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The Armageddon Inheritance | Rating | |
| A | |||
| David Weber | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| N/A | Mutineer's Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, Heirs of Empire | ||
Colin MacIntyre has ended the age-old conflict between the psychotic mutineer Anu's supporters and the rest of humanity. Now the world's political situation is in shambles, the populace is in shock at the revelation that the moon has been a gigantic starship in disguise, and the planet-killing Achuultani are on their way. Earth needs to mobilize fast if they are to have any hope at all, but even a unified world armed with galactic technology doesn't really have much chance. The only real chance for survival is for Colin to use the ship, Dahak, to get help from the Imperium. But Dahak has been calling home on the hypercom for weeks with no response. There may not be an Imperium any more to help. Which would leave Earth in one place: screwed.
It is almost — but not quite — a requirement that Mutineer's Moon be read before cracking this volume. Weber makes some effort to keep new readers from being completely lost, but it will become apparent very early on that they're coming into the middle of the story, that they missed a major part of what happened. There's a lot of detail missing, and an in-depth summary of the last book is never provided. Still, it's not absolutely necessary, and there's enough information given to enjoy this novel on its own merits.
I've always enjoyed what I call "über-Earth" books, in which modern humanity somehow finds itself in possession of incredibly advanced technology, enough to instantly place it on the galactic stage. The Armageddon Inheritance could be considered Exhibit A. It's positively gleeful to watch Dahak strut his stuff.
The book can be considered to be in two parts: while Colin and Dahak (and a large crew, of course) are away searching for help, and after they return with... well, with what they return with. In the first we watch Earth trying to ready itself for the upcoming war, and Colin and company work to find either a working Galactic Imperium or some useful remnants they can scavange. Both are fascinating to watch, puzzles in their own rights that readers will be eager to see solved. The second half, after they return, is a straight-up battle between a desperate humanity and the overwhelming numbers of the Achuultani.
Weber is adept at writing space combat, keeping the tactics reasonable and understandable yet losing none of the tension involved in life-or-death conflicts. His skill truly shines here — perhaps even moreso than in his acclaimed Honor Harrington books, as he concentrates more on making it exciting than believable. The technology on both sides is advanced enough, and humanity's grasp of it tenuous enough, that he doesn't have to worry much about physics or explaining how it's circumvented.
I thought this book to be a wonderful romp. It's absolutely perfect space opera, in the same vein as Star Wars. If you liked that — the original, that is — you'll really enjoy this. And if you like Weber's other books, that just goes double.
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