Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Baen (2013), 656 pages
Description
"After a brutal attack on the Manticoran home system, Honor Harrington has rooted out a plan designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plans lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment. Task #1 for Honor is 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 ancient and corrupt Earth-based Solarian League inevitably takes as a declaration of war. 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"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member seekingflight
I read the Advanced Readers Copy of this from Baen - so yes, I'm a fan of this series. I don't like the later books in this series as much as the earlier ones. From my perspective, Weber's canvas has gotten way too big, and these books would be more to my taste if he focused back in on a smaller
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number of characters but made me care more about them. But the scale of the story has changed as well, and perhaps this is an inevitable consequence. I'm still reading the series, because I still want to know what happens next. (As an ARC, this did contain some typos and other errors, but they didn't detract significantly from my overall enjoyment.) Show Less
LibraryThing member bgknighton
And things are really developing now. The Mesans' plans are rolling along, the Sollies play into them, nothing seems able to stop them.
LibraryThing member readinggeek451
In the aftermath of the Mesa Alignment's attack on Manticore, surprising new alliances are formed, and the Solarian League blunders arrogantly into a real war with Manticore.
This is officially an Honor Harrington book, but she's not actually in it all that much. The book is all the better for it,
This is officially an Honor Harrington book, but she's not actually in it all that much. The book is all the better for it,
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too. Show Less
LibraryThing member Guide2
Overall an Ok book that ties up many many loose ends into one more cohesive storyline, but there's really not much that stands out in terms of new plot elements or interesting ideas. Still looking forward to the next book(s?), but hopefully there's going to be a bit more action or movement going
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forward... Show Less
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Like the other recent Honors - a very rich story, several convoluted plots (in both senses - the structure of the book and plans within the story) twining around each other, and politicians (Terrans, this time, rather than the previous Manticoreans, Havenites, etc.) being utter and complete idiots
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to keep from 'losing face'. Much better to allow soldiers to be slaughtered... Mesa's plots advance, more or less, with some serious stumbling blocks imposed by Zilwicki and Cachat (we get their side of their long trip home), Queen (I mean Empress) Elizabeth, and President Prichart. And Honor, of course. We get to see some of the battles that have been impending for at least a book previous (poor Filareta! Nasty as he was, he didn't deserve that). Treecats assert their right to put themselves at risk to save humans as well as vice versa. Oh, and Michael gets married. And the story ends at...well, call it a breathing space. Political idiocy is about to hit the real world in several directions, but nothing's imminent, so it's not _quite_ a cliffhanger. These books require a lot more attention and thought than the early ones in the series - On Basilisk Station, despite all the factors involved, reads like light adventure compared to this. And don't skip any - there are quite a few bits where you get the same events from a different viewpoint, and it's rather important for full understanding (to my mind, anyway) that you know both/all sides of the story. If you've got the time and attention, though, they definitely reward the reader. Next, please! Show Less
LibraryThing member turkcebkf
If you're not Honor fan this book isn't for you. David Weber has lots of charachters and a lot of backstory in this book. Book reaches climax at two thirds and rest is a long epilogue. I like this series but it seems to crumble.
LibraryThing member AudraJean
If you're looking for action, this book is seriously going to disappoint. Weber invests over 70% of the book in advancing political elements of the overall series arch, if you don't like conversational bits and socio-political stuff, you're not going to like this book.
Did I think the climax of the
Did I think the climax of the
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book could have used a little something something, yes, but as far as moving things along, the book did that well. Show Less
LibraryThing member kmartin802
If you like political intrigue and political maneuvering, this is the story for you. There is relatively little action of the space-ship battle sort in this episode of the Honor Harrington series and not very much of Honor either. This story takes us all around the universe but seems to concentrate
The story concerns the growing and escalating conflict between Manticore and the Solarian League that has been fomented partially by the maneuvering of the Mesan Alliance and partially by the egocentric attitudes of the Solarian League. This story also cements the new alliance between long-time enemies Manticore and the Republic of Haven. A new alliance is forming that also includes Beowulf, a long-time League member who has close financial and person ties with Manticore. In fact, the Chairman of the Board of Directors (the governing body) is Honor's uncle.
Reading this one was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. All the various actions are leading to a fall for the Solarian League. As detail piles on detail the bureaucrats in charge are doing all they can to spin events their way and try to find something that will save their jobs and power and, incidentally, save the Solarian League. To throw in another metaphor, the bureaucrats are "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."
There weren't a lot of things of a personal nature in this one. We could see the growing friendship between Empress Elizabeth of Manticore and Eloise Pritchart, the President of the Republic of Haven. We got to see a little of the relationship between Honor and her husband Hamish and wife Emily. We got to see Crown Prince Roger marry his commoner love Rifka in a combination Roman Catholic and Jewish ceremony! But most of the relationships were brief and political.
This is an episode for those who are very familiar with the Honorverse. Newcomers would be both baffled and bored with the constantly shifting scenes between people who come and go with great rapidity. Hopefully, this one is leading up to something with more excitement and more face time for Honor. It did have brief moments of humor and poignancy but they were almost buried by political maneuvering.
I rank this one "for devoted fans only."
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on the actions of the handful of upper level bureaucrats who really run the Solarian League. I feel that Permanent Senior Undersecretary Kolokoltsov of the Solarian League, one of those bureaucrats, got the most "page-time" of any of the individual characters in this story. The story concerns the growing and escalating conflict between Manticore and the Solarian League that has been fomented partially by the maneuvering of the Mesan Alliance and partially by the egocentric attitudes of the Solarian League. This story also cements the new alliance between long-time enemies Manticore and the Republic of Haven. A new alliance is forming that also includes Beowulf, a long-time League member who has close financial and person ties with Manticore. In fact, the Chairman of the Board of Directors (the governing body) is Honor's uncle.
Reading this one was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. All the various actions are leading to a fall for the Solarian League. As detail piles on detail the bureaucrats in charge are doing all they can to spin events their way and try to find something that will save their jobs and power and, incidentally, save the Solarian League. To throw in another metaphor, the bureaucrats are "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."
There weren't a lot of things of a personal nature in this one. We could see the growing friendship between Empress Elizabeth of Manticore and Eloise Pritchart, the President of the Republic of Haven. We got to see a little of the relationship between Honor and her husband Hamish and wife Emily. We got to see Crown Prince Roger marry his commoner love Rifka in a combination Roman Catholic and Jewish ceremony! But most of the relationships were brief and political.
This is an episode for those who are very familiar with the Honorverse. Newcomers would be both baffled and bored with the constantly shifting scenes between people who come and go with great rapidity. Hopefully, this one is leading up to something with more excitement and more face time for Honor. It did have brief moments of humor and poignancy but they were almost buried by political maneuvering.
I rank this one "for devoted fans only."
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LibraryThing member Traveller1
Read the ARC. Good story, carries on the previous, but not somehow as engaging as most of his previous H novels. It is a link rather than a standalone story.
LibraryThing member superant
Read the ARC version in January 2012. I did see a small number of typos and miss-spellings. I am a long time Honor Harrington reader, so I've been reading the series since the beginning. Like other long time readers, I felt the stories later in the series are different. Honor is older and
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different. Weber the author has not frozen Honor chronologically, but has has her age. So it has made the stories different, because her position, role, physical fighting activities have all changed. I was feeling in the last 2 years that I would not be enjoying the future books in the series. I did enjoy this book. I enjoyed the technical run-up to the battle conflict between the Sollie Space Navy and the Mantie Navy. I enjoyed the political maneuvering between the two sides, and increasingly more sides. I am curious about the plans and actions of the Mesa Alignment. I enjoy hearing how political leaders try or fail to work through difficult conflicts. I am fascinated by the human side of warfare. As was stated in an earlier book in the series: battles are fought by real humans, with human feelings, failures and decisions. And I always like to read about treecats. It is great that treecats are being given an important roll to play in the series. All in all, a very good entry into the series. Thanks. Show Less
LibraryThing member wishanem
This series is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Firstly, it takes itself much too seriously considering that it prominently features a species of psychic six-legged cat. Secondly, many of the heroes are cartoonishly heroic and good. The pacing is often glacial, and the cast is bloated by
So why do I read it? This series features the most gripping and exciting space combat in any fiction I've ever encountered. In the beginning of the series, the technologies of the space ships necessitated a sort of battle which strongly resembled 17th century naval engagement. This grounding in reality led to all sorts of elaborate combat scenes, which were nonetheless easy to follow. Over the course of the series, changes in tech and tactics have evolved the battles in a unique and utterly strange sort of space combat.
So onto this specific book. It was 90% political intrigue, 9% character development, and 1% space combat. As a result, I only thought it was okay.
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interchangeable supporting characters. I often find myself rolling my eyes as yet another villain chews the scenery like an overexcited beaver.So why do I read it? This series features the most gripping and exciting space combat in any fiction I've ever encountered. In the beginning of the series, the technologies of the space ships necessitated a sort of battle which strongly resembled 17th century naval engagement. This grounding in reality led to all sorts of elaborate combat scenes, which were nonetheless easy to follow. Over the course of the series, changes in tech and tactics have evolved the battles in a unique and utterly strange sort of space combat.
So onto this specific book. It was 90% political intrigue, 9% character development, and 1% space combat. As a result, I only thought it was okay.
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LibraryThing member GSB68
I enjoyed it but the overall plot is moving at a glacial pace.
LibraryThing member scottcholstad
While this #13th Honor Harrington book wasn't quite as good as the preceding Mission of Honor, I still enjoyed it immensely. Even though it has a 4.05 out of 5 rating on Goodreads, a lot of people don't like it because it lacks sufficient action for them and is too talky. But, for me, if you like
We see a lot of the Solarian League's top level bureaucrats making mistake after mistake in continually underestimating Manticore. We see them sending a huge fleet to Manticore to demolish it, only to have it totally annihilated. For the first time, they're actually told by naval analysts they have virtually no chance of winning the war and little chance of remaining in power. Indeed, the Solarian League might even collapse. So, they make contingency plans. We see Manticore start making economic war on the League and it starts to really hurt the League. And we see the League blame Beowulf as traitors and as the reason the invasion failed.
Apparently, this book is simply one half of a longer book that was cut in two by the publisher with the second half published a year or two later. I just bought this second book and got it in the mail yesterday. Started it last night. Don't know how it'll turn out, but hopefully it'll be good. So, yes, not as much action, though there's definitely some. And a lot of politics and political intrigue. Which I like. It sets the plot up more fully so you understand how and why things are transpiring as they are. I'm not certain this is actually a five star book, because it's not actually as good as other Honor books I've given five stars to, but I can't think of any reasons not to give it five stars, so I am. Recommended.
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political intrigue and political maneuvering, this is the story for you. And I do. The Honorverse is getting much more complex and it's no longer just huge space battles with monstrous fleets blowing each other up. Now you have a growing conflict between the huge, arrogant Solarian League and Manticore and its new ally, The Republic of Haven, its old enemy. You also have the evil Mesan Alliance with all it's trying to do to destroy everyone. And now you have Beowulf, a long-time League member who has close financial and personal ties with Manticore, considering leaving the Solarian League to join forces with Manticore. It doesn't hurt that the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Beowulf's governing body, is Honor's uncle. We see a lot of the Solarian League's top level bureaucrats making mistake after mistake in continually underestimating Manticore. We see them sending a huge fleet to Manticore to demolish it, only to have it totally annihilated. For the first time, they're actually told by naval analysts they have virtually no chance of winning the war and little chance of remaining in power. Indeed, the Solarian League might even collapse. So, they make contingency plans. We see Manticore start making economic war on the League and it starts to really hurt the League. And we see the League blame Beowulf as traitors and as the reason the invasion failed.
Apparently, this book is simply one half of a longer book that was cut in two by the publisher with the second half published a year or two later. I just bought this second book and got it in the mail yesterday. Started it last night. Don't know how it'll turn out, but hopefully it'll be good. So, yes, not as much action, though there's definitely some. And a lot of politics and political intrigue. Which I like. It sets the plot up more fully so you understand how and why things are transpiring as they are. I'm not certain this is actually a five star book, because it's not actually as good as other Honor books I've given five stars to, but I can't think of any reasons not to give it five stars, so I am. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member kmartin802
This episode stresses the growing conflict between the Solarian League and Manticore and its allies. It also tells more about the goals and plans of the Mesan Alliance and the various smaller schemes that are leading toward their master plan.
After the Mesan Alliance's sneak attack on the Manticoran
Unfortunately for the Solarian League, information brought back from Mesa by Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki is compelling enough to prove the existence of the Mesan Alliance and convinces Haven and Manticore to finally end the long war that was subtly encouraged by that same Mesan Alliance. Their new treaty provides for mutaal military assistance and spells doom for any Solarian League fleet that might appear.
The Solarian commander comes to believe in this superiority and is willing to surrender but the Mesans have allowed for that by infecting his tactical officer with one of their assassin nanobots. This results in almost the total destruction of the invading fleet which the behind-the-scenes actual rulers of the Solarian League are desperate to spin as a positive for them.
But cracks are forming in the Solarian League which is also a Mesan Alliance plan. With Manticore stifling trade through their control of many of the wormhole junctions and bridges, the League is in growing financial trouble. And some of it member star systems are also thinking about withdrawing from the League led by Manticore's long-time ally Beowulf.
This was an engaging episode in this long-running series.
After the Mesan Alliance's sneak attack on the Manticoran
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home world, the Solarian League decides this will be a great time for them to attack the Manticoran home world. After all, they are sure that even though Manticore might have better technology, they were hurt enough that the playing field is leveled. Unfortunately for the Solarian League, information brought back from Mesa by Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki is compelling enough to prove the existence of the Mesan Alliance and convinces Haven and Manticore to finally end the long war that was subtly encouraged by that same Mesan Alliance. Their new treaty provides for mutaal military assistance and spells doom for any Solarian League fleet that might appear.
The Solarian commander comes to believe in this superiority and is willing to surrender but the Mesans have allowed for that by infecting his tactical officer with one of their assassin nanobots. This results in almost the total destruction of the invading fleet which the behind-the-scenes actual rulers of the Solarian League are desperate to spin as a positive for them.
But cracks are forming in the Solarian League which is also a Mesan Alliance plan. With Manticore stifling trade through their control of many of the wormhole junctions and bridges, the League is in growing financial trouble. And some of it member star systems are also thinking about withdrawing from the League led by Manticore's long-time ally Beowulf.
This was an engaging episode in this long-running series.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kmartin802
This episode stresses the growing conflict between the Solarian League and Manticore and its allies. It also tells more about the goals and plans of the Mesan Alliance and the various smaller schemes that are leading toward their master plan.
After the Mesan Alliance's sneak attack on the Manticoran
Unfortunately for the Solarian League, information brought back from Mesa by Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki is compelling enough to prove the existence of the Mesan Alliance and convinces Haven and Manticore to finally end the long war that was subtly encouraged by that same Mesan Alliance. Their new treaty provides for mutaal military assistance and spells doom for any Solarian League fleet that might appear.
The Solarian commander comes to believe in this superiority and is willing to surrender but the Mesans have allowed for that by infecting his tactical officer with one of their assassin nanobots. This results in almost the total destruction of the invading fleet which the behind-the-scenes actual rulers of the Solarian League are desperate to spin as a positive for them.
But cracks are forming in the Solarian League which is also a Mesan Alliance plan. With Manticore stifling trade through their control of many of the wormhole junctions and bridges, the League is in growing financial trouble. And some of it member star systems are also thinking about withdrawing from the League led by Manticore's long-time ally Beowulf.
This was an engaging episode in this long-running series.
After the Mesan Alliance's sneak attack on the Manticoran
Show More
home world, the Solarian League decides this will be a great time for them to attack the Manticoran home world. After all, they are sure that even though Manticore might have better technology, they were hurt enough that the playing field is leveled. Unfortunately for the Solarian League, information brought back from Mesa by Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki is compelling enough to prove the existence of the Mesan Alliance and convinces Haven and Manticore to finally end the long war that was subtly encouraged by that same Mesan Alliance. Their new treaty provides for mutaal military assistance and spells doom for any Solarian League fleet that might appear.
The Solarian commander comes to believe in this superiority and is willing to surrender but the Mesans have allowed for that by infecting his tactical officer with one of their assassin nanobots. This results in almost the total destruction of the invading fleet which the behind-the-scenes actual rulers of the Solarian League are desperate to spin as a positive for them.
But cracks are forming in the Solarian League which is also a Mesan Alliance plan. With Manticore stifling trade through their control of many of the wormhole junctions and bridges, the League is in growing financial trouble. And some of it member star systems are also thinking about withdrawing from the League led by Manticore's long-time ally Beowulf.
This was an engaging episode in this long-running series.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
The books keep getting bigger and bigger and the plot moves slower and slower. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the book but this was a war building book that even with the hyperspace it takes weeks for things to move along. I found myself skimming though most of the book and knowing that this is only
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half of the book turned in I know the next one will be out in a reasonable amount of time but I am hoping things speed up a bit on the plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jean_Sexton
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
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
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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.
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Language
Original publication date
2012-03-06
Physical description
6.75 inches
ISBN
147673612X / 9781476736129