Empire from the Ashes

The title of this review says it all. This book is a combined reprint of his 3 earlier books: Mutineer's Moon, The Armaggedon Inheritance, and Heirs of Empire. David Weber always seems to do a great job, and this is no exception. Book 1 is incredible in that it supposes that Earth's moon is really a spaceship, and the humans living on Earth are descendants of its crew! Book 2 has an alien race out to destroy all life in the galaxy, and is very well written. Book 3 is less sweeping in its impact, in that, most of it takes place on one planet's surface, but it is still a great read. My personal favorite of the series is book 1 with book 2 right behind. I hope that Mr. Weber decides to continue the series with a final battle between the aliens from book 2.

This is space sci-fi at its best! I feel myself lucky to have read all 3 continuously and it has cost me some lost sleep. Mutineers' Moon was great-imagine our moon which turned out to be a planetoid spaceship! The second book, Armageddon Inheritance is the best - an amazing alien enemy, heroism, amazing space battles and of couse my favorite character Dakar who was the ultimate hero. Heirs of Empire is good too but I felt let down by the ending which seems rushed - the adventures of Sean and Company was top entertainment until the abrupt conclusion. Yes we know they were fine towards the end of the book but they deserved a longer story ! Finally when is the 4th book ? Surely this is not the end for Dakar and his human and alien friends !

I had all 3 of these novels in paper back and have worn the covers off them from rereading them, so was glad to see them in one hardback. I have probably read these books 50 or more times over the years, they are great when your favorite writers have nothing coming out, it's 7:00 PM and nothing on the tube, so dig this out, and curl up with an old friend. The war fighting scenes are believable, the leadership tactics make sense, the story line is entertaining. Of course, some of the countries of earth are changing compared to their behavior in the book, but that is the result of this book being several years old. In a general description, this is space opera. I only wish Weber would write more stories about Colin Sean MacIntire and his family and friends. The story line clearly allows expansion, and I am surprized that other writers have not jumped in with some stories about this Empire, such as the survey ships looking for other lost worlds and their experiences. I recommend this book!

Finally I can get rid of my worn out paperbacks!! This book contains Mutineers' Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, and Heirs of Empire! Not only are these three orignal books now in one large nice hardcover some of David Weber's very best writting, they are in one book! These are the stories (these 3 books) that got me hooked on David Weber and his writing style. For those of you who many not have read any of his works, Weber's writing is full of details, but the action and adventure never stop. The detail rich storylines provide that you'll never be bored! You'll always understand what he is talking about (you won't have to figure it what he's trying to tell you), he explains the technology of his story lines in crips clean sentances that while aren't baby talk don't make you look around for a dictionary for scientists!! Before I ever read a single Honor Herrington, I read Mutineers' Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, and Heirs of Empire, now available in this one book!!!

Empire From the Ashes (2003) is an omnibus edition of the Dahak series. It contains Mutineers' Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, and Heirs of Empire. These novels are among Weber's earliest works. Before Honor Harrington there was Commander Colin Maclntyre, USN. On a routine training mission to the moon, he discovered that the Moon wasn't a natural body, but rather a 3000 kilometer diameter warship, the Dahak. Moreover, the artificial intelligence that guided the ship had been waiting patiently -- 51,000 years -- for a crew, so it immediately impressed Colin as its commander. In Mutineers' Moon, Colin has to fight the original mutiny as well as human terrorists and fanatics. Moreover, there were the long lost empire itself. In The Armageddon Inheritance, Colin must fight against an invasion of genocidal aliens, the Achuultani. These aliens periodically swarm through the galaxy exterminating all other races. Earth can't resist them, so Colin searches the long lost empire for assistance. In Heirs of Empire, Colin's children are shipwrecked during their midshipman cruise on a primitive planet, where they face an implacable theocracy that wants them dead. Meanwhile, back in the capital, an unknown enemy is threatening the empire. These novels are space opera, of the "find a starship and see the galaxy" variety, with simple plots but lots of action. The scope of these novels is much like the Lensman series, huge fleets fighting in space, but without the colliding planets. Moreover, the technology is more generic and less detailed than in the Honor Harrington series. Recommended for Weber fans and anyone who enjoys largescale space opera.