Shadow of Freedom (Honorverse: Saganami Island, #3) in Beyond Reality

Jan 28, 2013 Gallandro_83 rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: space-opera, series

OK so I feel the need to justify my rating.

I think overall I would rate the book at about 2 to 2.5 if it was on its own but since the novel is supposed to be part of the main series I have to rate it lower.

Like other reviewers have stated the book has about 20% that is recap or cut from previous novels and does nothing to move the story along that right there is a warning sign for me. Also this book just like the previous two starts off at about the same time . I'm don't mind when an author show OK so I feel the need to justify my rating.

I think overall I would rate the book at about 2 to 2.5 if it was on its own but since the novel is supposed to be part of the main series I have to rate it lower.

Like other reviewers have stated the book has about 20% that is recap or cut from previous novels and does nothing to move the story along that right there is a warning sign for me. Also this book just like the previous two starts off at about the same time . I'm don't mind when an author showcases a different front from a large war. The qualification to that is that the front needs to do something interesting.

This book has us starting out almost where Mission of Honor began and ending about the same as A Rising Thunder. If your going to cover the same time period as has already been written then there better be quite a bit of story that helps move along the series. As far as I can tell this book doesn't do that. We see a slight bump in the war against the League but the villainous characters become useless and will never be seen again.

My biggest problem is with the Mesan Alignment and there plans to showcase the Manties in a bad diplomatic light. We know this by the cover and its implied in the first chapter and yet despite this it never gets resolved. We see no big outrage or plan and nothing comes of it. Additionally we are given all these small side cast characters on all the rebel planets that are likely to be minor at best in any other book yet who take up 60% of the novel anyway when you add it to the 20% that is from previous works it leaves only 20% of the novel dealing with secondary characters from the main series and they don't end up doing anything that contributes materially for the wars against either villain.

In the end this book is part of a epic series and its main job is to move the story along IMHO it fails to meet this main point. The writing is OK and the new characters are somewhat cliche but fit with the universe as written. To me it just felt that the story was almost a fan piece and a decent editor could have blurbed the story as a whole in a chapter or two in the next novel.

gallandro ...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Kathi rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

7/10
Not really an Honor Harrington book at all, but a companion book to the events in Storm from the Shadows, mostly from other points of view and concentrating on event in and near the Talbott Quadrant.
Frankly, I'm ready for Weber to wrap this up... I care enough to want to know how the Manties get it to all work out, but I'm losing patience after 14 or so books. ...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Lindsey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

3.5 stars. This was clearly the other half of the previous Honorverse novel, as it takes place over the same time period. Unfortunately, that makes it lack the emotional punch of the first half, as we already know about the major events in the Manticore system.

On the other hand, it's nice to read about some lead characters who aren't quite as infallible as Honor Harrington. Michelle Henke & Abigail Hearns are interesting and properly motivated as characters.

Now that all the story lines are caugh ...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Marty rated it liked it · review of another edition

Good, but not as entertaining as i thought it would be.

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Dec 06, 2011 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it it was ok

Shelves: science-fiction, popcorn-junk-food-craving

The ending of this is pretty cool (despite not being an ending so much as it is a stopping point), but ... I sometimes wonder if this series isn't going to collapse under the weight of its ever-expanding cast. Paradoxically, I feel like this had a little too much show, and it came at the expense of the characters we already knew about. ...more

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