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Honor Harrington #13
A Rising Thunder
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Science Fiction (2012)Peril and strife strike on a double front for Honor Harrington and company. After a brutal attack on the Manticoran home system, Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom she serves battle back against a new, technologically powerful, and utterly nefarious enemy. And as if that weren't task enough, Honor must also face down a centuries-old nemesis in the crumbling, but still mighty, Solarian League.
The war between the People's Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but grave danger looms -- for there is a plan well on its way to completion designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plan lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment.
Task number one for Honor is to defend against another devastating Mesan strike -- a strike that may well spell the doom of the Star Kingdom in one fell blow. It is time to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom's wealth and power -- but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war.
The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom. And once again, Honor Harrington is thrust into a desperate battle that she must win if she is to survive to take the fight to the real enemy of galactic freedom -- the insidious puppetmasters of war who lurk behind the Mesan Alignment!
The war between the People's Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but grave danger looms -- for there is a plan well on its way to completion designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plan lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment.
Task number one for Honor is to defend against another devastating Mesan strike -- a strike that may well spell the doom of the Star Kingdom in one fell blow. It is time to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom's wealth and power -- but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war.
The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom. And once again, Honor Harrington is thrust into a desperate battle that she must win if she is to survive to take the fight to the real enemy of galactic freedom -- the insidious puppetmasters of war who lurk behind the Mesan Alignment!
458 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2012
247 people are currently reading
2631 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
321 books4,514 followersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 331 reviews
May 2, 2012
Book number 13 in the Honor Harrington series and substantially shorter than the most recent volumes. Unfortunately, not much happens in this book, and much of that action that does take place, happens off camera with the reader only hearing about what happened and not actually witnessing the events. The title seems to indicate that it is a precursor to the next volume(s) but I cannot say that I am interested enough to continue. After 17 books, I’ve realized that I no longer like Harrington, I came to that realization about a third of the way through the book when I noted that I was enjoying the book and there had not even been a mention of the main character. Then she appeared and my enjoyment dropped off. I am not sure why I no longer like her, I think it is at least in part do to her awkward dialogue, it never sounds like a real person. That and the fact that she has become a perfect, do-nothing wrong heroine. However, in “A Rising Thunder”, she is really just a do-nothing heroine, because there is nothing for her to do because nothing happens. Maybe Weber has gotten bored with writing these books but continues to put them out due to fan demand; this book will go a long way to ending that demand.
May 18, 2012
13 books into the series and I'm done. The first several books are not too bad, if you can see beyond the main character who is the best there is at everything. At least the first few books have a somewhat tight character focus. The last several books in the series are nothing but conference room meetings with people we only know from other conference room meetings, with one utterly predictable set piece battle per book.
If you like "Space Opera" kind of stories you'll probably enjoy the first few books in this series. Especially since you can get them for free.
I'm really trying to figure out why I read all of these books. The last few were just utterly terrible. I think it's because I was genuinely interested in a small portion of the story. So I was trying to follow that story thread and found myself skipping entire chapters to get to the part of the story I was actually interested in. By the 13th book that part I was interested in consisted of about two chapters, the rest was awful.
If you like "Space Opera" kind of stories you'll probably enjoy the first few books in this series. Especially since you can get them for free.
I'm really trying to figure out why I read all of these books. The last few were just utterly terrible. I think it's because I was genuinely interested in a small portion of the story. So I was trying to follow that story thread and found myself skipping entire chapters to get to the part of the story I was actually interested in. By the 13th book that part I was interested in consisted of about two chapters, the rest was awful.
April 14, 2019
MARCH 2012
On the positive side, I can always count on a new Weber Honorverse book to grab my attention and give me a few days of plain ol' popcorn-munching fun. I can also count in them making want to go back and reread the whole series.
Unfortunately, "A Rising Thunder" is more like the bottom half of the popcorn bowl -- cooled off, not as salty, still absently enjoyable but not as satisfying as you'd want it to be.
The Honorverse is space opera, straight up -- massive space battles interspersed with scene-chewing melodrama. Over time, though, it's evolved as well into more sophisticated geopolitics (or astropolitics, if you will), the cast has ballooned into the hundreds (even if you discount the one-offs) and the space opera has become a bit more of a space pop song.
Much of ART is taken up with people talking. And then other people talking. And then still more people talking. And then people talking about what the other people may be talking about. And then something happens. And then we have people talking about what happened, other people talking about what happened, other people talking about other people talking about what happened, and still other people talking about what *really* happened, and how it relates to something that's going to happen next. About which people then talk.
In other word's it's a lot more "tell" than "show."
Weber has pulled this off in the past, and more successfully, but with more restraint. Over time, though, this sort of thing has become the norm -- in part because the scope of the series has gotten so broad (across multiple star empires and multiple factions, as well as the military grunts on the sharp end of the stick), in part because ... well, it comes across as maybe a bit *easier* for Weber to do.
Honor doesn't show up until about half-way through the book, and even then, with a couple of exceptions, she's mostly a set piece. But, then, there are very few characters in the book who really come across as serious characters, even for purposes of melodrama (and while some of that is present, even it's more talked about than shown). Mostly people show up, advance the story by telling what just happened or what they are going to do next, and then move on.
There are a couple of space conflicts of the sort reminiscent of the series' origins, as well as some high drama at a few points, and the underlying Evil Plot gets a very few nods ... but much of the book is just ... well, just a series of events, mostly talked about, and ending more or less abruptly to lead into whatever the heck is going to happen next time.
It's still decently chewable popcorn. But rather than making me want to go back and reread the series to enjoy more of it, it's making want to go back and do so to make me remember how it used to be.
UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 2013
Apparently this book and the following volume, Shadow of Freedom, were split up from one massive over-sized volume Weber wrote. That's why, after reading SoF, I went back to read this installment.
For what it's worth, this half got the better parts, with the Talbott Sector plotlines being pulled into the second half. Oddly (or annoyingly), there are chapters that are shared, in whole or in part, in both books, though not always for obvious reasons.
I'm hoping the next book out will be a bit more of a unified tale.
UPDATE, APRIL 2019
Went back and reread before reading the next novel (Uncompromising Honor) and after reading the deeply disappointing Shadow of Victory. I'll leave it at 3 stars, for reasons described.
On the positive side, I can always count on a new Weber Honorverse book to grab my attention and give me a few days of plain ol' popcorn-munching fun. I can also count in them making want to go back and reread the whole series.
Unfortunately, "A Rising Thunder" is more like the bottom half of the popcorn bowl -- cooled off, not as salty, still absently enjoyable but not as satisfying as you'd want it to be.
The Honorverse is space opera, straight up -- massive space battles interspersed with scene-chewing melodrama. Over time, though, it's evolved as well into more sophisticated geopolitics (or astropolitics, if you will), the cast has ballooned into the hundreds (even if you discount the one-offs) and the space opera has become a bit more of a space pop song.
Much of ART is taken up with people talking. And then other people talking. And then still more people talking. And then people talking about what the other people may be talking about. And then something happens. And then we have people talking about what happened, other people talking about what happened, other people talking about other people talking about what happened, and still other people talking about what *really* happened, and how it relates to something that's going to happen next. About which people then talk.
In other word's it's a lot more "tell" than "show."
Weber has pulled this off in the past, and more successfully, but with more restraint. Over time, though, this sort of thing has become the norm -- in part because the scope of the series has gotten so broad (across multiple star empires and multiple factions, as well as the military grunts on the sharp end of the stick), in part because ... well, it comes across as maybe a bit *easier* for Weber to do.
Honor doesn't show up until about half-way through the book, and even then, with a couple of exceptions, she's mostly a set piece. But, then, there are very few characters in the book who really come across as serious characters, even for purposes of melodrama (and while some of that is present, even it's more talked about than shown). Mostly people show up, advance the story by telling what just happened or what they are going to do next, and then move on.
There are a couple of space conflicts of the sort reminiscent of the series' origins, as well as some high drama at a few points, and the underlying Evil Plot gets a very few nods ... but much of the book is just ... well, just a series of events, mostly talked about, and ending more or less abruptly to lead into whatever the heck is going to happen next time.
It's still decently chewable popcorn. But rather than making me want to go back and reread the series to enjoy more of it, it's making want to go back and do so to make me remember how it used to be.
UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 2013
Apparently this book and the following volume, Shadow of Freedom, were split up from one massive over-sized volume Weber wrote. That's why, after reading SoF, I went back to read this installment.
For what it's worth, this half got the better parts, with the Talbott Sector plotlines being pulled into the second half. Oddly (or annoyingly), there are chapters that are shared, in whole or in part, in both books, though not always for obvious reasons.
I'm hoping the next book out will be a bit more of a unified tale.
UPDATE, APRIL 2019
Went back and reread before reading the next novel (Uncompromising Honor) and after reading the deeply disappointing Shadow of Victory. I'll leave it at 3 stars, for reasons described.
March 19, 2012
I think David Weber has reached the breaking point. "A Rising Thunder" is continuing a trend that I find distasteful -- the stretching of a multi-book storyline to a point where the reader no longer cares. In my opinion this book should have been condensed to maybe three chapters and put at the beginning of his next Honorverse book -- one that I hope puts an end to the whole arc.
The earlier Honorverse books were always part of a larger story, but each was a fairly self-contained . . . chapter . . . for lack of a better word. Most of the recent books have been more footnotes that chapters. The pace slows, you start drowning in mundane details that really don't propel the story any serious degree and, worst of all, the characters become caricatures. If he had only taken one story line and expanded it to something interesting this book might have been worth the purchase price.
Since one of my concerns is that his Safehold series is showing the same sort of stretching -- I think I may have bought my last David Weber book. I might read the next Honorverse book if it shows up in the Baen Free Library, but I can't see myself shelling out money for what has become bloated. As the odds of something disappointing me go up, my inclination to buy it drops way down!
My wife refers to such books as page-turners -- only not in a good way. She skims pages to see if the story is actually progresses and stops and reads a bit. In the earlier Honorverse books she would read and enjoy every page. Now she skips, skims, and turns-pages with a speed that tells me she isn't finding much of interest.
Sorry David! This is disappointing. I did rate it as a 2, rather than a 1, but I think I did that more out of the fact that I did read and finish this book. Others haven't been so lucky. In this case I kept hoping for some gem of a storyline, and the hope faded as I saw the number of remaining pages dwindle down to nothing. As it is right this minute I have little interest for the next book. Lucky for me there are other books to read and enjoy.
It was a nice run David, but I think Honor and possibly Safehold have run their course. If it was an editor who convinced you to turn what should have been a trilogy into 6 or seven books . . . next time, don't listen.
The earlier Honorverse books were always part of a larger story, but each was a fairly self-contained . . . chapter . . . for lack of a better word. Most of the recent books have been more footnotes that chapters. The pace slows, you start drowning in mundane details that really don't propel the story any serious degree and, worst of all, the characters become caricatures. If he had only taken one story line and expanded it to something interesting this book might have been worth the purchase price.
Since one of my concerns is that his Safehold series is showing the same sort of stretching -- I think I may have bought my last David Weber book. I might read the next Honorverse book if it shows up in the Baen Free Library, but I can't see myself shelling out money for what has become bloated. As the odds of something disappointing me go up, my inclination to buy it drops way down!
My wife refers to such books as page-turners -- only not in a good way. She skims pages to see if the story is actually progresses and stops and reads a bit. In the earlier Honorverse books she would read and enjoy every page. Now she skips, skims, and turns-pages with a speed that tells me she isn't finding much of interest.
Sorry David! This is disappointing. I did rate it as a 2, rather than a 1, but I think I did that more out of the fact that I did read and finish this book. Others haven't been so lucky. In this case I kept hoping for some gem of a storyline, and the hope faded as I saw the number of remaining pages dwindle down to nothing. As it is right this minute I have little interest for the next book. Lucky for me there are other books to read and enjoy.
It was a nice run David, but I think Honor and possibly Safehold have run their course. If it was an editor who convinced you to turn what should have been a trilogy into 6 or seven books . . . next time, don't listen.
July 18, 2012
I think I've finally reached my David Weber "People sit around talking and talking and talking until the part where stuff goes boom" limit. Nothing happens in this book that couldn't have happened in a tenth of the pages with a hundredth of the endless, droning, repetitive verbiage.
And the eyes -- my god, the eyes. They twinkle, they narrow, they offer insights into the soul with a crinkle, they're the goddamn full-wall windows into the soul.
All while nothing much really happens, and you'll need to buy five other books that all cover the same events and the same time line to follow it all. This is less a book and more a serialized index of what happens in all of the other stories in the series.
After however many Honorverse books -- almost all of which I've read -- I've finally come to the realization that we hit the Robert Jordan Memorial Limit of Endurance By Sitting Through Ten Thousand Pages of Useless Crap a long, long time ago.
Ugh. So disgusted. I just leafed rapidly through half this book when it became apparent nothing was happening, and I wish I'd done the same for the other half.
And the eyes -- my god, the eyes. They twinkle, they narrow, they offer insights into the soul with a crinkle, they're the goddamn full-wall windows into the soul.
All while nothing much really happens, and you'll need to buy five other books that all cover the same events and the same time line to follow it all. This is less a book and more a serialized index of what happens in all of the other stories in the series.
After however many Honorverse books -- almost all of which I've read -- I've finally come to the realization that we hit the Robert Jordan Memorial Limit of Endurance By Sitting Through Ten Thousand Pages of Useless Crap a long, long time ago.
Ugh. So disgusted. I just leafed rapidly through half this book when it became apparent nothing was happening, and I wish I'd done the same for the other half.
April 1, 2012
This is the 13th book in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. When the series started, back in 1992, it was pretty easy to follow. Sequel followed sequel and each book picked up where the last left off. More recently, in 2002, Weber approved the creation of two sub-series. The result is that the plotline and scope of the “Honorverse” expanded dramatically
The first sub-series was “The Wages of Sin”, starting with Crown of Slaves, which follows book #10, War of Honor. The second sub-series was “Saganami Island”, starting with The Shadow of Saganami, chronologically following both book #10 War of Honor and Crown of Slaves.
Later mainline novels, such as At All Costs and Mission of Honor, incorporated elements of both sub-series. The plotline of the sub-series’s increasingly started to drive the plotline and direction of the main series. This book, A Rising Thunder, is Weber’s attempt to fully tie the main series into the elements and events of the two sub-serieses.
The resulting book is a bit of a boring train wreck. It does include characters and plot elements from both sub-series. What it doesn’t include is a lot of action. Given that all 3 serieses are built around action, this is a glaring omission. Mostly what we get is a lot of talking, as officials in 3 or 4 locations talk about how recent events will affect future events. I remember one main battle, out of 464 pages. Given how action packed the previous books have been, this was a major letdown.
In some respects, a slow book was almost inevitable. Given how much things have changed over the last several books, there needed to be an attempt to tie everything together and then to re-launch the series in its new direction. But I feel that the relaunching could have been achieved with a greater economy of words and a bit more action.
Perhaps the most damning indictment I have is that most fans would be best served by reading a plot summary of this book rather than reading the book itself.
March 17, 2012
Well, that was boring. What happened to spaceships blowing up? We had exactly two bits of space ships possibly trying to blow each other up. One finished with a "thrilling" "Tada! We didn't!" and the other happened completely off screen. The rest of the book was meetings of Snidley Whiplash and Dudley Do-Right topped off with a pretty, pretty princess wedding.
February 8, 2012
David Weber continues to write the best space battles in the business. Unfortunately, every poor habit he has just keeps getting worse. He badly needs an editor, and we have yet another half-book. There are pages and pages of 'behind the scenes' plotting, very little of which is interesting, and very little meat. The plot then cuts out mid-book. Apparently there is a cross over novel (another in Eric Flint's Crown of Slaves series) which is supposed to take place in the middle of this novel's timeline, and then the other half of Rising Thunder will be published shortly after, but I feel like I purchased less than half a novel's worth of plot and characterization.
I purchased the Baen e-ARC because I'd read a bunch of the earlier novels off of the baenfreecd, so I felt like I should contribute something back, but I'm wishing I had waited for the other half, or that I'd gone for the Bahzell e-ARC instead.
Not recommended. Avoid it until the second one comes out if you insist on continuing with this series.
I purchased the Baen e-ARC because I'd read a bunch of the earlier novels off of the baenfreecd, so I felt like I should contribute something back, but I'm wishing I had waited for the other half, or that I'd gone for the Bahzell e-ARC instead.
Not recommended. Avoid it until the second one comes out if you insist on continuing with this series.
October 23, 2014
Another great addition to the series. A lot more time is spent in the Sol system on the politics there. Weber's points on how the bureaucracy is running the system are extreme, but too believable. The ghostly hand of Manpower is in evidence & very well done.
On the downside, there is a LOT of politics without nearly the action that made the earlier novels so enjoyable, so be warned. If the growing political complexity is turning you off, this one won't make you happy. I know it got to me the first time I read the series. I quit on book 9, Ashes of Victory, I think. The second time through, I found that I liked the complex politics better.
Another downer is that this book ends on a cliff hanger, like so many others. I KNOW what the next book has to address & that it was too much to fit into this one, but I really want to know how it comes out, so I will be waiting on the next one impatiently!
On the downside, there is a LOT of politics without nearly the action that made the earlier novels so enjoyable, so be warned. If the growing political complexity is turning you off, this one won't make you happy. I know it got to me the first time I read the series. I quit on book 9, Ashes of Victory, I think. The second time through, I found that I liked the complex politics better.
Another downer is that this book ends on a cliff hanger, like so many others. I KNOW what the next book has to address & that it was too much to fit into this one, but I really want to know how it comes out, so I will be waiting on the next one impatiently!
April 4, 2012
For some reason, I still find the central character, Honor Harrington, compelling, and keep reading these. What's bothersome, however, is that David Weber does not seem to know his own strengths, nor his weaknesses. He is among the best in the business in writing battle scenes, right alongside someone like Bernard Cornwell, for example. He is also interesting in his imaginings of future technologies and the tactical situations that result from them.
Unfortunately however, these talents are little in evidence. Of the two battle scenes in the book, one takes place in a simulator, and the other is such a lopsided mismatch of a slaughter, akin to what would have happened had Sir John Jellicoe and his fleet of armored battleships from the WWI Battle of Jutland traded places with Lord Nelson at Trafalgar and shot the Franco-Spanish wooden sailing ships to matchwood, that he doesn't even bother to describe it.
What a reader gets instead is all of Weber's weaknesses: we find political intrigue with the heroes being self congratulatory and self righteous, and the villains of the piece being gratuitously stupid. He seems to have taken the old saw about "Don't tell it if you can show it," too much to heart, using massive amounts of essentially useless dialogue in place of anything like concise summary. I don't mind dialogue, when it's good, but this isn't. The characters all sound alike, with the same clumsy wordiness. Also, he appears never to have heard of a subtext, as they all seem to sit around emoting all over the place, and pouring out their inmost thoughts with an abandon completely at odds with the reserve and detachment, the poker face, if you will, which is characteristic of persons in power.
In short, he seems to have lost sight completely of what made these books good to begin with. It's too bad, since he is so strong in some areas, and so weak in others, that he would choose to construct the story the way he has. There is a great deal of chaff, and very little wheat, here.
Unfortunately however, these talents are little in evidence. Of the two battle scenes in the book, one takes place in a simulator, and the other is such a lopsided mismatch of a slaughter, akin to what would have happened had Sir John Jellicoe and his fleet of armored battleships from the WWI Battle of Jutland traded places with Lord Nelson at Trafalgar and shot the Franco-Spanish wooden sailing ships to matchwood, that he doesn't even bother to describe it.
What a reader gets instead is all of Weber's weaknesses: we find political intrigue with the heroes being self congratulatory and self righteous, and the villains of the piece being gratuitously stupid. He seems to have taken the old saw about "Don't tell it if you can show it," too much to heart, using massive amounts of essentially useless dialogue in place of anything like concise summary. I don't mind dialogue, when it's good, but this isn't. The characters all sound alike, with the same clumsy wordiness. Also, he appears never to have heard of a subtext, as they all seem to sit around emoting all over the place, and pouring out their inmost thoughts with an abandon completely at odds with the reserve and detachment, the poker face, if you will, which is characteristic of persons in power.
In short, he seems to have lost sight completely of what made these books good to begin with. It's too bad, since he is so strong in some areas, and so weak in others, that he would choose to construct the story the way he has. There is a great deal of chaff, and very little wheat, here.
May 11, 2012
A veritable snoozefest. Weber's pontificating style of long extended conversations between political leaders and military leaders knows no bounds. One has to employ the art of skipping huge swaths of the book to get to through it to the maybe makings of a good story. Except there really is no great story here. Its obvious that this book is solely designed to set the stage for more new books in this long series.
Weber needed to transition to a new enemy. This book is clearly a transitioning volume which will lead to new books later on in the series in which there will be more new battles between Mesa and Manticore and the Solarian League.
Fans of this series may relish upcoming volumes where there actually is fighting in the book. This volume -- not so much.
If you like boring conversations about peace treaties, slimy political operatives and corrupt politicians, then this is definitely the book for you.
Weber needed to transition to a new enemy. This book is clearly a transitioning volume which will lead to new books later on in the series in which there will be more new battles between Mesa and Manticore and the Solarian League.
Fans of this series may relish upcoming volumes where there actually is fighting in the book. This volume -- not so much.
If you like boring conversations about peace treaties, slimy political operatives and corrupt politicians, then this is definitely the book for you.
March 30, 2012
So far, the worse and most disappointing of the novels in a series I usually like. About 3/4 of the novel is review of events that have already happened. I was really looking forward to seeing the aftermath of the battle with the Solarian League, etc... but we barely get into the League's reaction. Almost nothing new happens in this novel. Instead of cutting this novel in half and turning it into two novels, what Weber should have done is cut most of the material in this novel as review, assumed that most of the audience was smart enough to make the connections he so painstaking and slowly makes in this novel and given us an actual novel where something new happens. The only battle in this novel is one we already knew about!
April 11, 2021
2018 Re-read.
October 17, 2019
Thirteenth in the Honor Harrington military science fiction series revolving around Honor Harrington and the strategies required to keep the Kingdom of Manticore free.
You may want to wait and read A Rising Thunder after the next installment is published in 2013…2013??!!…'cause it is just making me nutso cuckoo to have to wait for Shadow of Freedom and find out what happens next…the pins and needles are just killin' me!!
My Take
It's a lovely tale of a corrupt government system being taken down ten pegs or so by a tiny neobarb system. Manticore is a utopia compared to most systems, but it has its own share of idjits and assholes. Luckily, it also has its share of decent people. And they're in charge!
Oh, man, I love it. Those arrogant Sollies keep being shocked that this tiny neobarb navy actually dares to threaten the all-powerful SLN!? Talk about shock — the awe showed up back in Mission of Honor . It blows my mind that the SL government officials are so much more concerned about their personal fiefdoms that they'd rather take this chance at war and lying to their public than just admit they screwed up. So much cheaper in personnel, ships, money… Heck, they can barely admit it to each other.
No one in the SLN can believe that these tiny ships could possibly take out the mighty ships of the SLN. An attitude that doesn't prevent Manticore from doing what it needs to protect itself and its allies.
The SL applies the terms of treaties and agreements when it's convenient to them; downplays them when it's not. They're manipulating the data to make the Manties look like the bad guys. What's truly amazing is that the SL public, despite knowing how incredibly corrupt their government is, actually buys this.
The SL has used its Frontier Security Force to bash the protectorate star systems for tribute, all of which goes directly to the SL bureaucracies and is the whole reason why the Office of Frontier Security (OFS) has been encouraged to expand its territory any way it likes.
Longacre (Beowulf) sums up the SL officials very well: "…he doesn't seem to grasp the possibility that there's any universe outside the system he understands." And it's too much fun to watch the Beowulfans dance around the SLN, thwarting their plans to use the Beowulf Terminus to attack Manticore. So many angles, so many disappointments for the SLN.
Don't be fooled, though. Weber gets the tension up there and keeps cranking it up! I swear I read and sped and my heart rate just kept going up. Weber has shown that he doesn't mind killing off the good characters or putting the good guys into really tight situations. No, it's never a gratuitous "kill", but, da-yum. A few books back there was a rumor he was going to off Honor…I just about died! And the damned Mesans are sending a load of their rockets to replace SLN ones. Eeek!
It's so amazing to hear White Haven admitting that Admiral Hemphill's research into improved weaponry was such a great idea and that he was so wrong. He admitted it before, books ago, but, still, it takes a big man to be able to bring it up again and again.
There is just so very much that is coming to a head in this series. I always figured that brokering a peace with the Republic of Haven would be the end. It makes sense that war with the Solarian League would bring that peace about and open up a whole new front to take down a new and bigger bully.
Omigod, that whole exchange between Holmon-Sanders and Tsang…ya gotta wonder how often the U.S. and other countries' government/military commands have pulled crap like that on smaller nations. I should hope it's never been with such a flagrant disregard for truth and law! Weber really gets me going when I read this stuff..! Arghhh…! Why does the bad guy always gets mad when you reverse his tactics on him?
The Story
Not getting a reaction from the Solarian League, Manticore ups the ante and recalls its merchant ships, ordering each and every one home while the Royal Navy takes over space termini to ensure their people get home safe. It's a move that angers ships' captains and merchants, and one that begins to terrify the rest of the universe as they begin to realize just how many of those merchant hulls are Manticoran.
And Filareta with a huge Solarian League fleet. Sorry, another huge fleet directly to Manticore to beat them into submission — amazing how the SLN keeps losing fleets to the Manties. Then Beowulf receives a visit from Admiral Simpson of the SLN, and the speculation is rife as to whether the SL has finally figured out how deeply in bed Beowulf is with Manticore.
In the meantime, Crown Prince Roger Gregory Alexander Timothy Winton is about to get married to his soon-to-be Crown Princess, Rivka Rosenfeld. And the first time, the treecat volunteers have served as security in this non-war.
And, it's time to implement Lacoön Two.
The Characters
A more detailed character list is in my KD Did It review.
The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Duchess Honor Harrington-Alexander and her treecat, Nimitz, are still going strong. Captain Spencer Hawke is her one remaining armsman. James MacGuiness is still Honor's steward. Drs. Allison and Alfred Harrington are her parents. Sergeant Isaiah Matlock is the son of a forestry ranger and has been assigned to Alfred as his bodyguard; Corporal Anastasia Yanakov is Allison's. Faith and James Harrington are Honor's twin siblings, and while they still have Luck Blackett, replacing Jeremiah Tennard was difficult until Honor thought of Andrew's younger brother, Corporal Micah LaFollett. Someone Faith has known her whole life. Honor's own children, Raoul and Katherine, have drawn Lieutenant Vincent Clinkscales. Hamish Alexander-Harrington, Earl of White Haven, is married to Honor, and both of them are married to Emily Alexander-Harrington, Countess of White Haven. Samantha is Hamish's treecat.
The Manticoran Navy includes…
…(besides Honor!) some old-timers: Captain Andrea Jaruwalski, Commodore Mercedes Bingham, and Captain Rafael Cardones. Vice Admiral Alice Truman of the Mantie Navy is in Beowulf as backup.
Empress Elizabeth is Manticore's ruler. Her Cabinet consists of William Alexander, Baron Grantville and Prime Minister of the Star Empire; Sir Anthony Langtry, as foreign secretary; Baroness Morncreek; and, Bruce Wijenberg. Sir Lyman Carmichael is the Manticoran ambassador to the Solarian League in Old Chicago.
Sphnix is…
...Honor's and Nimitz's home planet and part of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Dr. Adelina Arif has been teaching sign language to the treecats of Sphinx, and now a delegation of treecats have requested that Adelina comm Honor with their proposal of war from Sorrow Singer, Song Shadow, and six other memory singers. The genocide of the Black Water clan has galvanized the treecats for war.
Grayson is…
…allied with Manticore. Protector of Grayson Benjamin Mayhew, his wives Katherine and Elaine, and three of their children are arriving in Manticore. Michael Mayhew, Benjamin's brother, is the Grayson representative to the Republic of Haven-Manticore treaty.
The Andermani are…
…a mostly independent planet with a watching brief and is inclined to Manticore. Admiral Chien-lu Anderman, Herzog von Rabenstrange, has also arrived in Landing with his "personal aide" Major Shiang Schenk of the Totenkopf Hussars representing Emperor Gustav.
The People's Republic of Haven was…
...Manticore's enemy for years. Its President Pritchard has found common ground with the Star Kingdom. Admiral Thomas Theisman of the People's Navy (and its Secretary of Defense, War, and Chief of Naval Operations) will have a front row seat.
Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat are spies; the first for Manticore and the second for Haven. Both have reputations for getting the job done, no matter what.
The Solarian League (SL) is…
…the enemy. The men who really run the Solarian League are Permanent Senior Undersecretaries Innokentiy Kolokoltsov, the most powerful man in the entire League; Agatá Wodoslawski is Treasury; Malachai Abruzzi is Information; and, Omosupe Quartermain is Commerce. Admiral Rajampet Rajani is in charge of the navy. President Yeou Kun Chol is a figurehead only and has never interfered in the running of the SL until his much smarter brother becomes concerned. Fleet Admiral Winston Kingsford looks to be getting a promotion. The very competent Captain Gweon has a good plan. Erzébet Pelletier is a Mesan operative.
Audrey Hanrahan is a muckracking journalist whom the government fears and everyone believes.
A new group of Solarians about to play a greater part in the story: Captain Daud al-Fanudahi, who has been trying to draw his navy's attention to the improved Manti weaponry; Captain Irene Teague who's come to believe him; Colonel Natsuko Okiku is with Criminal Investigation and just doesn't like how well all these explanations hang together; and, Major Bryce Tarkovsky is with Marine Intelligence.
The SLN fleet heading to Manticore is led by…
…Fleet Admiral Massimo Filareta. Admiral John Burrows is his chief of staff and an excellent manager of Filareta. Admiral William Daniels is his operations officer. Rear Admiral Marjorie Simpson is with the SLN and a cousin of Rajampet's. She's used in a lot of gray areas by the SLN, and she's in Beowulf to coordinate an attack. Fat chance. Fleet Admiral Imogene Tsang exercises poor judgment in the attack.
Beowulf is…
…technically a Solarian League ally. Members of the Beowulf Planetary Board of Directors include Gabriel Caddell-Markham as the Director of Defense — Timothy Sung is his personal aide; Chyang Benton-Ramirez is the Chairman and CEO; Fedosei Demianovich Mikulin is Director at Large; Jukka Longacre is Director of State; and, Joshua Pinder-Swun is Secretary and Vice Chairman and CEO of the system government. Jacques Benton-Ramirez y Chou is Honor's uncle, one of Chyang's cousins, and the Third Director at Large. He's also the very unofficial liaison to the Audubon Ballroom.
Vice Admiral Holmon-Sanders of the Beowulf System Defense Force reiterates her government's demands. Felicia Hadley is Beowulf's senior delegate to the Solarian League Assembly.
Other SL Allies
Governor Oravil Barregos of the Maya Sector and Admiral Luis Roszak are making their own plans as a protectorate of the SL.
Manpower is…
…the power that fronts for the Mesan Alignment, which is the ultimate enemy with its Nazi-like beliefs. Albrecht Detweiler is the man in charge. Benjamin is one of his sons.
The Cover and Title
It's a Baen cover with its sci-fi theme and the right colors. Honor Harrington is in uniform and white beret with Nimitz wrapped around her shoulders as she marches off the ramp from her spaceship. Guards are waiting on one end while crewmen are watching her walk off. It's nighttime and the spires of buildings are lit up on either side.
The title is what the Solarian League Mandarins are provoking. It's not just the Star Empire of Manticore it needs to fear, but all the star systems its OFS has been raking over. It's A Rising Thunder that is approaching, that will rattle everything the SL has taken for granted.
You may want to wait and read A Rising Thunder after the next installment is published in 2013…2013??!!…'cause it is just making me nutso cuckoo to have to wait for Shadow of Freedom and find out what happens next…the pins and needles are just killin' me!!
My Take
It's a lovely tale of a corrupt government system being taken down ten pegs or so by a tiny neobarb system. Manticore is a utopia compared to most systems, but it has its own share of idjits and assholes. Luckily, it also has its share of decent people. And they're in charge!
Oh, man, I love it. Those arrogant Sollies keep being shocked that this tiny neobarb navy actually dares to threaten the all-powerful SLN!? Talk about shock — the awe showed up back in Mission of Honor . It blows my mind that the SL government officials are so much more concerned about their personal fiefdoms that they'd rather take this chance at war and lying to their public than just admit they screwed up. So much cheaper in personnel, ships, money… Heck, they can barely admit it to each other.
"Justice is conspicuous by its absence when it comes to politics and entrenched, self-serving regimes."For centuries the Solarian League and its navy (SLN) has had everything its own way, and they have taken advantage. No one knows how many systems were absorbed into the League voluntarily, but it's a good bet that many were forcibly taken. All in the name of "helping out". Then their economies are plundered by the corrupt men set in charge over them. This attitude has taken them up against the navy of Manticore. A navy that has been researching and upgrading, inventing and improving their own weapons on an almost daily basis for decades in their war with the People's Republic of Haven while the SLN has been too complacent and corrupt to bother.
No one in the SLN can believe that these tiny ships could possibly take out the mighty ships of the SLN. An attitude that doesn't prevent Manticore from doing what it needs to protect itself and its allies.
The SL applies the terms of treaties and agreements when it's convenient to them; downplays them when it's not. They're manipulating the data to make the Manties look like the bad guys. What's truly amazing is that the SL public, despite knowing how incredibly corrupt their government is, actually buys this.
The SL has used its Frontier Security Force to bash the protectorate star systems for tribute, all of which goes directly to the SL bureaucracies and is the whole reason why the Office of Frontier Security (OFS) has been encouraged to expand its territory any way it likes.
Longacre (Beowulf) sums up the SL officials very well: "…he doesn't seem to grasp the possibility that there's any universe outside the system he understands." And it's too much fun to watch the Beowulfans dance around the SLN, thwarting their plans to use the Beowulf Terminus to attack Manticore. So many angles, so many disappointments for the SLN.
Don't be fooled, though. Weber gets the tension up there and keeps cranking it up! I swear I read and sped and my heart rate just kept going up. Weber has shown that he doesn't mind killing off the good characters or putting the good guys into really tight situations. No, it's never a gratuitous "kill", but, da-yum. A few books back there was a rumor he was going to off Honor…I just about died! And the damned Mesans are sending a load of their rockets to replace SLN ones. Eeek!
It's so amazing to hear White Haven admitting that Admiral Hemphill's research into improved weaponry was such a great idea and that he was so wrong. He admitted it before, books ago, but, still, it takes a big man to be able to bring it up again and again.
There is just so very much that is coming to a head in this series. I always figured that brokering a peace with the Republic of Haven would be the end. It makes sense that war with the Solarian League would bring that peace about and open up a whole new front to take down a new and bigger bully.
This pretty much sums it up: "I'm proposing to exercise the sovereign right of my star system to defend its citizens against the orders of an unelected clique of corrupt bureaucrats with no trace of constitutional authority…"We also get the backstory on Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat escaping from Mesa, the present they brought home for Manticore and Haven, and why they decide to head to Nouveau Paris first with their prize.
Omigod, that whole exchange between Holmon-Sanders and Tsang…ya gotta wonder how often the U.S. and other countries' government/military commands have pulled crap like that on smaller nations. I should hope it's never been with such a flagrant disregard for truth and law! Weber really gets me going when I read this stuff..! Arghhh…! Why does the bad guy always gets mad when you reverse his tactics on him?
The Story
Not getting a reaction from the Solarian League, Manticore ups the ante and recalls its merchant ships, ordering each and every one home while the Royal Navy takes over space termini to ensure their people get home safe. It's a move that angers ships' captains and merchants, and one that begins to terrify the rest of the universe as they begin to realize just how many of those merchant hulls are Manticoran.
And Filareta with a huge Solarian League fleet. Sorry, another huge fleet directly to Manticore to beat them into submission — amazing how the SLN keeps losing fleets to the Manties. Then Beowulf receives a visit from Admiral Simpson of the SLN, and the speculation is rife as to whether the SL has finally figured out how deeply in bed Beowulf is with Manticore.
In the meantime, Crown Prince Roger Gregory Alexander Timothy Winton is about to get married to his soon-to-be Crown Princess, Rivka Rosenfeld. And the first time, the treecat volunteers have served as security in this non-war.
And, it's time to implement Lacoön Two.
The Characters
A more detailed character list is in my KD Did It review.
The Star Kingdom of Manticore
Duchess Honor Harrington-Alexander and her treecat, Nimitz, are still going strong. Captain Spencer Hawke is her one remaining armsman. James MacGuiness is still Honor's steward. Drs. Allison and Alfred Harrington are her parents. Sergeant Isaiah Matlock is the son of a forestry ranger and has been assigned to Alfred as his bodyguard; Corporal Anastasia Yanakov is Allison's. Faith and James Harrington are Honor's twin siblings, and while they still have Luck Blackett, replacing Jeremiah Tennard was difficult until Honor thought of Andrew's younger brother, Corporal Micah LaFollett. Someone Faith has known her whole life. Honor's own children, Raoul and Katherine, have drawn Lieutenant Vincent Clinkscales. Hamish Alexander-Harrington, Earl of White Haven, is married to Honor, and both of them are married to Emily Alexander-Harrington, Countess of White Haven. Samantha is Hamish's treecat.
The Manticoran Navy includes…
…(besides Honor!) some old-timers: Captain Andrea Jaruwalski, Commodore Mercedes Bingham, and Captain Rafael Cardones. Vice Admiral Alice Truman of the Mantie Navy is in Beowulf as backup.
Empress Elizabeth is Manticore's ruler. Her Cabinet consists of William Alexander, Baron Grantville and Prime Minister of the Star Empire; Sir Anthony Langtry, as foreign secretary; Baroness Morncreek; and, Bruce Wijenberg. Sir Lyman Carmichael is the Manticoran ambassador to the Solarian League in Old Chicago.
Sphnix is…
...Honor's and Nimitz's home planet and part of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Dr. Adelina Arif has been teaching sign language to the treecats of Sphinx, and now a delegation of treecats have requested that Adelina comm Honor with their proposal of war from Sorrow Singer, Song Shadow, and six other memory singers. The genocide of the Black Water clan has galvanized the treecats for war.
Grayson is…
…allied with Manticore. Protector of Grayson Benjamin Mayhew, his wives Katherine and Elaine, and three of their children are arriving in Manticore. Michael Mayhew, Benjamin's brother, is the Grayson representative to the Republic of Haven-Manticore treaty.
The Andermani are…
…a mostly independent planet with a watching brief and is inclined to Manticore. Admiral Chien-lu Anderman, Herzog von Rabenstrange, has also arrived in Landing with his "personal aide" Major Shiang Schenk of the Totenkopf Hussars representing Emperor Gustav.
The People's Republic of Haven was…
...Manticore's enemy for years. Its President Pritchard has found common ground with the Star Kingdom. Admiral Thomas Theisman of the People's Navy (and its Secretary of Defense, War, and Chief of Naval Operations) will have a front row seat.
Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat are spies; the first for Manticore and the second for Haven. Both have reputations for getting the job done, no matter what.
The Solarian League (SL) is…
…the enemy. The men who really run the Solarian League are Permanent Senior Undersecretaries Innokentiy Kolokoltsov, the most powerful man in the entire League; Agatá Wodoslawski is Treasury; Malachai Abruzzi is Information; and, Omosupe Quartermain is Commerce. Admiral Rajampet Rajani is in charge of the navy. President Yeou Kun Chol is a figurehead only and has never interfered in the running of the SL until his much smarter brother becomes concerned. Fleet Admiral Winston Kingsford looks to be getting a promotion. The very competent Captain Gweon has a good plan. Erzébet Pelletier is a Mesan operative.
Audrey Hanrahan is a muckracking journalist whom the government fears and everyone believes.
A new group of Solarians about to play a greater part in the story: Captain Daud al-Fanudahi, who has been trying to draw his navy's attention to the improved Manti weaponry; Captain Irene Teague who's come to believe him; Colonel Natsuko Okiku is with Criminal Investigation and just doesn't like how well all these explanations hang together; and, Major Bryce Tarkovsky is with Marine Intelligence.
The SLN fleet heading to Manticore is led by…
…Fleet Admiral Massimo Filareta. Admiral John Burrows is his chief of staff and an excellent manager of Filareta. Admiral William Daniels is his operations officer. Rear Admiral Marjorie Simpson is with the SLN and a cousin of Rajampet's. She's used in a lot of gray areas by the SLN, and she's in Beowulf to coordinate an attack. Fat chance. Fleet Admiral Imogene Tsang exercises poor judgment in the attack.
Beowulf is…
…technically a Solarian League ally. Members of the Beowulf Planetary Board of Directors include Gabriel Caddell-Markham as the Director of Defense — Timothy Sung is his personal aide; Chyang Benton-Ramirez is the Chairman and CEO; Fedosei Demianovich Mikulin is Director at Large; Jukka Longacre is Director of State; and, Joshua Pinder-Swun is Secretary and Vice Chairman and CEO of the system government. Jacques Benton-Ramirez y Chou is Honor's uncle, one of Chyang's cousins, and the Third Director at Large. He's also the very unofficial liaison to the Audubon Ballroom.
Vice Admiral Holmon-Sanders of the Beowulf System Defense Force reiterates her government's demands. Felicia Hadley is Beowulf's senior delegate to the Solarian League Assembly.
Other SL Allies
Governor Oravil Barregos of the Maya Sector and Admiral Luis Roszak are making their own plans as a protectorate of the SL.
Manpower is…
…the power that fronts for the Mesan Alignment, which is the ultimate enemy with its Nazi-like beliefs. Albrecht Detweiler is the man in charge. Benjamin is one of his sons.
The Cover and Title
It's a Baen cover with its sci-fi theme and the right colors. Honor Harrington is in uniform and white beret with Nimitz wrapped around her shoulders as she marches off the ramp from her spaceship. Guards are waiting on one end while crewmen are watching her walk off. It's nighttime and the spires of buildings are lit up on either side.
The title is what the Solarian League Mandarins are provoking. It's not just the Star Empire of Manticore it needs to fear, but all the star systems its OFS has been raking over. It's A Rising Thunder that is approaching, that will rattle everything the SL has taken for granted.
March 25, 2012
At first I gave this two stars. Then I gave it one, as I thought of some things that bugged me.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh; after all, this is only half a book. (The other half will be issued as Shadow of Freedom.) But ... this seems to have all the Weberian flaws, and none of the enjoyable things. Nothing in here feels personal, even the wedding. Granted that we barely know the principals, but the mother of the groom has been a viewpoint character before. It's all political, and intellectual, and barely interesting.
Plus, there seem to be continuity issues large and small. The dudes who couldn't decide if they were commanders or commodores or admirals, who I referenced in my status update — well, fine, they were just setting the scene. But where did the rest of Pritchart's administration go? Granted it was probably ridiculous to put (nearly) all of them on the ship to Manticore — a mention that Montreau and LePic and company were back on Haven keeping things together and arguing for the treaty would have been ... nice. (LePic is my ensemble dark horse so I'm especially annoyed that he was barely mentioned.)
I should probably have some sympathy for Weber, because once he let Eric Flint play in his continuity, things got all confused, and he had to move things all around. But ... Illuminati work well as a joke. Not so much as a serious force in human affairs.
And now, on to the things that bugged me. The wedding I mentioned before? The bride is Jewish, the groom is Catholic. (Probably the highly reformed and liberal versions that have been alluded to before in the series.) They mixed Christian and Jewish customs in a way that rubbed me the wrong way. But that's probably because I am a 20th/21st century Earthling who thinks that even after 2000 years it wouldn't be so easy to have "the reconciliation of two faiths" in one wedding ceremony. Also, why is the bride named Rivka Rebecca? I know that meanings of names get lost over time, but that's like being named Rebecca Rebecca, or Rivka Rivka.
Finally. In the previous book, it was hinted that one of the characters "enjoyed certain pleasures even the most jaded Solly might call 'esoteric.'" I assumed that it was BDSM, or some weird fetish. But no. We find out that Filareta's strange sexual practices are being a child molester. Nothing particularly graphic, but ... just giving y'all the option to read or not. makes it perfectly clear that plenty of people knew and were looking the other way. It makes me really angry when sexual abuse of children just seems to be a throw-in, an easy way for an author to make it clear that a character or society is evil. A personal pet peeve.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh; after all, this is only half a book. (The other half will be issued as Shadow of Freedom.) But ... this seems to have all the Weberian flaws, and none of the enjoyable things. Nothing in here feels personal, even the wedding. Granted that we barely know the principals, but the mother of the groom has been a viewpoint character before. It's all political, and intellectual, and barely interesting.
Plus, there seem to be continuity issues large and small. The dudes who couldn't decide if they were commanders or commodores or admirals, who I referenced in my status update — well, fine, they were just setting the scene. But where did the rest of Pritchart's administration go? Granted it was probably ridiculous to put (nearly) all of them on the ship to Manticore — a mention that Montreau and LePic and company were back on Haven keeping things together and arguing for the treaty would have been ... nice. (LePic is my ensemble dark horse so I'm especially annoyed that he was barely mentioned.)
I should probably have some sympathy for Weber, because once he let Eric Flint play in his continuity, things got all confused, and he had to move things all around. But ... Illuminati work well as a joke. Not so much as a serious force in human affairs.
And now, on to the things that bugged me. The wedding I mentioned before? The bride is Jewish, the groom is Catholic. (Probably the highly reformed and liberal versions that have been alluded to before in the series.) They mixed Christian and Jewish customs in a way that rubbed me the wrong way. But that's probably because I am a 20th/21st century Earthling who thinks that even after 2000 years it wouldn't be so easy to have "the reconciliation of two faiths" in one wedding ceremony. Also, why is the bride named Rivka Rebecca? I know that meanings of names get lost over time, but that's like being named Rebecca Rebecca, or Rivka Rivka.
Finally. In the previous book, it was hinted that one of the characters "enjoyed certain pleasures even the most jaded Solly might call 'esoteric.'" I assumed that it was BDSM, or some weird fetish. But no. We find out that Filareta's strange sexual practices are being a child molester. Nothing particularly graphic, but ... just giving y'all the option to read or not. makes it perfectly clear that plenty of people knew and were looking the other way. It makes me really angry when sexual abuse of children just seems to be a throw-in, an easy way for an author to make it clear that a character or society is evil. A personal pet peeve.
November 20, 2011
When I realized that the eARC for this had come out, I (figuratively) dashed out to get my copy. I devoured it rapidly, and now I have some thoughts.
1. I liked it just fine. It moved along at a good pace, and Weber paid off his promises fairly well (to keep your precious eyes from spoilers, I shan't say anything more specific). I don't think I would say that it's my favorite installment in the series*, but it's, at the very least, adequate.
2. For a book ostensibly about Honor Harrington, there wasn't too much of her. A lot of the book focused on other parts of the universe, and I'm not entirely sure what to think about that. Yes, it's fun to see more of the world that Weber has created, but I think if it expands much more, it'll just be too much to keep straight. (and I'm someone who has very little trouble keeping very obscure details of the Star Wars EU straight)
3. I can't wait to see what's next, and I'm annoyed that it's going to take so long until the next book comes out. Oh well, at least GRRM isn't writing them, because then I'd have to wait for years.
*In case anyone asks, I would say that my favorites are, in no particular order, Flag in Exile, At All Costs, The Short Victorious War and, The Honor of the Queen. I'm also fond of some of the short stories, particularly "What Price Dreams?" and "Fanatic".
1. I liked it just fine. It moved along at a good pace, and Weber paid off his promises fairly well (to keep your precious eyes from spoilers, I shan't say anything more specific). I don't think I would say that it's my favorite installment in the series*, but it's, at the very least, adequate.
2. For a book ostensibly about Honor Harrington, there wasn't too much of her. A lot of the book focused on other parts of the universe, and I'm not entirely sure what to think about that. Yes, it's fun to see more of the world that Weber has created, but I think if it expands much more, it'll just be too much to keep straight. (and I'm someone who has very little trouble keeping very obscure details of the Star Wars EU straight)
3. I can't wait to see what's next, and I'm annoyed that it's going to take so long until the next book comes out. Oh well, at least GRRM isn't writing them, because then I'd have to wait for years.
*In case anyone asks, I would say that my favorites are, in no particular order, Flag in Exile, At All Costs, The Short Victorious War and, The Honor of the Queen. I'm also fond of some of the short stories, particularly "What Price Dreams?" and "Fanatic".
March 27, 2012
I LOVE the Honor Harrington series. About time a strong, smart female character takes political and military lead.
This book was a tiny disappointment, if only because the others have excelled all expectations. First, there were a number of copy editing errors (boo!), and the book spent more time on political development than with any people. To this point, Weber has phenomenal with his ability to balance talk on technology and politics with moments of delightfully well executed social interaction.
He's one of those authors that can tell all these narratives, and tell them well.
But this book? More politics and technology than people. More people, David. You nailed the other two fronts, but without the people, the book becomes flat.
with admiration,
an author who can't get anything published
without at least 5 rounds
of revision.
damn.
^.^
This book was a tiny disappointment, if only because the others have excelled all expectations. First, there were a number of copy editing errors (boo!), and the book spent more time on political development than with any people. To this point, Weber has phenomenal with his ability to balance talk on technology and politics with moments of delightfully well executed social interaction.
He's one of those authors that can tell all these narratives, and tell them well.
But this book? More politics and technology than people. More people, David. You nailed the other two fronts, but without the people, the book becomes flat.
with admiration,
an author who can't get anything published
without at least 5 rounds
of revision.
damn.
^.^
October 28, 2012
Sigh. This is another of Weber's 'talk the reader to death' mistake books. My advice on Weber is still 'read the first six books, they're good to great'. The next two are OK, but have to be read together. Beyond that, you have to be a masochistic optimist like me*. This book is more for masochists than optimists. It's a shame, the previous one showed a little promise of going back to good-Weber. In additon to far too much tell and too little show, the events of this book just aren't beliveable.
* The one real exception to this overgeneralization, AFAICT, is 'Crown of Slaves', but that's because Eric Flint is an excellent author and editor, IMO.
* The one real exception to this overgeneralization, AFAICT, is 'Crown of Slaves', but that's because Eric Flint is an excellent author and editor, IMO.
July 30, 2023
My rating was brought down by two issues: first, two chapters were exactly the same, word for word, with two chapters in "Mission of Honor" #12; second, there is no ending in this episode.
I don't know why I did not read #14 back in 2019, unless it was for the above reasons. I did read related stories by Weber shortly after #13. Somehow, the final (perhaps) episode in this series was neglected.
Still, the overall story is progressing, even if has expanded beyond what it appeared to be earlier, a tale of conflict between Haven and Manticore. I think the internal dialog and conversations about various forms of government and personal corruption are predominate themes. Every style of government is corrupt in some way. The People's Republic of Haven (socialist, or perhaps communist) had the legislaturist, later the triad of the commission of safety (or some name like that) then just State Security, and finally the resurrection of the republic with a corrupt foreign minister. Manticore had the constitutional monarchy with significant corporate corruption and with a corrupt (or perhaps socialist) minority party coalition briefly in control. Grayson had the religious fanatics, both internal and external, that were influenced by Haven, sometimes unknowingly. The Solarian League, ostensibly a constitutional republic, had a "living" constitution that did not correspond to the actual document and an administrative state that had actual control, and plenty of corporate corruption as well as the Office of Frontier Security that coerced coopted fringe system governments. The Audubon Ballroom (former genetic slaves) had terrorists. The Mesan star system had Manpower and the genetic slave trade. Although Manticore (and eventually Haven) had various problems, they are so far somewhat successful in overcoming them.
The personal stories and internal dialog are creative. The physical descriptions of people get a little tedious, because there are so many characters, and seem to unnecessarily produce a lot of text, but perhaps there is some underlying social commentary that is really depicted.
I don't know why I did not read #14 back in 2019, unless it was for the above reasons. I did read related stories by Weber shortly after #13. Somehow, the final (perhaps) episode in this series was neglected.
Still, the overall story is progressing, even if has expanded beyond what it appeared to be earlier, a tale of conflict between Haven and Manticore. I think the internal dialog and conversations about various forms of government and personal corruption are predominate themes. Every style of government is corrupt in some way. The People's Republic of Haven (socialist, or perhaps communist) had the legislaturist, later the triad of the commission of safety (or some name like that) then just State Security, and finally the resurrection of the republic with a corrupt foreign minister. Manticore had the constitutional monarchy with significant corporate corruption and with a corrupt (or perhaps socialist) minority party coalition briefly in control. Grayson had the religious fanatics, both internal and external, that were influenced by Haven, sometimes unknowingly. The Solarian League, ostensibly a constitutional republic, had a "living" constitution that did not correspond to the actual document and an administrative state that had actual control, and plenty of corporate corruption as well as the Office of Frontier Security that coerced coopted fringe system governments. The Audubon Ballroom (former genetic slaves) had terrorists. The Mesan star system had Manpower and the genetic slave trade. Although Manticore (and eventually Haven) had various problems, they are so far somewhat successful in overcoming them.
The personal stories and internal dialog are creative. The physical descriptions of people get a little tedious, because there are so many characters, and seem to unnecessarily produce a lot of text, but perhaps there is some underlying social commentary that is really depicted.
November 3, 2016
A Rising Thunder Kicks off with a bang! :D Chronologically the first part of the book is set during the last part of the main part of More Than Honor providing a different perspective in on those big events that took place in that book and then it quickly catches up with the present! :D
Official war with the Solarian League looks to be imminent as the Manticorian Alliance is well aware of a large fleet consisting of 500+ ships is heading their way! :D Their main concern though, knowing themselves that they can easily defeat this fleet, is the long term issues that will result from this and how fast they can go after their true enemy Mesa who had been trying and manipulating the rest of humanity for centuries! :D
The characters are all spot on as ever! :D There are grim jaws and heroics aplenty as well as wheedling characters you really know are going to get their comeuppance at some point! :D The rising tension between the Star Nations has various threads running throughout the book that creates a highly charged atmosphere throughout the book including scenes where for example Admiral Truman actually points the proverbial finger which has a very satisfying response from her opposite number! :D As ever Honor and the rest of 'the family' are all shown to be honourable and bending over backwards to save as many people as possible but at the same time when action is called for they are shown as the cool professionals they are! :D
The political situation throughout the book is very prominent and brilliantly as well with Beowulf's eventual succession from the Solarian League and their active support of Manticore and with the Havenites also in leading to the Manticorian Alliance having a rebrand into the now Grand Alliance! :D You will find yourself cheering and booing throughout out the book as events unfold throughout as there are so many parts that have taken the previous books to get there start to pay off and of course create continuing situations as well new ones! :D
The eventual arrival of the Solarian League fleet is also a point of high tension in the book as Honor baits the Admiral in charge into the point of no return leaving them trapped! :D At the point where the Solarian League fleet is about to surrender Mesan duplicity results leaving Honor no choice but to destroy them leaving only a few left to manage to surrender the old fashioned way! :D She regrets it is pointed out to her a yet another great scene that she was right which is a greatly shows again that Honor does sometimes try to shoulder to much when others will help! :D
In between all the galaxy changing events though there is the usual thread of humour that runs throughout the series with Honors controlling staff and the tree cats who quite possibly are the smartest bunch amongst them! :D The wedding at the end of the book illustrates this very well will all the treecats watching the quest for trouble and all the security staff watching the treecats! ;) :D Lol
Brilliant fast paced stuff, a big that will lose sleep that will expand your vocabulary as you find yourself using wow and oh my gosh more frequently imagined! ;) :D Lol
Excellent stuff and highly recommended! :D
As ever though start with the first in the series! :D
Official war with the Solarian League looks to be imminent as the Manticorian Alliance is well aware of a large fleet consisting of 500+ ships is heading their way! :D Their main concern though, knowing themselves that they can easily defeat this fleet, is the long term issues that will result from this and how fast they can go after their true enemy Mesa who had been trying and manipulating the rest of humanity for centuries! :D
The characters are all spot on as ever! :D There are grim jaws and heroics aplenty as well as wheedling characters you really know are going to get their comeuppance at some point! :D The rising tension between the Star Nations has various threads running throughout the book that creates a highly charged atmosphere throughout the book including scenes where for example Admiral Truman actually points the proverbial finger which has a very satisfying response from her opposite number! :D As ever Honor and the rest of 'the family' are all shown to be honourable and bending over backwards to save as many people as possible but at the same time when action is called for they are shown as the cool professionals they are! :D
The political situation throughout the book is very prominent and brilliantly as well with Beowulf's eventual succession from the Solarian League and their active support of Manticore and with the Havenites also in leading to the Manticorian Alliance having a rebrand into the now Grand Alliance! :D You will find yourself cheering and booing throughout out the book as events unfold throughout as there are so many parts that have taken the previous books to get there start to pay off and of course create continuing situations as well new ones! :D
The eventual arrival of the Solarian League fleet is also a point of high tension in the book as Honor baits the Admiral in charge into the point of no return leaving them trapped! :D At the point where the Solarian League fleet is about to surrender Mesan duplicity results leaving Honor no choice but to destroy them leaving only a few left to manage to surrender the old fashioned way! :D She regrets it is pointed out to her a yet another great scene that she was right which is a greatly shows again that Honor does sometimes try to shoulder to much when others will help! :D
In between all the galaxy changing events though there is the usual thread of humour that runs throughout the series with Honors controlling staff and the tree cats who quite possibly are the smartest bunch amongst them! :D The wedding at the end of the book illustrates this very well will all the treecats watching the quest for trouble and all the security staff watching the treecats! ;) :D Lol
Brilliant fast paced stuff, a big that will lose sleep that will expand your vocabulary as you find yourself using wow and oh my gosh more frequently imagined! ;) :D Lol
Excellent stuff and highly recommended! :D
As ever though start with the first in the series! :D
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2013
Not too sure what to say about this book. I got addicted to the Honor series a few years ago, and I do have a habit of keeping on reading a series once I have started, but sometimes you have to wonder why.
An appreciable percentage of this is devoted to different characters telling Honor how wonderful, honest, clever, morally superior, beautiful and above all how RIGHT she is about everything, and how stupid / genetically inferior anyone who opposes her is. Big yawns... When did the population of honorverse turn into such a bunch of puking, mewling suck ups? What's really offensive is that they weren't even original in their sucking up. Pretty much every character sucked up in pretty much the same way and at tedious length over what felt like dozens of different scenes.
So what was good about the book ... well it wasn't. the action... the best of which was in a simulator...
The only thing that gave this book two stars and not one was that I still love treecats.
I probably won't. be able to resist reading the next book. But I really can't say I am looking forward to it.
An appreciable percentage of this is devoted to different characters telling Honor how wonderful, honest, clever, morally superior, beautiful and above all how RIGHT she is about everything, and how stupid / genetically inferior anyone who opposes her is. Big yawns... When did the population of honorverse turn into such a bunch of puking, mewling suck ups? What's really offensive is that they weren't even original in their sucking up. Pretty much every character sucked up in pretty much the same way and at tedious length over what felt like dozens of different scenes.
So what was good about the book ... well it wasn't. the action... the best of which was in a simulator...
The only thing that gave this book two stars and not one was that I still love treecats.
I probably won't. be able to resist reading the next book. But I really can't say I am looking forward to it.
February 18, 2014
I'm being generous with two stars, but I did actually finish reading it.
I've read at least a couple other books in the Honor Harrington series, and really enjoyed them (On Basilisk Station and The Shadow of Saganami). Unfortunately this book just didn't appeal to me. It was overloaded with so many undeveloped characters that I couldn't keep them straight, let alone care about them. The story seemed to ramble forever, consisting mainly of extremely long conversations designed to tell me why I ought to care. They didn't work.
The military action within the book was minimal, with no real suspense or sense of danger since the results were telegraphed far in advance, probably in a hope of portraying how badly mis-matched the opponents were since that was a basic premise behind much of the story.
It was even hard to tell what the main story was supposed to be really about. The Havenites? Beowolf? The defectors? The secret centuries-old plans of domination? Earth and the politicians there? And what was with the wedding that seemed to be sort of tossed in for grins?
After the other books, I just expected something more coherent and compelling.
I've read at least a couple other books in the Honor Harrington series, and really enjoyed them (On Basilisk Station and The Shadow of Saganami). Unfortunately this book just didn't appeal to me. It was overloaded with so many undeveloped characters that I couldn't keep them straight, let alone care about them. The story seemed to ramble forever, consisting mainly of extremely long conversations designed to tell me why I ought to care. They didn't work.
The military action within the book was minimal, with no real suspense or sense of danger since the results were telegraphed far in advance, probably in a hope of portraying how badly mis-matched the opponents were since that was a basic premise behind much of the story.
It was even hard to tell what the main story was supposed to be really about. The Havenites? Beowolf? The defectors? The secret centuries-old plans of domination? Earth and the politicians there? And what was with the wedding that seemed to be sort of tossed in for grins?
After the other books, I just expected something more coherent and compelling.
March 29, 2014
I believe this book is an attempt to kill this series off by making it boring, predictable, and uninteresting. This book recaps a good portion of the last book for a reason I could not find, and even went so far as to not introduce the main character for 200 pages. Of the two "battles" in this book the reader is not present for anything but the crap talking phase and the aftermath of the Titanic. I was only able to find that the book was at least written coherently as a redeeming quality. I do believe it is safe to say I will both end my relationship with this series and not recommend this book to anyone.
June 28, 2016
This latest edition of Weber's series about Honor Harrington was far-flung in the scope of details covered. Fraught with lots of intrigue, the action was, however, muted. The Alignment didn't have near enough story-line and the ending was rather bland. I want to know what happens in the next edition but this seemed more like filler between points of action and much of this could have been cut to some highlights to merge with what's to happen with the Alignment. Overall, this book was well below the level of earlier books in the series but I have hope that Weber will get back to a more consistent story in future editions.
June 5, 2014
Nothing really significant happen and Weber is just basking on his success of Honor Harrington's earlier book.
Earlier his books use to be full of info dump and recap which were difficult to read. But at lest the plot was interesting and the climax always great.
Now he has got into the habit of stretching a event into three books which seem's more like historical notes. I have become a expert at skipping. The sad part is the plot is not interesting anymore and there is no thrill in reading the books.
Weber must be one of the worst writer's around.
Earlier his books use to be full of info dump and recap which were difficult to read. But at lest the plot was interesting and the climax always great.
Now he has got into the habit of stretching a event into three books which seem's more like historical notes. I have become a expert at skipping. The sad part is the plot is not interesting anymore and there is no thrill in reading the books.
Weber must be one of the worst writer's around.
March 6, 2017
The saga of Honor Harrington and the Manticoran Star Empire continues here. The war with the Republic of Haven is finally over, but there's no rest for the weary. Not only is the Solarian League lumbering towards war with its egotism and arrogance, but it's dragging many nearby powers down with it.
As the great powers clash, Manticore gets a surprise ally, and then faces down the League in a series of tense confrontations. That isn't enough for this kind of book, and it's only a matter of time before battles are fought, missiles are launched, and leaders must deal with new complications. Politics and economics play a big part in the story as well, and Honor and her Empire must proceed carefully.
Behind the scenes, the Mesan Alignment, a conspiracy that the Illuminati would envy, is pulling the strings. They have advanced weapons, and terrifying research projects. But even they can't predict everything, and events are starting to outpace even them.
This is a shorter book than usual for the Harrington series. It was also, as I write this, published 5 years ago. I can't find anything on whether or not the series is continuing. It feels like it should be, as major plots are in progress as the book ends. I don't know what's up here, but neither does anyone else as far as I can tell.
It's good sci fi that's heavy on science, world building, and politics. There's not quite as much action in this one as there usually is. Good read for sci fi fans, but, as usual, I recommend you start with book 1.
As the great powers clash, Manticore gets a surprise ally, and then faces down the League in a series of tense confrontations. That isn't enough for this kind of book, and it's only a matter of time before battles are fought, missiles are launched, and leaders must deal with new complications. Politics and economics play a big part in the story as well, and Honor and her Empire must proceed carefully.
Behind the scenes, the Mesan Alignment, a conspiracy that the Illuminati would envy, is pulling the strings. They have advanced weapons, and terrifying research projects. But even they can't predict everything, and events are starting to outpace even them.
This is a shorter book than usual for the Harrington series. It was also, as I write this, published 5 years ago. I can't find anything on whether or not the series is continuing. It feels like it should be, as major plots are in progress as the book ends. I don't know what's up here, but neither does anyone else as far as I can tell.
It's good sci fi that's heavy on science, world building, and politics. There's not quite as much action in this one as there usually is. Good read for sci fi fans, but, as usual, I recommend you start with book 1.
June 28, 2019
I've been trying to read the Honorverse books in chronological order. This book brings a lot of disparate storylines together. As a result, little of Honor Harrington is seen in this book, although her story is central to the action.
This book is more "space opera" in that it tries to consider a broad milieu of action. As a result, there's not as many good space battles as in some of the other books in the series, and a lot of it is build up. I think it suffers when considered on its own, as a result. However, when considered in the scope of the entire story, it's necessary and important. And there's still enough tension, cloak-and-dagger, and good space battles to keep me interested. Not the best book in the series, but a good one nonetheless.
I've started my True Chronological Reading of the Last 10 Honorverse Books, as I said I would in the last couple of Honorverse reviews I did. You can check it out at the link above!
This book is more "space opera" in that it tries to consider a broad milieu of action. As a result, there's not as many good space battles as in some of the other books in the series, and a lot of it is build up. I think it suffers when considered on its own, as a result. However, when considered in the scope of the entire story, it's necessary and important. And there's still enough tension, cloak-and-dagger, and good space battles to keep me interested. Not the best book in the series, but a good one nonetheless.
I've started my True Chronological Reading of the Last 10 Honorverse Books, as I said I would in the last couple of Honorverse reviews I did. You can check it out at the link above!
September 19, 2020
If you haven't read On Basilisk Station, stop reading this now. Go read that and its sequels as this is the 13th book in the series. And yes, the series is worth reading. Go! Read!
Yes, this is marketed as military SF, but it is more sophisticated than that. There are battles, but this book looks at what causes war in the first place, how to make peace, and where corruption leads. As such, it is an interesting book. We learn more about the capabilities of the treecats and more about the machinations of the Mesan Alliance. Right now, they are more one-dimensional villains than I like, but then the Havenites were like that at the start of the series and look at how much depth has been revealed to the readers.
I would recommend this book to fans of the series who enjoy discovering the backstage part of war, the smoke and mirrors of politics.
Yes, this is marketed as military SF, but it is more sophisticated than that. There are battles, but this book looks at what causes war in the first place, how to make peace, and where corruption leads. As such, it is an interesting book. We learn more about the capabilities of the treecats and more about the machinations of the Mesan Alliance. Right now, they are more one-dimensional villains than I like, but then the Havenites were like that at the start of the series and look at how much depth has been revealed to the readers.
I would recommend this book to fans of the series who enjoy discovering the backstage part of war, the smoke and mirrors of politics.
March 20, 2022
another HH book that doesn’t know what it wants to be
The first 25% of this book are a disjointed mess, with long passages of the previous book actually copied verbatim. The middle half is fine. The end bogs down in long infodumping meetings and trains of thought.
It appears to me that whomever Baen books has assigned to edit this series has basically thrown up their hands and stopped trying to trim the excesses of side characters and plots.
The first 25% of this book are a disjointed mess, with long passages of the previous book actually copied verbatim. The middle half is fine. The end bogs down in long infodumping meetings and trains of thought.
It appears to me that whomever Baen books has assigned to edit this series has basically thrown up their hands and stopped trying to trim the excesses of side characters and plots.
April 3, 2024
um. someone forgot a few chapters
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