Empire from the Ashes Paperback – February 1, 2006

This is the second time for me reading these books. Mr Weber is a master storyteller! Loved every moment joining the characters in his tales.

I expect this review to be buried in all the other 5-star reviews, and that's ok!I really enjoy David Weber's characters, and this book has some of the best. Good character development, good character arcs, good supporting plots.There is nothing bad about this book/series.I bought them as individual paperback books many years ago, but reread my Kindle version frequently.Buy this book!!

The first two books form a good story that is reminiscent of Stargate SG1 the tv show. I enjoyed the protagonists as they were fairly interesting. Giving Tani a old English accent was one interesting choice that grew on me. Having said that, they don't have character flaws to humanize them and there are plot devices that sometimes seem to come out of nowhere removing some suspense because you know that the plot will always find a way for them to win. The first book does a good job of introducing the universe to the reader and the plot mostly involves cat and mouse games featuring advanced tech between two advanced human societies. The second books plot expands to the fight against the great scourge alien menace. This book has lots of interesting space battles that are fun to read. The third book takes place after humans have won and are reclaiming the ancients empire. This book is by far the weakest of the three. All subtlety goes out the window and it basically bludgeons you with foreshadowing. Characters are introduced only to be forgotten about until the one thing they are needed for and then never again (prime example is the smart dogs). The antagonist (on earth) has so many plot conveniences that it is a wonder he even needs to plan at all, but he needs them because his plans are so overly complicated. The supercomputers that help run the show and the supposed intelligence specialists are either terrible at their jobs or lazy as they seem to be above checking records and/or asking people questions with their accurate lie detector (the weak in universe explanation only draws attention to the fact that they could be using this lie detector but can't because it would inconvenience the plot). All that is in order to make it plausible that the bad guy could win. Because the good guys are being nerfed so hard and the bad guys get buff, it all seems so arbitrary and the universe starts to break down. I thought that kids plotline would be bad but that was the more enjoyable part of the book. They had a fairly interesting plot about fighting a world wide theocratic government with limited advanced tech to use. Their characters also suffer from being "perfect." They always do the right thing and it always works out. The "failures" that they suffer are always temporary and would have been inevitable. Their only flaw is that they care too much and that is not really a flaw when it never costs them anything. Also, people in this series just fall in love at the drop of a hat. This review has gone on too long so i will just say that for the price you get two good sci-fi books and one that can be most favorably described as "meh." Purchase accordingly.

What can I say about this besides magnificent!Yes this is one an older story, and I originally read it in print, as electronic media was not main stream yet, but the complexities of the story, and the twists and turns? Magnificent!I highly recommend this to everyone, to get a good feel for the authors works, and not just Honor Harrington.Started reading it and could not put it down!

First - don't know how I missed this series years ago. Probably in my fantasy phase. This is hard science fiction and I gave been reading more of it. These books are really well done in the classic David Weber method. Oh - really glad they released the trilogy in a single volume. But the books have great characters and development. And, yes, good people do die. Like i said there is a DW method if you will and his works are more realistic and approachable for that. Plots are well laid out and there is enough twists and turns to keep me turning pages. So the only thing else I want to say is: there are at least one or two more stories here. I really like Safehold but the Nest is still there. And other human worlds that have to be discovered. Oh - and one flashback to the end where Sean closes communications with the Voice. My only disappointment is not seeing a certain character get his.

I enjoy most of David Weber's novels. This is one small series I missed, and this edition contains all three Dahak novels in one binding. And there is the only problem I have with the book - to get them all in, the type is very small, and I am elderly, so I have to use reading glasses to read it. The first novel and third novel of the series are still available in stand-alone paperback, but the second book isn't (at a reasonable price). It would be difficult to review the stories without giving anything away but they are worth reading. The third book in the series is interesting because you can see the roots of the Safehold series in part of the story.

This is one of my favorite SciFi books of all time. Not just because it was one of the first but because it is a great story.The characters and the plot line grow and advance through all 3 stories.The 3rd story is a little tedious at some times but the plot is intriguing.Another interesting thing to note is the quality of the writing. I do read a lot of the newer authors in different genres, and like them, but the authors from the 90s and before just seem to have a more refined way of writing.Read it, you won't be disappointed!

I cannot begin to describe how much I love this world and series by David Weber. I have read it at least a dozen times over the years. It is not only engaging, but truly thought provoking/imagination hyperdrive.

Great story, well-based tech and engrossing battles.Kind of veers off-course in the third book but still an entertaining read overall.

Excellent series of books read them so many times in paperback that they started to fall apart. So downloaded them to kindle and I can dip in and dip out anytime I want. The storyline is excellent and the joining of all the loose strands at the end but leaving enough bits missing to make it interesting

Three of Weber's early works in one volume, I first read these when released, before both Honor Harrington and 'Off Armagedon Reef'.You can see echoes of those later works from this early material, and whilst I would love a 4th, closing chapter, I can't ever see it happening.

Great story, 3 books in one.The general story line is that during first steps in space some years ahead one pilot detects that we're not alone and someon watched us all the time.However, don't want to spoil, but this detection leads to the (re-)foundation of a human empire through the 3 books.The writing style is fluently, not too technical, not too much military, but exactly the write potions of everything what makes a good story.

David Weber is a master of military SciFi and political intrigue. I have read this series at least three times, and it delights every time. The characters are strong, the good guys are so good, and the bad guys are so bad. There are moments of grief and moments of joy, and you are there right in the middle of it all. Keep a box of kleenex handy at all times, I dare not to need them.