Seriously worth reading time - Rated 
A book that has taken a new take on an already established myth and reworked it into something entirely new. Not for Webber the plain old Arthurian tales of old but taking from the futuristic worlds where mankinds in its final days after aliens destroy the world in the prologue only to leave a few survivors fighting in a medieval world with no idea as to how they got there or the glorious achievements that mankind achieved beforehand. That is, of course, until a reborn survivor of mankinds fleet comes onto the scene and enacts the part of Merlin through the use of technology. Whilst the tale may appear simplistic within the pages, it's the sheer depth of the descriptiveness of the tale that makes this such a huge book. Is it required? Certainly as its this that separates David's work from many others and will endear him to fans who have only just discovered this author who's work may well become the next big epic as this tale springs into three separate stories from differing angles. Great quality writing with highly descriptive combat maturely blended with big screen mis-en-scene and characters who live a 3D life with emotional conflict. A real pleasure to read.
What happened David? - Rated 
I am a tremendous fan of 'space opera' and over the years have devoured David Webber's books. I have also never been tempted to write a review but I would strongly advise anyone coming across this book to avoid it like the plague - by all means try one of his many other books, some of which are excellent. This one is based on a series of dubious presumptions and the characterisation is generally one-dimensional. There are huge stretches of dialogue and it would have rendered most of those involved insensible in real life.
Most of the book comprises a description of naval warfare in the 17th century and there are a lot of books that do this better. If you want to read about naval warfare in the age of sail start with Patrick O'Brian.
Being David Webber, there are patches where the book carries you along but generally I found myself plodding through it, hoping that something better would come over the next page. Weber has done this sort of thing much better in the past with the March Upcountry series, which were more tightly written. Overall, a major disappointment from an excellent author.
More Weber - Rated 
I've always enjoyed Weber's books and this one was no exception. He's maintained his usual ability to tell a gripping story mixing combat with a political relationships background and an interesting historical review of the evolution of weaponry and tactics.
However what prevented me from giving this the 5 stars I'd expect to rate a Harrington series book is that the plot itself seems to be recycling previous Weber scripts. The technologically advanced stranger picking a society suitable to be boot-strapped up the scientific ladder so he can accomplish his goals. Unfortunately although the story was still of a high calibre, I kept thinking to myself - I preferred the "original stories" with Prince Roger MacClintock improving the Mardukan ships so he could reach the starport or how Sean MacIntyre and colleagues used their superior genetics and science to raise arms against a corrupt church.
Don't get me wrong I'll be buying the next book when it comes out to see how the story progresses, because regardless of any other point Weber is an excellent storyteller and I came very close to finishing all 700 pages in one sitting.
A very pleasant surprise - Rated
Earlier reviews describe the content well, and the context in terms of earlier books by this author. To me this author is new as I had become increasingly limited (sad I know) to pursuing novels from a few trusty writers - Iain M Banks, Hamilton and above all C J Cherryh. So this particular book came to me as a complete surprise and I found it to be a superb read. Complex, gripping, satisfying and promising much more fun. In particular it was a pleasure to see an idea, that in part has been tried before, of seeking to leverage a medieval culture towards one much more highly advanced, developed so well. In contrast, K J Parker's 'Engineer' trilogy has been far less satisfying in every way, even though it initially held so much promise. So perhaps not an entirely new idea but executed here very well indeed, giving me much pleasure.
Transexuals of the future! - Rated
The only part of this book that baffled me was the reasoning behind changing the main character from female to male. It made sense given the chauvanism of middle ages style civilisation of the setting, but it also seemed to put a bit too much strain on the narrative when the hero is talking about themselves as two different people.
That said, this really is an amazing read, and has just the right amount of historical intrigue combined with sci fi coolness with a healthy dose of samurai sword fighting thrown in. It has naval battles, (sea and space) and a revealing look at the corruption inherent in a theocracy run by fallible humans devoted to the status quo. It reminded me also of the "march upcountry" series with the introduction of weapons and tactics from our history being introduced to a culture to whom they are futuristic (muzzle loading rifles etc). I truly hope that Weber continues with the series until the setting is once again interstellar, and I hope that he takes his time (4 or 5 books) to do this properly. Unfortunately this could take a while as I also want him to continue with the Hells Gate series, not to mention the various story arcs in the Honorverse, and presumably the guy has to sleep occaisionally.
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