Awesome story, great story line. The action is intensive, I cant wait to see what happens next.

I've been a fan of David Weber's for some time now and was excited to start this new series. Unfortunately, the second book fails to live up the first book's promise. Where the first book had it's fair share of action and intrigue, this one fails on both levels. It doesn't advance the plot much, but instead focuses on the political fallout resulting from Charis' overwhelming naval victory.

More annoying than anything is the sudden dearth of nefarious, scheming characters. Kings and princes who in the last book were eager to lend a hand in the destruction of Charis are suddenly remorseful and contemplating the morality of it all. Add the fairly-tale wedding of two ruling houses and the secret society struggling to preserve forbidden knowledge (including the obligatory reference to the U.S. Declaration of Independence) and I fear the series is in grave danger of becoming cliched.

Before "Off Armageddon Reef" I had never read David Weber - Now after "By Schism Rent Asunder" - I am a fan. David writes in a easy to read fashion with all the little facts that make a story so compelling. I have gone back and begun acquiring his earlier books. He makes his characters come alive whether you like them or not. If you don't read anything else this year grab these two books and inhale. Can't wait for another book along this story line. Science fiction meets the buckaneers.

David Weber is what I would consider a Science Fiction writer, or even a Space Opera writer as many of his works span enormous worlds and are epic in scope. However, Weber is extremely flexible and has excellent Fantasy books out there as well. In "By Schism Rent Asunder" he manages to write an excellent follow on to "Off Armagedon Reef". It continues the story of Merlin (Niume), Cayleb and the whole cast of characters as they fight for the very survival of Charis and their immortal souls. If you have read "Off Armagedon Reef" then I highly suggest you pickup and read a copy of "By Schism Rent Asunder", if you haven not read "...Reef" you then I suggest you get a copy and read it first. "By Schism Rent Asunder" is another strong argument to read this series and for David Weber being one of the best Science Fiction writers today.

I am a David Weber fan. I loved the Honor Harrington series and I thought the first book in this series was pretty good. My problem with this book, By Schism Rent Asunder, is it does too little in my mind to progress the technology of Safehold. The one invention of the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine and I kept expecting David Weber to introduce it. Oh well, maybe the next book in the series...

These two books are taking too long to boost the tech level of Safehold and David Weber is too long winded in his dialog with little action. I think you could edit the first two books into a decent single volume if much of the dialog was shortened.

I'll probably wait in the future for the local library to acquire the next volume in the series and donate the first two I already have.

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.

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.

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.

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...).

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!

Once again David Weber has taken a different society, and made it understandable, and interesting. This is the second in the series, and we all wish David would write faster. Although I'm sure his (or somebody's) meticulous editing takes time, waiting another year for the next one is going to be trying! Weber is one of the best at writing dialog (apparently not a common skill), battle scenes, descriptions of hardware, and how foreign societies work. For those who like the Honor Harrington series, and it's associated "Honorverse", this is a worthy addition.

Now, if we could just get David to get on with adding to the "Hell's Gate", "Shadow of Saganami", and "Honor Harrington" series, in addition to the next book in this series, we'd all be much happier.

The other reviews have covered the ground well, leaving me only to mention the sappy romantic element Weber introduces in "Schism", perhaps with the intention of making the series more popular with women. Who knows, if this succeeds, he may get his female readership into double figures.

David Weber's first book in this series "Off Armageddon Reef" was better written. There is too much discussion type background and less action that makes the book just 'Good' rather than 'Great'. Take out the 'padding' and the substance of the story is only about a third of the book. The rest is just the Author being lazy and passing the time. It's not up to his usual standard - but still good.

Ron Livingstone Off Armageddon Reef

By Schism Rent Asunder is the second book in a new series by David Weber. This book follows up on "Off Armageddon Reef," which established that the world called "Safehold" is a colony of humans that were brainwashed into scientific backwardsness to defend them from the attacks of a genocidal alien race. Set in a time where Safehold has the infrastructure of 17th century Europe and is controlled by a rigid overarching theocracy, "Schism" follows the political machinations in the aftermath of the failed attack by the Church's allies on the island nation of Charis int he first book. Assisted by Merlin, an android with the memories of a woman who died 800 years earlier after a mutiny on the colony ship that brought the people there, Charis prepares for all-out war by seeking allies to defend herself. Much of the content involves meetings, discusions and the like of the various factions involved in the conflict.

I picked up By Schism Rent Asunder recently and finished it today. As a long-time fan of David Weber, I've read most of what he's written over the years. Strangely enough, I didn't realize this was the second book in the Armageddon Reef series and never read the first book. To this book's credit, it does provide enough information in the books early pages to be read without reading the first book.

Weber's story takes a lot of influence from European history, and indeed, his writing shows that he has a lot of depth of knowledge in that subject both with period technology and politics, while throwing a in a dash of sci-fi as well. As always, his political plots are complex and somewhat thoughtful, and his characters black and white in philosophy.

The Safehold series is not particularly original. Other authors have done the theme of a futuristic wizard bringing the dark-ages into technological advancement, including fellow Baen author David Drake in the Bellisarius series. I read another novel like this back in the early 90's. Weber himself did this theme in his Heirs of Empire novel some years back. He even had a monolithic corrupted church as part of the story. Apparently Weber liked the idea so much he decided to expand it. This new series even has a genocidal race of aliens, much like the Heirs of Empire series.

I've made the observation that as he has become more popular and the editors have lifted their length restrictions, Weber's books have become longer, more plodding and filled with political discourse between characters.

Weber has a great ability to make interesting settings for his stories, but as he's progressed in his writing, I've found it more and more boring. It's not that his later books don't have action, or that I crave action, it's just that the expositionary politics ends up dragging down the story pace and overshadowing character development, sometimes almost unbearably. His earlier books, such as the Honor Harrington debut novels and the like were better edited story-wise and have far better pacing.

By Schism Rent Asunder is not a bad book, and it certainly has better story composition than some of the later Honor Harrington novels, but it has very little action and a glacial pace (the book's time frame is about 4 months, hardly any time at all considering the overarching story). I still liked it, but if one's reason for reading this book is because they like the action of Weber's novels, this one is going to surely disappoint. It's almost purely political and probably intended as a major bit of exposition between Off "Armageddon Reef" and his next book.

Still, despite the fact that reading this novel made me feel like I was reading a revised version of Heirs of Empire, I rather liked it. I look forward to see where the series goes. It's probably going to fill a lot of books at this rate. For fans of Honor, this could be bad news... It looks like a new subject has Weber's attention now.

This series is a good take on the (familiar) Arthurian theme.

By Schism Rent Asunder has all the characteristics of a middle series book which follows nicely on from the fast paced constant action of the first book in the series, setting the stage for more action in the next installment. It is full of character development, about which I have only one criticism - its that some of the characters (particularly the baddies) are seen only from a distance. I look forward to the pace picking up again in the next installment. David Weber is easily one of my favourite authors whose books consistently impress.

I have enjoyed Mr. Weber's work for years, and own every solo book he has ever written (and most of his collaborative efforts), having read many of them several times over. "Off Armageddon Reef" was superb, and left me eagerly anticipating the next episode. Perhaps therein lies the problem.

I was so excited that I didn't realize until about three-fourths of the way through "By Schism Rent Asunder" (delightfully lyrical title, btw) that nothing - nothing - was HAPPENING! The storyline's pace is positively glacial, and you would need calipers to measure the plot's progress in the first three HUNDRED pages. Instead, the reader is treated to an interminable series of meetings. Call them councils if you like, but they are MEETINGS nonetheless. The characters talk - ad nauseum - about what they're GOING to do and WHY they plan on doing it. Unfortunately, nobody ever gets around to - you know - actually doing anything. Just like meetings in the real world.

Now don't get me wrong: expositive narrative is quite valuable as a literary tool, and I respect Mr. Weber's stupendous imagination, to have crafted such a detailed and finely-honed fictional universe. Nor do I have sophomoric expectations of "non-stop" action, or action for its own sake. But this book is, sadly, lacking, or perhaps lackluster. It feels ... incomplete, and I get the feeling that the next book will move the storyline forward much more rapidly. Perhaps he was rushed to a deadline? Regardless, it might have been better to restructure the plot during the editing process, or perhaps wait and release both this volume and the next simultaneously.

Digression: Those similarly familiar with Mr. Weber's body of work will easily recognize the conceptual similarities between the Safehold series and the (much shorter, but highly recommended) Heirs of Empire. Does Mr. Weber anticipate tying the two together? Could Safehold be a - very - remote prequel?

I had high hopes for this book after reading the first book in this series. However, it has little internal plot and doesn't do much more to advance the overall storyline. Instead, it's full of banal, repetitive conversation and mind-numbing dull descriptive text that one has to endure while searching for the widely spaced portions where something actually happens.

Reading some other reviews, there seems to be an opinion that By Schism ... is only the 2nd of an 8 book series.

Hmm. I enjoy Weber's books but the other series are science fiction. The first two in this series are barely science fiction and at the pace of the timeline there won't be much above the atmosphere until maybe book 5.

I rather wonder why Weber has suddenly chosen to write historical naval fiction against a context of a religious war.

He may have created a problem for himself in that his usual and large following may be expecting the occasional epic space battle and equally are prepared to spend time absorbing the specifics of the impeller drive and a capital missile design but are rather less interested in canvas sail plans and carronade design.

I could guess how the next few novels develop and technolgical development will doubtless be accelerated by Merlin's presence and input but then again I don't see much space combat until Merlin has to take down the surveillance system just prior to the development of electricity/radio communication and that, at best, is several hundred years away in the series timeline.

I suspect this series will develop toward the premise of Weber's 'Heirs of Empire' series with the same form of technologically capable but culturally frozen adversary race.

Shame there looks to be several hundred years worth of planet bound conflict before the remnnants of humanity form an 'Empire from the Ashes' and go hunting Gbaba.

It may be (just) Science Fiction, but not really as we know it, Jim.

It's going to take a long time before this series is back in space.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Off Armegeddon Reef," for the concept, the characters, and the battle scenes. While "By Schism..." offers no major battles, it sets the stage for the upcoming confrontations and gives us an opportunity to get to know the inhabitants a little better. I found it an enjoyable read and had a sense of loss as the book neared its end.

His naming conventions are my least favorite part of this story. While I understand 800 years might bring a shift in spelling and pronounciation, skewing the spelling of character names while keeping the common pronounciation is tiring (and almost an exercise in humorless puns).

I look forward to the next book.

Off Armageddon Reef, the first book in this series, was the first David Weber book I had ever read. It was great. I loved it so much that I preordered the second book when I heard it was coming out. What a disappointment. I almost gave up on it about 100 pages in. When characters weren't sitting around talking to each other, they were sitting around thinking to themselves.

The two things I loved in the first book were (1) how the main character, Merlin, made new innovation possible without it being obvious that it was his idea, and (2) the great sea battles. The second book had little, if any, of either. Sorry, David, I have second thoughts about your writing abilities now. It's going to take some convincing to get me to buy the third book in this series.

I have been a fan of David Weber for years but his books have gone down hill since the last Honor Harrington book...the concept in this new series is excellent but Weber gets bogged down in a long drawn out story line...to many characters with convoluted names and places...

Book 2 is a good continuation of a great premis begun in "Off Armageddon Reef": a remnant of humanity has fled to a remote corner of the galaxy to hide from an implacablly hostile race that exterminates any intelligent species it finds. To avoid detection by electronic emissions, the colony establishes an 18th century society and a 15th century religion that borrows heavily from old time Catholicism. The memories of the colonists are selectively wiped of any traces of technology and human history. After 800 years of pastoral existence, an android that carries the total intelligence and personality of one of the original humans awakes and sets about secretly lifting humanity out of its torpor without revealing too much too soon. Much of the first book is about naval battles that will appeal to fans of Patrick O'Brian (like me).
The second book continues the story without really acquainting the reader with the prologue -- if you haven't read the first one, you will not get much of the second. Unfortunately, "Asunder" is close to becoming what finally turned me off the Honor Harrington series: FAR too much behind-the-scenes political intrigue. Weber is fascinated with Macchiavellian maneuvering by kings and princes, to the extent that it becomes tedious. Pages and pages of it. I don't read these books for geopolitical intrigue. If the next one continues this trend I will drop it as fast as I dropped Honor Harrington. It would be too bad, because the underlying story is fascinating.

I loved the first book (off Armagedon's reef). However this book is a big let down after that. This book is mostly about discussions and planning with very little action taking place. And then, the number of characters in this book appears to have tripled since the first book. It was hard enough remembering who was who from the first book written 18 months ago, to have to now remember a "million" other characters.

Anyway, I hope that the next book is more gripping and fast paced and not as boring as this one.

The second in what Mr. Weber has announced as an eight book series. It is riveting. BSRA widens and deepens our understanding of many of the characters introduced in Off Armageddon Reef. This book held my attention for the three days it took me to finish it.

Not as much combat as OAR, but much more discussion of the political background and characters' motivations. I liked it.

The second in what Mr. Weber has announced as an eight book series. It is riveting. BSRA widens and deepens our understanding of many of the characters introduced in Off Armageddon Reef. This book held my attention for the three days it took me to finish it.

Not as much combat as OAR, but much more discussion of the political background and characters' motivations. I liked it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first novel of this new series, which blends an early Renaissance setting with space opera. But this is too obviously a transitional novel, a very long tranitional novel at that. The characters are interesting, and their development is quite carefully crafted, but there is little action compared to the first volume. I am more attached to the many great characters than ever, but frustrated that we will have to wait for one and possibly several long sequels to see what happens to them.

I am almost through the second book. I've enjoyed it but would like to see a more active role and action taken by Merlin. I hope I live long enough to read the whole series because I think the premise is fascinating.

This is the second book of the Safehold series, following the novel Off Armageddon Reef. From discussions on Baen's Bar website, the author has (at least) a seven book contract for this series. This volume is primarily setting the stage for the climatic battles for which Weber is famous and is mostly concerned with political alliances of lands and individuals for the big showdown. For this reason, I gave it only four stars.
The third book (By Heresies Distressed) is supposed to have some major battles involving the growth and consolidation of the Empire. However, the major showdown with the "Group of Four" and Mother Church is quite a few thousand words away. Hopefully, the quality of those words will maintain Weber's usual high standard.

This book was written as the second in a (long??) series of novels about Safehold.
It is not that I do not enjoy reading Weber's novels, it is that I believe that I should not start reading them until he is done (if ever) with the series. The Honor Harrington series has been going on for decades.
If you did not read the 1st Safehold book, this one will seem to be filled with references that do not make much sense to you. The characters were formed and molded in the 1st book and this book builds on those character plots. It does not always refresh your memory from the 1st book.
My main problem is 18 months between books is a long time to remember who is who in the book. How a certain character is related to others. Who plotted against who and how those plots ended.
Thus my comment that maybe I should wait till the end, buy them all at one time and read them all at once.
I was hooked on the Honor Harrington series that way, about 4 or 5 of them were published prior to me reading them. That way I could read them in a row and have the personalities sink into my brain.
The last Honor Harrington book was back in '05. There is a new book coming out next year (09) but that is a spin off from the main plot line.
I hope it does not take 4 years for a new Safehold book.

If you check the source of the title you will see that it is a line out of an old 19th century hymm and the next line of the song is,"by heresies distressed" which is also the name of volume 3...the second half of the second book. It's back story and politics, needed but after waiting months for the release I'm not happy. I specifically read the first book again to get back to the right mindset and I get half a book. It needed another hundred pages minimum. After all the guns and thunder of OAR, it needed more detail in the few action scenes present. The tension of the first book is just not there. The secrets revealed and the queen of Chisholm got the 4 stars.

This book was written as the second in a (long??) series of novels about Safehold.
It is not that I do not enjoy reading Weber's novels, it is that I believe that I should not start reading them until he is done (if ever) with the series. The Honor Harrington series has been going on for decades.
If you did not read the 1st Safehold book, this one will seem to be filled with references that do not make much sense to you. The characters were formed and molded in the 1st book and this book builds on those character plots. It does not always refresh your memory from the 1st book.
My main problem is 18 months between books is a long time to remember who is who in the book. How a certain character is related to others. Who plotted against who and how those plots ended.
Thus my comment that maybe I should wait till the end, buy them all at one time and read them all at once.
I was hooked on the Honor Harrington series that way, about 4 or 5 of them were published prior to me reading them. That way I could read them in a row and have the personalities sink into my brain.
The last Honor Harrington book was back in '05. There is a new book coming out next year (09) but that is a spin off from the main plot line.
I hope it does not take 4 years for a new Safehold book.

If you check the source of the title you will see that it is a line out of an old 19th century hymm and the next line of the song is,"by heresies distressed" which is also the name of volume 3...the second half of the second book. It's back story and politics, needed but after waiting months for the release I'm not happy. I specifically read the first book again to get back to the right mindset and I get half a book. It needed another hundred pages minimum. After all the guns and thunder of OAR, it needed more detail in the few action scenes present. The tension of the first book is just not there. The secrets revealed and the queen of Chisholm got the 4 stars.

I enjoyed reading this book. It seems that this book is setting up for the 3rd installment of the series. It doesn't have nearly as much action as the first book OFF ARMAGEDDON'S REEF but, it is still very good. Mr. Weber spent most of this book on the church ( alot of talk ) and not the military or the "big get evens" that I thought he would. I hope the next installment of the story will have more of what made the first book so very very good and left this book somewhat lacking in my opinion.

While this book may not have as many combat scenes as some would want, the author continues to build the safehold world. The one thing (besides combat scenes) that David Weber truly excels at is world building.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading By Heresies Distressed when that comes out.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series "Off Armageddon Reef". This book has less action and more political detail. Some of Merlin's secrets are revealed to others and several unexpected alliances are formed. By the end of the book we still have a long way to go to reach the expected conclusion. Based on the pace of the first two books this could easily become a six or ten book series. All in all Weber creates a consistent believable world. Schism Rent Asunder makes me yearn for the next book in the series.

The 2nd book in David Weber's Safehold series is a good book but somehow not as satisfying as the first installment. Perhaps it is the fact that with the crushing Charis victory over the Church's assembled navy in the last book there is no longer a sense of "certain" doom hovering over Charis. There is nothing left to threaten Charis proper and the tension of the last book is not there. In fact, Charis will clearly be the uncontested ruler of the Safehold seas for several years at least, and probably longer when the Church starts rebuilding a navy of dubious worth.

There are several interesting revelations, and Merlin does finally come completely clean with Cayleb as well as another, rather suprising, character. There is also of course Cayleb's marriage to the queen of Chisholm which will definetly have ramifications all through the rest of the books.

Fans of epic naval battles will probably be dissapointed, and in general, there isnt as much action as I had hoped.

There IS a lot of setup for the following book, a look at some people and POVs that we hadnt seen before and will probably play a large role in future books.

Overall, I liked the book and will definetly buy the next book in the series. Especially to see how all the events started in this book fall out.

Do you like poetry? If so, the title should appeal. Of all the fiction novels I've read in recent years, it stands as the best title, to me. The deliberately stilted cadence is a provocative evocation of an earlier era. Akin to Lincoln's archaic formulation of the first sentence of the Gettysburg Address. Weber's title fits beautifully as a perfect summary of the book's plot. Naturally, there is more to the book than its title. But I felt it worthwhile to praise Weber on an inspired choice.

How about the plot? I will try to refrain from any spoilers. Other reviewers will assuredly have no such compunction.

One difference with the earlier book is that the current story seems to have fewer combat scenes. Instead Weber spends exhaustive time fleshing out the dimensions of the struggle. Blending two periods in our history. One is a reworking of the Protestant Reformation and of England in the time of Elizabeth I facing predominantly Catholic Europe. The other is the Napoleonic Wars. The technology and tactics are set in the latter. While the religious kerfuffle is in the former.

Some readers and reviewers might complain about the seemingly interminable religious and political back and forth. We have seen this before in Weber's Harrington series. Some of the later books in that delved into the social and political structures of the warring states. So too here. I suspect he prides himself (and rightly so) in being able to build out a fully formed world.

Weber is adept at this. Plus, given the Harrington series, this book reads like an interstitial effort. He is laying the groundwork for more climatic episodes later. Also, like Turtledove or Stirling, he is stringing out the plot into as many books as possible. Daresay the next book will not be the last of this series.

One persistent frustration is the unfinished business from the start of the first book. When most of humanity was exterminated by aliens. The series chronicles a climb back into space. But will we ever get to a return encounter? Of course, the palliative for smiting the aliens is the bopping of the reactionary human opponents, and we will have to be content with that.