In this second book, the cybernetic Merlin continues to help Charis, now led by young King Cayleb, to develop the technology and provide the intelligence information needed to stand up to the dozens of other kingdoms on Safehold controlled by the Church and the ruthless Group of Four. Archbishop Staynair of Charis renounces the Church, creating a schism. The Group of Four torture and execute the former Charisian archbishop, but not before he publicly denounces the Church. Charis controls the seas both militarily and commercially, after the destruction of the Church-ordered invasion fleet, and has armed many of its merchant fleet as privateers to prey on enemy commerce. But danger still exists within Charis as well, as attempts to assassinate Archbishop Staynair and destroy the Royal College are narrowly averted.

King Cayleb recruits two of the closest kingdoms as potential allies, offering his hand in marriage to young Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm and an alliance sealed by family intermarriage to Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald to form a new Charisian Empire to fight the Church. The Group of Four, however, order all Charisian ships to be seized at ports within its remaining jurisdiction. At Ferayd in the Kingdom of Delferahk, this leads to a massacre of dozens of ships and crew, including women and children, with others narrowly escaping, protected by a privateer ship secretly among them. Cayleb and Sharleyan decide that they must divert a small fleet of ships to destroy Ferayd to send a message to the Church and its allies before Cayleb sets sail with his main fleet to defeat his closest remaining enemy, King Hector Daykyn and the Kingdom of Corisande.

An engaging science-fiction epic

David Weber's open-ended Safehold series promises to be one of the more memorable recent epics in the science fiction and fantasy genre, joining his Honor Harrington military science fiction series, for which he is best known. In By Schism Rent Asunder, the story is told in almost pure historical fantasy mode, with the science fiction underpinnings all but invisible for much of the book. If Merlin were a magician whose ancient knowledge were magical instead of a cybernetic avatar of a female starship crewmember whose knowledge is technological, it would make little difference to the story in this book.

Weber has obviously been influenced here by Anne McCaffrey and her Dragonriders of Pern series, perhaps the best example of an open-ended science fiction series told in historical fantasy mode—indeed, some of the sections of this book surrounding the wedding of Queen Sharleyan and King Cayleb could have been written by McCaffrey. But the book is in many ways most comparable to those in George R.R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire, with its complex world of medieval kingdoms and characters. Weber falls somewhat short of Martin's masterly skill in handling the multitude of characters and creating a clear, engaging and unpredictable narrative—but then, almost all other writers fall short of Martin's consummate skills in this area. Weber has some problems handling the hundreds of characters and places he has created—a problem exacerbated by his choice to utilize antiquated spelling (almost every name contains "h" and "y"). At times the endless conversations become tedious, and whole scenes seem superfluous, making one want to skim over them to get to the really good bits.

But the good bits here are really good bits. Weber has a firm and broad understanding of the conventions of science fiction and fantasy adventure fiction, and he excels at describing military strategies and tactics. As in the first volume, the naval battles are superbly described; they're among the many high points in the narrative. The major characters are also nicely drawn, including Merlin, Cayleb, Sharleyan and a dozen or more lesser characters. And, of course, the science fiction background is a fascinating idea that makes one hope that we will see it again in the conclusion to this series. I look forward to seeing the narrative re-enter military space-opera mode as mankind once again develops the technological might to tackle the aliens that destroyed Earth.

The Safehold series promises to be one of the most memorable science fiction and fantasy series of the decade. Like most middle books in series, By Schism Rent Asunder ends with little resolution, and the reader must live with the frustration of not being able to learn what happens next. I look forward to reading the third book in the series, By Heresies Distressed, as soon as it appears.