Midst Toil and Tribulation Review

Midst Toil and Tribulation is the sixth and latest book in the Safehold series by David Weber. Last year I reviewed How Firm a Foundation (book five) and noted how much I have enjoyed this series so far. The new book continues the struggles of the Empire of Charis against the forces of the Church of God Awaiting on the world of Safehold.

Unlike the previous books, this books deals with the war moving toward a ground conflict on the main continent of the world. The novel deals with the difficulties of logistics and the rapid spread of technology across the world and the devastating effects of that technology when applied to war. Interspersed are some touching moments of self-realization for some of the characters and a couple of twists (one very unexpected but enjoyable).

All of the Safehold books have been heavy on the military, religious and political conflicts of the world they are set in. This book is no different. However, the pace of the series seems to bog down in Midst Toil and Tribulation and that may be a parallel for how the conflicts are changing as well. Not everything is going the main character’s way, there is less forward movement toward the ultimate goal and the numbers of characters to remember continue to grow.

Midst Toil and Tribulation is a good book and well written. You will feel for the characters in no-win situations that do their best for king and country. However, the book covers much less ground and will feel like a much smaller step than previous books in the series toward the ultimate resolution of the conflict on Safehold. Happy I read the novel, but have to give it no more than 3 Mick Happies. If you haven’t started the Safehold series yet, you may want to take them all back to back after a couple more are completed – it will be easier to keep the characters straight in the long run.