The Armageddon Inheritance

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly enjoyable
Review: In this, the second book of the series, Colin MacIntyre has been given the unenviable job of finding help, if it still exists in the fourth imperium. Meanwhile the former mutineers turned patriots are trying to gear up for the invasion of earth by the Achuultani. What Colin finds is nothing he could imagine but the question is can he get back to Earth in time to save her?

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST!!!!
Review: In this, the second book of the series, Colin MacIntyre has discovered that the alien race has a fleet that numbers millions while his numbers a few dozen. He is in a race against time to find help to sav Erth. But what he finds on his quest for help will shock readers.
This book has it all, the human race as an underdog against a seemingly omnipotent alien race in a war that test the human spirit and challanges the readers imagination!!!!
P'FAA!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: A good series and a great book
Review: The Armageddon Inheritance is the second book in a series that so far stretches three books. The series begins with Mutineers' Moon and concludes, so far, with Heirs of Empire. Often middle books are just a bridge from a great beginning to a great ending. Not so with Armageddon Inheritance. This is, in my opinion, the best of the three books in this series. This is also a relatively short novel, a mere 344 pages (Baen paperback edition). I don't think that this is an accident. David Weber is a fun author who has a great deal of talent. I do believe, however, that his best books are his shortest ones. This is true with his Honor Harrington series as well. Strip the fat away and there is only a lean mean story left.

This book takes place after the suppression of the fifty one thousand year old mutiny by Anu, see Mutineers' Moon. Humanity, with the great Spaceship Dahak captained by Colin MacIntyre in the lead, must prepare for the imminent invasion of the Achuultani. The Achuultani are to humanity what locus are to corn. Get enough of them together and Humans and everything they rely upon to exist ceases to exist. The Achuultani's only purpose seems to be to sweep the Galaxy in cycles stretching millennia and exterminating all life. I can't tell you why, but you can find out in the book.

The book is handled as a split novel. Half of the book covers Colin and crew aboard Dahak searching for aid from a possibly extinct Imperium and Horus staying on earth preparing for the imminent invasion.

The novel is non-stop and very exciting. The book has two climatic points that would have served as a books climax by themselves. I can't really tell you what happened after all but I can tell you that enough of humanity survives to provide a third book in the series. I can also strongly recommend this book. It would be helpful to read the first book before attempting to enjoy this one but I do not think it is necessary. Have fun!

Rating:
Summary: A good series and a great book
Review: The Armageddon Inheritance is the second book in a series that so far stretches three books. The series begins with Mutineers' Moon and concludes, so far, with Heirs of Empire. Often middle books are just a bridge from a great beginning to a great ending. Not so with Armageddon Inheritance. This is, in my opinion, the best of the three books in this series. This is also a relatively short novel, a mere 344 pages (Baen paperback edition). I don't think that this is an accident. David Weber is a fun author who has a great deal of talent. I do believe, however, that his best books are his shortest ones. This is true with his Honor Harrington series as well. Strip the fat away and there is only a lean mean story left.

This book takes place after the suppression of the fifty one thousand year old mutiny by Anu, see Mutineers' Moon. Humanity, with the great Spaceship Dahak captained by Colin MacIntyre in the lead, must prepare for the imminent invasion of the Achuultani. The Achuultani are to humanity what locus are to corn. Get enough of them together and Humans and everything they rely upon to exist ceases to exist. The Achuultani's only purpose seems to be to sweep the Galaxy in cycles stretching millennia and exterminating all life. I can't tell you why, but you can find out in the book.

The book is handled as a split novel. Half of the book covers Colin and crew aboard Dahak searching for aid from a possibly extinct Imperium and Horus staying on earth preparing for the imminent invasion.

The novel is non-stop and very exciting. The book has two climatic points that would have served as a books climax by themselves. I can't really tell you what happened after all but I can tell you that enough of humanity survives to provide a third book in the series. I can also strongly recommend this book. It would be helpful to read the first book before attempting to enjoy this one but I do not think it is necessary. Have fun!

Rating:
Summary: The Time of the Horde
Review: The Armageddon Inheritance is the second novel in the Dahak series, following Mutineers' Moon. In the previous novel, Senior FleetCaptain Colin McIntyre, Imperial Battle Fleet, and former Lieutenant Commander, USN, has led the assault against the mutineers' enclave and has singlehandedly defeated Anu, launching him in a lifeboat toward the Dahak. Having identified the occupant of the lifeboat as the only remaining mutineer at large, the Dahak had let it come within the five thousand kilometer kill zone, destroyed it with a single burst of energy, and then marked its Alpha Priority task as completed. Two months later, Colin has pronounced himself Planetary Governor, re-established peace, appointed a Lieutenant Governor and Imperial Councilors to run the planet, executed all the unrepentant mutineers, created an Imperial technological and industrial base, and prepared to embark on a mission to find the lost empire.

In this novel, the hypercom transmitter has been repaired and used to broadcast to all Imperial stations, but has not received any responses. Colin takes the Dahak to Sheskar, the nearest known Imperial military base, but finds it has been destroyed by weapon fire, probably in a civil war. They then travel to Defram, but find it completely devoid of life; they speculate that this was caused by a biological weapon. Before leaving the immediate vicinity, they go to Kano, a nearby star, and are greeted with sublight missiles; after destroying the opposing orbital installations, they discover that the planet, Keerah, is also devoid of life, but one of the orbital stations still contains plants in its hydroponics facility. Sending a volunteer aboard, they find valuable information and equipment. From there, they travel to the Bia system and the Imperial capital, Birhat.

Back on Earth, Horus and the Imperial Council direct a vigorous program of retooling and rearming with Imperial technology to meet the threat of the Achuultani. The Supreme Chiefs of Staff expands to nine members, co-opts Marshal Tsien of the Asian Alliance, and directs him to select three others from the Alliance. The Planetary and Orbital Defense Centers are almost on schedule when an attempted coup by Alliance officers severely wounds General Hatcher, the Chairman of the Supreme Chiefs, so he appoints Marshall Tsien as the Acting Chairman. Deeply shamed by the mutiny of his own officers, Tsien promptly, and thoroughly, quells the attempted coup. However, two Asian PDCs have been sabotaged and fall far behind schedule. Although other problems occur, Earth should be ready to defeat the first assault by the enemy advance party, but probably will not be able to withstand the following attacks by the vanguard and the main force unless Colin can bring reinforcements from the empire.

This novel has a basic plot much like the Ringo's Legacy of the Alldenata series, but without the ground combat, or like Dickson's Hour of the Horde. For that matter, it is much like an old western, with the settlers circling their wagons and the scout riding off to get the cavalry. Obviously, the enjoyment comes from the details, which have the precision and realism that we have come to expect from Weber.

Recommended for Weber fans and anyone who enjoys realistic space war stories.

Rating:
Summary: The Time of the Horde
Review: The Armageddon Inheritance is the second novel in the Dahak series, following Mutineers' Moon. In the previous novel, Senior FleetCaptain Colin McIntyre, Imperial Battle Fleet, and former Lieutenant Commander, USN, has led the assault against the mutineers' enclave and has singlehandedly defeated Anu, launching him in a lifeboat toward the Dahak. Having identified the occupant of the lifeboat as the only remaining mutineer at large, the Dahak had let it come within the five thousand kilometer kill zone, destroyed it with a single burst of energy, and then marked its Alpha Priority task as completed. Two months later, Colin has pronounced himself Planetary Governor, re-established peace, appointed a Lieutenant Governor and Imperial Councilors to run the planet, executed all the unrepentant mutineers, created an Imperial technological and industrial base, and prepared to embark on a mission to find the lost empire.

In this novel, the hypercom transmitter has been repaired and used to broadcast to all Imperial stations, but has not received any responses. Colin takes the Dahak to Sheskar, the nearest known Imperial military base, but finds it has been destroyed by weapon fire, probably in a civil war. They then travel to Defram, but find it completely devoid of life; they speculate that this was caused by a biological weapon. Before leaving the immediate vicinity, they go to Kano, a nearby star, and are greeted with sublight missiles; after destroying the opposing orbital installations, they discover that the planet, Keerah, is also devoid of life, but one of the orbital stations still contains plants in its hydroponics facility. Sending a volunteer aboard, they find valuable information and equipment. From there, they travel to the Bia system and the Imperial capital, Birhat.

Back on Earth, Horus and the Imperial Council direct a vigorous program of retooling and rearming with Imperial technology to meet the threat of the Achuultani. The Supreme Chiefs of Staff expands to nine members, co-opts Marshal Tsien of the Asian Alliance, and directs him to select three others from the Alliance. The Planetary and Orbital Defense Centers are almost on schedule when an attempted coup by Alliance officers severely wounds General Hatcher, the Chairman of the Supreme Chiefs, so he appoints Marshall Tsien as the Acting Chairman. Deeply shamed by the mutiny of his own officers, Tsien promptly, and thoroughly, quells the attempted coup. However, two Asian PDCs have been sabotaged and fall far behind schedule. Although other problems occur, Earth should be ready to defeat the first assault by the enemy advance party, but probably will not be able to withstand the following attacks by the vanguard and the main force unless Colin can bring reinforcements from the empire.

This novel has a basic plot much like the Ringo's Legacy of the Alldenata series, but without the ground combat, or like Dickson's Hour of the Horde. For that matter, it is much like an old western, with the settlers circling their wagons and the scout riding off to get the cavalry. Obviously, the enjoyment comes from the details, which have the precision and realism that we have come to expect from Weber.

Recommended for Weber fans and anyone who enjoys realistic space war stories.

Rating:
Summary: Faced with these ships, the Borg would be exterminated!
Review: The best space warfare yarn to come around in a decade. The starship weapon systems, strategies and combat tactics described by David Weber are the most realistic I have encountered in a long time. This Imperial series is the benchmark. Even Star Trek fall short of this quality and combat realism. Give me more!!! As a former military aviation Flight Test Engineer and Operations Analysist; this future universe is presented to almost perfection. David Weber has moved the current state-of-the-art of air warfare into the region of interstellar battle.

Rating:
Summary: My Only Complaint
Review: The only problem with this story line is that David Weber hasn't written more of it. This is the sequel to "Mutineer's Moon" and the prequel to "Heirs of Empire". This is arguably the most readable although I loved all three.

David Weber writes heroic heroes who, for all their human flaws, never let us down. His heroes are not quite handsome, his heroines are not quite beautiful. And if his stories are not quite believable (because after all there is no Santa Claus) they make us feel so good to be a part of the human species that it's worth escaping reality.

Rating:
Summary: My Only Complaint
Review: The only problem with this story line is that David Weber hasn't written more of it. This is the sequel to "Mutineer's Moon" and the prequel to "Heirs of Empire". This is arguably the most readable although I loved all three.

David Weber writes heroic heroes who, for all their human flaws, never let us down. His heroes are not quite handsome, his heroines are not quite beautiful. And if his stories are not quite believable (because after all there is no Santa Claus) they make us feel so good to be a part of the human species that it's worth escaping reality.

Rating:
Summary: Death and Destruction Galore!
Review: This book follows Mutineer's Moon, and readers who have not read the first will find it difficult to follow the second. Weber's writing style remains largely unchanged and his cavalier treatment of science is annoying yet fun.

However, readers will get a little miffed at the way Weber treats numbers - how many people must die spectacularly in order to make a good story? How many aliens must be destroyed to make the good guys heroes?

In so saying, Weber still paints a good story, especially on how an Empire that rules thousands of star systems can self-destruct in a matter of months. Read to find out.