Hell Hath No Fury (Multiverse Series #2) Book

The second installment of the Multiverse series packs a lot more punch than the first, and actually lives up to its billing as military science fiction. The Multiverse is a hugely ambitious series as Weber and Evans build not just one complex world, but two. Arcana's world works on magic, as in every thing we may use some sort of mechanical devise for, they have a magical version. They even utilized magic to create dragons and griffins, and their war horses are also magically 'improved'. Sharona, the other world, is basically a feudal society undergoing an industrial revolution but also contains people with 'talents'-- mind powers that come in a variety of flavors.

After 1200 pages of build up, HHNF starts with a bang. Sharona holds 'Hells Gate', the universe where the two worlds first met and clashed. Due to the author's heavy use of foreshadowing, we know more clashes will soon ensue. Given Weber's love of complex political intrigue, we have wheels within wheels on both sides. Arcana became unified after a nasty war when the portal to parallel universes were first discovered, but unification does not mean there are not rivalries; a similar situation holds for Sharona, although the various empires/nations live in peace, they do not have a unified government. Facing the threat of war, however, Sharona feels compelled to form a unified government, but again, rivalries make the process difficult.

It seems there is a deep plot within Arcana for one of the societies subsumed under unification to gain control, and deeply planted operatives within the Arcanan army make their move by basically declaring war on Sharona. Utilizing their dragon air power and their transport capabilities, they quickly start mopping up Sharona's outposts and moving up the chain of universes. They are quite brutal about it, killing and torturing POWs along the way to get information. Yet, there is one portal where Sharona's military is more than a token force, and we know the big denouement/battle will take place there.

Unlike Hell's Gate, we do get some amazing battles here, with dragons that shoot fireballs, lightening and even poison gas. Sharona's guns and artillery seem no match, but Arcana has not faced the real might of these yet...

I have a weakness for military science fiction, and there are some amazing battles scenes here. Weber is a master at this; unfortunately, his endless political intrigues occupy much more space in this series than is really warranted. If you love feudal political intrigue, you should love this series. If you are looking for pure military science fiction, this series will try your patience. 2.5 stars rounding up for fire breathing dragons versus heavy artillery!