The War in Heaven

by David Zindell

Book Overview

How can you live with yourself when you've taken a vow to harm no living thing and you must go to war?In the triumphant close of A Requiem For Homo Sapiens, which began with Neverness, The Broken God,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553289675
• ISBN13: 9780553289671
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Spectra
• Length: 656 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 1.0" x 4.0"

Customer Reviews

STILL answering questions with questions

Danlo alas keeps this sporadically annoying habit that's so much a part of his nature throughout what I think is probably the last in the series of books that began with Neverness (for everyone but Danlo) or The Broken God (for Danlo himself). While the last book was a strange, yet oddly intoxicating mixture of philosophy and SF, it lacked the intrinsic cohension that the first book had somehow managed to convey, maybe because of the sublime setting of the city of Neverness, about the finest and best detailed futuristic city in all of SF. Here, after a brief start, we're back in Neverness as Danlo tries to keep war from breaking out and tries, to various degrees of success, to also piece together all the fragments of problems he's either been involved in or created. Zindell sets up quite the dilemma for all the protagonists, not only has the Order of Pilots fragmented and is threatening to fight the other (one part's in exile, the other part is falling sway to a new religion started by Danlo's former best friend and based on the fact that his father might have become a god), the Warrior-Poets are trying to kill anyone who might become a god, Neverness is falling into riots as the Ringists are killing all the nonbelievers. Danlo has never seemed more human and less human here, his very much tries to keep to his vow not to harm anyone and for the most part keeps it, but he's sorely tempted otherwise. He runs into old friends and enemies and enemies who used to be friends (yeah, we're talking to you, Hanuman). This is the most brutal of the three books and Danlo doesn't have an easy time of things, however, as exhilerating as it is to have him succeed, the efforts almost make him seem superhuman and as the book winds to a close, you wonder if ANYTHING can stop this guy. Some points of the book also fall prey to Philosopy Syndrome, where Zindell drowns you in pretty prose depicting Danlo debating some inner struggle, which while great to read and has some absolutely beautiful writing, makes you want to shout at the book "Get on with it already!". But I can't say I didn't like this book, heck, I more than just liked it, this was a satisfying end to the cycle that builds on what came before and takes it to new places. Danlo is one of the best characters to appear in the last decade, and the rest of the people are all lovingly detailed, no one is all good, no one is all bad, everyone has reasons and motivations, some you agree with, some you don't. The clarity and scope of Zindell's ideas, enough to make you think without making your head hurt, are fascinating and his attention to detail, both in dialogue and description and philosophy, will make you want to read the entire series again and again. Even with Danlo's annoying question habit, this has to rank as one of the finest series of the last couple of years, without a doubt.

Wonderful ending to the best series I've ever read!!

In War in Heaven, Zindell has Danlo wi soli Ringess return to his home planet of Neverness to face his former best friend but now arch-enemy Hanuman. In what has become classic Zindell style, the prose is just the most flowing yet intense stuff there is - you'll totally get lost in the characters and in the writing. This book was a little more like The Broken God than The Wild, in that it is a little less sci-fi and more like a fantasy plot with larger-than-life characters in a small setting. I'd recommend anyone, sci-fi fan or not, to read this series. I should also note that if one does read any of these books, they are really meant to be read in order - it would be a little hard to understand what was going on in this book without having read The Broken God and then The Wild first. Five stars from me!!

a guide to life!

This is one of the, if not THE, most philosophical series that I have ever read. Sit back and enjoy, while at the same time ponder on how you see your life. I have read the series twice already and will read it all again in another 5 years or so. I realize that this is a review of the whole series but I think that every book in the series is worth 5 stars. This really is a MUST read for all serious readers of sci-fi or anyone that wishes to think about the path on which they tread through this life. Honestly and truly a Requiem for Homo Sapiens.

The most enthralling science fiction epic of all time!

Within the past year I managed to acquire and read Neverness and the Requiem for Homo Sapiens. I must say in all the years I've read science fiction, no book or series of books has affected me as deeply as The Broken God and War in Heaven. The sequences between Danlo and Hanuman Li Tosh are both heartbreaking and mesmerizing. Highly recommended for anyone who likes their science fiction with a dose of philosophy and beautiful imagery.

Epic portrayal of gods, human beings, and the hero's quest.

What a shame that David Zindell's other books are mostly out of print! War In Heaven is one of those rare reads that satisfy so many needs of discriminating SF readers. There are gods and humans, good and evil (halla and shaida), spiritual and technological, evolution and delusion, and many, many more dichotomies in this work--enough to warm the cockels of the heart of any would-be eschatologist thirsting for cosmic paradoxes and mind-bending visions of the future. Well done, Mr. Zindell! When's the next one coming out. . .?