A Mighty Fortress (Safehold Book 4)
*Starred Review* No one can doubt where the title of Weber’s new novel of the planet Safehold comes from, nor, reading it, be surprised that Cayleb Ahrmahk is happy as a grig (Middle English word; look it up) to be the greatest naval hero in Safehold history and husband of the beautiful Queen Sharleyan, hence co-ruler of the Charisian Empire. The Church of God Awaiting, however, is determined to bring the whole planet of Safehold under its sway, with disastrous implications for the survival of humanity. It is even prepared to take to the high seas with a vast armada using technology that centuries of effort have been spent trying to limit. Cayleb still has the warrior monk Merlin at hand, however, and it begins to look as though the latter isn’t the only echo of the Matter of Britain in this saga that combines superb action sf elements and (surprise!) homage to the great novels of the Age of Fighting Sail (by C. S. Forester, Patrick O’Brian, and their ilk). Weber has an enormous audience that welcomes each enormous book because Weber’s very real wit manages to do very well without the assistance of brevity. --Roland Green