Hell Hath No Fury
Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Baen
ISBN-10: 1416521011
ISBN-13: 978-1416521013

The worst three words in the human language are "To Be Continued."
Oh, sure, "I love you" probably hits the number one spot on best three words, but there is nothing worse then getting to the end of a book you are really enjoying and finding out that it will be continued in another volume in the future.
The thing is, that is also a good thing, since it means you get to read more about those characters that you have grown to like and enjoy.
There is only one answer; I need a time machine.
In the first two volumes of the Hells Gate series, two human societies, the Sharona and the Union of Arcana, have both evolved in neighbouring universes, never encountering another civilization, human or otherwise. In addition, both have developed a way to journey to their own neighbouring universes via "Gates", allowing both societies to expand and conquer less powerful groups of people and bring them into their own communities.
The Sharona have reached a level of technology somewhere around the late 19th century but with the added bonus of psychic abilities thrown in for good measure, while the Arcana have harnessed magical energies down to the consumer level.
Nevertheless, it is the society based on Magic that suffers more cultural shock when one of their scouting parties encounters a small Sharona civilian survey team and is almost destroyed by the enemy's firearms.
These first two books of the new 'Multiverse' saga should be read together, so plan out a weekend with nothing to do but sip a nice cold drink and keep your feet up. A chain of universes linked together by Gates or Portals, but instead of different worlds, they are all Earth, just separated by some small characteristic or even a weather pattern.
Think Sliders, but with whole civilizations built around them.
The first book is mostly build up, letting us know who each character is, what their worlds are like, etc. Both authors go deep to tell us everything about everyone, simply so that we can feel a bond toward some and an animosity toward others.
The problem is, they didn't give us an index of characters and terms until the end of the second book, which is why you need them both together.
And when you need a score-card to keep track of everyone, you might begin to have a problem. Instead of focusing on a few people or characters, these first two volumes spread themselves around too much, almost reaching a layer that is too thin to keep the reader involved.
But, like scratching for gold in some mine if you keep digging you might eventually find the mother lode. That is the second book in the series, Hell Hath No Fury.
Here the action moves forward and the pace is picked up. We are shown the brutality of war and the honor that some soldiers believe in and live for.
In addition, we also see the profiteers, and the ones who would promote a war just for money or power no matter how many innocent lives were lost.
Parallels to our world will no doubt be seen. From the early stages of World War 2, the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese while they were conducting 'peace talks' and the opening salvos of that war to the current Gulf war it is easy to see our own mindset at work. Weber weaves a story that is intricate as well as touching.
He proves once more, why he is one of the best Sci Fi writers of our generation. It was difficult to comprehend how the writers were able to bring these societies to life, and to make up feel for people who are so much like us, and yet at the same time so vastly different.
His words are often a slap in the face. But they are also a wake up call for those of us who read his work. While the understanding that war sucks is strong in his work, so are the concepts of duty, honor and responsibility to our nation and our people. As demonstrated by the young Prince who leads a small defensive force against a much larger attacking force. Never shirking his duty, never shrinking from his responsibility he rallied his men and stood with them.
That is an attitude that I wish more people had today. Perhaps if enough people would read Weber's works, a level of patriotism could be restored to all nations and a belief in those ideals that Weber demonstrates in his characters.
This is an excellent start to what I hope will be a long lasting new series. We need fiction like this. It is intelligent, well thought out and very well executed.