David Weber fan and this is perhaps the novel that I enjoyed the most. I love the characters. They all, both the good and the bad seem very real. One of the most interesting things is how some of the "bad" characters are transformed into "good". And those on the wrong side of the conflict are not really evil. There is plenty of action but the book is not just one big battle scene. Plenty of surprises as well. Also many passages that made you think. My only disappointment was that it ended rather suddenly (To be continued...).
Weber hasn't lost a step. August 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Most of us would be given to think that after all the books that David Weber has written over the years, both alone and in concert with other writers, that he would have lost the edge a bit. The Safehold Series is proof positive that that is not the case. He has taken the best of his other novels, dusted them off, tossed out the trash, and made something that stands alone as a great work by itself. This book brings the reader in and takes them for a great ride. Weber is at the top of his game. Bravo. Keep them coming!
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