Rating: 
Summary: Bitterly Disappointed
Review: In WRO Weber took the fresh and original invention of the two prequels and left them out in the sun for a month. What was his editor thinking?
The first in the series, Oath of Swords, was great (5 stars) because of its character development, clashes between original (and differentiated) cultures, believable action, and witty repartee throughout. My paperback copy of Oath of Swords is absolutely tattered.
The second in the series, TWGO, wasn't quite as good (3 1/2 stars) as Oath, but had some re-readable scenes. I enjoyed: the taming of the geek (Vaijon), meeting Bahzell's family and culture, and the battles. I also liked the hint of great things in store for Brandark who was beginning to be less witty, in fact little more than a sounding board for Bahzell. My problems with the second book center around too much exposition. The order was described in painful, multi-worded detail, as was dwarvenhome. Even more annoyingly, the introduction of Kerry was immature stylistically as well as boring, and a huge detraction from the book's merits. Mature character development is a slow exposure of a person, each revelation related to plot tensions; actions depending upon and revealing the character's past history, present motives, and future dreams. Inexplicably, Kerry vomits forth her entire life history to Bahzell and a large crowd of other strangers at the moment of meeting him. Worse, it's the trite "I was raped and hated all men until saved by love" pablum. Being set, Kerry's character did not learn or change throughout this or the third book.
Although I complain about TWGO, my copy is, if not tattered, at least unkempt because whenever I reread Oath, I skim my favorite parts of TWGO for dessert. The 3rd in the series is different.
Wind Rider's Oath:
Be warned that the book does not stand alone. You have to have read the prequels to give a damn about a single character.
Other reviewers have mentioned the staleness of the sisterhood of chicks-in-chainmail plot. I would only add that the original version (the wholly and brutally male chauvinistic world that allows an unbelievable level of freedom to a very few chicks in bikini chainmail if they will only insist on it with swords!) was created decades ago and described almost identically by Marion Zimmer Bradley who called them Renunciates. Weber has added little to the concept while subtracting a believable cultural or personal backstory. I'm still wondering why Leana would do such a stupid thing, or why anyone would take her seriously. Or why half of the book followed her boring and unbelievable story which suddenly switched off without a conclusion. If it was merely to give Kerry notice of something she already knew, it was clumsy; if it was to lead to a further book about Leana, please spare me.
Like other reviewers, I was unsurprised by the outcome of Bazell's first meeting with an unattached courser. Talk about foreshadowing!
It is not, however, details that make the book fail. It is the lack of originality in the action, the characters, or the cultures they move through. The evil characters are without believable motivation; we are merely told they are evil and that explains them. The sinister plots of the bad guys are simplistic and clumsy, and always fail. The conversations are stilted throughout and exist solely to impart information. Worst of all flaws, there is no humor! (Don't remind me of the pitiful slapstick ending. That is not humor!)
I have been waiting for this sequel for years, but I am only grateful that I saw Wind Rider's Oath in the library before I bothered to buy it because it's not worth rereading.
Rating: 
Summary: Incomplete
Review: Incomplete is how this book seemed to me. I've always liked David Weber's writing style. A lot of the time it seems crisp and smooth, and no one can write battle scenes, spaceship-to-spaceship or sword to sword like he can. He's character development is weak, and this book continues that unimpressive streak. Also, there seemed to be a lot of chapters devoted to Leana, but I'm not sure why. Her perspective didn't really improve upon the story, and the information she learned could have been relayed in other (shorter) ways. However, if she becomes a main character later on, then maybe her inclusion would be worth it.
There are a few issues I have with this series so far. The first is the lack of character development. Bahzell and Brandark are essentially the same two individuals that they were from the first page of "Oath of Swords". I would think that the events they have lived through would have marked them in some way. I too was dismayed and felt a strong feeilng of contempt by the scene in which Kerry throws small pebbles at Bahzell. It was silly and childish and stupid.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Just so you all know I consider myself a Weber fan, and have read most of his books. To me his stories can be hit or miss; this is one of the biggest misses. But I'll still keep reading his books because I love the good ones and re-read them again and again. I'd advise passing this one by, or waiting for paperback if you must have it. And if you like all of Weber's books, you'll probably like this one as well.I really missed character development in this one--which is my usual complaint when I don't like a Weber book. Where's the interplay between Brandark and Bazhell? To me, their friendship and development was key to the first 2 books, but in this one I barely saw any of that. As for the other characters, their stories weren't as compelling as they were in the first two books of the series. The secondary and minor characters had depth and I cared about them more in those books. Maybe the jokes are getting a little stale or the characters are too powerful and have developed as far as they can. Bazhell isn't struggling with becoming or being a champion anymore, and I didn't get any new, believable conflict in this story for his character. We've read about how he can run and keep up with horses--enough already. I feel compelled to say that talking horse companions have been beaten to death in this genre, so seeing them crop up with some of the same jokes from Mercedes Lacky used just doesn't inspire. One final note, in this case you can judge this book by it's cover. In the history of bad cover art, this passes the cover to Billy Joel's album, "River of Dreams". At least he had the excuse that his soon-to-ex wife designed it (you will note it didn't save the marriage). Not only do they pick the worst scene in the book (see the other reviewer), but the people look like posable action figures. OK, this is probably a publishing decision, not an author's decision but I couldn't keep quiet. Maybe number 4 in this series will be better.
Rating:
Summary: Has writing become routine to David Weber?
Review: On the strength of many of his latest books, the answer to the above question would have to be "Yes!".
The plot has been summarised elsewhere, so I won't rehash it.
If you have not read the earlier 2 novels in this series then don't start here. The (small) pleasures of reading Wind Rider's Oath are mainly for those of us who are already big fans of Oath of Swords and The War God's Own. Even there, don't expect much about Brandark or any character development for Bahzell (the story's principal character).
Multiple sub-plots are in desperate need of editing out(has David Weber become too successful for his publisher to dare?), especially the poorly thought out sub-plot of the runaway Leena. Why would the intelligent Leena think running away to join a group of people despised by her father's peers will help her father's political situation? Does she also think pigs fly?
The book didn't develop the personalities of the principal characters to help us care about them or succeed in generating any previous tension as to the likely outcome of the battles. As a result, the battle scenes, where Mr Weber often excells, were totally unexciting to read. Also, while I enjoy some of Eric Flint's books, I fear his variety of humor (ie. childish slapstick or childish insults, identical in tone each time irrespective of the characters involved) may be contaminating David Weber's writing, who co-writes some books with Mr Flint. The ending is just corny.
If I wasn't such a huge fan of most of Mr Weber's earlier works, I may have been less disappointed with some of his latest efforts.
So long as we keep buying this and other recent mediocre Weber books (eg. March to the Stars, Shiva Option, War of Honor), an otherwise excellent author will probably keep churning them out. I suggest you go to the library if you want to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Bahzell Bahnakson can still kick butt
Review: The main problem with this book is that most of the time it does not focus on our giant champion friend and his companion, but rather on a female interest that really does not contribute much to anything. I am probably being to hard on the book because it is the middle of the serise where most books regardless of their genera tend to go momentarily flat. I thought the book was O.K but I will not reread the book agian and agian like I did with War God's Own and Oath of Swords. Overall-I really should not be this disappointed over a book I know but I waited for 6 years and got my hopes up. My mistake.
Rating: 
Summary: Obviously A Series Books
Review: This book appeared seven years after the second book in the series and, I think, has suffered in some people's opinion because of the time separation. Weber is obviously working to the same sort of plan he did in his Honor Harrington novels (although I prefer his style in this series), with plot strands carried through from one book to the next. This was less obvious in the first two books than in WRO, and I believe the dissatisfaction some readers have expressed results at least in part from the fact that Weber didn't intend the book as a stand alone.This is clearly a complex, well realized fantasy universe, and he obviously has a long story to tell. That's going to take time and wordcount, and books are going to be interconnected and interdependent, like this one is. There are, indeed, unresolved plot strands which I expect to see resolved -- in whole or in part -- in the next book. Which hopefully will be coming out in the next year or so. Personally, I found the book very enjoyable and readable, and I felt that it progressed naturally from a "launch phase," in which a whole new society (that of the Sothoii) was being introduced, to fast and furious action in the last few chapters. Given the lengthy time break between this book and the last one, I thought Weber did an excellent job of connecting the two while still giving the new reader enough information to know what was going on. My biggest criticism? Weber and Baen Books should have given us this book at least four years ago . . . and they'd better give me the next one a heck of a lot sooner than they did this one!
Rating:
Summary: solid sword and sorcery
Review: Though badly outnumbered hradani horse stealer Bahzell Bahnakson persuaded Sothoii leader Baron Tellian to surrender to him rather than lose to him, as Bahzell is the War God's champion (see THE WAR GOD'S OWN). As part of the agreement reached by Bahzell and Tellian, he allowed the Sothoii to go home in peace in one piece. Named by his father the hradani chief as ambassador to the Sothoii, Bahzell travels to the Wind Plain. Being extremely tall, he sees this as an opportunity to obtain a large steed, something the Sothoii are noted for and why they detest the hradani for stealing and eating their horses. Surprisingly several Sothoii accept Bahzell as a windrider-the first hradani to achieve such acclaim. However, between the surrender when they outnumbered the enemy by 30 to 1 even if he is the War God's favorite and the honor of windrider bestowed upon a hradani, many Sothoii purists are outraged; this outsider has battered their pride in their heritage. An insurgency surfaces further stirred by the Goddess Queen of Hell and those who recently lost power plotting assassination to bring down the current rulers including Bahzell. WIND RIDER'S OATH is not up to the level of excellence normally achieved by David Weber especially with this sword and sorcery fantasy series. The story line contains too many subplots that lack action and seem more like gates to future sequels. The prime tale centers on the heroic Bahzell who learns how hard it is to be a God's champion as challengers come from everywhere. Fans of the series and Mr. Weber will be a bit disappointed, but need to consider that hradani threads go through WIND RIDER'S OATH. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: It could have been much better
Review: Weber has faltered with this series, and, oddly, he has faltered in much the same way he did with his last Honor Harrington book. Both the Bazhzell and HH series have lived on their great action scenes. Well, the last HH book (war of honor) had virtually no action until the final few chapters, and neither does this Bahzell book. How little? This book has 46 chapters. Bahzell does not draw his sword in anger for the first time until chapter 41, Kerry, not until chapter 44. Most of the rest of the book is dialogue. And not particularly interesting or amusing dialogue either. Those of you who follow the HH series might be thinking about the dejavu of that. Weber also spent virtually his entire last book on dialogue, and not very interesting dialogue there, either. Others have noted the plot line involving Leeana, the teen war maid. I found it intensely dull, and by mid book was not even bothering to skim any more - I was skipping all the scenes of her entirely. Unfortunately, if other reviewers are right, Weber is setting her and the boring war maids up as the centrepiece of at least the next novel. Sad, very sad. This book could have been awesome. I had expected to see scenes of the high and mighty Sothoi trying to wrap their minds around Bahzell and company. We got little of that, and not cleverly done either. Maybe Weber is losing his touch. I'd hoped to see something of what the Hradani were building with the war done, as well, but we got nothing there. Don't get me wrong; this book is worth reading. There are some decent scenes and - leaving aside the girl Leeana - the rest is fairly readable. But you might want to wait for the paperback version. And watch out if there's another book and it features the boring young Leeana.
Rating:
Summary: Webers Best Solo
Review: While i generally like SF better than F this series is the exception. Weber's Honor Harrington series is good, this one is notably better, richer characters, deeper landscapes and tighter plotting. This story is not how ever as action filled as the first two in the series, but the action is crisp and well detailed.
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