A Novel in the Safehold Series (#9) - At the Sign of Triumph

David Weber is one of my favorite authors and I've been following his Safehold series since he started it a few years ago. David packs all of his stories with a wealth of interesting characters and tons of action. There are always multiple story lines going at the same time and I marvel at his ability to keep them all straight! This is not a standalone volume as it builds on the events of the previous volume, I highly recommend this series if you're into military based sci fi like I am. I also recommend you start with the very first volume of the series and work you way through the series. This series is one heck of a ride and you won't regret starting it and working to the final battles!

David Weber is one of my favorite writers, and this is one of my favorite series. This addition to the series does not disappoint, with lots of action and satisfying scenes. At the risk of spoilers I will air my one complaint... the story seems to have reached a conclusion, at least a tentative one. The main conflict driving the series until now has concluded. Any further stories in the series will need to find a new main driving storyline, which makes me wonder if it will continue at all or go the way of the Honor Harrington series that sort of lost its way after the resolution of its main original storyline. I hope not, because I enjoy Weber's writing and the world he has created in this series very much. Keep at it, David! :)

This is the last book in the current (first) Safehold arc. The Author's Note after the the last page states that there will be more Merlin stories to come. SMALL SPOILER ALTERT: This book completes/ends the Church of God Awaiting's Jihad against the Empire of Charis.

As well or better written than the previous Safehold books, as is expected of a writer of Weber's caliber. I enjoyed the entire series so much, I immediately started reading it over from Off Armageddon Reef, to get the continuous story feel and flow. At the Sign of Triumph is not dull, and while it hints & foreshadows the ending, the resolution came as a surprise to me anyway. A well plotted & written tale.

Trying to avoid spoilers. Almost believed the negative reviews. If you don't like this style of detailed technological and military narration you wouldn't make it to book 9.

This is more of the rapid technological advance that David Weber has guided us through. The advancing army and navy are still facing an opponent who is trying to innovate and war is still deadly, even for the victors.

The Character development continues including more insight into the guiding corruption of The Grand Inquisitor and the motivations of the Group of 4.

There are a few surprises and they are definitely worth it.

It leaves me wanting to know what happens next for the people of Safehold.

(I 'read' the audible book. It was a riveting depiction.)

This book is a fitting end to the first nine books in the series. It resolves most of the major plot points, while providing a clear link in to the "next generation" series that I hope Mr. Weber gets to. It is very nice to see the villains of the series--Grand Inquisitor Jasper Clinton and his adjutant, Archbishop William Reynold, meet their ends, while the honorable "bad guys" like Admiral Gardener of Dohlar manage to escape their evil overseers. I am a big fan of Weber and want to see more in this series.

A satisfying and surprising step in the safe hold saga, which has become one of my favorite David Weber series. The combination of technological development, the portrayal of governmental and societal evolution, and land and naval military strategy and action make this a remarkably thought provoking and entertaining series. I eagerly await the next volume.

The worst of the series. Pedantic, slow, repetitive, annoying. So many characters to keep track of and no context has to how "old" characters fit into "new" story. The author's assumption that a reader has already read the previous novels is self indulgent especially when there is too much time between novels for continuity to flow. Felt the story had no focus, it was just a bunch of sloppy ideas so loosely sewn together there might as well have not been any thread used. Very disappointed. Usually love just about anything by David Weber, that's why this novel was so unfortunate.

After wondering what was in the Temple for the whole series, the ending does not tell you anything. Is there going to be another book to tie up the loss ends? It just felt like the author decided he had had enough and quit writing. I really like David Weber and have enjoyed the series up to this point but this was a let down.

I am always waiting for the next installment in the series. I have tried to read all of David Weber's books, I fell in love with them years ago. The characters are solid, the stories are always the sort of book that you can't put down. The list of characters in the back of the book is getting longer and longer it now takes up a considerable section of each book, especially when one character has more than one name it can get confusing.

This book brings to an end the current story arc with the world wide war on Safehold the last planet of humanity. As with the rest of the series it remains a bloated and at over seven hundred pages a very long book. It is better then the books in the middle of the series, but the difference is minor. The concept of a digital memory of a young woman from one thousand years in the past trying to return humanity to space and adopting the name Merlin is innovative. Unfortunately, as Weber expanded the world with hundreds of additional characters we lost touch with the original characters who became guests in this massive work. Large parts of the work is just dull and the dozens of similar names often means you need a score card to keep track of who is who. The end of this work leaves room for new books as some issues not resolved. Not sure if I care.

Just barely four stars. I liked it, but only because it finally brought the war to a conclusion. Too much attention is given to secondary characters and plot threads. Somehow, despite the word count imposed by that practice, the ending still felt rushed and incomplete. The battlescenes were engrossing, I could wish the endless procession of meetings and discussions were, and then BAM! story complete, though with an option for future books. Interesting enough that I read straight through, but could have been cut down considerably.

David Weber has become my favorite author over the past 15+ years. I have greatly enjoyed his Honor Harrington series as well as the Safehold series. The complex characters in each series combined with the political and social events that occur in each story line provide thought provoking scenarios. Although you can somewhat predict the plot and where it is going, the author always throws in surprises, twists, and sub-plots that are very unpredictable and enjoyable. I have read the majority of David Webers books and have never been disappointed.

Considering the dark state of humanity today, I feel very hopeful every time I read one of Mr Weber's novels. I think he has a good knowledge of human history (societies evolution, religious history and scientific and technologic development) and use that vast array of knowledge to project fictions for the near or very long future (Safehold, Manticore...) or alternate reality (Multiverse). I really enjoyed reading this book I look forward for the next chapter of the Safehold anticipation. THANK YOU Mr WEBER.

Waited for so long for this Safehold novel to be published. It has not disappointed. David has continued his great writing in the Safehold storyline and at least some of the story has come to a conclusion. No spoilers so I will not say more in that regard. I was happy with the books ending but there also remains the big question of what will happen if the hostile alien race ever finds Safehold. Can Safehold be ready for them. Perhaps the next book in this series will see development is this part of the story.

Just finished reading "At The Sign Of Triumph" by David Weber, released by TOR Books.
It's curious to note that David Weber does note in the final page to readers that he is to blame for the absence of maps and list of characters prior to the first chapter because he was a bit late in turning over the final manuscript for his latest addition to his Safehold series.
It's also rather curious to note that several characters voice that they are tired of this eight-year-long war that the Church of God's Awaiting has waged against the Charisian Empire. I couldn't help but wonder if Weber was also tired of his Safehold Saga. Yet Weber has stated that more Safehold novels will be forthcoming.
Faithful readers of the Safehold Saga are likely to be a bit disappointed with the resolution of the Church of God's Awaiting's unholy jihad against the Charisian Empire. Seijin Merlin Athrawes wants to see an end to the war against the church because time is not on Safehold's side. In about hundred years the archangels are supposed to be returning; and there is the xenophobic Gbaba also to worry about.
As the Church of God's Awaiting embraces forbidden technology in an attempt to gain an edge in the war they're losing; unhappy aristocrats in the Charisian Empire are planning to stage a coup.
Weber has set the stage for a new direction in the Safehold series; but I suspect a lot of devoted readers are not going to be happy campers over how the war is resolved.
Strongly Recommended!
Five Stars!

I'm amazed that I have kept with this series, although I have to admit, Weber is capable of amazing story telling. If you have read the rest of this series, then I need tell you only that it's as good as any that came before...and perhaps a wee bit better.

If you haven't read the series, why haven't you? What are you waiting for? Besides, telling you about this one would spoil all of the wonderful hours of great reading ahead of you.

Once more David Weber has exceeded my expectations. The AT THE SIGN OF TRIUMPH has added new plots and wrinkles to his latest offering. My problem is a good one, when I open the book to read I do not want to put it down till I have read it. Once the book is closed I look forward to reading on till the end. Read this book and enjoy the continuation of reading pleasure.

The war is over. Now I want to know how we handle Gbaba?!
The story line is so open. I will love to read where David Weber takes the characters on their next adventure.
This installment was just as interesting and full of adventure as any of the Safehold stories.

I hope I will not need to wait long for the next tale of Merlin and his quest.

By the conclusion of this episode of the Safehold series reaches an important point. A new direction for future episodes is suggested and as a fan of the series I'm looking forward to this. Well written as the previous books although it continues to move from character to character in order for the reader to always know the situation that the author is presenting.

The war is changing everything, according to plan. The mechanations that it takes to accomplish this tear across all the levels of the societies and other groups who put the fingers into the dough and others just get rolled up into the mix. A riveting read and I recommend this one highly, this has been a great series.

I can't wait for the next book in this series! I know that "modern" archaeology/anthropology is just as limited in vision now as it was in the 1600's so the ideas expressed here are indeed one's I am excited to read and in his writing style I'm almost seeing the action and definitely cheering for the heretics :)

The novel is excellent, as was expected. However, the printing/binding quality is poor - a bunch of pages in the middle were cut incorrectly, so you lose about 5 lines at the bottom of the page, and those show up 20 pages later. I don't know if all of the prints have this problem, or only the first press run - hopefully it was corrected!

Good choice for the latest in the Safehold saga. The subchapters were a bit difficult to remember who was who as in good and bad. The series as a whole needs more Sci-Fi and less 17th century battle. Also some good technical detail but more is needed. Next, let's get into the main cathedral and see what's in there. If you started the Series with "Off Armageddon Reef" and have followed the story so far, you will have to read this.

Excellent ending to the first part of Merlin's quest. Full of excellent battle scenes combined with continued evolution of all the main characters. Wouldn't make much sense without reading the first 7 books, but this series is one of the best sci/fi - fantasy series I've ever read.

Was not happy with the way it ended, but it leaves room for the expansion into space and confrontation with the Gaba. In all reality it ended well, can't destroy an institution that large and not have a serious break down in society,economics, and civil war,decimating the infrastructure needed for further development of the planets people and story line.Plus authors get tired of the same old same old. They need a break on a regular and irregular schedual. THANK YOU DAVID WEBER!!

The conclusion(?) to the Church of God Awaiting series and the door left open for a wider stage to come. David Weber does not disappoint his readers with this latest entry in the saga. Lots of loose ends tied up but with questions still to be answered.

A good read, again.

Have enjoyed the entire series so far. My only complaint is that perhaps an editor might have been a good idea, it seems like some scenes were written in hast-- with words missing or misspelled at some points. Still, that doesn't get in the way of the story, which is excellent.

Great way to end this part of the journey! Really enjoyed how the author wove everything together throughout this series. One of my favorite authors of all time! Couldn't put this book or any in this series down once I started them.

This is not a review of the story per se. It's to complain that Audible sold me this book with Audible narration, only to find it doesn't exist! There is no narration of the book available!, Yet my account was debited for the amount of this book. This makes this company untrustable, at least as far as I am concerned. I won't be using them at any future date.

A satisfying continuation, if not conclusion, to the Safehold series. The way the war against the Church of God Awaiting finally ended was a bit of a surprise but it was right for Cayleb to end it there, without the complete destruction of the Church.
I'm sure more books in this setting will follow. After all, the real enemy has not yet made its appearance and there are still some unresolved mysteries.

I have read most of the previous ones in the series, and liked them all. The only unfortunate part is that there appears to be an end to it, surely there can be a continuing them both bringing safe hold up to when they landed from space and perhaps to attack the original menace indicated?

What started out as a great series ends a chapter with a whimper. The fall of Zion and Clyntan was really anti-climatic. Can't believe how easy it was and how little a fight Clyntan put up. Manage your expectations and if the end of On Armaggeden Reef was a 10, this is more like a 4.

Finally, a conclusion to the war... but not the saga...

David Weber is an amazing writer. The detail in his stories can sometimes overwhelm, especially the strange spellings of names, which tended to throw me. This is an epoch of a story. We are really only started. After the destruction of Earth, and the 900 years of Mother Church, we are still with the "proscriptions" - at least in much of Safehold. How will they unlock the true history? How will they move forward to develop technology without radiating radio waves into space? How will they get to a technology level where they can go after the Gbaba? Ah, we must wait for David to tell us! Write faster, David!!!!

Spoiler warning.

Well it finally ended, but the temple just sort of suddenly fell over. A rather disappointing end to a good buildup.

This series was good but should have ended a couple of books earlier with a more thought through ending. Now it seems like the author just decided at the last moment of writing this book that he was tired of the whole thing and added a "temple collapses" chapter at the end.

David Weber knows how to create a good story, but he doesn't know how to end it.

Stays to quality of this series. Thoughtful planning of battles, logistics, and political considerations. Weber's writing style is as great as always. I thought I had the ending pegged but it wasn't what I thought it was going to be so that was a nice surprise. Weber doesn't disappoint.

Spoiler warning.

Well it finally ended, but the temple just sort of suddenly fell over. A rather disappointing end to a good buildup.

This series was good but should have ended a couple of books earlier with a more thought through ending. Now it seems like the author just decided at the last moment of writing this book that he was tired of the whole thing and added a "temple collapses" chapter at the end.

David Weber knows how to create a good story, but he doesn't know how to end it.

As always David Weber is a master writer: the characterizations and development of the major characters, and even many of the minor ones is superb. The plot elements are solid, without loose ends -- other than those leading to the next part of the tale.

Stays to quality of this series. Thoughtful planning of battles, logistics, and political considerations. Weber's writing style is as great as always. I thought I had the ending pegged but it wasn't what I thought it was going to be so that was a nice surprise. Weber doesn't disappoint.

I've followed Safehold from the beginning, and have waited for every successive book. I deeply enjoy the story, and the depth that David puts into his stories. I'm pretty big on military history, and love the way the technology advances throughout the entire series. I look forward to the next series continuing Merlin's story.

I liked David Weber's Honor Harrington series and consider them to be the most successful of the books he'd written and published. The Safehold Series takes the reader to a world of fantasy, with magical technologies used by its numerous characters. At times very descriptive, at times confusing and ponderous, the book is huge and encompasses a universe of conflicting emotions and ideologies. The author's great imagination is what keeps these series afloat. Although not an original story, it is entertaining but despite its size and scope easily forgettable.

David Crane Author of Demon Heart

This book brings the war between Charis and the Church to conclusion. Unfortunately David Weber is making it very difficult to enjoy reading the serie due to his habit of stuffing chapters full of meeting and discussions between various characters with unreadable names. The plethora of side stories does nothing to immerse the reader into the story and the endless meetings recounting of events and plots involving other side characters might push the reader into blabla induced coma.

The contrast between this writing style and the one used in the first books of Honor Harrington is striking and not in a favorable way.

Bottom line: A good read if you are really interested in reading through meetings protocols and minutes but not a pleasurable experience if you were expecting a narrative of massive land and sea battles and a focus on a selected cast of characters.

I was very pleased with how David Weber wraped up, not concluded this portion of the Safe hold series. As usual David is very through and consistant with his characters and takes the necessary time to develop them, while keeping the reader glued to the story. They will give you a full ra
nge of emotions for all of them and individually. Good job David.

David Weber does it again. A a former soldier and armchair historian, I have always appreciated the way that he weaves battlefield innovation and technological leaps (mostly) plausibly into the Safehold series. This book is no different.

David continues his story of Nimue Alban and Charis, and their assault against the lasting luddite influences of Safehold's founders. The book mainly takes place on the main continent, the Kingdom of Dohlar and the Temple Lands. Some interesting twists occur towards the end, but you'll have to read it to find out!

If you're already a fan of the series, get this book! If you've never read the series before, start with Off Armageddon Reef (the first book in the series) and enjoy the whole story!

I have really enjoyed David Weber's Safehold series of books. This one apparently closes out the primary story line, with a hint of books in the future. Big book, but enjoyable to read. Overall this series of books is one of my favorites. Science fiction, but with old square masted sailing ships, along with steam technology. Lots of plots and subplots. A fitting end (maybe) to the series.

Dave Weber's Safehold Series is eagerly awaited by me. I don't want to write any spoilers but this latest novel, At the Sign of Triumph, is a gateway in the series. This book should only be read in the sequential order of publication. It is an exceptional series with good writing, strategy, assassins, and religious wars.

If you have been reading this series, then I have nothing new to add to help Weber. But, if you have not discovered Weber you might want to start with his HONOR HARRINGTON series, as these books (9) in this series are huge!. Hopefully, now on to the next part of the story that I have been waiting for for a while.

David Weber does it again. A a former soldier and armchair historian, I have always appreciated the way that he weaves battlefield innovation and technological leaps (mostly) plausibly into the Safehold series. This book is no different.

David continues his story of Nimue Alban and Charis, and their assault against the lasting luddite influences of Safehold's founders. The book mainly takes place on the main continent, the Kingdom of Dohlar and the Temple Lands. Some interesting twists occur towards the end, but you'll have to read it to find out!

If you're already a fan of the series, get this book! If you've never read the series before, start with Off Armageddon Reef (the first book in the series) and enjoy the whole story!

I have really enjoyed David Weber's Safehold series of books. This one apparently closes out the primary story line, with a hint of books in the future. Big book, but enjoyable to read. Overall this series of books is one of my favorites. Science fiction, but with old square masted sailing ships, along with steam technology. Lots of plots and subplots. A fitting end (maybe) to the series.

Dave Weber's Safehold Series is eagerly awaited by me. I don't want to write any spoilers but this latest novel, At the Sign of Triumph, is a gateway in the series. This book should only be read in the sequential order of publication. It is an exceptional series with good writing, strategy, assassins, and religious wars.

If you have been reading this series, then I have nothing new to add to help Weber. But, if you have not discovered Weber you might want to start with his HONOR HARRINGTON series, as these books (9) in this series are huge!. Hopefully, now on to the next part of the story that I have been waiting for for a while.

As the review before mine said, this is the end of story arc #1. We deal with the end of the initial war, and a little of the mopping up - and (without going into too much detail and turning this into a spoiler) Merlin DOES inflict upon the (spoiled brat AKA) Grand Inquisitor a particularly imaginative punishment. I was very glad to see that this is NOT the end of the Safehold series, but it was a very nice end to this arc. Well worth the time to finish 700 plus paages!

I have enjoyed this series immensely and hope this isn't the end of the story line.These can be tedious books to read,there's a lot of dialogue to follow.The only real drawback for me was the bastardization of names ( this doesn't add anything to the story)--it made it harder for me to follow and to keep track of the many characters involved--there are so many minor ones it starts to be overly complicated.

Finally, Weber kicks starts the Safehold Series into gear, getting the action moving and resolving major plot points. It's seemed the last two books kind of hung in terms of the story and the action. We never seemed to move forward, but At the Sign of Triumph is well constructed and ends in a way that if he never writes another Safehold book, it could end where it is and not leave us hanging. Of course I want more, but this was a great entry.

I've been following this series since Off Armageddon Reef, and I was thrilled to read a David Weber book which actually had closure. It's a long read but it's worth it. Now the wait begins for the next arc.

Clynthn gets his just reward. Just when I thought the story might be over it goes on. Never the less it's probably one of the two or three best sci fi stories of all times. This whole series is simply astounding!

Just look at all the novels that David has authored and co-authored and people are still buying his books. He is an author that cannot seem to write anything that isn't entertaining. His fans definitely appreciate him.

David Weber posted a comment on a Forum on his website letting us know that he intended to resolve much of the conflict that we had seen in this story. His promise did not give away several surprises nor did it reduce my desire to see what happens next.

This chapter in the Safehold series completes the civil war between Charis and The Group of Four . The author keeps the series going with the statement that Merlin isn't done yet. Will there be a revival of one of the "Archangels" and/or will the people of Safehold be able to adjust to advanced technology? Looking forward to the next book in the series.

It's a long story with a bit of an abrupt ending but still, very satisfying. Especially as this is just the end of the beginning. Fans of the series will realize that there's still a middle section to be told and then, a final reckoning with the Gbaba...

IMHO, the finest scifi series ever conceived.

This book could have lost about 450 pages and still provided the same flow of information on the characters and plot. Early in the series, I enjoyed the lengthy dialogues and shifting points of view but the last couple of books it has been much too long and that was the case here. Justification and explanation for every movement in the book. At least in this book (unlike Shadow of Victory), the plot actually moved. We do get closure and Clyntyn gets his just rewards, but gets to learn a bit as well.

Don't pay the intro price on it, wait until the mass market edition comes out and the Kindle price drops. It wasn't worth $14.99 to read...

I was very disappointed. The series starts strong and manages to retain that for nearly all of the books. However, the deeper into the story we get the more random runoffs we get, the longer the warfare diatribe gets and the less climatic the book wrapups. This book, however, took the runoffs to a new level and the author used too many "pat" conveniences to arrive at a hurried, frayed ending. I assume there will be more books in the series but the primary story across NINE books was wrapped up, in a weak and boring manner, in about 90 pages. I love David Weber and have read most if not all of his books. This one was very low on the list for me.

Felt like a rushed ending. Part of it was he expanded the story onto so many fronts that he neglected putting any attention on any of the story lines. Instead he tried resolving everything but it meant he brushed over it all or overstuffed portions.

He added too many characters which I wouldn't have an issue with except- 1) He neglected the main characters significantly. 2) The new characters were essentially fillers that didn't need any attention. If he was adding characters and bringing them up to the same level of attention as previous characters then I can pass on the attention given to the old characters. However, that was not the case.

*small spoiler. I don't know if it would actually qualify as one if you had read previous books of the series but there is the warning. I felt like one of the biggest deals was when Merlin managed to be able to manufacture more Nimue's. I wasn't expecting an army of them or anything but the fact that he can created of his past self would have been an interesting story point with the interactions between them. From a story perspective Nimue added nothing.

The system to adding people in the "know" became irrelevant as well.

Bishop Staynair I thought would have mattered in some way.

I'll end it here because it is just turning into a list of characters with no pay off.

As when you are constipated, movement, when it comes, may be painful, but at least you get some relief.

I confess I didn't expect this much action in the next 5 books, but happy the plot has been moved forward enough to start thinking about moving Safehold toward tech advancement sufficient to find and fight the genocidal aliens.

But, Wybyr has not changed his spots otherwise; obsessive unnecessary detail about things that just don't matter and have little to do with advancing the plot or filling in details that provide meaningful background. Just detail for its own sake, or perhaps to fulfill a contract requirement.

The gang of four are reduced by two, and in a very unsatisfying conclusion, one becomes the new leader of the church, which becomes fractured into several sects. Don't really care how that turns out, don't even care much about the tech mysteries of the temple; just want to get to the Gbaba.

And I admit to being wrong: maybe only 30 more books, instead of 290

While I agree with a lot of the comments saying it was one of the weaker books in the series, I read these for enjoyment, not necessarily in great detail. I view the 'cast of thousands' in the military especially as an interesting, alternate take on military fiction. Instead of following a few main characters through their circumstances in a detailed arc, we follow characters as they're necessary to the overarching story. Remember that a WWI or WWII novel would have a ton of historical detail to draw on. The main characters are trapped by fog and are going to sit around for 3 days? Cut to Churchill and Roosevelt...fill a few pages. Here, he's building the world as he's describing this bitter conflict. That's interesting to me!

I also skim large chunks, I disagree that it's easier with a kindle... why tie yourself to another gadget with a battery and a pocket footprint?

Anywhoo, this book has a pretty satisfying wrap-up to the Clyntahn storyline. I again think that the way Merlin & co won was necessary - overwhelming force using their technological advantage to wrap up a numerically superior foe in a series of crushing defeats. The whole point of the world war arc is that the Church will win based on numbers if it drags on long enough. It's an interesting (perhaps) re-imagining of the pacific war.

I am interested in where things go from here? How do we go from steamships to winning against the Gbaba? The only thing I can think of is what's buried in the temple lands. How far did the 'Archangels' go in preserving war technology? In my opinion, and if DW is reading this feel free to take it, Merlin and co should develop stealth technology - the Gbaba are unaware and off fighting other civs. They can carefully observe and look for a weakness. Considering the vast disparity in numbers and technology, the only way I can see a win is if the Gbaba have a central weakness, al la Ender's Game or Wing Commander III. Merlin could lead a single stealth ship, called the Arthur (c'mon! please!) to strike the fateful redemptive blow.

I won't show as verified since I actually bought this one in a book store (gasp!) but I did thoroughly enjoy this book and I'll be getting the audible version as well as anything that Oliver Wyman performs is excellent every time.

As many have said, this is probably not the end of the series. Though there is some delicious "comeuppance" for quite a few characters. I did not feel a "rushed" ending as some did. Though had it explained out some more that would be excellent as well. Had there been probably a chapter or two more at the end on those last few questions, then this series would be over. It's not.

As has been stated by other reviews: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

David Weber does NOT end series. He may do single book stories, (which have always been excellent) but those are capped by the end of them and quite obvious on the "nope no more with these." I'm guessing that there will be more of this series.

When the next book comes out there will have to have been a significant bit of time passed for the next stages of this story. Perhaps the kids, perhaps something else. Looking forward to it for sure.

Book number 9 of a series - do not start here. These are not standalone.

Like the last few books,"At the Sign of Triumph" stars technology & weapon development first (we have nearly completed WW1 and rapidly moving through WW2 tech) and war maneuvers second, both sea and land. A distant third is characters and plot, the normal bread & butter of fiction. Characters and plot were a touch better than last time, with some characters actually showing signs of being different in the way they talk and maybe two of the side plots are not 100% war related.

If you want to read a war book with a breakdown of trench warfare and high-seas ironsides, I personally think your time is better spent reading history books rather than a fictional world in this not-really science-fiction story.

To fix the book, Mr. Weber needs to concentrate on the people a touch more - giving them different reasoning, motives, manners of speech, etc. Nearly every solider feels like the stoic Englishman so popular in TV and movies. Everyone is honest, trying their best, misses home, and striving for the betterment of mankind (both sides). Some of this is the homogeneous church, some of it is everyone being military-oriented. But mostly because the book is starring the tools instead of the toolmakers and Mr. Weber is pushing out one of these monster books a year along with his other commitments. We might complain about other writers taking it too slow, but slower does offer advantages.

One plus, this story reaches an acceptable mid-series conclusion.

If the end didn't happen in this book, I would have ended my reading of the series regardless.
Books-a-Million could not discount them enough for me to pick up another overweight and overwrought tome.
I remember well the things that interest me. What happens when that interest wains is the crucial thing for me. I stopped caring about the characters, the war and the innovations.
That meant this was pretty much a disaster taking place before my eyes. Normally when I read, a typographical error causes me to actually startle. It's as if I was slapped upside my head. I was made silly here by continuous concussion therapy. The effort required to track names, places, history which are overwhelmed by minutiae and sudden endings (death mostly) of story lines is wasteful of MY time.
Weber is a militarist who believes in the sanctity of the good 'Elite'.
That's where he left us.
I prefer Culture novels. Even when they ended on a sour note, I didn't feel like a mere perv voyeur to endless murder and corruption with the measure made by 1950's moral standards to point out and emphasize the horrible villainy of religion and the 'bad' powers that be.
If you got started with this series, you know, when it was pretty good, and followed through, you can put the burden down.
That's about the best I can say.

David Weber's Safehold series finally ends its initial phase in a satisfactory manner. The book isn't perfect: It could have used maps in book, as opposed to on a website, the ending seems a bit rushed...but then, so was the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union. There is also present the irritating flaw that has plagued this book: The illogical use for spelling names, despite the fact that these people should all know how their names are spelled based on the writings of the original people on the planet.

The Safehold series tells the tale of humanity's last outpost, except they have no idea they are. Almost a thousand years ago, humans had fled the planet Earth in a colonization fleet, in a desperate attempt to escape an alien race, the Gbaba, whose way of maintaining their own dominance is to destroy any other sentient species they find. At great cost, this last fleet manages to escape, but the fleet's administrators decide that the only way to save humanity is to impose a religion which prohibits any and all advanced technology. They accomplish this by brainwashing the colonists stored in suspended animation, then portraying themselves as Archangels...and lastly by killing off those who object to this plan. Naturally, things start to fall apart as the church grows corrupt, with prohibitions excused for bribes and greed, and we will eventually have the people regaining advanced tech, with no idea what's lurking out in space.

Into this mess wakes up an android (a PICA) who has the memories of Nimue Alban,a young naval officer who died over 900 years ago, and who then changes her anatomy to become Merlin Athrawes, and is charged with the mission of saving the planet. With the help of the progressive Kingdom of Charis, plus unexpected allies, including a second android, this one who keeps Nimue's name and gender, this book sees the conclusion of the war to liberate Charis and its allies from the tyranny of the church.

This first stage of this saga comes to a conclusion that is satisfactory. There's still plenty of room for the future, most notably the supposed return of the Archangels in the coming decades, so expect a time jump if this saga resumes, and, of course, there's always the Gbaba lurking out there. But matters are wrapped up for this portion of the story, which has spanned 9 volumes, although many questions remain unanswered. In short, Weber has plenty of material to continue this saga, which he promises will be the case.

I got into the Safehold series hoping to see David Weber shine with his knowledge of nautical combat and the age of sail ideas he had. The first four books did that wonderfully and I remember enjoying them. Then we got to the ground combat in Siddarmark and the whole plot began to move at a glacial pace with new characters, introduced, dropped, and reintroduced for no movement or resolution. Twists overlooked and ideas just dropped. This book, instead of being a satisfying conclusion, was more of the same. Weber includes endless padding to the story and fails to resolve most of the events in the novel to a satisfying degree, and as others have said the conclusion is rushed and relatively lackluster. I feel greatly disappointed by it.

To be frank, Weber badly needs an editor. This book, and the last one it seems, felt rushed and bloated with scenes an editor could have recommended chopped. I feel too many big name authors are losing their touch without a steady hand to steer them forward or curb some of the bloat appearing in these stories. Maybe the next installment will be better, but hopefully it will be with an editor.

A necessary read if you have read the rest.

This is another book in the excellent Safehold series. Safehold is a planet intentionally hidden at a low tech level from an alien intelligence that has wiped out mankind except for Safehold. Safehold’s founders founded a new religion to deter industrialization in hopes of not attracting the attention of mankind’s nemesis. Much of the review here is the same for the whole series.

This book as referred to by the characters is the end of the beginning. That certainly suggests future books. This book puts a bow on much of the activity of the previous books but it is clear there can be a much longer story. Of course part of the length is Weber's inability to be succinct. As much as I like the details, sometimes they are overwhelmingly mind numbing.

The aforementioned theocracy has become dominated by the gang of four. The gang of four, are four corrupt churchmen who will do anything, no matter how despicable, to remain in power. Mass murder, terriorism, torture and even instigating civil war and denying all progress, it still manages to trumpet it’s godliness.

As all of Weber’s works he has deplorable villains and laudable heroes. Weber works many of current society’s ills into his work. Fanaticism, jihad, corruption, facile politicians, evil empires; he manages to include or refer to through proxy. The dangers of church and state intermingling is brutally depicted by the actions of the theocracy.

Weber is one of those rare authors who can infiltrate your emotions with his characters and feel you full of empathy for their actions. This book seems to show more empathy for the "bad guys". The depiction that all foes are not evil is done very well. Weber demonstrates that good people can be put in untenable situations and find themselves doing evil works. Religious warfare is shown in it's brutal reality. Something that has sadly been illustrated by current events.

Some reviews complain that Weber is wordy but each brush stroke can increase the depth and beauty of a work although in this book I did feel he got a bit effusive. I find myself being repetitive. Regardless of his verbosity or perhaps due to the same, Weber writes compelling stories.

I recommend the book.

Web Site: [...]

The war that started in Off Armageddon Reef is drawing to a close. The Church of God Awaiting's attempt to destroy the tiny island nation of Charis has proven to be a disaster. Along the way Charis has defeated mighty foes against impossible odds. Along the way, they've acquired new allies and new technologies. As the church has lost more and more ground, they've become more brutal. People long loyal to the church have died under the direction of the very church they've supported.

As the war winds down, it becomes a bitter battle of numbers. Massive armies using civil war level technology grind each other into a bloody pulp. Unknown to the evil church, the enemy has a powerful ally. The cybernetic avatar of a long dead hero. Inside her electric brain, she carries knowledge that could destroy the church. Everything they believe is a lie. Humans once lived among the stars and the anti-technology holy commandments are meant to protect their last colony from a vicious alien enemy.

David Weber continues his epic saga. A enthralling mix of science fiction and fantasy. A technologically depressed world in the far future. Merlin Athrawes and his quest to bring humanity back from the brink of extinction. David tells an involved and politically savvy story about medieval kingdoms. Some will say that he gets too into the minutia, but he keeps readers involved and coming back for more.

Several reviewers pondered if they would live to see the end of the series. The more pointed question is whether Weber himself will survive long enough. He has parlayed his writing skill into a series can be reeled out coterminous with his lifetime, however long that will be. In fact, he can deliberately never end the series. For some fans this is great. A contrast with what Lee Child, of the Jack Reacher series, once said in a bookstore in Los Angeles some 10 years ago. Child was asked about his series. He replied that if he knew that he was going to die in a year's time, he'd ensure that Reacher was killed off prior.

What happens after Weber dies? A lot of frustrated readers, who have kept the reading faith but now are stranded. Hey, we have been here before. Think Robert Ludlum, Ian Fleming, Conan Doyle. Safehold is not a series of books but an annuity that keeps on giving to the Weber estate and any fortunate chosen successor, who will not have copyright but will garner a nice yield.

Having said that, this latest novel has changes which will be welcomed by some readers. The long Dramatis Personae has been factored out and put on Weber's website. I cannot list the latter here because the the store bot redacts 3rd party websites and URLs. But you can easily find it. Removing the Dramatis is probably a positive since it was often the subject of complaints in earlier reviews.

Another change and not necessarily for the better is moving most of the maps to his website. The only map in the hardcopy is of the entire world. Problem is, when I went to the website and downloaded the 4 maps currently available for this book, they omit details of the areas of several battles (or have insufficient resolution), and of one of the kingdoms of the Empire where a rebellion takes place. The latter is significant because of the many provinces of it mentioned in the book.

The maps can also be improved. In none of the maps of this or earlier books are shown the actual force deployments of battles. Yet so many books of wars, fiction and not, do this because of the great aid to the reader.

Maybe by the time you read this, Weber will have furnished extra or better maps online.

He spend 3/4 of the book giving us back story on throw away new characters, then a weeeeak ending. I won't give away the ending, but if they had "this tech", they could have saved half the series. It's like he realized there was to much going on, so he quickly wrapped it up. Sad ending to a good series.

Outstanding book in an excellent series. Weber is brilliant at creating tactcal problems with historically accurate battle solutions trasposed to a different world. Introductions of new technology are feasibly presented and suitable to the strategic context for the series, Civil war type battles with WW1 size armies supported by rifled guns,with modern propellent and explosives, aerial reconnaissance and Dreadnought type warsips create an interesting and time appropriate warscape. Lots of interesing characters, evil and good, sustain the plot while geneating a basis for the story to go galactic.

Who are these characters that have taken over a series I used to really like? They are bland non-entities with too many twists in their names and a ruthless desire to bore me to death. How many times can we have a group of people sit down and agree with each other, at length, about how to completely destroy an unimaginably vast enemy of helpless, albeit frequently noble, fools fighting with the tools of the past who are led to their ruin by some sad sort of parody of an evil tyrant? There are so many of these characters that Weber refused to document their unlooked for oversupply by NOT enclosing a character list this time.
To give the devil his due, the story did begin to move forward right around page 700, but the going til that point was slow and tedious. Then the book suddenly ended, with several story-lines hanging out the window, blowing in the wind with no resolution.
I am not sorry to see the story end, I just wish it could have died a more dignified death.

Well thank god thats over. But this book has no business being 700 pages long. 300 tops. As Weber showed with his Honorverse, he clearly let this series get away from him. What started with a tight 3rd person with a handful of relevant characters has blown up out of recognition into a cast of thousands. Cast of thousands are ok if thats what you start with (Webers Multiverse, for example), but to have a few interesting characters who then get drowned under an ocean of miscellaneous nobodies....doesnt work. Isnt friendly. The whole point of the series, Merlin, has about ten pages in the whole book. The Emperor of Charis has even less. This is battle after battle of Weber just trying to prove how clever he is with military strategy. BORING.
FINALLY, get back the Gbaba. We've waited too long already

After a furious start in the first two books, Safeholds history developed in the manic pace of continental drift to find its conclusion in this book. The good cause wins, the bad guys die and the epic storyline finds the ending every reader knew since "Midst Toil and Tribulation".

I was relieved. Not only because the happy ending (I especially liked the final scenes around the Grand Inquisitor): The last three books were tiresome. David Weber sure is a great writer and I love his small detours, describing the terrible prices paid even for victories. But the epic descriptions of battles and campaings, the plethora of places and persons was just too much for me to handle. I simply relied on the generals, bishops and kings to know what they are doing: If everyone agreed that Ford Smithereen was the key to control the Holy Lurchbottom channel and otherwise a retreat of no less than 1780 yards was necessary, I simply nodded gravely and continued reading, even if the inquisitions attendant had fume coming out of his ears.

This relentless attention to detail hung like a millstone around the plots neck, there was almost no process for hundreds of pages. This is where Weber wasted the time and pages needed to bring "At the Sign of Triumph" to a fully satisfying end and the last chapters finshe or drop plotlines in a dazzling pace.

Webers writing and imagination deserve a better lectorate: Slimming down the first 2/3 of the book, reducing the use of "unflinching" or "snarl" to a healthy level and discuss with the author his devotion to the eyes of his protagonists: Expressions like "eyes like flint", "cold as those stony eyes" or "sapphire eyes were cold" are on almost every page.

If you are - like me - a long time Weber fan and become ever more frustrated by the latest works of the maestro, I can recommend the brief treatise "The Exasperating Case of David Weber". What happened in the Honorverse found its repetition on Safehold.

=== Attention Spoiler ===

I would have gladly given the useless book 7 ("Like a Mighty Army") and a bunch of repetitive statements by the inner circle against a less abrupt ending of the story. The ressources could have been used to replace the sudden implosion of the "Mighty Host" with a more complete descripton, to give the long awaited dreadnaughts more screen time. Or to give a solution for the most important of all subplots: What is below the temple, are there still arcangles and what about the key?

I have been a long time fan of David Webers work. Few people can describe an action or battle sequence with such skill and enjoyment for the reader. However, the Safehold series has become stale and top heavy. I enjoyed this book, but the scale of world war Weber has imagined is becoming too much to describe and hes sort of jumping over action sequences where he really shines to move on to the next set piece conversational interaction elsewhere on the planet. The unfortunate thing is that individual characters are becoming very similar everywhere, and are hard to differentiate. It was always hard to tell who was who due to I think a poor choice in spelling all the names with y's, but this is even harder when all the bad guys are really the same kind of bad, and all the good guys are sort of the same person with the same humor.

The safehold series is really Webers "Heirs Of Empire" novel from 20 years ago spread out into 9 books and with 600 confusingly similar extra characters added. I still enjoyed this book, but I believe it is a victim of its own massive scale and hundreds of subplots without a true attention to editing that it really needs. There is just no room for really defined characters at that point. I enjoyed Heirs of Empire far more.

Some review say the end is rushed...I say, go read a history book. Weber does an excellent job of reflecting what so often happens in a real war. There is a "breaking point" at which one side just suddenly collapses, and it just ends. Exactly like this book. I had been hoping that David would follow this pattern, and he did, instead of dragging it out thru yet another book. Magnificent pacing. Besides, the twist of a "incomplete victory" is gonna come back to haunt them! Loved this story, although it did get a little too complicated thru the last couple books. On to the next arc! One of my all time favorite series.

This is a fitting conclusion to the Safehold series, although the ending and the author's afterword leave open the possibility for another series involving at least the two android ("PICA") characters and the social matrix, if not the majority of the characters we've gotten to know throughout the series. There is, perhaps, too much detail in this novel in parts and too little in others. The rush of scenes and events at the end, though criticized by some, seems appropriate to me; it is the story of the end of a war and that is the way wars end, in a rush. What is missing for me is the reaction not only of the antagonist, Zhaspar Clyntahn, to the truth of Safehold's and the Church of God Awakening's origins, but of other characters. (As a priest (Episcopal Church), I would be interested in greater exploration of the ecclesiastical, religious, and spiritual issues facing the characters and their society.) It was not Weber's finest writing, but it was entertaining and I would recommend the series, including this book, to others.

This is one well written book all the major characters are in it. The plot twist are some of the very best I have read. It completes David Weber's series with quite a bang!!! The group of 4 becomes the group of 3 because The grand inquisitor has one of their members put to the questions for cowardice. Ducharn makes a surprise change in the last chapter. WARNING this book is no something you can read in a short time it is over 300k words!!!!!!

Ninth in the Safehold military-religious science fiction series revolving around the once-tiny country of Charis embattled against the entrenched Church of God Awaiting.

My Take
You'll be pleased to know the war comes to an end in this…and it's about time! However, Weber promises that this isn't the last we'll see of Merlin Athrawes. And now I'm curious as to where Weber plans to take Merlin. North Harchong or into space?? Wait for the return of the archangels?

The Allies are quite organized these days, and the story is mostly a waiting game while the enemy is adapting, learning from the heretics. There are bits and pieces that perked me right up, including the message and aid they get to Lady Karyl. Felt quite chuffed about what they did to the rebels, *snicker*

As for those broadsheets…*guffaw*… They were a long-term strategy and will pay off big time in this. I had hoped that Nahrmahn's porcelain idea would have come about, lol.

"It was almost worth having died to be able to play the Great Game at this level, he decided."

Repression is never a good idea. And it's bad in Zion these days. All you have to do is know someone, and you must be guilty.

I do enjoy how mixed the population is with their combination of Hispanic, French, German, etc., first and last names, but it would have been so much more effective if Weber had simply left the names alone!! And I really hate how hard it is to tell which side I'm reading about. I keep having to hunt for clues and finally started marking an "E" for enemy and a "C" for Charis so I could keep track.

There are some interesting parallels between Safehold and the U.S. in how losing men to war is affecting how women function in society. Also in why politicians should not be in charge of directing battles, as those churchmen are too much like politicians who have no clue on how to fight a war.

"…that means fighting to the last drop of everyone else's blood."

It is fun to watch the Dohlarans back in Gorath begin to see the light and how they challenge the Church.

"'I think we should by all means begin that discussion about how to defend this city.''And against whom.'"

Weber makes this huge tome and the battles more personal with short paragraphs in which we get to know members of platoons…before they get killed off. Makes me think of John Scalzi's Redshirts .

The Charisians have incorporated so many innovations in both technology and how the military thinks. Soldiers will fantasize about how sweet it could be.

Truth will out, eventually. And the Temple soldiers are beginning to wonder, calling this "Clyntahn's War".

The Story
The mission for which Nimue Alban died, and for which Merlin Arthwaes was revived, is to overturn the Proscriptions and Eric Langhorne's shackles, proclaim the truth about the Archangels, and prepare the Safeholdians to defend against the Gbaba.

That means the Church of God Awaiting must be destroyed. Before the "Archangels" return.

The Characters
I have the hardest time keeping track of who's who and on which side sometimes, so this character list helps. And it is very, very, very long, and I don't guarantee the accuracy as to who belongs to which platoons, companies, brigades, etc. as it was simply too confusing. I tried… I also tried to figure out what their names were without all the silly extra letters Weber stuck in. I got to wondering afterwards if Weber used these awkward spellings to cover up that so many of them were the same.

So if this list would be useful, you'll have to check it out on my blog, under "Book Review: David Weber’s At the Sign of Triumph", [...]

The Cover and Title
The cover is metallic from the black band at the top with the silver embossed author's name to the narrow gold bands framing the graphic in the middle band, and the copper at the bottom with its silver embossed title. The picture in the middle is a collage of events within the story with Merlin and Merch O Obaith standing on a ship's ramp watching a pitched battle.

The title could refer to several things — Clyntahn's revelation, the rioting, the messengers sent to the Allied armies, or... — for each event is occurring At the Sign of Triumph.

I did not buy this book I got it from my library along with his latest Honor-verse book. I am so glad I did not spend money on it. It was a huge book and it has taken me a long time to plough through it I am sure it could have been a lot shorter and still told the story. I am a big fan of this series but this book was hard work. I have to say I read quite a few different military books and I tend to drift through the technical stuff and enjoy the action and the characters (Hornblower, Aubrey Maturin). This books was so heavy on the technical stuff and almost all the people in it died. Very disappointed. I would also like to mention that I only managed the first 3 chapters of the latest Honor Harrington tale. I hope David can get his act together for the next books in the two series.

Rushed ending to a very overlong saga (reminds me of Wheel of Time series). Hopefully Weber can now get on to the next chapter of the Safehold tale -- and keep it a bit more compact for the sequal(s)..

Pretty "dry" reading. Found myself skimming a lot.

Ended exactly as I would have it end...Can't wait for the next chapters of human return to the stars from Safehold....The only thing that could have been better, is if more Hector had been included..He's as popular with me as he is with the Old Charisans...

I've read this series from the beginning, suffered through the pages of excruciating detail of gun platforms moving in three directions and for the most part enjoyed the story. I will not read the next installments though because the number of typos and grammatical mistakes in this one will not allow me to justify the premium price that this publisher demands.

I was seriously disappointed with the ending of this book. It wasn't what I was expecting nor was it as riveting. It seemed incomplete and rushed. It was worth the purchase for the simple reason that it was an ending.

Another good installment in this series. I hope he continues past the defeat of the church of God awaiting. There is room for lots of interesting directions. (An we can't forget about the threat of the Gaba!)

As always David Weber is a master writer: the characterizations and development of the major characters, and even many of the minor ones is superb. The plot elements are solid, without loose ends -- other than those leading to the next part of the tale.

I have read this series of radical right wing claptrap from this author.

He has demonstrated a continuing anti-Catholic bias in his work, but you can not be too surprised by since this resembles very poor fiction written by a member of the Klu Klux Klan in the 1920's.

Not recommended. Save your money

I've read every book Mr. Weber has released, and this one was near the bottom of that long list in terms of quality. If you've read his book "Out of the Dark," expect the ending of this book to be along the same lines. Additionally, the book felt rushed the whole way though. It had more type errors than I've seen in a long time in a novel. Things like the word "alive" being left in instead of "a lie" make for an annoying read. It's still worth reading if you've made it this far into the series, but you could get the jist of the entire book by starting from Feb. Year of God 899.

Probably one of the best series currently being written. No mention here of the next installment, I hope that doesn't mean an extended wait. I also hope this story doesn't disintegrate the way Honor Harrington has. The last installment there is almost unreadable.

Last of series so had to have it. Reads like Webber just wanted to get it finished. Not all issues were resolved and seemed to be just ignored. Some issues that previously had been major seem to have disappeared without a being resolved.