tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post4036495736682934252..comments2024-03-27T17:34:52.560-05:00Comments on A Garden Carried in the Pocket: By Schism Rent Asunderjenclairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-45038850771832579472008-09-19T21:19:00.000-05:002008-09-19T21:19:00.000-05:00Camille - I've just finished 2 more Weber-thons. ...<B>Camille</B> - I've just finished 2 more Weber-thons. I'm familiar with Eddings, but have never read any of his books. Weber , too, has long, long expository stretches in his later books, but the early Honor Harrington's are full of action.jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-86711429130985020602008-09-16T11:10:00.000-05:002008-09-16T11:10:00.000-05:00Daughter no. 2 LOVES David Weber, especially the H...Daughter no. 2 LOVES David Weber, especially the Honor Harrington books. She has been after me to give them a try for years. <BR/><BR/>She and daughter no. 3 also love David Eddings, who I did try but could not appreciate the long expository stretches. Both of the girls point to his political and societal insights. Also, they both laugh out loud at his humor, even though they've re-read his books dozens of times. <BR/><BR/>Have your read David Eddings?Camillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10422449200792287901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-55279021761669325122008-08-30T08:10:00.000-05:002008-08-30T08:10:00.000-05:00Ann - In Off Armageddon Reef (the first book) mank...<B>Ann</B> - In <I>Off Armageddon Reef</I> (the first book) mankind has pretty much lost a war with aliens knows as Gbaba. This alien race leaves no one alive in their march across the universe, so in an attempt to preserve the species, humanity has sent a small fleet light years away. The colony is to be low-tech to avoid the attention of the Gbaba, who seem intent on wiping every other race from the universe. <BR/><BR/>The plan was to wait until it was safe to begin using technology (the new world is known as Safehold), but one group decides to alter memories to remove knowledge of scientific advancement and to institute a church in which the leaders are "angels" and "archangels" forbidding technological development. <BR/><BR/>Weber's concern is not with religion in general, but with the corruption in the church as over the years, certain church officials increase in greed and power. In <I>Schism</I>, Weber reveals that some manuscripts providing the real history have been preserved by a little known branch of the church, but few have been allowed this knowledge because of fear of accusations of heresy. <BR/><BR/>My reading of the book is not that Weber is anti-religion, but that he objects to any group - church or state - that curtails freedom of choice AND he emphasizes the age-old theme that "power corrupts" whether religious or political, and the corollary about "absolute power." In these novels, with no separation of church and state, it amounts to the same thing.<BR/><BR/>You still there, Ann? Sorry, I think I got carried away on that explanation.jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-33810153604454429022008-08-30T03:33:00.000-05:002008-08-30T03:33:00.000-05:00Not a writer I know at all, but this sounds as tho...Not a writer I know at all, but this sounds as though it might be interesting. To what extent is he attacking the same sort of institutions as Philip Pullman?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com