Path of the Fury

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Summary: Path of the Fury
Review: "PATH OF THE FURY" (ISBN 0-671-72147-X) by David Weber combines history, mythology, advances in the sciences and technology into a complex story that I found hard to put down until I had finished the entire book in one day. Approximately four millennia have past since the time of the powerful beings of Greco-Roman mythology and the events in "PATH OF THE FURY." History has seen the rise and decline of many civilizations, cultures, and governments through intrahuman conflicts and other internal and external factors. Also history has seen advances in science and technology that has been both beneficial and harmful to humanity. One of the beneficial advances has allowed humanity to sail from the shores of Earth across the vast sea of space to inhabit almost 2000 worlds. Another advancement was the invention of implants that allow approximately 60% of humanity to directly interface with both conventional and Artificial Intelligent (AI) computers. Of course the most advanced use of these enhancements (implants) is by the military to augment an individual's body into a one of humanities most potent and dangerous weapons. After approximately three millennia humanity was divided into two factions, the Federation and the Terran League and had made contact with two star spanning civilizations, the Quarn Hegemony and Rishathan Sphere. Peaceful and beneficial relations developed between both human groups and Quarn because of the differences in physical appearance and resource world requirements of the two species. The Quarn evolved on a world with a gravity more than two times that felt on Earth and an atmospheric density that is lethal to an unprotected human. Relations between the Federation, the Terran League and the Rishathan Sphere were filled with border conflicts and covert operations designed to cause a war between two or all three of the governments, because both humanity and Rishathan evolved on worlds with similar planetary conditions. Two wars were fought between humanity and the Rishathan. The First Human-Rishathan War (HRW-1) began between the Federation and Terran League through the covert actions of the Rishathan, who then launched an invasion into human occupied space. When the war ended the Rishathan controlled most of the Terran League worlds and the Federation fragmented into civil war. From the ashes of the Federation emerged the government of the Empire. After the Empire had recovered sufficiently, attention was turned to the recovery of the human inhabited worlds taken by the Rishathan. During the Second Human-Rishathan War (HRW-2) the Empire forced the Rishathan to the prewar borders of HRW-1 freeing most of the human inhabited worlds designating the territory as the Franconian Sector. From the end of HRW-2 the Empire has been recovering from the two inter-species wars by maintaining a large naval and military force in the Franconian Sector to ensure that the Rishathan do not invade again. Ten years prior to the events in the "PATH OF THE FURY" ninety-five members of the Imperial Cadre Drop Commandos, the Empire's elite military unit, were sent on a mission to rescue two hundred hostages being held by a terrorist group. Intelligence information indicated that the terrorists were poorly trained and armed. Of the ninety-five who started only seven of the Drop Commandos, led by Master Sergeant Alicia DeVries survived the nightmare mission successfully saving the lives of all the hostages. The loss of eighty-eight commandos led to an investigation that failed to find out how the intelligence information could have been so wrong, but no answer was ever found. Five years after the rescue mission Captain Alicia DeVries is part of a raid on a Rishathan military base and learns that the Intelligence officer of the earlier rescue mission falsified the number and military capabilities of the terrorists because he was a spy for the terrorists' backers. The same officer, now a colonel, is the assistant intelligence officer attached to Captain DeVries mission. When Alicia confronts the colonel with the information, he tries to escape and Captain DeVries attempts to kill the traitor. The colonel survives and assists the government in shutting down the spy ring that he had be part of. Unfortunately, in exchange for the colonel's assistance he was not tried and properly punished for his crimes. Captain DeVries is offered the choice of resigning from the Drop Commandos or go on trial for assaulting a superior officer. Alicia resigns and moves to Mathison's World, a colony on the frontier of the Franconian Sector. Another five years have pass, bring the reader to the start of the book. Three colony worlds are attacked, with two being wiped out, by pirates. Mathison's World becomes the pirate's fourth victim. One of the pirate's assault teams attacked the DeVries homestead killing Alicia's entire family. One of pirates is killed before Alicia arrives to kill the remaining pirates by herself, but is mortally wounded herself. In her grief and desire for vengeance, Alicia awakens Tisiphone, the last of the Furies of Greco-Roman mythology, and strikes a bargain for the Fury's assistance. Thus begins the "PATH OF THE FURY."

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Summary: My Favourite By My Brother So Far
Review: "Path of the Fury" is one of David's few stand-alone books (in fact, the only other so far is "Apocalypse Troll").

It looks like standard space opera -- albeit of the very highest quality -- as we introduce a planet-raping pirate fleet on the order of "Doc" Smith's Boskonians; a fleet that apparently is *intentionally* maximising casualties in its raids on colony worlds. It appears as if they are carrying "dead ment tall no tales" to its logical extreme -- but even early on there are indications it may be even more than that.

One shuttle-load of such heavily armed and murderous raiders is just unlucky enough that, on a backwater planet their fleet is raiding, they happen to hit the farm that is the home of Alicia de Vries, retired Imperial Marine Drop Commando. And said lady, who had been out hunting a Very Large native predator on the far range, returns in time to find her entire family wiped out and the Bad Guys still on the ground.

With nothing to live for, the heavily-augmented Alicia proceeds to become the sort of berserk that is the worst nightmare of any fighting man -- beyond pain, able to shrug off even normally-fatal wounds, totally unconcerned about herself, and determined to have revenge before she dies herself.

And, it is as she lies dying herself, having taken revenge on all of the killers of her family, that David introduces the twist that makes this book unlike virtually any other military SF novel you have read or will ever read, in the person of a character who, in consort with Alicia and one other, will raise them all to higher and higher levels of prowess, to the point where Alicia is not only possibly the greatest individual warrior who has ever lived, but even more -- an implacable, unswerving personification of vengeance who terrifies even herself.

In the person(s) of Alicia and her two partners, who collectively may be said to be the Fury of the title, David has introduced a rather daring twist on military SF that, at the least, challenges the underlying assumptions of a mechanistic Universe that are basic to so much of the genre; has bent if not broken the rules and succeeded brilliantly in producing an original and Very Satisfying adventure.

Powerful as they are, Alicia & Co still face many difficult if not deadly challenges -- both from the Bad Guys and from well-meaning but non-comprehending Good Guys -- that the book is hardly a boring walkover, even for them, and the action is hot and heavy enough for even the most jaded military SF fan's taste.

His best so far.

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Summary: The best of Weber, right here!
Review: "Path of the Fury" is probably the best book David Weber has written. This is the book that started it all for me. I picked it up in a library years ago back in 1994, and I've been an avid fan of David Weber ever since. I can't hold back recommending this book to any reader who might see this review. Now if we can convince him to write a sequal...

"Path of the Fury" follows retired Imperial Commando Alicia DeVries and her search for vengence against the pirates who murdered her family and gutted the planet she had made her home. She is helped, by the mystical and self-serving Tisiphone, one of the long lost Furies of Greek legend. Their quest leads them to steal an artificially intelligent ship and... well, why spoil it.

Weber has a unique way of creating universes that have extrodinary depth and complexity, while at the same time intertwining character development and action flawlessly. It is the depth that makes David Weber such a good author. This book shows all of his best qualities, and could easily be called the best of what he's written. He's an ever more popular author. This book shows why.

I can't recommend it enough to those who haven't read it. Give it a read, you won't regret it.

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Summary: Don't usually read this genre...
Review: ... but I loved this book! I usually can't get into a mil-sci-fi / space opera, but the character development and the mystery aspects of this book more than fleshed out the shoot-em-ups. For the first time, I cared who was shooting who. For those of you who avoid mil sci-fi, this is a great gateway book or just a good all-around read.

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Summary: Very good action. Felt like I was there!
Review:

This is a very good novel. I would like to see a sequel to
this one. Mr. Webers ability to put you in the story is a
very strong quality within this book!


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Summary: Mr. Clifford P. Gibson
Review: David Weber is an outstanding writer. I truly enjoyed the Path of the Fury......The only thing I can say is that I wish there where more in the series or that it would become a series.....The use of a Greek Myth Demi Godess Fury) and a Highly advanced AI and a elite drop commando and blending the 3 together brings back Tisiphones sisters Megarea and Alecto whom are gone.....and then to have her offered a Job with Justice. Well let me tell you there are alot of stories that could from that. I just wish David Weber would read this and get cracking at a sequel.

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Summary: Great Space Opera With a Twist
Review: David Weber is writing some of the best action science fiction (Space Opera) on the market today. I totally enjoyed this book and find myself re-reading it quite often. Plot development starts slow, but when the afterburners kick in, the action is non-stop and highly entertaining. I would like to see a sequel to this book to see how the characters grow.

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Summary: A graphic clash of past and future in a battle for the soul
Review: David Weber's vivid descriptions begin the book with a fierce battle for vengance. While at times his heroine may seem to have every advantage technological man and ancient superstition can dredge up, her weaknesses are her bane. This book pushes the limits of imagination in so many ways as to keep anyones mind whirling for days. I rarely read a book more than once, yet I find myself picking it up again and again. I could only hope that Mr. Weber would again give us a glimpse of the univers he so skillfully crafted. A second rendevous with his space age FEMALE?!? paladin could only be a delight to militarists and fiction lovers alike

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Summary: What a book!!
Review: Fantastic... I really didn't have a lot of expectations since I was not a big fan of the Honor Harrington series. But this book was a home run. David Weber really pulled this off. I could not put it down. Well done indeed.

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Summary: Great space opera with some science and mythology
Review: Great combination of space opera, science fiction, mythology, with a little split personality thrown in for good measure. I agree with the other reviewers that Weber should write a sequel to this book. The pacing is fast, characters are interesting, and the plot line keeps you guessing. A good fast read. I personally liked Path of the Fury better than the Honor Harrington books, which are basically Horatio Hornblower in space. They're enjoyable, but there's darn little science in Honor.