Product Description
Struggling to deal with her lover's murder and a forced retirement, Captain Honor Harrington assumes the role of Steadholder on the planet Grayson, but a threatening uprising calls her back into duty as head of the Grayson Navy. Originally in paperback. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Weber keeps getting better.
At this rate, I may actually finish the Honor Harrington series before the heat death of the universe. Having just finished Flag in Exile by David Weber only fifteen years late, I think I'm getting the hang of this series.

Though a friend at work recommended the series, and due to the length, I was suspicious it would be throw-away pulp; I'm willing to admit now that that my fears were mostly unwarranted. Weber clearly enjoys the universe he constructed, and has spent significant time developing it. In Flag in Exile, Honor retires to Grayson as steadholder after losing her commission thanks in no small part to Pavel Young. This allows Weber to expound on the changes Harrington has influenced in their society as they struggle to accept her. As expected, this is much easier said than done.

This is thanks to a number of developments that complicate the plot, again, into a snarl of politics with the added zing of religious zealotry. Poor Honor. Her new venture in Sky Domes promises to make her even more wealthy, she's been requested to act as Admiral to a squadron consisting of half a dozen super dreadnaughts and other lighter attack craft, and considering her pseudo-exile, things are progressing swimmingly. Until accounting for the concerted effort to undermine Sky Domes, assassinate her credibility through righteous manipulation of the population, outright murder to further these aims, and an oncoming attack from Haven that doesn't even allow her an hour of sleep in the interim. The final half of the book is unrelenting. Even knowing Honor would win in the end never stopped me from cringing as circumstances stacked against her.

The thing that really affected my sensibilities however, was that Benjamin Mayhew's iron reign on the other steadholders is essentially the only thing standing between Honor and the indignant conspirators. If an accident of birth had created Mayhew more in the image of the zealots seeking to destroy her, things would have taken a disastrous turn. Weber even included an afterward describing his own concern over the blindness that sometimes overtakes men and women, so utterly convinced of their own virtues that the ends justify any means, no matter the human fallout. These crusades appear constantly in our own history, and sickeningly, Honor's struggles are hardly an exaggeration; if anything, they're nothing compared to the atrocities committed in the name of holiness.

I wouldn't say Weber is a master of this kind of subject matter, but he definitely understands the underlying complexities inherent in a government that seeks to subjugate such intolerance. The machinations are believable and compelling despite the mundane nature plotting and scheming might otherwise suggest. And once again, the naval battle almost necessary in any Harrington novel, only really plays a bit part toward the end of the book. Much like Field of Dishonor, this novel provides vital background and motivation that will flesh-out the rest of the series.

I like where this is going!

Some Reoccurring Problems
I have greatly enjoyed David Weber's Honor Harrington series so far and hope to continue to do so, but I noticed some issues in Flag in Exile that have been constantly reoccurring, and it has gotten to the point that I feel the need to address these problems.However, despite the negative tone of this review, that is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book.On the contrary, Weber writes an interesting plot chock full of interesting characters and well-written space battles, which make the book hard to put down.Spoilers follow.

Flag in Exile picks up a year or so after the events of the previous book (Field of Dishonor).Honor has returned to Grayson (the planet she saved in Honor of the Queen) to recover from the emotional trauma of losing Paul Tankersley.She is not given much peace, however, as she also carrying out her duties of Steadholder Harrington: the first female steadholder on a patriarchal planet.Due to her position of power, she is forced to endure a great amount of criticism and scorn from the more traditional of Grayson's steadholders and people.Honor needs to rise to the challenge and prove that she is not only a war hero, but a successful steadholder and politician on a world that doubts her and wishes for her to fail.

Outside of Grayson, the war between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the People's Republic of Haven (the Peeps) has begun to turn in the Peeps' favour.Despite their somewhat inferior technology, the Republic's Navy manages to capture a couple of systems, and the Kingdom fears the loss of more important allied systems.On half-pay from Manticore's Navy, Honor is asked to serve in Grayson's Navy as admiral of the First Battle Squadron.

A couple of familiar faces from Honor of the Queen are brought back.Specifically, Alfredo Yu and Mercedes Brigham hold prominent roles on Honor's flagship Terrible.

Various events transpire and the plot begins to unfold.Locally on Grayson, one particularly dissatisfied steadholder, Lord Burdette, plots and succeeds in carrying out a horrible sabotage, killing both children and members of Harrington Steading, and later an assassination attempt, resulting in a very unfortunate and unexpected death.While these unfortunate events occur, the Peeps are carefully executing a plan to invade the Endicott system (where Grayson is located).

Honor is forced to defend her, well, honour in an intense, to-the-death fencing match against Burdette and then immediately steps into the role of Admiral Harrington to defend the Endicott system.In a climactic naval battle, Honor takes heavy losses, but manages to hold the enemy at bay and even take out a majority of the invading force.Through her courage and determination, she saves Grayson for a second time, proving herself as a true heroine in Grayson's eyes.

One can hardly complain about the overall plot of the book.It's gripping and often exciting.Even though I don't particularly enjoy politics, I flew through the political portions of the book (mostly dealing with Grayson politics, which are actually rather intriguing).I suppose one minor complain that could be made here is that the situation in which Honor is seemingly the underdog, hopelessly outnumbered with her damaged ships, yet possesses the courage and determination to fight to the death to protect a greater cause is becoming a bit tiresome.Otherwise, the plot is fantastic.

The characters are also well thought out.Weber seems to take great care in making sure the reader gets to know the supporting cast just as much as the main characters.I personally enjoy reading about the various viewpoints, thoughts, and even quirks of characters aside from the hero of the story.The author certainly doesn't shy away from killing off a character that the reader has gotten to know and attached to.Even the Peeps, the bad guys of the book, are given personalities, and one can see that not all members of the Republic's Navy are evil simply because they are not on the "good" side.It's great to see that the supporting characters are given so much attention and life, and it certainly adds a new aspect to the story.

Unfortunately, this brings me to one of the main problems with this book: Honor Harrington herself.Weber obviously loves his main character, and while he takes the time to ensure that the reader really knows the minor characters, Honor is becoming something of a caricature.Simply put, she is too perfect.She has already proven herself to be a competent commander in the navy and it is made clear that she is also successful in the political arena, even when the odds are stacked against her.Her plans rarely seem to fail, and even when they blow off course, something occurs to make them succeed anyway.Not only can she succeed there, but she's also very accomplished in hand to hand combat.Before Flag in Exile, we knew she could shoot and was practically a master in a form of martial arts.In this book, we are also made aware that, despite only having a year or so of training, she is also amazing with a sword, even going as far as to defeat an opponent who has had a considerably greater amount of experience.At this point, she is also physically attractive and her beauty is described or referred to several times in the novel (as well as her soprano voice).She can do no wrong, and even when she is considered to have made a mistake, she is still right in the eyes of the higher ups.Honestly, this all might not be so bad if she was aware of her success, but she maintains a naïve modesty and refuses to acknowledge her accomplishments.Honor succeeds at everything she tries, often making her difficult to relate to and sometimes a bit of a pain to read.

What also becomes tiresome is the degree to which Honor is the centre of attention.Manticore's officers and higher ups all respect and love her (even though they have been forced to put her on half-pay), the Peeps respect and fear her, and Grayson's Protector (Benjamin Mayhew IX) and the other prominent figures that matter respect and are concerned for her.Everyone knows who she is and has some reaction to just how good she is.I was always under the impression that there were other people in the galaxy who were more successful and prestigious than Honor, but Honor is still portrayed as being the best.Even Hamish Alexander is written as being second rate.

What comes as a double-edged sword for me is Honor's pain for those who die in combat.While I'm glad that Weber has opted for Honor to feel some emotion for the inevitable losses of military battle instead of casting them aside as unimportant, he tends to take it to an almost melodramatic degree.

Nimitz manages to provide Honor with yet another advantage.The two of them share a rare (practically the only) telepathic link that allows them to share their emotions.It also allows Nimitz to portray others' emotions to Honor.This was an interesting idea when it was first introduced, but has now just become another instrument to make Honor better than everyone else.

Moving away from the character of Honor, the portrayal of the really bad guys (Burdette, Marchant, and the Citizen Commissioners, for example) is starting to bother me.They're all just unbelievably, stereotypically evil (and often shortsighted in their extreme evilness).I'd hoped for some more ambiguous antagonists by this point; perhaps a character that actually has believable, relatable motives and goals.Instead, all we get are plotting, scheming archetypes with no goals other than to bring the mighty Honor Harrington down.

Like I said before, despite my negativity, I actually liked the plot and events of this book a lot.My actual rating is a 3.5, but I've rounded down to 3 because Honor is becoming way too unbelievable and difficult to read and relate to.I've actually noticed the problems mentioned above in the earlier books, too, but decided to give Weber the benefit of the doubt (and give him more time to get a feel for his main character), but by this point, it seems that things aren't going to change.I sincerely hope that the next books do something to make Honor less perfect.So, Flag in Exile had a tight plot and some really interesting supporting characters, but the reoccurring issues are starting to get distracting.3.5 stars.

The weakest of the first five books
Of the five Honor Harrington books I've read so far, this is the only one that had me skipping pages. Weber moves away from what made the series so enjoyable -- the military angle -- and the result is a book that's 80 percent politics, with only a smattering of the fleet-dueling, ship-maneuvering fun.

Worse, there are seemingly endless passages of characters' introspection. Yes, it rounds them out to see their thought processes, but after 10 or 12 paragraphs that serve as either overdone exposition or needless history lesson, it's a bit tiresome.

Imagine something like this:

"Smith looked out the window at the fields below -- fields his father had inherited after the first civil war, which saw more than 80 percent of the farms in the region destroyed. His father, himself the child of a military man, had pledged never to let that happen again. And because his father was a Jonesian by birth, that promise also carried on to the younger Smith. Jonesians were known galaxy-wide for their unwavering resolve, a fact that had served Smith well. It helped, of course, that he had been trained at the Johnson Academy, known for instilling the virtues of both economic sense and military prowess in its students. But because those students often...."

You get the idea. Now imagine it going on and on for several pages. So much for "show them, don't tell them."

There are other issues with "Flag in Exile." Ironically, while such overzealous inner dialog gives supporting characters more depth, Honor Harrington is in danger of becoming a caricature. She's too perfect. Her officers are all incredible. Her staff is top of the line. Her crew is wonderful. Her plans always work. In earlier books we learned she's a perfect shot -- possibly one of the best there is. Her treecat, Nimitz, is the only one known to develop a two-way empathic link. In this book, [SPOILER WARNING!!!] despite less than a year's training, she's able to defeat one of the best sword fighters on the planet in a fraction of second while bruised, broken, and exhausted. [END SPOILER]

To say believability is stretched is an understatement.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first four books in the series, and will be starting the sixth soon. But if I find myself confronted with overly long exposition and a lead character who can do no wrong, that's it for Honor Harrington.

Honor Harrington Series
David Weber has created one of the most outstanding sci-fi action series I've ever read with Honor Harrington.

I hope he keeps cranking them out.

A heroine for the ages
The fifth entry in the long running Honor Harrington series by David Weber, Flag in Exile is superb.Honor's strengths are equivalent to Achilles' without the pouting, and with more intelligence.The best parts of the books for me, including this one, are the relationships Honor has with her friends, lovers and enemies.Certain of her speeches are Churchillian in grandeur, expressed so perfectly as to arouse vicarious envy.
I might subtract one half star for the battle scenes.David Weber has gone to great lengths to imagine a future with a plausible interstellar technology.He has also imagined navies that are similar to the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War in that they have achieved a relative military balance that heavily favors the offense.Thus, just as 87,000 American soldiers were killed in 3 days of battle at Gettysburg, tens if not hundreds of thousands of soldiers are killed in each battle that takes place in this series.I am somewhat miffed that Weber presents these battles without comment.Is he making an ironic point that no matter how advanced technology becomes, no matter how human beings evolve, they will NEVER figure it out - the total senseless futility of it all?Or does he somehow find glory in these great battles with their mass casualties?It is up to the reader to decide.It is no accident that my favorite book of the series is number 4, "Field of Dishonor," probably because it contains the fewest large-scale battles of any of the other books in the series that I have read. ... Read more

Product Description
Prince Roger MacClintock, Heir to the Throne of Man, was a spoiled rotten arrogant, thoroughly useless young pain in the butt. But that was before the royal Brat and his Marine bodyguards had their starship sabotaged, and all were marooned on the enemy-occupied planet of Marduk. Before they had to march half way around the entire planet, through steaming jungles, damnbeasts, Capetoads, and killerpillars. Before they encountered treacherous local potentates, hostile barbarian armies numbering in the thousands, and an ocean full of creatures that are big, vicious and voracious. Under the right circumstances, even the most spoiled brat can grow up fast. Now, Roger and his loyal troops have made it to the sea, and on the way, Roger has proven himself to be a true MacClintock and a born leader. Still, the sea has monsters big enough to swallow a ship - and across the water is an enemy spaceport, bristing with heavy artillery, against which Roger's team has only had weapons with nearly-drained power packs. But neither Roger nor the Marines are about to give up, Marduk, do your worst!Amazon.com Review
Science fiction icon David Weber (the Honor Harrington series) teams up with Airborne-soldier-turned-author John Ringo (A Hymn Before Battle) in their third novel about Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang Alexander MacClintock, Heir Tertiary to the Throne of Man. March to the Stars continues the adventures of Roger and the Bronze Barbarians that started in March Upcountry and continued in March to the Sea as they battle their way across the remote planet of Marduk in their bid to return home to Earth.Through the course of these first three novels, Roger has grown from a spoiled brat into a true leader of men and aliens alike. March to the Stars takes the Bronze Barbarians of the Imperial Guard across the Eastern Ocean of Marduk, facing giant sea monsters and pirates, and eventually to a spaceport held by humans of questionable loyalties. The naval battle with Mardukian pirates contains some swashbuckling heroics worthy of Errol Flynn himself, and Roger learns that not everything is as it seems on either Marduk or Earth. Fortunately, he's got the Bronze Barbarians and the Basik's Own at his back.

Collaboration is a tricky art form, and the resulting work can often feel rough and blocky, with the writers' differing styles at odds. Weber and Ringo deliver a work with a smooth blending of style, serving up a sum that is indeed greater than its parts. Readers should be warned, however, that by the end of the story they will likely be tempted to scoop up other works by these authors to satisfy their reading needs while waiting for the next novel in the series. --Ron Peterson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

March to the Stars
An enjoyable read.Not a real thought provoking book, but fun to read and good escapist literature.

Like new book
thought I was buying a paper back, got a hardcover, still very pleased with order

PRINCE ROGER SERIES AUDIOBOOK REVIEW
I only listen to audiobooks and this is a review of all 4 books in the Prince Roger Series.

Authors: David Weber & Jon Ringo. From Amazon Reviews: "Science fiction icon David Weber (the Honor Harrington series) teams up with Airborne-soldier-turned-author John Ringo (A Hymn Before Battle) in their novels about Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang Alexander MacClintock, Heir Tertiary to the Throne of Man".

The 4 books (as of now) are: March Upcountry, March to the Sea, March to the Stars, We Few.

READER OF ALL BOOKS: STEFAN RUDNICKI (AAA+ reader - my first experience with him was in Ender's Game".)

After finishing this series I must say it is a story RIPE for a continuation!!!! AND I REALLY hope they do.This is a "too good to miss story". Well, assuming you like military futuristic fantasy (Ender's Game anyone? ... this is just as captivating).

This series was my first contact with either of these authors - both of which seem to have their own following.IMHO, this is just about as good as storytelling gets, with a AAA+ reader to make it come alive.

You'll laugh (there is a lot of humor in these stories mixed in with the battles and personal stories ("de pocking ting don't work" LOL) and you'll cry (at the heroic deaths of Roger's hard-won but faithful followers - almost ALL of Bronze Battalion of the Empress's Own Marine bodyguards(particularly of Captain Armand Panar), and just as much the Mardukan heros who end up dieing for Roger in the final battle of the story, ... and in so many battles before... Rastar in particular...

...and then there is Costas (Roger's Valet, and absolute friend who'd followed him almost all of his life) - finally eaten by a "damncroc" on Marduk while fetching Roger water. Then there are the unforgettable Mardukan animals, which both: hone Roger's inate skills as predators against him on Marduk; but also become his closest friends (Dogzard and Paddy who saved Roger's neck SO MANY times in the numerous battles and personal confrontations both on Marduk and on Earth).

Then, there is the underlying story of Roger's Mother, the Empress, ... SO miserably used and abused, FINALLY saved by Roger and his colorful mixed army of humans and extraterrestials.

OH, and don't forget the romantic drivel so well mixed in ... Nimochete Despreau in particular - who started out refusing to marry Roger if he became Emperor - (which everyone knew he would eventually) and ofcourse ends up with Roger anyway -.

There are just too many fascinating and well told character stories in this story to mention or describe them all ... and like I said, this series is RIPE for continuation of "Roger the Emperor" ... going after the surviving bad guys at the end of the series.

What happens with Roger's poor abused but still regal Mother, who turned over the crown of the "house of man" to Roger at the end of the story?

What happens with Roger and Nimochete (who must produce an heir to the throne - well, I can imagine where that would go)?

What happens with the newly elevated Mardukans who followed Roger to Earth on his wild quest?

What happens to Marduk itself? Now infested with Roger loving loyal followers ... and where... Roger had claimed he would rule one day in peace with Nimochete.

Hmmm.... sounds ripe for more story to me. And I'm looking forward to it if it comes, IF it is as good as these that's as good as they'll need to be for me.


The characters in this story are superbly developed even though the story moves along quickly, and while the story line may be somewhat predictable (Roger's going to win in the end) getting there is a MARVELOUS journey through a truly captivating but brutal world. Just like our own eh?

Did imposters sneak in to write this one?
What a disappointment! March to the Sea and March Upcountry are two of my favorite novels, especially two of my science fiction novels. They were well-paced and well-written with great characterizations.

Did imposters sneak in to write this one? That's the only conclusion I can come to. Or maybe it's that Mr. Weber is getting a bit old and has forgotten author Elmore Leonard's sage advice to leave out the parts that people skip.

March to the Stars is twice as long as the previous two novels and yet it has HALF the plot. Does that tell you something? Padded. Seriously padded. I shook my head all the way through this thing.

The battles are stretched out to the point of tedium. Most of the trip across the sea is boring (and I mean BORING) description of their training. The marines train. Well, DUH! Did they really have to describe every singe excrutiating moment?

Making it worse, the interaction between the formerly interesting characters was cut to a minimum. Especially Captain Pahner is short-changed. This previously interesting and vital character can't make the simplest tactical decision without Roger pointing it out to him. One has to assume he's suffering from Alzheimers. They even give Cord the silliest romance in history, which is saying something. Eleanor has simply totally disappeared, well not quite but she might as well have.

When they finally get across the sea they face CANNIBALS? Oh, geez. And the fight to take the starport that this whole thing led up to wasn't even a fight. I kept thinking I'd missed a chapter in that part. But nope.

I don't know which of them came up with the idea that Prince Rodger should become a Conan-like invincible warrior, but if you find that believable or think it adds to the story, believe me I don't. I thought this was supposed to MILITARY science fiction guys. He's supposed to be a frigging PRINCE, for heaven's sake. They can't fight a battle without Rodger leading the way or make a decision without Rodger making it. He can take anything or anyone and is now totally unkillable no matter what is done to him. I found this part the worst of Space Opera cliches. TWICE he escaped death from a weapon that instantly killed Pahner. Ummmm Yeah. Sure.

By the end of this, I was seriously debating whether I'll bother to read the next one, and that is really saying something about the third in what USED to be my all-time favorite series.

I honestly have rarely been quite so disappointed in a novel. On the other hand, I have to admit it. Weber and Ringo are good enough writers that, if you skip the boring parts and ignore the really increadibly silly parts, it's still a decent read -- just a LONG way from a great one.

Turning Aliens into Marines
March to the Stars is the third installment in a tetralogy. Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang MacClintock is the tertiary heir to the throne held by his mother the Empress.He must learn diplomacy and independence as well as leadership if he's going to return to his home and take his rightful place in the imperial government.First, however, he must cross a violent sea, traipse across a continent, conquer and spaceport and commandeer a ship - all with primitive weapons and very few remaining Marines.But he's Prince Roger and by this time, he can do anything - so long as he leaves bodies in his wake.

[the following text is the same for my reviews of all 4 books in the series.]

First the good points - It's a fast-paced and exciting military science fiction story which takes the reader from danger to danger quickly.The plot moves along and these two writers know how to spin an interesting story.I give kudos to them for hooking me and making me read to the end and want to pick up the final book in the series.

Now the bad.This book is set hundreds of years in the future, yet all the sayings, quotes, poems, and songs come from our recent military history.Everything out of the mouths of the troops was a cliche that I've heard hundreds of times.Can't these two writers create a new lexicon for a future military?Can't they replace the worn metaphors with something creative and cool for a future society?Wouldn't there have been another poet that Marines love to replace Rudyard Kipling?

Speaking of Cliches, every character was one - the tried and true marine sergeant, gruff and tough, but with a heart of gold - The commander who spouts philosophy while ordering a slaughter - the spoiled kid, born with a silver spoon who becomes an honorable man under combat duress.It's all here and it's all predictable.Don't Ringo and Weber's readers want to experience something new or are they all Corps veterans reliving a collective past rosier and more ideal than the reality?

Also, the authors' politics are front and center.I disagree with their assertions and it was starky annoying.

Still, decent reading if you can get past the negatives.

- CV Rick, April 2008
... Read more

Product Description
Five thousand years after Sun Tzu writes The Art of War, his advice is followed during the Fourth Interstellar War between the terrible Bugs and the humans, who are aided by their catlike Orion allies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (102)

A great beginning...
This book is the first part out of two. The second is called "The Shiva Option" and ends this mini series.
The story is space adventure and space military when it is at it's best. Epic battles and seemingly never ending problems to overcome.
The question is this: will mankind and it's alien allies live through the war with the new enemy that simpy see us as food? Or will we all go down?
Fantasticly good book(s) to read! Well worth the money.

Space battles galore, non-stop action...what more could you want?
My first foray into David Weber territory was the Honor Harrington series and ever since, I snap up any David Weber book to gleefully devour.=)Weber is well-known for his very detailed space battles, and believe me, he's got a knack for it I haven't come across by any other military sci-fi author (I read Steve White's Starfire book, without Weber co-writing, that continued in this universe and it's very apparent that David Weber gives a little "oomph" to the book that White lacks).In this regard, Weber is a pure genius in his ability to transport the reader right in the middle of a heated, chaotic, and tense-filled battles in space among starships.

If you're looking for a serious science fiction book that delves into deeper moral or social issues, don't pick up this book.If you want that, pick up Kim Stanley Robinson or Verner Vinge.I'll warn you right now, if you're expecting some profound sci-fi book, you'll be highly disappointed in the shoot-'em-up-raisin'-hell mentality of many of the characters in this book.This is pure, visceral action-packed military sci-fi and it's not meant for deep thinking to occur.LOL.

That said, what is this book about?This is the 2nd book in a 4 book series (The 1st and 4th are set in the same universe though at different eras).The 3rd book, The Shiva Option, continues the story begun in this book, In Death Ground.

The Terran Federation has spread amongst the stars and have encountered several advanced alien civilizations.While not always getting along with their alien allies, there is peace, when all of a sudden a human survey flotilla, conducting a more detailed survey of a system hastily mapped decades before, encounters a star system densely populated with a new alien race.Unknown to the survey flotilla, with their passage into the new, unmapped star system, they triggered a cloaked, alien ship into awareness.

Unfortunately for humanity and its allies, this new alien race is not benign and peace is *not* an option.Almost the entire survey flotilla is destroyed, despite repeated communication attempts, and humanity finds its entire race and civilization (spread across hundreds of worlds) at stake.The alien race is nicknamed "Bugs" (read and you'll find out why!), and the Terran Federation and her allies find they are thrust head-long into a war with an unknown enemy that refuses to communicate except through the vast array of ships it sends their way.It's a fight to the death and the human race is determined to win!

Poor quality rip-off of Heinlein
This book is a repititious account of thousands of ships blasting thousands of ships with little detail or tactical considerations, interspersed with Admirals pontificating on their noble self-sacrifice.

At times there are sections that are nearly word-for-word copies from Heinlein's Starship Troopers.

I enjoyed 'Crusade' and 'Insurrection' from the authors, but this entry is simply awful filler.

A rather simple and weak unstopable force
This book takes place in a universe that was developed from the game Starfire, a wargame for the 1980's. Enough said about that, this is a review about Crusade. This book opens with a first encounter between humans and a species we'll get to know as the bugs. After the first encounter we get to see several battles involving humans (on the defensive because the bugs are coming after them) and the bugs. In reading this book I was reminded so many times of reading a book about WW III or the Eastern Front in WWII. Why do I say that, well the human's have fewer ships with high tech, and the bugs have low tech but lots of numbers. Let me correct that, not lots of numbers, but vastly superior numbers (as the Russian saying goes, Quantity has a Quality all of it's own). However rather than attaching myself to any of the characters or feeling that the battles were great descriptions of possible actions, I felt like I was wading thru a pool of molasses. Because of this I can only rate this one 3 stars. I couldn't help but feeling that both Mr. Weber and Mr. White mailed this one in. Rather than spending your time reading Crusade, read one of the Honor Harrington books or a different space opera unless you like reading about massive numbers of large ships and destroying things in a rather flat/linear fashion.

Battle Stations!!!
What a wonderful sci-fi novel! I couldn't put it down. I haven't read any of Weber's other books and didn't realise there are prequels to In Death Ground. Nonetheless I managed effortlessly to get into the storyline.

I usually read about modern and ancient history warfare, which I now and then interrupt with a military science fiction novel. Yes, those novels which are so hard to find! At last I found a hard-core military space battle sci-fi book that is as riveting as any real-life war novel.

The book is one long action packed space battle with a myriad of different spaceships, strategies and manoeuvres that would have satisfied Alexander the Great, with battles lost and won to your heart's delight. There is very little time for mindless chatter or aimless wanderings in this space opera.

In Death Ground's inter-textual play with Heinlein's Starship Troopers works very well - from the description of the bugs and the name Bug War to the abrupt end. It even manages to drag Starship Troopers out of its sometimes dull think-too-much, do-too-little world, since the battle that never happens in Starship Troopers (the book, not the movie) has finally arrived here In Death Ground!

Lastly the book is thankfully void of over-zealous character development or any other human-interest ploys.

Really a superb book!
... Read more

Product Description
Outnumbered and outgunned, Honor Harrington has just two options: see the people under her command slaughtered in hopeless battle or surrender them--and herself--to the Peeps. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

On my Honor
I have been enjoying all the Honor Harrington books. Weber is a very good writer.

A Lull in the War that Builds Suspense
Am I done with David Weber's Honor Harrington series yet? Sadly, no. After finishing In Enemy Hands, I still have many more to go, but it's not a struggle I dread.

Fittingly, this particular installment is more about Haven than Honor or Manticore. The first half of the book is almost purely setup, and considering the title, it's not exactly a surprise that our heroine is eventually captured. But that's fine in this context, because Haven has historically received the short end of the stick. Haven's society is a precarious testament to unchecked power, the potency of directed propaganda, and delusions of grandeur. Weber paints a portrait of a society on the verge of another revolution, desperately scrabbling for scraps to maintain a war now required for public opinion.

And yet the war is currently at a lull. Sure, Haven captures a star system and transforms it into a dangerous lure, much to the chagrin of Honor and her squadron, but the political unrest threatens to revert this progress, and the Socialistic fervor of Cordelia Ransom certainly complicates matters. The point isn't that Honor is going to a prison planet, or even why this is the case, but that Haven's long obscured prison must be revealed, and all the implications involved when the Galaxy at large--including the Solarian League--discovers their duplicity.

It's clear this isn't just a war of military maneuvers, and that politics play a significant part, and the deeper insight that Weber introduces with his summary of Haven's social woes is impossible to ignore. Honor's involvement is a foregone conclusion, and the only real mystery is how she'll escape. Considering the length of the series at large, having a number of universe-building entries is necessary to maintain ambiance without it turning into a mere transcription of erratic space battles from the perspective of a somewhat empathetic heroine.

It's an interesting conundrum Weber has introduced this time, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Lady Captain Honor Harrington surrenders
Honor Harrington, the Lady Starship Captain who uses her skills to protect Star Kingdom of Manticore from the People's Republic (Peeps) of Haven and other menaces, is back on duty. Having sailed from victory to victory in previous books over seemingly-impossible odds, she founds it disturbing to find feelings from her superior; her mentor. He's married. And she can't reveal any of her confused emotions to White Haven as it would be against the strictest code of military. Elsewhere, her steadings at Grayson are doing well only if she hadn't been surprised by the fleet of treecats that decided to settle on Grayson; following the footsteps of Nimitz, her personal treecat, to adopt more Humans to spread their species. At a standard escort mission Honor manages to signal warning and save the freighters but is outnumbered by the Peeps firepower and forced to surrender. First time in her career. And the People's Republic know what they've got; the SS (State Security) division drools over her capture and will be making an example out of her; as publicly as possible. What will be Honor's odds this time?

The book continues to carry on a believable military model with technically descriptive tone to squelch all the details needed for impeller drive, missile pods and the hulls of battlecruisers to make them become alive. At this point of series (book 7) one either loves every detail or the details are slowly wearing one out. The military society that surrounds the main character offers very little leech to try different approaches to human relations when the writer keeps his pen on firmly on boxed square where responses are somewhat predictable.

Two (2) stars. Written in 1997, this is book 7 of Weber's Honorverse. For Honor Harrington readers this books is like standing still. Page count is hefty compared to what you get out of the story. The is hardly dialog to bring the story forward, but pages after pages of descriptions what happens in people's minds. This makes the plot too wandering and loose focus; the wanderings could work as a background, but enough is enough. The action that starts around page 400 (last page being 530) is the only link to contribute to Lady Captains's progress and make the reading barely worthwhile. Too much inner talk and spending time in characters' heads make this book a wooden read.

Tired of the lectures
OK, I read a lot of science fiction, especially military SF. The first few books in the Honor Harrington series were a wonderful homage to Horatio Hornblower and a nice bit of fresh air in space opera. Books 1 through 3 were quite good, 4 through 6 OK, and then I was sorely disappointed by this one.

The story was OK; the plot was OK; the development of the overarching series as a whole was OK. What was NOT ok was the fact that Weber descended into so many author filibusters that it A) felt like a full 1/3 of the book was Weber telling me I am not concerned enough with the plight of women and B) I wanted to stop reading the darn book. In the end I finished it, but Weber's ridiculous screedsalmost put me off the entire series.

Part of a wonderful series
I actually purchased this book to replace one that had literally been "read to pieces" by my daughter, my granddaughter and myself.The entire Honor Harrington series of novels by David Weber is indeed worth reading over and over again in the true tradition of classics.I strongly recommend reading the entire series in chronological order.I have not purchased these books for myself because it has been possible to share them and my own collection has become over-crowded with other much-loved books.Still, if I had not been able to borrow them from my daughter's library, I would have collected them on my own."In Enemy Hands" is one of the more "painful" of these novels, but like all of them, it is a nail-biter from start to finish.An especially valuable aspect of the Honor Harrington novels is their deep psychological and even spiritual insight without being in any way self-conscious or heavy handed. ... Read more

Product Description
David Weber's Honor Harrington has famously conquered our universe, most recently with the New York Times bestseller Ashes Of Victory. Now David Weber, with the able assistance of his fast-rising military SF cohort John Ringo, has done it again with the creation of a new kind of hero, Prince Roger MacClintock! Roger is a spoiled young princeling hardly worth the space he takes up. Now he must become a man, or the entire galaxy will suffer from arrested adolescence! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (55)

weak writing plus stale characters = mediocrity
This is a joint venture by two authors, Weber and Ringo. Its part of a series of four books, so dont be surprised like I was when you reach the end of book one and realize that its 'just the start of our journey' to paraphrase a character.

I thoroughly disagree with the very concept behind this story. That a monarch will exist 1000 years from now. Prince Roger is on an interstellar mission when his ship is attacked by a suicide bomber of sorts. The ship makes a landing on a relatively unexplored planet and Roger along with a group of guard marines protects him on a journey across its surface. They have to travel half way around to get to their destination, a space port and a ticket out.

What I dont like is that so much in the way of lives and commitment is thrown away in the protection of this mealy headed prince. Its unrealistic. Hah, unrealistic in this genre is pushing it, but it lacks an emotional oomph.

I would stay away from this series. Justbefore I read this, I picked up 'rally cry' by fortschen (i think thats his name). It sort of had a similar concept with a large group of infantry battling it out in a new terrain. I would say that this series by fortshen is much more engaging than Webers 'march' books.

Great Start to a Great Series!
Excellent book!I got hooked on this before deploying to Iraq, and had to wait a year and a half to make it home to re-read and finish the series.The characters may not all get full-development right away, but they get developed enough so that you feel their loss, and realize that's how Roger sees them too.It's a great epic series.It's got Ringo's name on it, so of course it's good!If you're a fan of military sci-fi (and even if you're not), you should pick this up.It's got adventure, sword-fighting, honor, heroism, romance, character/leadership-growth and tempering.One of my favorite things about this genre is it places characters into extraordinary circumstances and sees how they deal and overcome (or fail) along the way.Some might consider sci-fi and fantasy empty for this reason, but I've found you get a better insight into what humanity/ human nature is capable of when pushed to extremes.This series certainly does that, taking a soft character, and making them hard as nails.

"I love my mother. . .."
I liked "Into the Looking Glass" by John Ringo, but this collaboration by the same author with David Weber was disappointing.I found myself skipping paragraphs and pages over the last 50 pages, just when you would expect the book to be at its most exciting.

The premise is promising -- everyone thinks the young prince is a lightweight, and he acts it, but he comes into his own as a man and a leader when stranded with a group of marines on a hostile planet.This premise could have been enough, I think, if the story had been told in a single volume instead of stretched and padded through almost 600 pages that bring the journey to about 1/3 completion.

The weaknesses are serious.For example, here is an excerpt from the Prince's final address to the troops (page 560): "I'm not going to get into my bitches about the way I was raised.We've all got complaints about our parents, and I'm no different from anyone else in that respect.But I want you to know that no matter how angry I was the other day, I love my mother. . . ."This speech does not sound like a prince; it does not sound like a marine; it does not even sound like the spoken word.More importantly, it shows how flat the Prince's coming-of-age story turns out.

Ahh, but perhaps you don't care about the story line, you just want good battles.Here too, I think the book fails.The marines are using high tech weapons against natives armed with spears. The result is a series of slaughters, with the loss of an occasional marine.This gets old fast.

The problem is compounded by the senselessness of the fighting.The marines have microcomputers that serve as universal translators.So why don't the marines ever tell the warlike "Kranolta" that the marines are not invaders and, indeed, are willing to pay in valuable hides for the privilege of safe passage across the Kranolta land?Given the amount of "nation building" that the marines do in some of the slow sections of the book, you would think that they would at least try to parley along these lines.Instead, the small band of marines winds up killing almost every one of the 15,000 or so Kranolta warriors without so much as a how-do-you-do.I like a good battle as much as anyone, but can we have a reason for it?

Other problems include dialogue with every current linguistic cliche; a remarkably weak romantic side-story; and some likable minor characters (a doglike lizard and a brave pack beast) who get built up for a while only to be forgotten in the second half of the book.

Mostly, I think I will remember this book for its overuse of the word "abattoir."My strong advice is to skip this story, and read Jack Campbell's "Dauntless" series instead.

PRINCE ROGER SERIES... AUDIOBOOKS REVIEW
I only listen to audiobooks and this is a review of the Prince Roger Series - Authors:David Weber & Jon Ringo.From Amazon Reviews:"Science fiction icon David Weber (the Honor Harrington series) teams up with Airborne-soldier-turned-author John Ringo (A Hymn Before Battle) in their novels about Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang Alexander MacClintock, Heir Tertiary to the Throne of Man".

The 4 books (as of now) are: March Upcountry, March to the Sea, March to the Stars, We Few.

READER OF ALL BOOKS: STEFAN RUDNICKI (AAA+ reader - my first experience with him was in Ender's Game".)

After finishing this series I must say that I think it is a story RIPE for a continuation!!!!AND I REALLY hope they do - this is a "too good to miss story".Well, assuming you like military futuristic fantasy (Ender's Game anyone? ... this is just as captivating).This series was my first contact with either of these authors - both of which seem to have their own following here on Amazon.BTW, the overall reviews on Amazon on the individual books in this series are ALL, overall, 4.0 to 4.5.GIVEN, the reader, I'd give it a 4.75 to 5.0 (i.e. this is just about as good asstorytelling gets, with a AAA+ reader to make it come alive).

You'll laugh (there is a lot of humor in these stories mixed in with the battles and personal stories ("de pocking ting don't work" LOL) and you'll cry (at the heroic deaths of Roger's hard-won but faithful followers, - almost ALL of Bronze Battalion of the Empress's Own Marine bodyguards(particularly of Captain Armand Panar), and just as much the Mardukan heros who end up dieing for Roger in the final battle of the story, ... and in so many battles before... Rastar in particular...

...and then there is Costas (Roger's Valet, and absolute friend who'd followed him almost all of his life) - finally eaten by a "damncroc" on Marduk while fetching Roger water.Then there are the unforgettable Mardukan animals, which both: hone Roger's inate skills as predators against him on Marduk; but also become his closest friends (Dogzard and Paddy who saved Roger's neck SO MANY times in the numerous battles and personal confrontations both on Marduk and on Earth).

Then, there is the underlying story of Roger's Mother, the Empress, ... SO miserably used and abused, FINALLY saved by Roger and his colorful mixed army of humans and extraterrestials.

OH, and don't forget the romantic drivel so well mixed in ... Nimochete Despreau in particular - who started out refusing to marry Roger if he became Emperor - (which everyone knew he would eventually) and ofcourse ends up with Roger anyway -.

There are just too many fascinating and well told character stories in this story to mention or describe them all ... and like I said, this series is RIPE for continuation of "Roger the Emperor" ... going after the surviving bad guys at the end of the series.

What happens with Roger's poor abused but still regal Mother, who turned over the crown of the "house of man" to Roger at the end of the story?

What happens with Roger and Nimochete (who must produce an heir to the throne - well, I can imagine where that would go)?

What happens with the newly elevated Mardukans who followed Roger to Earth on his wild quest?

What happens to Marduk itself?Now infested with Roger loving royal followers ... and where... Roger had claimed he would rule one day in peace with Nimochete.

Hmmm.... sounds ripe for more story to me.And I'm looking forward to it if it comes, IF it is as good as these that's as good as they'll need to be for me.


The characters in this story are superbly developed even though the story moves along quickly, and while the story line may be somewhat predictable (Roger's going to win in the end) getting there is a MARVELOUS journey through a truly captivating but brutal world.Just like our own eh?

A Sci-Fi Classic In The Making
This is an excellent start to a series.While there are a few things to dislike about this title, there are so many more things to like about it.Something I especially love is the use of Xenephons Anabasis, which means March Up Country, about a group of warriors fighting through hostile lands to get home.Drawing on history for the basis of a series is classic Weber, and one of the draws to this title.

The character work straddles the fence.Roger has the most character progression of any main character in a series, at least that I have read in a long time.Pharmer also has some series character progression, along with a few of the other minor characters.Unfortunately, this is off-set by many of the supporting characters being nothing more then cardboard cutouts, but this was bound to happen in any book with this many people in it from the start.And he does a good job of whittling those blank slates down a bit.

The story itself is very well constructed, with excellent pacing.The action is written very well, it bears more semblance to Ringo's military style small unit action senses then anything I have read from Weber before.While I credit Weber with much of the success of this book, the quality of the action has to be lauded to Ringo.

This book suffers a bit from the white hat / black hat syndrome of many other science fiction titles, so that can't be held to much against it.However, I would like to see more humanized or at least rounded enemies, and not just mindless evil-encompassing tyrants.

Overall, this is an excellent title, and one I would recommend to any sci-fi lover. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

Very good indeed.
Having read on the history of Spain in North America from other points of view, I have to say I found this book well reasearched, balanced and well written.

Mr. Weber has a rather honest approach to his subject, writing in a straight forward fashion, making his points clearly, setting forth the grounds on which he builds his cases. No mysticism, no romanticism, no black or white legends, no maniqueism, Mr. Weber attempts to depict (within a modest amount of space) the very complex fabric of the history of Spanish North America, and I do think he achieves his goal.Good maps, good references for further reading, and a good structure sure make this book recommended reading for anyone interested in the history of America at large, Spain, or just North America.

Pay no attention to simplistic interpretations that would like to synthesize everything in the rather silly statement that it should all be about Spaniards butchering Indians. Europeans against Indians, Indians against Indians, Indians against Europeans, and Europeans against Europeans, never hesitated in killing their opponents, using brutality and going on about with as much physical coertion and brutality as needed to attain their ends. Whoever thinks the contrary does nothing but fool himself or even worse, show an astounding ignorance and lack of understanding, not just of this particular episode of the history of mankind, but of History as a major human development.

A very good book indeed.

Great book in a neglected area
Being from a part of the US that is fairly unique in celebrating its French and Catholic rather than Anglo-American heritage i thought this was a great, in depth look at the Catholic European colonization of North America before manifest destiny, an area that is not well covered nationally. Although there are many legacies of the four decade long Spanish period in Louisiana like New Iberia, Spanish Lake, and family names (e.g. Romero, Ortega, etc.) much of the architecture and infrastructure that is often called French is in actuality Spanish. Because of two major fires New Orleans architecture is mostly Spanish Colonial style, and it became a really major city during the Spanish era. The Spanish language survived in the Canariano community, the Isleños, to the present day but like Acadian French its usage is limited to a few isolated areas. In all the Spanish accomplished a lot in North America despite very little immigration from the peninsula (New Spain and South America were much more attractive destinations), and a stifling mercantilist system that only began to be modified in the late 18th century. Spain was seemingly on the verge of a major rebirth in political power and culture until the accession of the weak Carlos IV and his wife's favorite Godoy who terribly bungled the response to revolutionary and Imperial France. The chaos in Spain opened the door for Anglo expansion and the rest is history, but it is intriguing to think of what might have been.

Everything you wanted to know about the Spanish colonies in North America
This book is a thorough treatment of the Spanish colonies in what is now the United States, from Florida to Texas, New Mexico, and California.If you're looking for information on the first European colonies north of the Rio Grande, founded long before Jamestown and the Plymouth, read about St. Augustine and Santa Fe.I constantly refer to this book.

The other North American frontier, or should we say frontiers?
Frontiers, in the plural, might be better. While many of us may call to mind Santa Fe, or the Alamo, the Spaniards were settled in, or exploring or defending, many places in North America. Only tenuously connected to each other, these frontier areas included Florida, the Gulf Coast, Texas, New Mexico, California and Arizona.

While New Mexico was reachable from Chihuahua, the Llano Estacado separated it from Texas. The Sierra Madre, water supplies in Mexico and such, separated New Mexico from the late-settled California and the even more tenuous hold on Arizona, not to mention that it was easier to get to California by sailing from Mexico out into the Central Pacific then taking trade winds back ... even from the Philippines. Apaches and Yaquis separated Arizona from California.

Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast and Florida weren't settled or explored from Mexico and so the first pages of their Spanish history were different.

As with all the European powers, dealing with the various Indian tribes was a large part of colonization. Weber takes a careful look at this, shows how the interaction went both ways and how the Spanish at least come off better in many ways than the English. That is also to say they come off better than the English's Anglo-American descendants as well.

Weber shows how Spain was less exterministic and more flexible in dealing with Indians than Anglos were, while doing so on a shoestring.

None of the Spanish frontiers in today's United States had anywhere near the degree of colonization that the British colonies had; for that matter, the Spanish would have settled for the number of Frenchmen who went to Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. Meanwhile, outside of New Mexico and Florida, by the time the Spanish got into various parts of North America, the empire's administration, military prowess and economy were all on the decline.

Yet, Spain persevered.

Read how, and what it does, could and should mean for our country today, in this very informative book. Ironically, I bought it at Coronado National Memorial -- one of Spain's first crossings into today's United States.

Wonderful History of Spanish Colonial Frontier
This is an excellent history of the Spanish colonial experience in North America.Like most of us, I grew up thinking of England when the word "colonial" comes around.The Spanish coolonial history is just as fascinating and far more romantic than their counterparts.Weber's history should be required reading in our universities.Anyone remotely interested in colonial history will find this a pleasant diversion. ... Read more

Product Description
Spain's frontier movement in North America planted Hispanic civilization in much of the future United States beginning with Ponce de Leon's arrival in Florida in 1513. After describing the travels of the conquistador explorers, it continues through three centuries of mission, presidio, and town development in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. As the Anglo-American frontier pushed westward, the Spanish frontier was increasingly a defensive one, and here the clashes between the two are fully explained, as are international rivalries involving the English, French, and even Russian pressures that affected the frontier. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Perplex
Although the intent of this undertaking was most commendable, and with all due respect to Father Bannon, the writing style is disconnected, complex and difficult to follow.Quite understandable when one attempts to cover three and a half centuries of conquest and subjugation into two hundred thirty odd pages.The overabundance of names, events, places and dates generates much confusion.
Nevertheless, I did glean some unknown particulars on the Spanish Borderlands which I previously did not know before.
Five stars for a great bibliography and one star for coherence.

Excellent Overview of the History of the American Southwest
Originally published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston in 1970, I first read Father Bannon's history of "The Spanish Borderlands Frontier" while in graduate school in 1980. I recently reread it to see if it still offered a useful overview of the subject. It does, despite the publication of David J. Weber's excellent "The Spanish Frontier in North America" (Yale University Press, 1992), which covers the same period and location and should be read in conjunction with Bannon's work. The Spanish borderlands was first denoted by Herbert Eugene Bolton, the great early twentieth century historian of the Spanish experience in North America, as the region originally settled by Spain but later incorporated into the United States. Bannon was one of his last students and the inheritor of his scholarly mantle.

"The Spanish Borderlands Frontier" presents a balanced and thorough history of Spanish exploration and settlement from Ponce de Leon's landing in 1513 to the end of Spain's North American empire in 1821. It is a magisterial textbook that presents an authoritative account of the Spanish colonial period in North America. It focuses largely on the political, economic, and religious activities of the borderlands, and always explores the relationship of the European conquerors to the Native American population. It takes a largely geographical approach, moving from region to region analyzing the development of the borderlands over time.

Father Bannon's work is still quite excellent and I applaud the University of New Mexico Press's decision to keep it in print more than thirty years after its original publication. Highly recommended!

A Solid Historical Contribution
As one of the volumes in the Holt, Rinehart and Winston "Histories of the American Frontier" series, this work provides an extensive look at Spanish expansion and activities in what was called by Herbert Eugene Bolton, The Spanish Borderlands, from the 1513 landing ofJuan Ponce de León in Florida, to Mexican Independence in 1821.Utilizing an extensive array of primary and secondary source materials, he traces the history of Spanish northward movement out ofAztec Mexico in three separate prongedmovements in time-one up the West coast of Mexico; the second up through what is now New Mexico and the last into Texas.He essentially points out a difference between Anglo-American approaches and the Spanish, seeing the areas of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California which are presented as basically defensive enclaves, especially after the late 18th century.Importantly, those that moved north into what later became part of the United States did not enjoy the overall freedom that their counterparts further north later enjoyed.A basic thesis is that Spain did not allow the "rugged individualism" so notably applicable to the Anglo-Americans. Initially motivated by avarice, the Conquistador's explored great portions of areas now incorporated into the United States. Nonetheless, after 1543, the Spanish were driven more by a genuine religious concern for Amerindians, influenced greatly by the Franciscan and Dominicans, and somewhat the Jesuits. Hence, using the mission church to convert and pacify Indians, the presidio became a support to an essentially religious motive with a civil end-for which they were quite successful until they met the nomadic Indians from the Plains. Bannon's narrative, at times, seems overburdened with details and names, but this is the nature of historical writing.Overall, this book will be more appreciated by those already possessing a good knowledge of American history; in the end, Bannon effectively carried on the work of his mentor, Bolton, providing a more complete look at a part of history that has been essentially overlooked

waffling bollocks
Bannon writes haphazardly and with no structure whatsoever, all he seems to be concerned with is filling the pages of his borderland history with insignificant missionary characters who play little part in the development of the Spanish frontier. The book is boring and very disjointed and difficult to read. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

informative but poorly written
I guess this is what passes for history these days. Make sure you pay homage to every point of view at every time and at every place, and never mind about organization. There's no doubt that Weber knows his subject, but come on, it's like he took all his notecards from a lifetime of research, shuffled them a few times, dropped them on the floor, and then wrote this book in the order that he picked them up. This book is all over the map, both figuratively and literally. I understand that all historical narrative is necessarily flawed, by point of view, cultural bias, etc., but hey, give me credit for having the intelligence to uncover these flaws myself. A work like this demands structure, which unfortunately this book does not have. I rate this book three stars only because there is a wealth of information in here. But be prepared to dig!

Insight into the complexity of Spanish colonialism in the Americas
Although this is a masterly piece of scholastic writing by perhaps the pre-eminent historian of Spanish colonialism in the Americas, it is also a vivid read for the non-scholar (such as myself).If you believe that the Spanish relationship to the native people in their American colonies was a consistently brutal and usurious one, this book will give you an appreciation of how highly varied and sometimes very moral (in the morality of the day), it actually was, especially toward the end.

... Read more

Product Description
Offered a chance to recover her commission as an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, Captain Honor Harrington must assume command of a ""squadron"" of jury-rigged armed merchantmen to stop the pirates who are plundering the Star Kingdom's commercial trade. Reprint. PW. AB. "Amazon.com Review
In this sixth outing, Honor is invited to rejoin theRoyal Manticoran Navy at the instigation of some ofher worst enemies.The RMN has withdrawn from theSilesian Confederacy in an effort to focus on itswar with the People's Republic of Haven and theshipping cartels have been losing vessels:cargo,crews and all.Klaus Hauptmann sees a gloriousopportunity:invite Honor to command the Q-shipswhich will draw pirate and privateer fire.If shedies, great; if she succeeds, even better.

Honor and her companion Nimitz find unexpected friends (and enemies) along the way, and fans of this series' space battles will not be disappointed.In addition toa better glimpse of the Silesian systems, we finallyget to meet a few of the Andermani.

Want to read more about Honor?Read about Honor's early careerin On Basilisk Station,her first encounter with the Graysons inThe Honor of the Queen,the beginning of the war with the Peeps inThe Short, Victorious War,the continuing story of treachery at home inField of Dishonor,and her ignominous exile (or training to be an Admiral?)in Flag in Exile. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (38)

Start Earlier
David Weber created a monster in the Honor Harrington series. This the sixth of a bunch, and was originally published around 1996. I have chosen to enjoy Weber's creation of a universe (called Honorverse by those in the know) by reading each novel in series. I highly recommend that approach - if you want to visit Weber's universe, start when he started it with the novel "On Basilisk Station."

Too much that happens in this novel, and too many of the characteristics of Honor's universe, were developed in the previous books. Also, read the entry about author Weber in Wikipedia. Otherwise you will get confused as Weber's universe is dominated by technical and personal details, and if you don't' know of them......

Other reviewers have told the plot details, so what I'll say is that I enjoyed this novel more than any - except perhaps the first. The reason is that it had many subplots and Weber nicely brings them all to reasonable conclusions before he runs out of paper. Yes, Weber walks the narrow line between confusion and attraction in including so many plays and players in the novel. But, somehow they all fit together in the universe which I am glad to explore.

A compelling placeholder.
I promised myself that Honor Among Enemies would be my last David Weber for a while, but I've already started In Enemy Hands. Ah well.

This particular entry is pretty tame so far as the Honor Harrington Mythos is concerned. In order to get back into the good graces of the Manticoran military and political complex, Honor is given the task of ridding the Silesian Confederacy area of the pirates menacing their merchant and freight liners. Her task force consists of four converted and heavily armed merchant freighters to ask as lures, while Klaus Hauptman and Reginald Houseman both expect her to fail. Rich and powerful adversaries notwithstanding, the idea that sacrificing thousands of people simply to dispose of Honor is clearly abhorrent even to Hauptman, yet at least he stands to gain something if she succeeds.

And while the pirates and even Haven make things difficult, and while there are the usual politics I've come to expect in the Harrington books, nothing really leapt out at me as surprising. The real groundbreaking elements here come from a Havenite captain who risked his commission to rescue a Manticoran freighter from pirates, and contributed significantly to Honors own efforts to eradicate them. I believe the point here is that Haven isn't all bad, and that there are enough opposing factions in Haven's own structure that their true downfall will come from within.

This appears supported from the prologue of In Enemy Hands, so I'll consider this another transition novel. The situation required honor to undergo some kind of testing, and while not entirely idle, Haven couldn't come on too strongly either in Harrington's weakened standing. This book is a minor skirmish in the grand scheme, but sets things up nicely for other implications and machinations to roll over the characters I've come to enjoy following.

There is a minor subplot that involves a character being transformed from a relatively skittish techie to a fighting machine at the intervention of a few marines due to an especially subversive bully brought in by the mad scramble for personnel to crew Honor's new ships. This resolved well, but I think David took the easy way out at the end, making it essentially impossible for these characters to cause trouble later in the series, so I wonder about the point of it all. It's obvious Ginger Lewis and Aubrey Wanderman are going to be recurring characters, but the complete destruction of their enemies was a little heavy-handed, permanent, and unnecessary.

But that's hardly a reason for worry. It's been a good series so far, and it has kept me reading.

Harrington fights pirates with underarmed merchant ships
Honor Harrington, the finest and most daring Lady admiral in the Royal Manticoran Navy, had been forcibly retired for political reasons. But the the situation in the nearby Silesian Confederacy is getting terrible with space pirates dogging and destroying merchant freighters. The war requires money and the ability to sustain interstellar commerce is critical. Now the shipping cartels have been losing vessels and cargo. His political enemy, Klaus Hauptman (cartel head), maneuver to get Navy to call Honor back in the the hope she will be killed in action. Honor and her companion Nimitz (telepathic treecat) accept the offer. Several merchant ships refitted with massive armament, but no armour are given to Honor's command. This squadron of so called Q-ships, having young and sometimes uncooperative crew with troublemakers, is commissioned to battle pirates where Navy can't be present.

Harrington is brought back from exile and the book sets her up for further adventures. The minimal politics set up the scene at the beginning and the rest of the book is full of heavy battle scenes full of military technical details. The development of the young crew to cope with ever-mounting responsibilities is well characterized; especially the build up conflict with the troublemakers.

Four (4) stars. Written in 1996 this is 6th book in the military space opera about the intrepid larger-than-life captain of the Royal Manticoran Navy. There are several plot lines, twists which tie the enemies, Peeps, to play critical role to level out the pirates. This not straight black and white bad vs. good fight. Harrington is surprisingly more at the back to give his crew and other subplots more coverage. This makes the book feel balanced as it gives chance to develop characters and set up up the circumstances. The book will pump up heartbeat of those of hard core military fans but has also an edge for readers that enjoy good character building. An action packed read.

Honor is back with the RMN
Finally we find Honor Harrington back on track in the RMN (Royal Manticoran Navy), but the politics which had originally pushed her away, have manipulated her return to bea mission which could be the end of her. She's leading a quartet of Q-ships into the Solarian League to try and clean up some of the shipping lanes. The ships are over-gunned, but virtually armor-less.

Things would be fine, for her ships would out-gun any pirates she might come across - but not any really military-grade ships. Like, say, for instance, the small group of ships the Peeps have sent into the shipping lanes to poach on the Manticoran traders. Yep,just as our hero has started to get settled on her new planet of Grayson (and being an admiral in their Navy!) she dives back into the thick of it with the RMN.

This is a classic Harrington novel, at least in my opinion. You've a little bit of political intrigue woven in the midst of the more militaristically based narrative - enough political maneuvering to work against the heroine.

Weber also manages to work in a few other characters and explore them pretty well. This novel, in the series, brings Honor back from being ostracized by the RMN, setting up the circumstances which spiral out of Harrington's control in the next novel (In Enemy Hands) and the climactic novel which follows that (Echos of Honor) - both of which are a high point of the entire series, in my mind.

The pace is very solid not lagging too much in many places (though there are a few), and Weber definitely continues to show the depth of his vision for the 'Honorverse' and everything that develops and goes on there.

I do highly recommend this novel to sci-fi and strategy fans alike. This is one which you could read relatively well without having read any of the others in the series, though you might miss out on a few of the character nuances and some more subtle developments.

Stop before you go blind
I am new to Honor Harrington, having arrived at David Weber via "Off Armageddon Reef."

This story brings back several of Honor's crewmembers to man Q-Ships as pirate hunters in a system well away from the frontlines of the Haven/Manticore war. It is an engaging story and a relief from gigantic ships of the wall slamming each other in set-piece battles.

My primary purpose in writing this review is to warn readers away from the Baen/Windhaven version. I have written to both the publisher and printer regarding the numerous read-ability issues this version has. First, the printing itself is too light and is on a nearly-tan paper...resulting in these old eyes needing more light that expected. Second, the binding encroaches upon inside margins. Third, the kerning is tight enough to further reduce the legibility of the type.

Looks like this one fell through the QC net.

Good story, well worth the read. Beware this edition. ... Read more

Product Description
In just a few short years, David Weber has shot to the forefront of science fiction with his top-selling novels of Honor Harrington, the finest starship captain in the galaxy. Now some of the top writers in science fiction are guests in Honor's universe, bringing their own celebrated skills to give homage to Honor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Great series
I read one Honor Harrington book and got hooked. I have read all the books, (not in order), multiple times, and have started collecting them one by one.
My two favorites are Book 1= Basilisk station and Book 7 = In Enemy Hands.
The stories are not predictable - which is nice, and has a lot of naval action, martial arts, romance, etc all tied in. Something to satisfy all tastes. Telepathic tree cats, religion etc

History of universe
This is a prequel that talks about the founding of and several key historical events in the Honor universe that only worked, in the sense I didn't give it two stars. Which I really want to do, because while engaging and "cute" the main story dragged on too long for what it was.It should have been further fleshed out and longer, or cut short and left as a stand alone. The other two stories were a rehash of true Earth history (moving the events to another planet and rather than being about ships of the line, being about space ships) and pointless tale about a failed/successful revolution/conspiracy thing that was too convoluted for the thirty or forty pages it occupied.

Faux Hardcover Book!
I bought this book in paperback, and very much enjoyed it.I am not going to duplicate the other fine reviews of the content.

I ordered the "hardcover" from Amazon because I was switching all of my Honor titles to hardcover editions.What I received was a little 6" x 4" mass-market paperback with a hard, shiny cover on it.

Very disappointing for the price.

It isn't really a hardback.
I have the entire Honor Harrington series, and have added the hardback editions that were originally only published in paperback. (On Basilisk Station, the Honor of the Queen,The Short Victorious War, Field of Dishonor, and Flag in Exile.) When I saw More Than Honor listed as hardback, I assumed it was a real hardback special edition as were the others I have listed. However, this is merely a paperback that has been hardbacked. In order to do this, the pages themselves must be trimmed, and the hard cover is glued onto the book's endpages. If I'd wanted to hardback my paperbacks, I could have gotten it done for a bit less, as there are companies that offer this service. Since what I received should, in my opinion, have been advertised as a rebound paperback with hard covers, I was a tad miffed. Unless you really want a hard bound paperback copy of the book, which is itself well worth the reading, don't bother with this edition. You can purchase a realio truelio paperback, for far less, and get the same stories.

Background info on the Honorverse.
More Than Honor is a collection of short stories set in David Weber's Honorverse, or the universe of Weber's Honor Harrington series.This book contains three short stories and one essay, none of which are about Harrington herself, but provide lots of background information enhancing the reader's understanding of the Honerverse.The first story, Weber's A Beautiful Friendship, recounts the first contact between humans and treecats, and how the relationshihp between the two species developed.We learn much from this story about the 'cats and their culture.David Drake checks in with the next story, A Grand Tour, about Hakyon Nessler, who encounters some disreputable naval officers committing an act of piracy, and how he takes matters into his own hands in dealing with them.S.M. Stirling delivers the third story, A Whiff of Grapeshot, set on Haven.This story is about Esther McQueen, the head of the military, and the suppression of the Leveller Revolt.The essay, The Universe of Honor Harrington, is written by Weber himself.Weber gives us a condensed history of the Honorverse, with some added insight into the technology and science of the the Honor Harrington universe, as well as the history and the political landscapes of the star nations within that universe.If you're looking for an Honor Harrington story, you'll want to skip this book, but if you would like to deepen your understanding of the Honorverse, then More Than Honor is an oustanding read. ... Read more

Product Description
Controlled by their tireless electronic brains which were programmed to admit no possibility of defeat, the gigantic robot tanks known as Bolos were almost indestructible, and nearly unstoppable. Their artificial intelligences were designed to make them selflessly serve and protect humans throughout the galaxy and made each Bolo the epitome of the knight sans peur et sans reproche, and often far more noble than the humans who gave them their orders. Now, David Weber, New York Times best-selling author of the Honor Harrington series, continues the history of the Bolo, in four short novels, one of them published here for the first time. One Bolo is driven over the edge by the very humans it is pledged to protect. Another Bolo must decide whether or not to disobey when it is given an order that constitutes genocide. A third must hunt one of its own kind whose robot brain is damaged and rescue two children which the deranged Bolo thinks it is protecting from a nonexistent enemy. And more, including as a bonus, David Weber's own authoritative technical history of the Bolo, all in a volume that will be irresistible both for David Weber's huge readership and Bolo fans everywhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Bolo
I was never all that crazy about the Bolo stories that Keith Laumer created.But, Weber has carried them to a new level.I'm going to repeat what I said in one of my other Weber reviews ... I've been reading SciFi for ~55 years now and have had many favorite authors over the years.David Weber is my favorite SciFi author of all time, and as any SciFi fan knows, there are a LOT of authors to choose from.I can't remember an author with greater breadth; nor can I remember one with greater depth.

Hammer Slammer tanks meet Dahak
If I had to describe a Bolo, I'd have to say they are something akin to David Dranke' Hammer Slammers tanks put on steroids, meets a Dahak kind of machine of similar intelligence and equal personality.

Saw this book at a local Hastings and since Weber is one of my preferred authors, decided try it out. Though every book to date I've read that Weber has put together have been full novel length (currently reading By Schism Rent Asunder), this one didn't disappoint. It has piqued my interest in other Bolo books.
Of the four short stories that make this installment, all are separate while taking place in a time line to one another, I'd have to say the 4th one was my favorite. Compounded mistakes on both sides creates an almost primal hate that begets hate, eventually driving both sides into an insanity where neither will settle for anything less than the annihilation of the other. But after all is said and done...a smattering of survivors manage to come to terms.

I'm reminded a great deal of Dahak from the Mutineers Moon Trilogy in many respects. While Dahak is like a rock when it comes to upholding his own morals, Bolo! shows that even a sentient machine can succumb to same madness that begets humans in A Time To Kill. I'm not doing Bolo! any justice in my own words, but I highly recommend this read.

read it for action, taken at face value
While the stories are pretty straight forward and predictable, the action makes up for it. Sometines the plot lingers... then the action resumes! I didn't read this book for literary value nor for its humanism. It was just read for action. It did a fair decent job. AI/Human interaction is a key exploration is this collection of Bolo short stories. Borders on interesting, read it for action.

Another great Bolo book!
David Weber has taken over the Bolo series, and as both a Weber fan and a huge Bolo fan, I couldn't be happier.The ONLY disappointing thing about this book is that it has a few stories that appear in other works, like BOLOS, BOOK 3 and BOLOS, BOOK 4.But even then, the new story is worth the price of admission. Bolo fans will want to add this to their collection.Not a Bolo fan?You will be after this book.Don't know what a bolo is?Pick up this book to find out.

Bolo!
The only reason this got a 4 from me is because it was a repackaged collection of previous stories.They were all great 'nuts&bolts' science fiction - but with a heart. ... Read more

Product Description
Readers can't get enough of Honor Harrington and her world, and here David Weber is again, accompanied by some of the top science fiction writers in the field, with new adventures of the best starship commander in the galaxy, and explorations of previously uncharted corners of her universe. It's a party-and you're invited! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Fantastic series!
I liked the book & series so much that I am going back and re-purchasing them all in hardcover!

Another great Honor
I really like these world of Honor stories.I never realised some of the side stories could exist.I just hope they keep writing!

Not Free SF Reader
An ok book of stories set in Weber's Honor Harrington universe.Better than the first one of these, and includes one comedy veering towards theMASH and Catch 22 end of things.

If fact, the worst story is easily Weber's by the numbers Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington lite, about one of her proteges.

Service of the Sword : Promised Land - Jane Lindskold
Service of the Sword : With One Stone - Timothy Zahn
Service of the Sword : A Ship Names Francis - John Ringo and Victor Mitchell
Service of the Sword : Let's Go to Prague - John Ringo
Service of the Sword : Fanatic - Eric Flint
Service of the Sword : The Service of the Sword - David Weber

Sisterhood exodus assist.

3.5 out of 5


A political pirate trap set for the Butcher of Basilisk and her crew. Time for some anti-wedgies!

3.5 out of 5


Sanity lacking spacers sent to Siberia.

4 out of 5


Flamboyant exfiltration foulup fleeing.

3 out of 5


Special Investigation coup subterfuge.

3.5 out of 5


Princess vs pirates pursuit.

2.5 out of 5




3.5 out of 5

David Weber - A Science Fiction Master
Go to Baen Free Library. If you haven't read everything he's written, at least give it a try.....

Well Written Stories
As a recent discoverer of the Honorverse (Honor Harrington Series) by David Weber, I'm continually amazed at how well written, and fun, these stories are. In this case there are 4 stories by other authors in addition to 1 by David Weber. They are very entertaining and seem to fit well with the already constructed story lines. The only fault I can find is one story refers to "Seaforth" and, unless I'm mistaken, the planet is "Seaford". Since this occurs more than once I can only assume it's not a typesetting issue. But I digress. The stories are fun. They give you hint where they're going (some more than others) and get you there in an enjoyable way. Good Reading is in store for you. But, it helps to have completed most of the Honor Harrington series before jumping these short stories as some spoilers to the overall plot line would be given away... ... Read more

Product Description
Beginning a new blockbuster series set in the "Honorverse"-the universe of Honor Harrington. The Star Kingdom's ally Erewhon is growing increasingly restive in the alliance because the new High Ridge regime ignores its needs.Add to that the longstanding problem of a slave labor planet controlled by hostile Mesans in Erewhon's stellar back yard, a problem which High Ridge also ignores. Finally, the recent assassination of the Solarian League's most prominent voice of public conscience indicates the growing danger of political instability in the Solarian League - which is also close to Erewhon. In desperation, Queen Elizabeth tries to defuse the situation by sending a private mission to Erewhon led by Captain Zilwicki, accompanied by one of her nieces. When they arrive on Erewhon, however, Manticore's most capable agent and one of its princesses find themselves in a mess. Not only do they encounter one of the Republic of Haven's most capable agents - Victor Cachat - but they also discover that the Solarian League's military delegation seems up to its neck in skullduggery. And, just to put the icing on the cake, the radical freed slave organization, the Audubon Ballroom, is also on the scene - led by its most notorious killer, Jeremy X. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

Horrible, boring drivel
I have read almost the entire Honor Harrington series.I'm reading them in order and figured I would read this series as more honorverse back story.WOW IS THIS BOOK BAD.

All of the characters are the greatest in the world (well the book say they are over and over and over).Evertyhing they do is a matter of fact with very little real immagination.You don't have to figure anything out.The characters are bland and just not well developed.

Heck the editors must have been bored reading this book as it's littered with items where the word used is the wrong word, just off by a letter or two.

I'm only reading this book for backstory and forcing my way through it.The other books in the serises I would read in a day or two.After 3 weeks on this one I'm not even 1/2 way through .... it's THAT BAD.

If it's Eric Flint's influnce please don't ever write another book with him.

IMO, save your money, buy The Shadow of Saganami and get the 1 paragraph recap of the entire book.

Worst of Weber
I have all of the "Honor Harrington" books and a total of 35 Weber titles all together."Crown of slaves" is the worst book I've read from him.Sorry I bought it.I only read it to the end because I kept expecting something worth reading would eventually emerge.It never did.The entire story is covered well enough in his other books.

Crown of Hmm...
First things first- I'm a big Honorverse fan; have read all the novels and am just about done with the last of the anthologies. I'm pretty much sold on anything with David Weber's name on it, so naturally I picked this one up as well. Crown of Slaves is a continuation of the short story 'From the Highlands' in the Changer of Worlds anthology. That one was written by Eric Flint, and it's immediately obvious that although Weber's name appears on this novel's cover, he wrote very little of it (being very familiar with his prose and style, I would say he wrote exactly one chapter, in fact- and it's the shortest one).

There's several key differences between this and other Honorverse works. The most important and obvious one is that it's almost entirely devoid of any sort of space battle. There's little to no technological lingo, physics calculations, and wily tactics in 'Crown,' which is... different, but not necessarily bad. The storyline and characters do fit in quite well with previous works mentioning them, and into the Honorverse as a whole, but the pacing of this story and the shift to local political intrigue and cloak-and-dagger mayhem as opposed to galactic diplomacy and impeller-drive missiles is immediately apparent. In short, if you're accustomed to the flavor of Honor Harrington novels (and, by the way, there's hardly any mention of our favorite RMN lady commander here) be prepared for something else here.

As noted above, different isn't necessarily bad. Where it does get a bit dubious is in terms of the characterization and plot. There's enough skullduggery here to make your head spin- it seems everyone is trying to kill everyone else, and it's hard to keep score of who is 'winning.' That's definitely not something you'd be used to after reading classic Weber, who usually tells you precisely what the score is- even down to how many missile tubes in each broadside of each vessel are still operating. As for the characters, as a reviewer in the front cover points out, they are 'larger than life.' Flint goes to extreme lengths to convince the reader just how dangerous Victor Cachat, Thandi Palane, and Anton Zilwicki are, and how comparatively innocent Berry Zilwicki is. In fact, he literally spends scores of pages hammering home- sometimes in almost the exact same terms- these character attributes. It gets to the point where you're really tempted to just skip it over and say 'yeah, I know.' The unfortunate result is that none of the main characters is particularly believable- they really are 'larger than life,' and unlike most of the core Honorverse characters, you really can't imagine anyone actually being like this. A lot of the plot, although certainly imaginative, is also a bit unbelievable. As Cachat himself notes, his plans are way too complex. Well, he's right- after finishing the novel I know what happened, but not really how it happened.

Crown of Slaves also lacks a lot of the driving action you'd expect from a Honorverse installment of this length. There is some, and sometimes quite visceral in description, but if you're looking for a heart-pounding showdown and lots of exciting skirmishes to tantalize you on the way, you're going to be disappointed. In fact, I really believe this story would have been much improved by cutting its length by at least a third. It starts to drag on around the middle, and the conclusion is somewhat lacking. It's almost as if this novel was written as a matter of course and duty- there had to be a fill-in on these characters and this plotline with Mesa as the primary enemy, leading into 'Shadow of Saganami' and 'At All Costs,' both of which pick up major plot points from here. Thus 'Crown' duly depicts Mesa in all its badness, shows how Torch came to be founded, and fills out the gory details of what happened on Erewhon during the last days of its alliance with Manticore. But I find it somewhat amusing that in the following two novels, nothing is really mentioned about 'Crown' except the final conclusion. When questioned about it, Helen Zilwicki merely states that it's a long story.

Well, it is. Although I wouldn't say 'Crown' is a bad read, I must admit that it was more of a chore getting through than an enjoyment. To date, there's very little published Honorverse work where I can say the same. I suppose if you're more into the political and espionage side of Weber's work, then this might strike you as more interesting. Personally, I tend to agree with Admiral Harrington herself- politics is something you've unfortunately got to deal with, in the course of being about serious business like blowing Peeps out of space with multi-drive missiles.

Tooting your own horn, over.. and over.. and over..
To make it brief, I also wanted to like this book, but the more into it I got, the more obvious it became that Weber wasn't going to stop showing everyone how clever and machiavellian all his characters were.

It's like someone dropped 50 James Bonds into the mix and every one of them was going to outsmart the others and let the audience KNOW it..far too many "wink wink inside jokes" by the people in the story.It's almost becoming a stereotype that every female character is going to be able to conquer the universe with a pair of coconuts and bubble gum.

It just got real tired, real fast, no matter what situation the characters were in, you just knew they were going to beat the stupid bad guy and save the day.

Please, please go back to the old Honorverse style, where, yeah sure Honor was a kickass Navy Xena, but at least she made the occasional mistake as well and that made her human, these new characters are just nauseatingly SUPERIOR.... uggg...

A Fine Addition to the Honorverse
Although Honor Harrington plays a peripheral role in this book, it's great to visit the Honorverse. ... Read more

Product Description
Reissued to tie-in with Crusade, a rousing space adventure in the spirit of David Drake and Jerry Pournelle. It's the American Revolution all over again--and this time the stakes are not a single continent, but the stars themselves. "Peopled with strong characters . . . who strive to uphold basic human values in a war of future worlds".--Greenville Piedmont. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

A Bland Sequel
The fourth book by Weber and White, I found this one to be by far the least interesting.

At first the book has much promise: political intrigue, mutinies, space battles and rebellion. However, the flare quickly dies down.

The Fringe Worlds, often economically subjugated by the Inner (Corporate) Worlds, finally have enough after their political leader is assasinated. When the government sends a naval task force to quell any unprising, it instead ignites it. For those that have read the other three books (Crusade, In Death Ground and The Shiva Option), this comes as no surprise because of the tension always felt between the two. It wasinevitable.

The characters quickly lose their zest, not changing and not doing anything that surprises you. They are quite bland in their actions, and it is hard to sympathise with any of them. Nearly all the characters have the same driving force: they were thrown into a higher political/military position than they ever imagined, and it's up to them to make a stand or lead their troops. "Yadda yadda yadda" is a pretty good summation. It might have worked for the first three books, but by now the idea is exhausted, and the characters tiring.

Much of the characters the first half of the book focused on take a back seat or are a no show for the second half, leaving you to wonder why they were used if only to be cast aside. And the personal tragedies don't always work. One character who is injured has something taken away from her she held dear, but with her tiring attitude and persona, it's hard to feel sorry for her in any way. This is pretty much the case with all the characters.

There are really no twists and turns to this book, and the technological surprises Weber and White like to have one enemy throw at another are limited in their quantity and interest. There are some side plots here and there, but nothing that can save the book from the long periods of boring character interaction and inactivity. Unlike the three before it, Insurrection has a lot of filler, and nearly every time momentum is gained, a boring character interaction chapter is added. And not all the time is it relevant to the story.

The first word that comes to mind for Insurrection is dissapointing. The three books preceeding this were never short of interest, but this just seems like a lax effort in comparison. There were times I actually had to force myself to read the next chapter because so little had happened, and frankly by mid book I was hoping all but one main character would meet their end so they could not possibly show up in a sequel.

Insurrection is not of the battle heavy grand scale that are In Death Ground and The Shiva Option, nor does it have the plotical, moral and personal intrigue of Crusade. Instead, it is more like a space soap opera. It's not horrible, but it's like a hollywood sequel that didn't need to be made.

United in war, divided in peace
"Insurrection" is a collaboration between two masters of military science fiction, David Weber and Steve White.

The book explores the causes and progress of a civil war between parts of a Terran Federation originating from Earth and then bound together in the crucible of war against a merciless alien race.The story of the Fourth Interstellar War against the Arachnids is told in other books of the series."Insurrection", while written first, is chronologically at the end of the series.It highlights that democratic legitimacy is ultimately grounded upon the consent of the governed.

Weber and White succeed by incorporating insights with clear parallels in Earth's military, diplomatic and political history.The rebels of the Fringe most nearly approximate the American rebels who split from Great Britain within a generation of winning the French and Indian Wars.United in conflict against an external enemy, they are divided by economics and mutual disdain.

"Insurrection" follows key rules of the space opera and military science fiction genres, so will be familiar to the typical reader.Yet, it succeeds in executing the formula very well.It takes a good historian to tell this type of story in a believable way.It requires imagination to teach similar lessons in the new circumstances of space combat.Weber and White deliver both.Heroic sacrifice in the course of combat by rebel and loyalist alike echoes the graduates of West Point split apart by America's Civil War.

Each of these authors have other books that I like as well or even better, yet it was "Insurrection" that hooked me and so it holds a special place in my collection.

An Ugly Civil War
Insurrection takes place in the same universe as IN DEATH GROUND and THE SHIVA OPTION about a generation after the events of the latter. Humanity has been at peace but that doesn't stop nasty politicians from trying to do nasty things to people. Finally, a time comes when the people will take it no more and the result is civil war.

This book makes clear that there are honorable people on both sides of the conflict but the horrors of war are such that innocents are bound to suffer. Like the other books of this series, the action sequences are well though out and well written but the main lessons come from choices faced by the protagonists. Weber and White are good at writing about space battle. They are even better at writing about political issues and human choices.

An Impressive First Effort
I recently reread this book, and was even more impressed than the first time I read it. Realizing that this book has a copyright of 1990 means it's the first book in the series that includes Crusade, In Death Ground, and The Shiva Option; it sets the stage for the other books which, though having later copyrights, occur chronologically earlier in time. What I hadn't noticed when I first read the book is that it is the last in chronological time. This adds even more impact to the book, realizing that it follows the crusade against the bugs, detailed in In Death Ground and The Shiva Option. That means that Weber and White set the stage for the other 3 novels in this one, and fleshed out the details later. It's great space opera, and shows signs of Weber's political awareness, that come out with even greater impact in the last Honor Harrington adventure, War of Honor. The machinations of the Corporate Worlds in the Federation Assembly as they attempt to squeeze more and more profit out of "the Fringe" with total disregard for the consequences should be a warning to ALL politicians. In this book, the battles are classic Weber/White, the strategies planned by both sides are fascinating. While some of the characters may seem a little "flat" (which is typical of space opera), others (notably Admiral Han Li and Oskar Dieter) are not. And the influence of weapons development on the struggle is well-done.
If you're a Weber/White fan, buy this book; I believe you'll enjoy it. But be sure to read it in the proper order in the series.
I also enjoyed the "trivia" Weber and White bring to their books. How many readers are aware that Admiral Analiese Ashigara is named for a Japanese heavy cruiser from the World War II era?

My first space opera!
Well, this was my first space opera, and I have to admit I enjoyed it. The book doesn't take long to get rolling, and there is plenty of action for the fan of space combat.

First, a quick word about the universe. This book is set in the universe of the tactical space wargame Starfire. I've never played the game, in fact, I'd not heard of it until I saw it mentioned on the cover of this book and did a little research. There seems to be an entire history behind this game, and I'm thinking that a fan of the game might have been able to get a little more out of this book than I did. The authors don't really go into this backstory very deeply, and the reader might have a hard time following along. A quick search for Starfire on the internet took me to a few sites where I was able to get a little information, but I still felt like this book was written for someone who knew a little more about the universe. Maybe this won't bother some people. It's just something I noticed.

The writing started out a bit weak. It seemed like the author was trying too hard to be writer, if that makes sense. Once the action began to roll, the writing seemed to come together, or else I was caught up in the story enough not to notice the feeling that I'd had earlier.

I've seen reviews of this book where they come down on the authors for tying the storyline too closely to the American Revolutionary War. The similarities are obvious, but I didn't really have a problem with it. In a universe where the enemies of humanity are stereotypical enemies ripped right from the pages of other sci-fi works, borrowing a historical event and moving it into the future seemed like it would make for a fun story, which it did.

To sum up, if you are looking for a fun space opera with action galore, this book is for you. If you are looking for great prose, deep plot, or interesting characters, you might want to keep going, but I think if you have even a slight interest in space operas, you'll find this book hard to put down.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

Another home run for David Weber & Honor Harrington Series

Patrick O'Brian writes magnificent sea warfare tales ... David Weber is his counterpart in the oceans of space twenty centuries hence.

My favorites are the books in the Honor Harrigton Series ... The Short Victorious War does NOT disappoint.

Read this book (and all which preceeded it)!

Less Honor than Usual
I just finished The Short Victorious War by David Weber and I'm starting to notice a pattern here:

1. Honor Harrington thrust into difficult situation complicated by politics.
2. Honor thwarts an invasion while overcoming said politics.
3. Profit.

Now, I understand these have to be somewhat formulaic, and this book was in fact, enjoyable, so I can't complain excessively here. The real weakness of this book is that it's so short, and Honor plays such a minimal part in the action. I'd almost even call this an "interim" novel.

It's almost as if Weber painted himself into a corner temporarily by making the first two books give Honor such notoriety and career advancement, he had to pull back before it seemed too contrived. The Short Victorious War does provide some insight into where Haven may be evolving with the political and social unrest, and has some excellent battle scenes and tactics. It's fairly clear at this point that, while the main assaults featured here are critical at this point in the war, it's really all about Haven's attempt to pull the trigger and not take the blame; Honor's involvement is, at best, tangential.

I've started Field of Dishonor, and it's evident Weber is going to concentrate on Politics for a while and attempt to make Honor's character more resonant and sympathetic to the reader. We'll see if he succeeds.

A powerful ruling class and political enemies that spread across star kingdoms makes for an engrossing science fiction story
David Weber's THE SHORT VICTORIOUS WAR receives Allyson Johnson's smooth reading and presents Book Three in the Honor Harrington series, telling of families who rule the People's Republic of Haven. A powerful ruling class and political enemies that spread across star kingdoms makes for an engrossing science fiction story especially recommended for prior enthusiasts of the Honor Harrington stories.

Lady Honor Harrington falls in love in the heat of battle
The fierce enemies of Manticore, the people's Republic (Peeps), are concerned about the costs of war. A meeting between high government officials is arranged to discuss interstellar economic and strategic realities. The Ruling class of the People's Republic of Haven need to decide what strategy they can afford without starving and collapsing the economy to fund the war. In the upcoming battle against Peeps, Lady Captain Honor Harrington is left to make a gallant last stand against overwhelming odds while desperately awaiting reinforcements. In what will turn out to be a momentous event for everyone involved, Pavel Young -- Honor's fierce enemy -- finally reveals his personal cowardice as he breaks off from the formation in the middle of the fight and refuses to return despite direct orders to the contrary. This nearly causes the collapse of Honor's strategy. Will Honor survive the ambush?

The writer takes it slow, establishing the foundation of his narrative piece by piece. A romantic interlude is inserted in between and Honor falls in love for the first time in her life with Paul Tankersley. She finds womanhood in herself letting her hair grow, learning to put on make-up. For the battles, the details are exact, engagement distances calculated, and acceleration expressed in gravities or meters per second squared; these all give good a three-dimensional feeling.

Two (2) stars. Written in 1994, this is book 3 of Weber's Honorverse. Although there is a clear climax at the end of the book the path leading to is paved by dialogues that almost reach into a psychoanalytical session. The love affair of Dame Honor -- the leading figure of planet Grayson, a multi-billion millionaire -- is a bit abruptly introduced. Suddenly, in in months, She is in love and head over heels on Paul. Having learned to know Harrington in previous books being a bit reserved and unexperienced on this field the 180 degree shift, like the romantic vacation on an island, is a bit creamy. In some ways all the naval officers and royal officials have a cookie-cutter quality without a context if book is read stand-alone. Havinga glimpse on the political angle of Peeps is good but there is a little too much occasional frivolity in the book. Now new worlds are introduced in this book and the action mostly centers around the unremarkable Hancock Station leaving a clear footprint for the sequel Field of Dishonor.

French Revolution redo?
Has anyone noticed the similarity between Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety of the French Revolution and Rob S Piere of the Havenite Committee of Public Safety in New Paris? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

Space Opera in the EE "Doc" Smith tradition
I've actually read this book at least twice, and the story remains a favorite.

To summarize quickly, what would it be like if our moon, that nearest companion in space, was "no moon - that's a space station..."

Captain Colin Macintire is captured by a huge alien spacecraft disguised as our moon and forced to become its captain, both to resolve an ancient muntity and then to prepare the earth for a real alien invasion.This is the first of three books involving Dahak (the moon), and Colin, the un-willing commander.

Before you roll your eyes, think about what you like in space opera.You want giant spaceships (check).You want action, adventure, and suspense (check).You want a spunky heroine (check). And you want big battles.Come on, this is David Weber, the king of space battles. I cheered at the ending and actually laughed out loud.

My only complaint about this book is it seems too short.Far too much action is crammed into too small a space - this wants to be a much bigger book.There are so many ideas and so many characters, plots, and concepts running round that they need a bit more space.

Still, this would make a great James Cameron movie, don't you think?

First in the excellent "Dahak" space opera trilogy
This is the first book in the immensely entertaining if preposterous "Dahak" space opera trilogy, which consists of

Mutineer's Moon
The Armageddon Inheritance
Heirs of Empire

The whole trilogy has also been published in one volume as "Empire from the Ashes"

Astronaut Colin Mackintyre is flying a mission on the far side of the moon when something very strange happens ...

I really enjoyed this trilogy. The plots are rather fetched (though very clever) but the fast and furious action, with cleverly drawn and mostly sympathetic characters, enabled me to suspend disbelief.

A little hard to reconcile the fossil evidence for the origins of our species and the physical evidence for the origins of our planet with the idea that earth's moon is a gigantic battleship, in disguise, which has been sitting in a parking orbit for thousands of years following a mutiny, and that the human race on earth are the descendants of its crew, stranded here by the same mutiny. But Weber does a sterling job. And ironically, the mind of the moon's central computer, Dahak, is one of the more memorable characters of recent science fiction.

An interesting comparison showing how Weber's writing has developed, is to look at how some of the ideas of this trilogy have been re-used in the massive "Nimue Alban" series which Weber is currently writing. That series currently consists of

1) Off Armageddon Reef
2) By Schisms rent asunder
3) By Heresies Distressed (due Summer 2009)

Weber Takes On New Ground
This book has many things to like about it.Weber definitely steps outside of his comfort zone for sections of this title, and while not all of it works, I was glad to see him stretch his limits a bit.

The first thing that catches my attention is the use of genetically altered humans fighting among normal people.In a way, it is incredibly reminiscent of Stirling's 'Draka' series, especially the final book in that series.Weber manages to write these characters in a way that they seem superhuman but not out of the bounds of reality.

The characters are all very well written.This is one of the few titles that Weber steps back form hims white hat / black hat problem and gives everyone, good guys and bad guys, shades of gray.There is some decent, if not ground breaking, character progression with most of the major characters, which is also nice to see.The only character that feel flat for me was Dahak.His transfer from machine to self-aware never really felt believable for me, as he was acting self-aware from the beginning.The only change was Weber telling us he became self aware.

The story is very interesting and well constructed.It is paced well with no overly-slow parts and the action not all shoved together.I like the high tech mixed with todays world concept, so most books of this ilk get a plus from me.

This is a quality sci-fi read, and one of Weber's better works.

Space Opera at its finest
David Weber is a shining star in the sci-fi heavens these days.I was never much a fan of the "military" sci fi before I started reading Weber and he turned me on to it.

Colin was an astronaut on 21st Century Earth.He was on a flight to the dark side of the moon - and out of contact with his superiors - when he was approached by a strange ship, which was unaffected by his weapons and which thereupon kidnapped him and drug him into the moon itself.To his surprise, he learns that the moon is actually a vast spaceship called Dahak, run by a central computer (Comp Cent) also calling itself Dahak and build by the Fourth Imperium, an ancient civilation and the basis for the human race.The Imperium came to Terra over 50,000 years ago on Dahak and were marooned there by a mutiny.Dahak has been waiting all this time for the right human to come along and become his new captain, for the ancient race of the Achuultani - which has almost competely destroyed the ancient Imperium, with its vastly higher technolocaical base, at least 3 times - is approaching earth and will arrive in the next 2 - 3 years.To make matters worse, the few remaining mutineers are divided into two factions: one which is still holding to its mutinous ways under the guidance of the unstable Anu, and another which regrets its involvement in the mutiny, led by Horus.Colin must first defeat the mutineers, who have hoarded all the weaponry and technology, as well as outnumbering the reformeds members of the crew by a large amount.Once that impossible task is done, then comes preparation to stop the Achuulanti . . .but that is the next book. . .

I'm reading this in the omnibus "Empire from the Ashes," so am able to read this story as a single tale rather than 3 individual books, but I feel it is easier to present reviews for each book individually.If yo are a fan of military sci fi, space opera, science fiction, or just a rousing adventure, this is the book for you!

perfect
I couldn't ask for a better si-fi of this type. Make sure to read the 2nd and 3rd parts of this series. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

concise
this was a nicely done, collection of essays describing the assumptions of what really happened which caused the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

GREAT SELLER A+
Item arrived quickly and in great shape.Thanks very much for an effortless transaction.

put out the safety cones: historians at work
This is precisely the type of history book advocated by James Loewen, the author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me."

Take five scholars, all discussing the same event, and end up with five quite different interpretations of that event. The editors did a great job of introducing each of the scholar's views, pointing out bones of contention, backgrounding the source material. This is how history is supposed to be taught!

I think one reviewer may have mischaracterized this book as racist. To say that only the views of the Spanish were presented, when in fact the only source material available is from the Spanish colonials, is to confuse the viewpoint of the historian with the viewpoint of the 17th century government of Spain.

I'm thinking about buying the whole series of Historians at Work if they are all this interesting.

Interesting but a Little Racist
This book had a lot of great information about how the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 affected the Spanish. It tells how they felt, what they did, what they thought, where they went. It even tells about what they thought the American Indians were thinking and feeling at the time. There are even passages citing American Indian quotations that were written by totally biased Spaniards from the time of the revolt! So, if you're interested in hearing just one side of a very important event, this is the perfect book. I think this really would be a good book if it were coupled with another book that attempted to show the other side.

History Through Different Windows
Weber has put together a selection of informative essays by different authors, all dealing with the famed Pueblo Revolt of 1680.Given that the (for a time successful) uprising took place, the question for students ofhistory is the standard one:Why?

As the essays in this book pointout, there is no one answer to that question.There are, instead, manyanswers, and additional questions.

In history, it's not so much acase of arriving at the "truth."Rather, it's the journey ofdiscovery that really counts.The essays Weber has collected run thegamut, from turgid academic writing and sniping to refreshinglyclearly-stated prose.His introduction is masterly, the bibliographicreferences invaluable, and the overall effect one of having learned justhow complex and diverse the causes of an effect can be.

Highlyrecommended for readers interested in this area, especially for classroomuse at the college and university level. ... Read more

Product Description
Whom the gods would recruit, they first tick off . . .

Our Hero: The unlikely Paladin, Bahzell Bahnakson of the Horse Stealer Hradani. He?s no knight in shining armor. He?s a hradani, a race known for their uncontrollable rages, bloodthirsty tendencies, and inability to maintain civilized conduct. None of the other Five Races of man like the hradani. Besides his ethnic burden, Bahzell has problems of his own to deal with: a violated hostage bond, a vengeful prince, a price on his head. He doesn?t want to mess with anybody else?s problems, let alone a god?s. Let alone the War God?s! So how does he end up a thousand leagues from home, neck-deep in political intrigue, assassins, demons, psionicists, evil sorcery, white sorcery, dark gods, good gods, bad poets, greedy landlords, and most of Bortalik Bay? Well, it?s all the War God?s fault. . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

great book
i have read a lot of fantasy books but never have i had a auther describe evil as good as david wow it actully kinda distrubed me the way he talked about the what he did to the sword thats all i well say do not want to ruin it. O the little novella that came with was just great i am in the milatary so well lets just say what happen was so damn funny i laughed so hard :)

A new favorite series
I found this series just a few months ago and have since then bought, read and re-read all three books. While somewhat typical for the fantasy genre, the storyline is fun and engaging with good characters and a decent back story set-up for the world and races. While nowhere near as in-depth as Tolkien (but really, not many would even want to try to do that anymore), the characters are distinct and well-developed, with a reluctant hero as the main character and his sardonic friend playing sidekick. I enjoyed the way Weber portrayed the gods, and I am grateful for the fact that the magic system for the world has its own sets of laws that Weber spells out. I am eagerly hoping for a few more books in the series, and would recommend these three books to those who enjoy a good, light-hearted fantasy.

Not half bad
This is the first one in the series and really, I don't think it's as good as the subsequent two.Really, I kind of felt like the book started about half way through and from then on it was really good.

A fast-paced fantasy
David Weber's OATH OF SWORDS tells of one Bahzell Bahnakson, part of a race renowned for uncontrolled rages and inability to be civilized. Add in a vengeful prince, a hostage bond, and interference with a war God's agenda and you have a fast-paced fantasy packed with plenty of 'sword and sorcery' action perfect for fantasy lending libraries.

This is the start to a fantastic series ...
Not having read any of Weber's other series, I don't know how this compares (though I have a sneaking suspicion that they are completely different animals).However, I truly loved the humor and irreverence displayed in this sardonic look at a fantasy world and it's society.This book has a message to deliver, but it does so with such humor that the reader doesn't really mind the blunt message.

Bahzell, Prince of the Hradani (and don't ask me to pronounce that), makes the utterly foolish mistake of being noble and rescuing a damsel in distress.Unfortunately, the nefarious evil-doer is the son of Bahzell's "host", and Bahzell heads out of town ... rapidly.While on the run, Bahzell faces such great social conundrums as religion, government, racism and more, all with the same stubborn (yet humorous) outlook.

A fantastic read, the book moves quickly and lightly, keeping the reader engaged and enthralled.I would read this book over and over again. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Great batch of stories
With short stories by Linda Evans, David Weber (the creator of the Honorverse), Jane Lindskold and Roland J. Green, Worlds of Honor is a fun read and a great batch of stories.Most of the stories revolve around the treecats that are an interesting race of creatures Weber created for his Honorverse stories.From the beginning of contact with humans through an early adventure with Honor Harrington and her treecat Nimitz, this book is sure to please just about everyone.Whether you are a fan of the Honor Harrington books, or just a fan of some good science fiction tales, you will find that this book will keep you enthralled page after page.

Not Free SF Reader
A range of stories, from a murder investigation, to a military conflict, and an actual princess-with-cat tale (but no pony :)).None of them are particularly good.

Worlds of Honor : The Stray - Linda Evans
Worlds of Honor : What Price Dreams? - David Weber
Worlds of Honor : The Queen's Gambit - Jane Lindskold
Worlds of Honor : The Hard Way Home - David Weber
Worlds of Honor : Deck Load Strike - Roland J. Green

Treecat partner murder revenge.

3.5 out of 5


Got to check out those humans, boss.

3 out of 5


Royalty more fun with smart furries.

3 out of 5


Get out of my way you fracking fool, I have an avalanche to rescue people from.

3.5 out of 5


Planetary dispute with guns.

2.5 out of 5




2.5 out of 5

Honorable
The whole Honor Harrington series is some of the best fiction that I have ever read. The understanding and parallel to today's politics and Media is very insightful

More background of the Honorverse
Worlds of Honor is a collection of five short stories set in the universe of David Weber's Honor Harrington series.I have enjoyed the HH novels immensely, and I am finding the short story collections are quite good as well.The first story, The Stray, by Linda Evans, is a murder mystery set on Sphinx with a human doctor and a treecat working together to solve the crime.Weber himself checks in with What Price Dreams about the first adoption of a member of the Manticore Royal Family by a treecat, told largely from the 'cat's perspective.Queen's Gambit, by Jane Linskold, is a more politically-driven story about the rise of Queen Elizabeth III to the throne of the Royal Kingdom of Manticore and the investigation into the assassination of Elizabeth's father.Weber delivers again with The Hard Way Home, the only story in which Honor Harrington puts in an appearance.This story gets away from the usual military or political conflicts found in an HH story and gets more into a man versus nature with the Attica Avalanche.This is probably my favorite story of the five.Finally, Roland J. Green checks in with Deck Load Strike about a raid on a distant backwater planet.This is my least favorite story in this volume.If you're looking for a regular entry in the Honor Harrington series, stick with the full-length novels, but altogether, Worlds of Honor is a fascinating read which, like More Than Honor, helps to further deepen the reader's understanding of the Honorverse.

Building the Background
Don't expect an Honor Harrington saga in this one. Instead of directly being part of the Honor series, it is an anthology of shorts set in Honor's universe. Two of the stories are by David Weber himself and other three are from guest contributors. Honor does make a brief appearance in one of the Weber stories but it is just in a supporting role.

"The Stray" tells the story of a rural doctor on Sphinx not long after the first treecat adoption. He is an adoptee. Much of the story is told from the point of view of the cats. They are aware of a terrible crime by a human and manage to get the good doctor to investigate it. This is a very good story and well worth the read.

"What Price Dreams" is one of the Weber stories. It tells of the first time a member of the Manticorian royal family is adopted by a cat. This fortuitous occurrence helps to foil an assassination plot and results in political advantage for the cats. Much of this one is also told from the cats' points of view. It too is a good story.

"Queen's Gambit" takes place during the beginning of Elizabeth's reign and this brings us into the actual time period of Honor Harrington. The story concerns the assassination of Elizabeth's father and the investigation of the crime. This is an occurrence alluded to in one of the main Honor Harrington books. Again, the story is worthwhile.

"The Hard Way Home", Weber's second contribution to this collection, is the one where Honor makes a personal appearance. She is just a Lt. Cmdr. at the time and is serving as the XO of a ship testing out a new type of pinnace. During the trials, her people are called upon to rescue the survivors of an avalanche at a ski resort. The real protagonists in this one are the kids who aid in their own rescue with Nimitz's help. It too was a good read.

"Deck Load Strike" deals with a campaign by proxy between clients of the Peeps and of Manticore on a backwater planet. It is almost exclusively a military account of a raid. It was well written but I did no enjoy it as much as the others.

If it seems that this collection is top heavy with treecats, that is because it is. They are even alluded to in the last story though they do not take part. People fascinated with treecats will want this collection only for that reason but the stories hang together well whether you are a treecat fan or not.
... Read more

Product Description
While the Thirty Years War rages on, a new force emerges in central Europe - the Confederated Principalities of Europe. This is an alliance between King Gustavus of Sweden and the West Virginians, led by Mike Stearns, who were hurled into 17th-century Germany by a mysterious time warp. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (74)

Not as good as the first
Much longer than 1632 and drags on in the end.There is less substance and not as fun. Other than that it was good.

An up and down sequel
I disagree with some reviewers' comments that this book stands by itself. I don't think it is even close to doing so. If you haven't read 1632, you'll really be lost in this book. The main focus of this book is a looming war between Gustav Adolfus/the USoE forces and Spain/France/England/Denmark. Very little about that conflict is resolved in this book, and you ARE going to want to find out what happened. So if you only read this book, you'd miss the outstanding first book in the series that sets this book up, and you'd miss finding out the conclusion of most of 1633's plot lines.

There aren't many Cons to this book, but the main Con is a big one. Unless you are preternaturally fascinated with minutiae of 1600s history of Germany (and elsewhere in Europe), there are long stretches of this book that are boring and do nothing to advance the story. It is common for the authors to indulge in page after page of family histories, political theorizing, and historical what ifs when a paragraph or two would have served the average reader much better. I quickly learned that I could skim through these portions and miss absolutely nothing important to the various plot lines. Once I began to do that I started enjoying the book much more. If you happen to be more interested in that material, then there is more book for you to enjoy. I suspect that most readers will share my taste. 1632 was a riveting, fast paced book. The sections I mention of this nature in 1633 drag it to a stop over and over again.

Now for the Pros, and there are many of these. One of the main foci of 1633 is that the "down timers" have gotten their hands on history books and immediately seek to twist events in their favor. Some very interesting things happen in that light. The Americans continue to leverage the technological potentials to survive and help their allies ... and in some interesting and surprising ways.

Characters that you began to care about in 1632 continue to evolve, particularly the industrialist Simpson. A technology that you may have come to wonder about in the first book makes an important appearance here.

Unfortunately, some of the characters that interacted well together in 1632 are split up in 1633 and remain so for the entirety of the novel. This cuts down a bit on some of the entertaining personality interactions that made 1632 so fascinating. Hopefully these characters will get back together in the 3rd book so that we can regain that atmosphere.

I have started to read The Baltic War as of this review, and its tone is, at least at the start, much more like the far superior 1632. If that continues to be true, I think I'll eventually regard 1633 as a somewhat pedestrian but necessary bridge between 1632 and the rest of the series. It is a must read if you are interested in reading all or much of the series. There is not as much fun, excitement, or jaunty character interaction as in 1632, but there is fun and interest to be found.

Excellent alternate history
I am not a fan of alternate histories in general, but this one grabs and keeps my attention. I'm a hard-nosed engineer by trade and this series has relatively few technical and economic mistakes. The characters are real people, and know the difference between right and wrong. The authors do an excellent job portraying the characters from different points of view. A lot of the story is in comparing how the people of a 21st century West Virginia town interact with the surrounding 17th century German countryside in the middle of the 30 years war. I'm writing this review because it's not obvious which books carry the main story thread. The first (and best) novel is 1632, followed by this 1633 being reviewed, then 1634 The Baltic War. I am not as fond of the Galileo Affair because it is more politics and intrigue, and less action.

Great Idea, Great Execution.Very Entertaining
This series is one of those ideas that we've all had, what if we could go back in time....

1633 was decent.I could definitely tell that this was a 'collaboration' since Weber's style of writing is a little bit different from Flint's but I don't think most people will catch that.

I basically read this non-stop over two days.The only complaint I have is I was confused as all hell on which book was the 'sequel' to 1632.For Pete's sake guys, I almost just said to hell with it and stopped reading the series.I had to jump online to make heads or tails of what book was next.

Personally, Ring of Fire may be a good book, but I just don't want to waste time with filler short stories (that's just me).

Anyways, I liked 1633 though it seemed to have less action than 1632 but it was still enjoyable.I'm getting into the characters and look forward to 1634 which as near as I can tell, "The Baltic Wars" is the next book in the series.

Could you guys make it any more confusing?For crying out loud, we developed a number system a few thousand years ago for a reason.How about using it :)

Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, etc. etc.

A sequel that is setting the stage for a LOOOONNNNGGGG series!
1633 is the sequel to 1632. Not much of a surprise there if you know your numbers. However, we are looking at books here and this book (1633) is the sequel to the earlier one, although the text constantly talks of this book taking place two years after the first one. So, the authors may be arithmetically challenged. They also seem challenged on getting all the plot elements in place as this very long book (670+ pages) seems to drag on and on in the beginning. the pace picks up quite a bit in the last 100-150 pages as the expected battles take place. However, what does take place in the first 500 pages is many scenes that set the stage for many books to come.

Let's reprise a little here. The premise of 1632 was to look at what might happen when a small slice of 20th century America is transposed into the past and plunked down in the middle of the 30 years war in central Germany. 1632 was a fun romp with that in mind and of course, the technologically superior Americans managed to establish a mini-country that is organized on democratic lines. Duh! Now, two years later, what we find is that the mini-America is trying to initially remain independent and out of the fighting, but is immersed in the fighting between King Gustav of Sweden and Cardinal Richelieu of France. But it's not enough that they are on the side of King Gustav - they are trying to pull down the aristocratic society and create a modern democracy in Germany that predates the real emergence of this movement in the world by almost 250 years!

When you set yourself such a monumental task, it is no wonder that most of the fun is gone from this book. This also explains why we see some plot threads come about and then appear to fritter away to nothingness - presumeably to reappear on one of the promised future volumes. However, there is also a lot of stuff that should have been excised from this book. For instance, huge parts of the book discuss the politics of Grantville and then of the rest of Europe and many names are dropped in the process. While this is a testament to the historical research that the authors conducted, I am not sure that understanding the family relationships between this minor count and that minor duke is really moving this story forward. Another irritating aspect of this section is the constant proselytizing of how much better a world controled by unions is. On the other hand, in this book the "bad industrialist" is transformed into one of the most helpful and apolitical people who inhabit the book. Go figure?

The cover shows the front view of a huge warship, and the story talks about warships that will go up and down rivers (different for sure than the cover), however when the battle scenes erupt in the last few pages of the book, we see that the American Navy consists of three speedboats!? Huh? It was thrilling to read of the differences between the modern equipment battling the sailing ships, but eventually the readers has to start asking how can all that equipment still be functioning without the spport of the whole industrial world that was available in 20th or 21st century America?

Another part where you have to suspend your disbelief to a huge extent is the emphasis paid on how the other countries all manage to steal history books from Grantville and read them to see what the future will hold, and then take action to modify those futures. Of course, just the appearance of Grantville will have changed the future, but never mind that. What interests me is why the other countries choose to steal only history books and not focus on the technical and science books that would allow them to reduce the technological advantage that the Americans have? Doesn't seem to make much sense.

Anyway, I took off one star because of the dreary politics, the long drawn-out discussions of the philosophies and the utterly unbelievable passages (the Jewish woman who negotiates as an equal with Richelieu who at the end of the book starts swearing at a Rabbi while adopting a baby, etc.). I am interested in reading the next one in the series in the hopes that it goes back to the fun and games of the first one. ... Read more