What do you think?
Rate this book
Honorverse: Saganami Island #1
The Shadow of Saganami
The Star Kingdom has a new generation of officers! And this elite group hand-picked and trained by Honor Harrington herself is going to be needed immediately, as their first assignment turns out to be more dangerous than anyone expected. What was supposed to be a quiet outpost, far from the blazing conflict between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the People's Republic of Haven has actually been targeted by an unholy alliance between the slaveholders of Manpower, the rival star kingdoms of Mesa and Monica, and the bureaucrats of the Solarian League. The alliance stands to benefit if the Havenites defeat Manticore, and are preparing for a surprise attack from the rear to divide Manticore's forces, which are already strained nearly to their limits. With their captain, the young Manticoran officers will risk their careers, if not their lives, on an unauthorized mission to expose and counter the threat to their Star Kingdom. Follow their journey as they show what they're made of as New York Times best-selling author David Weber begins a new series that will be a must for the hundreds of thousands of Honor Harrington fans.
755 pages, Hardcover
First published October 26, 2004
253 people are currently reading
1422 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
312Ìýbooks4,499ÌýfollowersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
June 4, 2011
BTW, if anybody cares that I have not been posting, it's because I've been rereading all of David Weber's "Honorverse" series. My reason for doing so is that I read them out of order before, and I wanted to re read them in order to get a sense of the continuity of the story. For the most part, I appreciated them more the second time around, although my objections to some of the ones toward the end of the series wasn't fundamentally changed. I do have to say that this doesn't apply to 'Storm From the Shadows,' which I disliked. I also have to add that Parker, my second son, tells me that I'm flat out wrong.
All that being said, I had missed 'Shadow of Saganami.' I had skipped this and 'Storm' in my first reading of the series because I thought it wasn't part of the arc of the series. . . Its cover does say it's a 'New Series.' The premise is that the 'Saganami' series follows the adventures of a group of cadets who've been classmates at Saganami Island, sort of the Manticorian equivalent to the US Naval Academy, from their school days out into their fleet. However, this series does introduce major incidents that are part of the "main" series and its characters appear in the main series. So, after having reread ALL of the Honor books twice, I realized I really had to read the Saganami books to understand the whole series.
Lots of lead up to say that I REALLY liked this book; it's, perhaps, a cut below the very best of the honor series (which I would consider to be On Basilisk Station, The Honor of the Queen, and Mission of Honor), but maybe not. It's excellent; the idea of following the fate of a group of cadets works very well as a dramatic device. The book also introduces another captain, Aivers Terekok, who is as good a strategist as Honor Harrington but who is also an interesting, complex, somewhat damaged person. There are GREAT action scenes, some really intense battles, and interesting character arcs. Very, very well done.
Plus, since Honor has become the equivalent of a four or five star Admiral, she's lost the ability to command a solo ship on her own (Admirals don't do such things). While this is believable because competent admirals do "move up," Honors believable growth as a character has hampered the series (ironic, but true). The introduction of Terekov allows Weber to reintroduce some good butt kicking space opera to one of his major characters. Good stuff.
All that being said, I had missed 'Shadow of Saganami.' I had skipped this and 'Storm' in my first reading of the series because I thought it wasn't part of the arc of the series. . . Its cover does say it's a 'New Series.' The premise is that the 'Saganami' series follows the adventures of a group of cadets who've been classmates at Saganami Island, sort of the Manticorian equivalent to the US Naval Academy, from their school days out into their fleet. However, this series does introduce major incidents that are part of the "main" series and its characters appear in the main series. So, after having reread ALL of the Honor books twice, I realized I really had to read the Saganami books to understand the whole series.
Lots of lead up to say that I REALLY liked this book; it's, perhaps, a cut below the very best of the honor series (which I would consider to be On Basilisk Station, The Honor of the Queen, and Mission of Honor), but maybe not. It's excellent; the idea of following the fate of a group of cadets works very well as a dramatic device. The book also introduces another captain, Aivers Terekok, who is as good a strategist as Honor Harrington but who is also an interesting, complex, somewhat damaged person. There are GREAT action scenes, some really intense battles, and interesting character arcs. Very, very well done.
Plus, since Honor has become the equivalent of a four or five star Admiral, she's lost the ability to command a solo ship on her own (Admirals don't do such things). While this is believable because competent admirals do "move up," Honors believable growth as a character has hampered the series (ironic, but true). The introduction of Terekov allows Weber to reintroduce some good butt kicking space opera to one of his major characters. Good stuff.
November 3, 2021
First in the Saganami Island military science fiction, series, a spin-off from the Honorverse (#33) series. The focus switches between Midshipwoman Helen Zilwicki and Captain Aivars Terekhov.
My Take
It's the black-and-white of good and evil. There are so many conflicts/points of interest in this story, well, the whole series really. There's the hatred Manticore and Haven have for Mesa/Manpower and their slave products. The Solarian League considers anyone who's not them as beneath them, neobarbs who couldn't hold a party in a brewery. *snicker* The League's envy of the income Manticore gets from shipping tolls. Khumalo is a conflict all by himself.
The underhanded politicking is absolutely disgusting. I wanna shoot 'em all, but it would be too kind.
You'll better understand this as you discover just how incredibly poor the planets are in the Split System. Geez, you'd think their wealthier citizens would want to help improve their lives. I know I can't wait for Manticore to jump in and help. Knowing the difference between how the Manties approach people and how the OFS does, makes you want to smack people like Agnes upside the head!
Weber also gives us an inside look at the dynamics amongst the crew, and all the other groupings through third person global subjective point-of-view. Phew, those dynamics run a gamut of emotions and thoughts.
I can't help it, I do adore Mateo, lol. And I love Abigail Hearns' story as well. She keeps cropping up, and her character only gets better as she grows.
Whoaaa, wait'll you read about Aivars experience as a POW!
There are a number of positives in the series, including men and women being treated as equals in positions of power as well as in military units. Another positive is Manticore as the good guys, although, yes, they do have their fair share of jerks.
Yep, sounds like the Navy (or any other military branch) never changes with ships ensuring they have plenty of spares onboard.
It is pretty amazing that the Hexapuma does so well with so many recent academy graduates!
Helen does keep things alive with the people she's related to, lol.
Even more lively is the debate over Manticore versus the Office of Foreign Security versus the Solarian League and which one would be the better "master". How the individual planets who have requested annexation have such "individual" ideas of how it's gonna work.
I like the idea of prolong, if only because the healthcare in Manticore sounds so fabulous. It does however cause some interesting problems.
Ooo-whee, there are some nasty grudges held in this system. I can understand why, and it does point to how one's perspective is shaped by their age.
It is sweet to read of the crew coming to accept their captain and vice versa.
Vaandrager is one nasty woman, as are Nordbrandt and Tonkovic. That Tonkovic woman is such a hypocrite!! In contrast, the midshipmen are having attacks of conscience. Now, Westman, he strikes me as an intelligent man, so how he doesn't make the connection with the Office of Frontier Security, I do NOT know.
It's not until better than halfway through that we learn the reason Van Dort set up the RTU, and why Van Dort is jumping ship, so to speak.
It's a fabulous story if you love military action, the ins and outs of politics, and the triumph of good over evil. I do not however grasp the science. I just read and not worry about understanding it.
The Story
It was the discovery of the Lynx Terminus that brought Manticore into contact with the Split system. A wide-ranging group of planets who want to join Manticore, only, not everyone wants to join.
"It's always so much easier to round up the local opposition for disposal if they think you're their friends."
The Characters
For a complete character list, see my .
Helen Zilwicki, Anton Zilwicki's daughter and Queen Berry's sister, is on her middy cruise. Okay, she's the Terrible because of her skill at Neue-Stil Hangemenge (she taught the instructors at the academy). Her fellow middies include Aikawa Kagiyama, Helen's best friend who's on the Tactical track; Ragnhild Pavletic who is a whiz at flying; the poetry-writing Leopold Stottmeister, a soccer jock, is in Engineering; and, the unknown and totally gorgeous Paulo d'Arezzo, who's on the Electronic Warfare track and has skill as an artist.
The Hexapuma is . . .
. . . a.k.a. the Nasty Kitty, a heavy cruiser. Capt Aivars Terekhov is its new commander. Sinead is his wife of forty-three years. Chief Steward Joanna Agnelli serves the captain as valet, butler, and more; his previous steward, Dennis Frampton, had died at Hyacinth. Commander (Cmdr) Ginger Lewis is the Chief Engineer. Freda MacIntyre, a jg lieutenant, is the boat bay officer with issues. Cmdr Ansten FitzGerald is the XO. Lt Cmdr Tobias Wright is the Astrogator. Lt Cmdr Amal Nagchaudhuri is in Communications. Lt Cmdr Naomi Kaplan. Lt Guthrie Bagwell is the EWO (Electronics Warfare Officer) under Kaplan. Surgeon Cmdr Lajos Orban is the ship's doctor. Lt Jefferson Kobe and Lt Hansen McGraw serve as officers of the watch.
Lt Abigail Hearns, a Grayson heir, a.k.a. Miss Owens, is the assistant tactical officer (acting). Mateo Gutierrez is her personal armsman.
Capt Tadislaw Kaczmarczyk (he's a major when aboard ship) is the CO of Hexapuma's Marine detachment. Lt Angelique Kelso is First Platoon's CO. Lt Bill Mann is Third Platoon's CO. Sgt Maj Hermelinda "Gunny" Urizar.
Manticore is . . .
. . . the primary planet and the Kingdom of Manticore, ruled by Elizabeth III. Princess Ruth is her niece who wants to be a spy. William Alexander, Lord Alexander, and the Baron of Grantville is the new Prime Minister. First Lord of Admiralty Hamish Alexander, Admiral of the Green (retired), and thirteenth Earl of White Haven, is his brother. Sir Arthur Langtry is the Foreign Secretary. Dame Amandine Corvisart will be sent to investigate the situation.
Admiral of the Red Lady Dame Honor Harrington, Steadholder and Duchess Harrington, is the Navy's best and the current commanding officer of the Eighth Fleet, Manticoran Alliance.
Admiral of the Green Sir Lucien Cortez, the Fifth Space Lord of the Royal Manticoran Admiralty has Capt Terrence Shaw as his chief of staff. Admiral Draskovic had been Sir Lucien's predecessor. Admiral Pat Givens is in charge of the kingdom's spying. Sir Thomas Caparelli is the First Space Lord and commander-in-chief of the Royal Manticoran Navy. BuShips is the Bureau in charge of Ships. BuPers is the Bureau in charge of Personnel.
Royal Manticoran Naval Academy
Vice Admiral of the Red Dame Beatrice McDermott, Baroness Alb, is the Academy Commandant. Command Sergeant Major Sullivan.
Manticore's allies include . . .
. . . fewer and fewer, but the Graysons are still with them. Benjamin Mayhew is the head of Grayson, and he changed the laws of inheritance.
The Talbott Cluster has . . .
. . . requested annexation by the Star Kingdom of Manticore. The System President is Samiha Lababibi, who is based in Thimble on the planet Flax. Dame Estelle Matsuko, Baroness Medusa, is the queen's provisional governor in the Cluster and is based on Flax where the Constitutional Convention is meeting about the annexation. Gregor O'Shaughnessy is her analyst.
Rear Admiral Augustus Khumalo is a High Ridge appointee, a "political" admiral, on HMS Hercules. Capt Loretta Shoupe is his chief of staff. Cmdr Ambrose Chandler is his intelligence officer. Capt Victoria Saunders is the commanding officer of Khumalo's flagship; Cmdr Richard Gaunt is her XO.
Cmdr Eleanor Hope and her XO, Lt Cmdr Osborne Diamond, of the Vigilant ; Lt Cmdr Bruce Jeffers and his XO, Lt Amelia Kulinac, of the Javelin . Cmdr Josepha Hewlett with her XO, Lt Cmdr Stephen McDermott, of the HMS Gallant; Cmdr Mira Badmachin is CO of the Volcano , a huge freighter; Lt Cmdr Benjamin Mavundia and his XO, Lt Cmdr Annemarie Atkinson, of the Audacious ; Ito Anders and his XO, George Hibachi of the Warlock ; Cmdr Herawati Lignos of the Aegis along with four destroyers, Lt Cmdr Jeffers of the Javelin ; Lt Cmdr Maitland Naysmith of the Janissary , Lt Cmdr Frank Hennessy of the Rondeau , and the Lt Bianca Rossi of the Aria join the Hexapuma on its mission.
San Miguel is . . .
. . . another planet. Joachim Alquezar, the head of the Constitutional Union Party, is its representative to the Convention and the Convention president.
Rembrandt is . . .
. . . a mercantile power and home base for the Rembrandt Trade Union (RTU), which was founded by Bernardus Van Dort. Suzanne Bannister had been his much-loved wife; Phillipia and Mechelina were their two daughters. I think Vermeer is the capital city. Ineka Vaandrager is the current chairwoman of RTU.
Dresden is . . .
. . . an incredibly poor planet. Henri Krietzmann is the president and their representative to the Convention.
The Republic of Kornati is . . .
. . . the only inhabited planet of the Split System ruled by a bunch of greedy oligarchs with Aleksandra Tonkovic as its president. Luka is her butler. The Nemanja Building is the home of their parliament. Deputy Nicola Martinovic had died a hero. Vesna Grabovac is the Treasury Secretary. Vice President Vuk Rajkovic leads the Reconciliation Party. Darinka Djerdja is his executive assistant. Mavro Kanjer is the Secretary of Justice. Goran Majoli is the Secretary of Commerce and one of Rajkovic's strongest allies. Andrija Gazi is the Chairman of the Special Committee on Annexation, which includes Deputy Tamara Ranjina. Deputy Cuijeta Krizanic leads the Committee on Constitutional Law, a.k.a. the Standing Committee. It seems the Rajkovics and Kovacics are some decent oligarchs. Tomaz Zovan is a Democratic Centralist and a friend of Tonkovic's since childhood. Alenka Mestrovic helps keep Tonkovic informed. Judita Debevic is the leader of the Social Moderates and vice-chairwoman of the Standing Committee. Eldijana Mrsic is the senior Democratic Centralist on the Standing Committee. General Vlacic Suka is to declare martial law.
Colonel Brigita Basaricek is the commanding officer of the Kornatian National Police. Capt Barto Jezic is a senior SWAT officer.
Agnes "Sister Alpha" Nordbrandt, a member of parliament, is furious with the vote and becomes a terrorist and leader of the Freedom Alliance of Kornati (FAK). Juras "Icepick" Divkovic is one of Agnes' original recruits; his brother is Drazen, a.k.a. Brother Dagger. "Tyrannicide" is Juras' second-in-command. Charlie One, a.k.a. Camp Freedom, is a brilliant training camp.
Capt Duan Binyan commands the Marianne , a Jessyk Combine armed freighter. Also known as Golden Butterfly. Annette De Chabrol is the first officer. The nervous Zeno Egervary is the chief security officer. Franz Anhier is the ship's engineer. Iakovos Sandkaran is the communications officer. Azadeh Shirafkin is the purser.
New Tuscany is . . .
. . . a problem planet, and Andrieaux Yvernau leads their delegates.
Tillerman System
Yolanda Harper is their chief delegate. Jeffers is Firebrand's contact.
Montana is . . .
. . . a planet of honorable cowboys and great beef. Warren Suttles is its president. Chief Marshal Trevor Bannister, a good friend of Westman's, is with the Montana Marshals Service, the local planetary police force. Les Haven is the Land Registry Office Inspector.
Stephen Westman is unhappy about the vote as well, but a lot more organized and sensitive with his terrorism. His men include the trusted Luis Palacios, the field manager for the Westman empire.
Oscar Johansen is a Manticoran surveyor along with Alvin, Mary Seavers, and Aoriana Constantin.
Nuncio is . . .
. . . a poverty-stricken star system with two planets: Basilica and Pontifex. President George Adolfsson is in charge; Alberto Wexler is his personal assistant and nephew. Commodore Emil Karlberg is the commander of their Space Force. Capt Magnus Einarsson is Wolverine's commander.
Freighter Nijmegen is targeted by Capt Daumier of the Anhur crewed by StateSec. Citizen Commodore Clignet was a nutjob. Citizen Lt Eisenhower was assigned as prize master. Lt Josh Baranyai is/was the third officer of the Solarian merchant ship Emerald Dawn . Capt Bacon had been in command. Sophia Abercrombie, the second engineer, went a week later. Steve Demosthenes was the second officer.
The Republic of Monica is . . . �. . . a planet in cahoots with the Office of Frontier Security and Mesa. Roberto Tyler is the president. Admiral Gregoire Bourmont and Admiral Isidor Hegedusic are the Monican System Navy whose new ships include Cyclone , Capt Schroeder of Typhoon , and Hurricane , which are led by Commodore Janko Horster. Capt Damien Harahap works for Maj Ulrike Eichbauer.
The Meyers System is . . .
. . . a Frontier Security protectorate where the planet Mesa and Manpower is located. Aldona Anisimovna, a director of Manpower, and Isabel Bardasano are premier assassins. Isabel is also on the board of the Jessyk Combine, a shipping company which is actually owned by Manpower.
"Firebrand" is supplying angry citizens with weaponry with the help of the Central Liberation Committee.
The Solarian League is . . .
. . . based in Old Chicago on Old Earth. The Renaissance Association is a political party the head of which was recently assassinated.
The Office of Frontier Security (OFS) is . . .
. . . part of the Solarian League and rife with corruption and greed. Some of their commissioners include Lorcan Verrochio, Volkhart Kalokainos of Kalokainos Shipping, Izrok Levakonic is a representative of Technodyne Industries of Yildun, and Valery Ottweiler, a diplomat of Mesa. Hongbo Junyan is a vice-commissioner.
The brutal Brigadier General Francisco Yucel, the commander of the Solarian Gendarmerie, is charged with intelligence operations for Verrochio.
The Legend
Manticore's military forces revere Commodore Edward Saganami, recipient of the first Parliamentary Medal of Valor, for his bravery in battle at Trautman's Star in Silesia. His ship, Nike , is on the List of Honor, names that are kept in commission forever. Queen Adrienne had been the reigning monarch.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a collage of, um, interestingly shaped ships flying past Helen Zilwicki's white beret-clad head, which is in profile looking right. Below Zilwicki's neck is a pyramid-shaped line-up of black-clad Navy personnel standing in a mist of white fog rising up to their knees. The background for this is a deep blue and colonial blue clouds crisscrossed with white laser lines. It has a thin border of purple separating it from the outer black edges of the cover. At the very top is the author's name in red with raised yellow outlines. The title is in a shaped sign outlined in a pale green that is just above Zilwicki's head. The words are in a yellow font with a long text shadow of red.
The title refers to The Shadow of Saganami that spreads over each of its graduates.
My Take
It's the black-and-white of good and evil. There are so many conflicts/points of interest in this story, well, the whole series really. There's the hatred Manticore and Haven have for Mesa/Manpower and their slave products. The Solarian League considers anyone who's not them as beneath them, neobarbs who couldn't hold a party in a brewery. *snicker* The League's envy of the income Manticore gets from shipping tolls. Khumalo is a conflict all by himself.
The underhanded politicking is absolutely disgusting. I wanna shoot 'em all, but it would be too kind.
You'll better understand this as you discover just how incredibly poor the planets are in the Split System. Geez, you'd think their wealthier citizens would want to help improve their lives. I know I can't wait for Manticore to jump in and help. Knowing the difference between how the Manties approach people and how the OFS does, makes you want to smack people like Agnes upside the head!
Weber also gives us an inside look at the dynamics amongst the crew, and all the other groupings through third person global subjective point-of-view. Phew, those dynamics run a gamut of emotions and thoughts.
I can't help it, I do adore Mateo, lol. And I love Abigail Hearns' story as well. She keeps cropping up, and her character only gets better as she grows.
Whoaaa, wait'll you read about Aivars experience as a POW!
There are a number of positives in the series, including men and women being treated as equals in positions of power as well as in military units. Another positive is Manticore as the good guys, although, yes, they do have their fair share of jerks.
Yep, sounds like the Navy (or any other military branch) never changes with ships ensuring they have plenty of spares onboard.
It is pretty amazing that the Hexapuma does so well with so many recent academy graduates!
Helen does keep things alive with the people she's related to, lol.
Even more lively is the debate over Manticore versus the Office of Foreign Security versus the Solarian League and which one would be the better "master". How the individual planets who have requested annexation have such "individual" ideas of how it's gonna work.
I like the idea of prolong, if only because the healthcare in Manticore sounds so fabulous. It does however cause some interesting problems.
Ooo-whee, there are some nasty grudges held in this system. I can understand why, and it does point to how one's perspective is shaped by their age.
It is sweet to read of the crew coming to accept their captain and vice versa.
Vaandrager is one nasty woman, as are Nordbrandt and Tonkovic. That Tonkovic woman is such a hypocrite!! In contrast, the midshipmen are having attacks of conscience. Now, Westman, he strikes me as an intelligent man, so how he doesn't make the connection with the Office of Frontier Security, I do NOT know.
It's not until better than halfway through that we learn the reason Van Dort set up the RTU, and why Van Dort is jumping ship, so to speak.
It's a fabulous story if you love military action, the ins and outs of politics, and the triumph of good over evil. I do not however grasp the science. I just read and not worry about understanding it.
The Story
It was the discovery of the Lynx Terminus that brought Manticore into contact with the Split system. A wide-ranging group of planets who want to join Manticore, only, not everyone wants to join.
"It's always so much easier to round up the local opposition for disposal if they think you're their friends."
The Characters
For a complete character list, see my .
Helen Zilwicki, Anton Zilwicki's daughter and Queen Berry's sister, is on her middy cruise. Okay, she's the Terrible because of her skill at Neue-Stil Hangemenge (she taught the instructors at the academy). Her fellow middies include Aikawa Kagiyama, Helen's best friend who's on the Tactical track; Ragnhild Pavletic who is a whiz at flying; the poetry-writing Leopold Stottmeister, a soccer jock, is in Engineering; and, the unknown and totally gorgeous Paulo d'Arezzo, who's on the Electronic Warfare track and has skill as an artist.
The Hexapuma is . . .
. . . a.k.a. the Nasty Kitty, a heavy cruiser. Capt Aivars Terekhov is its new commander. Sinead is his wife of forty-three years. Chief Steward Joanna Agnelli serves the captain as valet, butler, and more; his previous steward, Dennis Frampton, had died at Hyacinth. Commander (Cmdr) Ginger Lewis is the Chief Engineer. Freda MacIntyre, a jg lieutenant, is the boat bay officer with issues. Cmdr Ansten FitzGerald is the XO. Lt Cmdr Tobias Wright is the Astrogator. Lt Cmdr Amal Nagchaudhuri is in Communications. Lt Cmdr Naomi Kaplan. Lt Guthrie Bagwell is the EWO (Electronics Warfare Officer) under Kaplan. Surgeon Cmdr Lajos Orban is the ship's doctor. Lt Jefferson Kobe and Lt Hansen McGraw serve as officers of the watch.
Lt Abigail Hearns, a Grayson heir, a.k.a. Miss Owens, is the assistant tactical officer (acting). Mateo Gutierrez is her personal armsman.
Capt Tadislaw Kaczmarczyk (he's a major when aboard ship) is the CO of Hexapuma's Marine detachment. Lt Angelique Kelso is First Platoon's CO. Lt Bill Mann is Third Platoon's CO. Sgt Maj Hermelinda "Gunny" Urizar.
Manticore is . . .
. . . the primary planet and the Kingdom of Manticore, ruled by Elizabeth III. Princess Ruth is her niece who wants to be a spy. William Alexander, Lord Alexander, and the Baron of Grantville is the new Prime Minister. First Lord of Admiralty Hamish Alexander, Admiral of the Green (retired), and thirteenth Earl of White Haven, is his brother. Sir Arthur Langtry is the Foreign Secretary. Dame Amandine Corvisart will be sent to investigate the situation.
Admiral of the Red Lady Dame Honor Harrington, Steadholder and Duchess Harrington, is the Navy's best and the current commanding officer of the Eighth Fleet, Manticoran Alliance.
Admiral of the Green Sir Lucien Cortez, the Fifth Space Lord of the Royal Manticoran Admiralty has Capt Terrence Shaw as his chief of staff. Admiral Draskovic had been Sir Lucien's predecessor. Admiral Pat Givens is in charge of the kingdom's spying. Sir Thomas Caparelli is the First Space Lord and commander-in-chief of the Royal Manticoran Navy. BuShips is the Bureau in charge of Ships. BuPers is the Bureau in charge of Personnel.
Royal Manticoran Naval Academy
Vice Admiral of the Red Dame Beatrice McDermott, Baroness Alb, is the Academy Commandant. Command Sergeant Major Sullivan.
Manticore's allies include . . .
. . . fewer and fewer, but the Graysons are still with them. Benjamin Mayhew is the head of Grayson, and he changed the laws of inheritance.
The Talbott Cluster has . . .
. . . requested annexation by the Star Kingdom of Manticore. The System President is Samiha Lababibi, who is based in Thimble on the planet Flax. Dame Estelle Matsuko, Baroness Medusa, is the queen's provisional governor in the Cluster and is based on Flax where the Constitutional Convention is meeting about the annexation. Gregor O'Shaughnessy is her analyst.
Rear Admiral Augustus Khumalo is a High Ridge appointee, a "political" admiral, on HMS Hercules. Capt Loretta Shoupe is his chief of staff. Cmdr Ambrose Chandler is his intelligence officer. Capt Victoria Saunders is the commanding officer of Khumalo's flagship; Cmdr Richard Gaunt is her XO.
Cmdr Eleanor Hope and her XO, Lt Cmdr Osborne Diamond, of the Vigilant ; Lt Cmdr Bruce Jeffers and his XO, Lt Amelia Kulinac, of the Javelin . Cmdr Josepha Hewlett with her XO, Lt Cmdr Stephen McDermott, of the HMS Gallant; Cmdr Mira Badmachin is CO of the Volcano , a huge freighter; Lt Cmdr Benjamin Mavundia and his XO, Lt Cmdr Annemarie Atkinson, of the Audacious ; Ito Anders and his XO, George Hibachi of the Warlock ; Cmdr Herawati Lignos of the Aegis along with four destroyers, Lt Cmdr Jeffers of the Javelin ; Lt Cmdr Maitland Naysmith of the Janissary , Lt Cmdr Frank Hennessy of the Rondeau , and the Lt Bianca Rossi of the Aria join the Hexapuma on its mission.
San Miguel is . . .
. . . another planet. Joachim Alquezar, the head of the Constitutional Union Party, is its representative to the Convention and the Convention president.
Rembrandt is . . .
. . . a mercantile power and home base for the Rembrandt Trade Union (RTU), which was founded by Bernardus Van Dort. Suzanne Bannister had been his much-loved wife; Phillipia and Mechelina were their two daughters. I think Vermeer is the capital city. Ineka Vaandrager is the current chairwoman of RTU.
Dresden is . . .
. . . an incredibly poor planet. Henri Krietzmann is the president and their representative to the Convention.
The Republic of Kornati is . . .
. . . the only inhabited planet of the Split System ruled by a bunch of greedy oligarchs with Aleksandra Tonkovic as its president. Luka is her butler. The Nemanja Building is the home of their parliament. Deputy Nicola Martinovic had died a hero. Vesna Grabovac is the Treasury Secretary. Vice President Vuk Rajkovic leads the Reconciliation Party. Darinka Djerdja is his executive assistant. Mavro Kanjer is the Secretary of Justice. Goran Majoli is the Secretary of Commerce and one of Rajkovic's strongest allies. Andrija Gazi is the Chairman of the Special Committee on Annexation, which includes Deputy Tamara Ranjina. Deputy Cuijeta Krizanic leads the Committee on Constitutional Law, a.k.a. the Standing Committee. It seems the Rajkovics and Kovacics are some decent oligarchs. Tomaz Zovan is a Democratic Centralist and a friend of Tonkovic's since childhood. Alenka Mestrovic helps keep Tonkovic informed. Judita Debevic is the leader of the Social Moderates and vice-chairwoman of the Standing Committee. Eldijana Mrsic is the senior Democratic Centralist on the Standing Committee. General Vlacic Suka is to declare martial law.
Colonel Brigita Basaricek is the commanding officer of the Kornatian National Police. Capt Barto Jezic is a senior SWAT officer.
Agnes "Sister Alpha" Nordbrandt, a member of parliament, is furious with the vote and becomes a terrorist and leader of the Freedom Alliance of Kornati (FAK). Juras "Icepick" Divkovic is one of Agnes' original recruits; his brother is Drazen, a.k.a. Brother Dagger. "Tyrannicide" is Juras' second-in-command. Charlie One, a.k.a. Camp Freedom, is a brilliant training camp.
Capt Duan Binyan commands the Marianne , a Jessyk Combine armed freighter. Also known as Golden Butterfly. Annette De Chabrol is the first officer. The nervous Zeno Egervary is the chief security officer. Franz Anhier is the ship's engineer. Iakovos Sandkaran is the communications officer. Azadeh Shirafkin is the purser.
New Tuscany is . . .
. . . a problem planet, and Andrieaux Yvernau leads their delegates.
Tillerman System
Yolanda Harper is their chief delegate. Jeffers is Firebrand's contact.
Montana is . . .
. . . a planet of honorable cowboys and great beef. Warren Suttles is its president. Chief Marshal Trevor Bannister, a good friend of Westman's, is with the Montana Marshals Service, the local planetary police force. Les Haven is the Land Registry Office Inspector.
Stephen Westman is unhappy about the vote as well, but a lot more organized and sensitive with his terrorism. His men include the trusted Luis Palacios, the field manager for the Westman empire.
Oscar Johansen is a Manticoran surveyor along with Alvin, Mary Seavers, and Aoriana Constantin.
Nuncio is . . .
. . . a poverty-stricken star system with two planets: Basilica and Pontifex. President George Adolfsson is in charge; Alberto Wexler is his personal assistant and nephew. Commodore Emil Karlberg is the commander of their Space Force. Capt Magnus Einarsson is Wolverine's commander.
Freighter Nijmegen is targeted by Capt Daumier of the Anhur crewed by StateSec. Citizen Commodore Clignet was a nutjob. Citizen Lt Eisenhower was assigned as prize master. Lt Josh Baranyai is/was the third officer of the Solarian merchant ship Emerald Dawn . Capt Bacon had been in command. Sophia Abercrombie, the second engineer, went a week later. Steve Demosthenes was the second officer.
The Republic of Monica is . . . �. . . a planet in cahoots with the Office of Frontier Security and Mesa. Roberto Tyler is the president. Admiral Gregoire Bourmont and Admiral Isidor Hegedusic are the Monican System Navy whose new ships include Cyclone , Capt Schroeder of Typhoon , and Hurricane , which are led by Commodore Janko Horster. Capt Damien Harahap works for Maj Ulrike Eichbauer.
The Meyers System is . . .
. . . a Frontier Security protectorate where the planet Mesa and Manpower is located. Aldona Anisimovna, a director of Manpower, and Isabel Bardasano are premier assassins. Isabel is also on the board of the Jessyk Combine, a shipping company which is actually owned by Manpower.
"Firebrand" is supplying angry citizens with weaponry with the help of the Central Liberation Committee.
The Solarian League is . . .
. . . based in Old Chicago on Old Earth. The Renaissance Association is a political party the head of which was recently assassinated.
The Office of Frontier Security (OFS) is . . .
. . . part of the Solarian League and rife with corruption and greed. Some of their commissioners include Lorcan Verrochio, Volkhart Kalokainos of Kalokainos Shipping, Izrok Levakonic is a representative of Technodyne Industries of Yildun, and Valery Ottweiler, a diplomat of Mesa. Hongbo Junyan is a vice-commissioner.
The brutal Brigadier General Francisco Yucel, the commander of the Solarian Gendarmerie, is charged with intelligence operations for Verrochio.
The Legend
Manticore's military forces revere Commodore Edward Saganami, recipient of the first Parliamentary Medal of Valor, for his bravery in battle at Trautman's Star in Silesia. His ship, Nike , is on the List of Honor, names that are kept in commission forever. Queen Adrienne had been the reigning monarch.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a collage of, um, interestingly shaped ships flying past Helen Zilwicki's white beret-clad head, which is in profile looking right. Below Zilwicki's neck is a pyramid-shaped line-up of black-clad Navy personnel standing in a mist of white fog rising up to their knees. The background for this is a deep blue and colonial blue clouds crisscrossed with white laser lines. It has a thin border of purple separating it from the outer black edges of the cover. At the very top is the author's name in red with raised yellow outlines. The title is in a shaped sign outlined in a pale green that is just above Zilwicki's head. The words are in a yellow font with a long text shadow of red.
The title refers to The Shadow of Saganami that spreads over each of its graduates.
March 17, 2015
This novel is another spin-of from the Honor Harrington series. It is telling the story of the new cadets of the Royal Manticoran Navy in their first cruise. All of them are expected to follow the example of Edward Saganami, the name inscribed in their academy.
The story has the same feel as the original series, even without seeing Honor Harrington in the center of the action. Maybe it is not so surprising because it is indeed written by David Weber himself (unlike the Torch series which is the collaboration between David Weber and Eric Flint, which gives a different taste).
As you can expect from a decent Honor Harrington series, the novel included lots of political intrigue; this time it is about international diplomacy. The entire events is initiated by the discovery of Lynx terminus, linking the Manticoran system with the Talbot Cluster.
The main character is Captain Terekhov, the captain of a new heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma. In his assignment to Talbot Cluster, he has to "babysit" several midshipmen/women just graduated from Saganami Island. What supposed to be an easy assignment unexpectedly turned into a major interstellar incident. All of these will test whether he and his entire crew is actually following the shadow of Edward Saganami or not.
The naval battle, as always, is as brutal as it can be. The enemy is cunning, ruthless, and unpredictable. The homefront is also not as helpful as it can be, being crippled by the previous idiot Highridge government. It is going to be an ultimate test of skill, technology and especially the human spirit.
It is a thoroughly exciting reading, from the beginning to the end, especially when you are already a fan of Honor Harrington series. If your are not, it does not hurt also, because this book is the first book a new series. Knowing the Honorverse is of course helpful, especially to catch up with the basic vocabulary, but even if you don't, you can always check on the glossary in the Internet.
Verdict, solid FOUR STAR.
The story has the same feel as the original series, even without seeing Honor Harrington in the center of the action. Maybe it is not so surprising because it is indeed written by David Weber himself (unlike the Torch series which is the collaboration between David Weber and Eric Flint, which gives a different taste).
As you can expect from a decent Honor Harrington series, the novel included lots of political intrigue; this time it is about international diplomacy. The entire events is initiated by the discovery of Lynx terminus, linking the Manticoran system with the Talbot Cluster.
The main character is Captain Terekhov, the captain of a new heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma. In his assignment to Talbot Cluster, he has to "babysit" several midshipmen/women just graduated from Saganami Island. What supposed to be an easy assignment unexpectedly turned into a major interstellar incident. All of these will test whether he and his entire crew is actually following the shadow of Edward Saganami or not.
The naval battle, as always, is as brutal as it can be. The enemy is cunning, ruthless, and unpredictable. The homefront is also not as helpful as it can be, being crippled by the previous idiot Highridge government. It is going to be an ultimate test of skill, technology and especially the human spirit.
It is a thoroughly exciting reading, from the beginning to the end, especially when you are already a fan of Honor Harrington series. If your are not, it does not hurt also, because this book is the first book a new series. Knowing the Honorverse is of course helpful, especially to catch up with the basic vocabulary, but even if you don't, you can always check on the glossary in the Internet.
Verdict, solid FOUR STAR.
April 6, 2021
2018 re-read. Quite good!
July 5, 2013
Loved it. I can see this spinoff of the main series really going somewhere. Well worth reading.
July 17, 2011
Must be in a bad mood tonight because this is the second book I've given a mere two stars, and it too isn't Actually poorly written, nor does it suffer major plot holes, awkward dialog, or any of the other major deficiencies of most books I rate so harshly.
In fact, I'm actually glad I read it because it does flesh out what actually happened out in the Talbot Cluster during . (IMHO "Saganami" should be read first: it does not contain spoilers for "All Costs," while the reverse is not true. Also,
should apparently be read before either one: Weber was actually compelled to give a plot synopsis of it via a character in "Saganami!")
Anyway, my harsh rating is because it was TOO LONG and there were TOO MANY CHARACTERS. I am probably in serious Weber overdose, 'cause this is hardly a new problem of his, but this one really took Work to get into: hundreds of pages before the plot started happening instead of just getting carefully, painstakingly, Boringly set up.
Yeah, it paid off in the end with one of his signature battle scenes: in the face of terrible odds, terrific bravery, honor, and better tech wins the day.
And as much as I can get bored, I do actually enjoy his little essays on comparative governments - it's amusing and even a little convicting to read between the lines when he's describing a system that obviously shares roots with our own.
So, devotees to the series must read this one, and I am sure I'll read the next few myself. I'm not willing to give up on the Honorverse the way I did with 's "Wheel of Time" some decades ago: at least Weber's stories are on the whole positive and redemptive!
In fact, I'm actually glad I read it because it does flesh out what actually happened out in the Talbot Cluster during . (IMHO "Saganami" should be read first: it does not contain spoilers for "All Costs," while the reverse is not true. Also,
should apparently be read before either one: Weber was actually compelled to give a plot synopsis of it via a character in "Saganami!")
Anyway, my harsh rating is because it was TOO LONG and there were TOO MANY CHARACTERS. I am probably in serious Weber overdose, 'cause this is hardly a new problem of his, but this one really took Work to get into: hundreds of pages before the plot started happening instead of just getting carefully, painstakingly, Boringly set up.
Yeah, it paid off in the end with one of his signature battle scenes: in the face of terrible odds, terrific bravery, honor, and better tech wins the day.
And as much as I can get bored, I do actually enjoy his little essays on comparative governments - it's amusing and even a little convicting to read between the lines when he's describing a system that obviously shares roots with our own.
So, devotees to the series must read this one, and I am sure I'll read the next few myself. I'm not willing to give up on the Honorverse the way I did with 's "Wheel of Time" some decades ago: at least Weber's stories are on the whole positive and redemptive!
July 5, 2012
7/10
This book, to me, was good space opera--large-scale conflicts made personal by a large cast of characters, some black, some white, some gray, with a very light sprinkling of romance (very light!). I really enjoyed getting to know Captain Aivars Terekhov and the main members of his crew.
My only complaint is that the exposition, via long discussions between characters, is not always fascinating reading. Those passages, along with detailed descriptions of the weapon systems and construction of the various ships, really bogged down the story for me. I know some of that is critical to understanding both the how and the why of the action. It just seems that it could be done in different ways or smaller chunks.
I'm now going back to the main Honor series and will be interested to see how this and some of the other Honorverse stories affect the action in the main series.
This book, to me, was good space opera--large-scale conflicts made personal by a large cast of characters, some black, some white, some gray, with a very light sprinkling of romance (very light!). I really enjoyed getting to know Captain Aivars Terekhov and the main members of his crew.
My only complaint is that the exposition, via long discussions between characters, is not always fascinating reading. Those passages, along with detailed descriptions of the weapon systems and construction of the various ships, really bogged down the story for me. I know some of that is critical to understanding both the how and the why of the action. It just seems that it could be done in different ways or smaller chunks.
I'm now going back to the main Honor series and will be interested to see how this and some of the other Honorverse stories affect the action in the main series.
July 18, 2020
This promised to be a fast paced, political, sci fi with a thrilling plot giving an opportunity for all the protagonists to shine. Turns out though the cover description was the bait while the book was too long with so many characters continuously repeating the finer points of dysfunctional governments and rebels with the 'heroes' of the book stuck in the middle. 500 pages in and it seems like it would never get to the point EVER!
August 23, 2024
solid
January 2, 2017
MAY 2012 -
One of the problems with the Honorverse series is figuring out where a book fits in. Is this part of the mainline Honorverse (with only a brief glimpse of Honor herself) or a new subseries, or ...
At any rate, this book picks up with the new Talbot Cluster, where the most recently discovered wormhole from Manticore leads. Even as Manticore is stretched thin fighting off the new war with Haven, the systems of the Talbot Cluster have applied to become part of the new Empire of Manticore, rather than be absorbed by the Solarian League ...
... if their petty internal power-holders on each world can agree to a constitution that will be approved by Manticore while still letting them stay in charge ...
... if internal dissenters don't start a guerrilla warfare / terrorism movement to resist assimilation ...
... if the Solarians don't get their nose bent out of shape by Manticore screwing around in their backyard ...
... if the Evil Genetic Slavers of Manpower Inc. (and the deeper conspiracy behind them) don't put paid to their old Manticoran enemies getting a foothold much closer to their homeworld of Mesa ...
And into that, comes the HMS Hexapuma, a heavy cruiser commanded by a heroic captain possibly still traumatized by a previous wartime incident, and crewed by a variety of people we've seen before, but also some brand new midshipmen, fresh from the Academy at Saganami Island.
It's all plenty of fun, and soap opera, and space opera, and drama, and pathos, and politics, and stereotypes, and looming menace. In some ways it's a fine leaping on point for new readers, but it still suffers from far-too-convenient division of the world between Good Guys and Bad Guys, and conflicts that resolve themselves through the Bad Guys being evil and mean and stupid, and the Good Guys being good and noble and smart.
But, dagnabbit, it's still a fun read.
October 25, 2014
I have been referring to this book as the Talbott Clusterfuck. This is the worst of the Honorverse books I have read so far. The idea of following some of Honor's top students as they begin their careers is good but the execution is terrible. I really struggled through this one--it took me 2 weeks and these normally take me 2 days to read. There are just too many characters, too many planets, and none of them are really unique enough to make them interesting. Some stand out but most just blur together. We visit the planets/systems of Manticore, Pontifex, Spindle, Split, San Miguel, Rembrandt, Montana, Kornatia, Nuncio, Dresden, Monica, Mesa, and have scenes featuring Manpower, the Jessyk Combine and Technodyne Corp. Some of those might be systems or planets or cities, I can't really remember. We have multiple members of multiple boards of directors, multiple panels of politicians from different planets/systems, staff of of different military forces, police organisations, and different ships, it is just ridiculous. When one of the most memorable characters is a caricature named Westman (GET IT?) from the cowboy planet of Montana, the story is not providing good characters. I will read the second one in hopes that now that the setup is done the story and character development can progress, but I don't have high hopes for this spinoff.
June 25, 2017
Another of David Weber's breakaway Honorverse books. This one again mostly ignores Honor Harrington, the mainstay character of almost all of the previous books. This one moves the focus to a new area of space where the Kingdom of Manticore has been asked to take the new planets under their protection in an Annexation.
This book focuses on a New individual, who is a Cruiser Commander and the younger members of his crew. It also shows the different ways that one can resist change. It is a very interesting view of why some people resist things even when they know that they are shown that the changes are better than going along accepting the way things are. It also introduces some new enemies that could play a bigger role in future books. Mesa, the home of genetic slavery and the Office of Frontier Security for the Soliarn League.
It is again a book that enjoys the tried and proven writing style of David Weber although on occasion it does seem to toss a tad to much math into the mix to explain how space battles work.
This book focuses on a New individual, who is a Cruiser Commander and the younger members of his crew. It also shows the different ways that one can resist change. It is a very interesting view of why some people resist things even when they know that they are shown that the changes are better than going along accepting the way things are. It also introduces some new enemies that could play a bigger role in future books. Mesa, the home of genetic slavery and the Office of Frontier Security for the Soliarn League.
It is again a book that enjoys the tried and proven writing style of David Weber although on occasion it does seem to toss a tad to much math into the mix to explain how space battles work.
February 4, 2020
These aren't *good* books, but I enjoy them.
Really, Weber needs a good editor - not a copy editor (although he may need one of those, too - I'm not sure if the typos are an ebook issue or a text issue) but a structural editor. This book could have been tighter overall.
Reread: the last two paragraphs of this one always make it dusty in my vicinity. At least, that's how I explain why I get teary.
Really, Weber needs a good editor - not a copy editor (although he may need one of those, too - I'm not sure if the typos are an ebook issue or a text issue) but a structural editor. This book could have been tighter overall.
Reread: the last two paragraphs of this one always make it dusty in my vicinity. At least, that's how I explain why I get teary.
February 11, 2017
Read for the , the , the , the , and the at Worlds Without End.
Length of book: 897 pages (pocket-book paperback,) not including appendices.
Ah, the enigma of David Weber. This man is never going to win a Hugo or a Nebula, a Locus or a PKD Award. His writing is too all over the place, and he's not really doing anything that no one else has done before. It's space opera. I don't think anyone's won an award for actual space opera in decades.
But everyone who reads science fiction has read him at least once. It's damn good space opera, for one thing. For another, it's a new science fiction book on the shelf at Chapters that you haven't read yet at least once a year. I don't know if you've noticed lately, but all the so-called science fiction books coming out at the major bookstores appear to be fantasy or centered on video games (usually a bad decision). I have nothing against fantasy - rather enjoy it, actually - but science fiction is definitely under-represented.
That being said, the first half of this book was a slog of epic proportions (and I mean that literally!) Space empire politics all over the place. Gritty details about the personal lives of a whole flock of new characters. Waaaay more detail than I ever wanted about the technology, the strategic analysis of the politics, and the personality problems of a bunch of teapot emperors and two terrorists that I know I'm probably never going to see again, plus a bunch of bad guy political figures and corporatists that I know I'll probably see far more than I care to. Which you have to slog through in order to understand the rest of the book and possibly the rest of this series, and in order to care about any of the major characters except for Captain Terekov, Lieutenant Abigail Hearne, and Midshipwoman Helen Zilwicki (at least, if you've read the other Honorverse books).
Of course, the second half of the book is an intense, clever, science fiction thriller that keeps you turning pages much later into the night than you should be, which even leaves you a little choked up at the end.
If he could somehow keep the writing on the level of the second half, everyone would be talking about this book. But the first half needs a machete, a pith helmet, and possibly even a canoe portage to get through. I recognize that he's setting up not just the rest of the book, but the rest of two or three series within the Honorverse. But did we have to do all of that in a single book? I can't quite forgive him for it this time. It really hurt the book's overall rating, despite the brilliant and edge-of-your-seat tension of the second half. I know for a fact that if this were a first novel and it arrived on a publisher's desk, they'd file it in the blue box because of the glacial pace of that first half. There has got to be a better way to do this!
However, you should still read it if you like sci-fi, because the second half really is amazing. And I want to know what happens in the rest of the series now, because I care about the fate of the characters, so I guess it did its job.
If you have an interest in military science fiction, Weber is on the required reading list. For good reason. He has an intense understanding of strategy and tactics, the significance of available technology in defining strategy and tactics, and the politics that dictate one course of action over another in military deployment. He shares it with you, and I suppose that's a good thing. I do learn a thing or two every time I read his work.
He also has a knack for creating likable characters that I would not expect to get along with in real life. The characters that tend to be the strongest are usually some brand of Conservative, while his antagonists tend to be off-their-nut left wingers. I would describe my own politics as being far more sinister than dexter, so it gets on my nerves. On the other hand, he has a talent for showing me that if the political landscape were dominated by true Conservatives instead of the alt-right, I would probably get along with them and be able to come up with workable compromises that satisfied my left-wing needs. To be fair, many of the political antagonists, as opposed to the military ones, in Weber's worlds do tend to be of the alt-right variety, and they can do some real damage. And there's Catherine Montagne, a wonderfully stereotypical establishment Democrat heroine (who does not appear in this book except in character conversation). The Berniecrats, however, would all be terrorists and agitators in the Honorverse. So, I guess the Canadian left wing would be too.
I mention this because there are two terrorists who are significant antagonists in the book. One is a left wing agitator whose "liberal" policies are a front for a distressing self-righteous bloodlust. The other is a futuristic cowboy stubborn right wing Libertarian who doesn't want to see restrictions on his freedoms. The first has the personality of a blue collar revolutionary, the second of guys who take over parks because they don't think the federal government has the right to tell them what to do. Naturally it's the first one who doesn't seem to care how many people she injures with her cyberattacks and planted bombs; while the second goes out of his way to not hurt anyone.
That being said, there are some wonderfully Progressive things that Weber does with his books as well. For instance, only the "backwater worlds" do not have cultures of gender equality. (Policies aren't generally required, because it's so culturally ingrained that people are surprised and a bit amused when silly gender issues get in the way.) Honor Harrington, his major protagonist, is of mixed Anglo-Asian ancestry. And the hereditary royal family of Manticore is black. My only complaint is that the culture is still very Anglo-Saxon in his future. We have a wide variety of Christian worlds of various stripes. We even have an atheist one here or there. So where's the Muslim worlds? Or the Hindu worlds? Or the Jewish worlds? Or the Buddhist ones?
Also, I see absolutely no LGBTQ characters at all. I wonder why? I know it can't be Weber's religious beliefs because he's an Anglican minister, and the Anglicans do not discriminate against LGBTQ people (anymore, in their policies at any rate). Maybe he just hasn't noticed. He's definitely not the best at writing romantic relationships anyway! Or perhaps, since there is widespread genetic engineering technology available, maybe the ancestors of his present cultures decided to wipe those sorts of things out in the womb as an aberration. I would like to know which, however.
I've probably digressed considerably here, but it's important to understand an author's bias (and we all have them; for instance, there seems to be no religion at all in the 's Vorkosigan Saga, which I doubt will be the case in the far future of humanity) when reading about the world they've created. Especially when it comes to extended political dissertations like this.
Overall, I have to settle on three stars, because I loved the parts that I liked, but so much of it dragged so badly. I would recommend reading it a bit like Victor Hugo's . About half of the book was about the politics that led up to the Paris uprising that is the center of the plot. But how much of that did we really need? Maybe it's better to skim those sections. Ultimately, the story is about what people do and think and feel in the middle of the politics. I think sometimes Weber somewhat forgets that.
Length of book: 897 pages (pocket-book paperback,) not including appendices.
Ah, the enigma of David Weber. This man is never going to win a Hugo or a Nebula, a Locus or a PKD Award. His writing is too all over the place, and he's not really doing anything that no one else has done before. It's space opera. I don't think anyone's won an award for actual space opera in decades.
But everyone who reads science fiction has read him at least once. It's damn good space opera, for one thing. For another, it's a new science fiction book on the shelf at Chapters that you haven't read yet at least once a year. I don't know if you've noticed lately, but all the so-called science fiction books coming out at the major bookstores appear to be fantasy or centered on video games (usually a bad decision). I have nothing against fantasy - rather enjoy it, actually - but science fiction is definitely under-represented.
That being said, the first half of this book was a slog of epic proportions (and I mean that literally!) Space empire politics all over the place. Gritty details about the personal lives of a whole flock of new characters. Waaaay more detail than I ever wanted about the technology, the strategic analysis of the politics, and the personality problems of a bunch of teapot emperors and two terrorists that I know I'm probably never going to see again, plus a bunch of bad guy political figures and corporatists that I know I'll probably see far more than I care to. Which you have to slog through in order to understand the rest of the book and possibly the rest of this series, and in order to care about any of the major characters except for Captain Terekov, Lieutenant Abigail Hearne, and Midshipwoman Helen Zilwicki (at least, if you've read the other Honorverse books).
Of course, the second half of the book is an intense, clever, science fiction thriller that keeps you turning pages much later into the night than you should be, which even leaves you a little choked up at the end.
If he could somehow keep the writing on the level of the second half, everyone would be talking about this book. But the first half needs a machete, a pith helmet, and possibly even a canoe portage to get through. I recognize that he's setting up not just the rest of the book, but the rest of two or three series within the Honorverse. But did we have to do all of that in a single book? I can't quite forgive him for it this time. It really hurt the book's overall rating, despite the brilliant and edge-of-your-seat tension of the second half. I know for a fact that if this were a first novel and it arrived on a publisher's desk, they'd file it in the blue box because of the glacial pace of that first half. There has got to be a better way to do this!
However, you should still read it if you like sci-fi, because the second half really is amazing. And I want to know what happens in the rest of the series now, because I care about the fate of the characters, so I guess it did its job.
If you have an interest in military science fiction, Weber is on the required reading list. For good reason. He has an intense understanding of strategy and tactics, the significance of available technology in defining strategy and tactics, and the politics that dictate one course of action over another in military deployment. He shares it with you, and I suppose that's a good thing. I do learn a thing or two every time I read his work.
He also has a knack for creating likable characters that I would not expect to get along with in real life. The characters that tend to be the strongest are usually some brand of Conservative, while his antagonists tend to be off-their-nut left wingers. I would describe my own politics as being far more sinister than dexter, so it gets on my nerves. On the other hand, he has a talent for showing me that if the political landscape were dominated by true Conservatives instead of the alt-right, I would probably get along with them and be able to come up with workable compromises that satisfied my left-wing needs. To be fair, many of the political antagonists, as opposed to the military ones, in Weber's worlds do tend to be of the alt-right variety, and they can do some real damage. And there's Catherine Montagne, a wonderfully stereotypical establishment Democrat heroine (who does not appear in this book except in character conversation). The Berniecrats, however, would all be terrorists and agitators in the Honorverse. So, I guess the Canadian left wing would be too.
I mention this because there are two terrorists who are significant antagonists in the book. One is a left wing agitator whose "liberal" policies are a front for a distressing self-righteous bloodlust. The other is a futuristic cowboy stubborn right wing Libertarian who doesn't want to see restrictions on his freedoms. The first has the personality of a blue collar revolutionary, the second of guys who take over parks because they don't think the federal government has the right to tell them what to do. Naturally it's the first one who doesn't seem to care how many people she injures with her cyberattacks and planted bombs; while the second goes out of his way to not hurt anyone.
That being said, there are some wonderfully Progressive things that Weber does with his books as well. For instance, only the "backwater worlds" do not have cultures of gender equality. (Policies aren't generally required, because it's so culturally ingrained that people are surprised and a bit amused when silly gender issues get in the way.) Honor Harrington, his major protagonist, is of mixed Anglo-Asian ancestry. And the hereditary royal family of Manticore is black. My only complaint is that the culture is still very Anglo-Saxon in his future. We have a wide variety of Christian worlds of various stripes. We even have an atheist one here or there. So where's the Muslim worlds? Or the Hindu worlds? Or the Jewish worlds? Or the Buddhist ones?
Also, I see absolutely no LGBTQ characters at all. I wonder why? I know it can't be Weber's religious beliefs because he's an Anglican minister, and the Anglicans do not discriminate against LGBTQ people (anymore, in their policies at any rate). Maybe he just hasn't noticed. He's definitely not the best at writing romantic relationships anyway! Or perhaps, since there is widespread genetic engineering technology available, maybe the ancestors of his present cultures decided to wipe those sorts of things out in the womb as an aberration. I would like to know which, however.
I've probably digressed considerably here, but it's important to understand an author's bias (and we all have them; for instance, there seems to be no religion at all in the 's Vorkosigan Saga, which I doubt will be the case in the far future of humanity) when reading about the world they've created. Especially when it comes to extended political dissertations like this.
Overall, I have to settle on three stars, because I loved the parts that I liked, but so much of it dragged so badly. I would recommend reading it a bit like Victor Hugo's . About half of the book was about the politics that led up to the Paris uprising that is the center of the plot. But how much of that did we really need? Maybe it's better to skim those sections. Ultimately, the story is about what people do and think and feel in the middle of the politics. I think sometimes Weber somewhat forgets that.
August 1, 2020
This story follows snottie Helen Zilwicki and four of her fellow snotties as they go on their first ship duties. Even though things are heating up with Haven, Helen is sent on a new ship - the Hexapuma - to the Talbot Cluster. It should be a quiet area but it was only recently within reach of Manticore as a recently discovered node of Manticore's wormhole. Hexapuma is being captained by Aivars Terekhov who has just recovered from injuries suffered in a previous battle which decimated his command. There is some question that he is able to make the tough decisions that a captain in wartime might have to make and some of the questions come from Terekhov himself.
Many in the Talbot Cluster are afraid that their star systems will be gobbled up by Frontier Security and the Solarian League and have voted to be annexed by Manticore instead. There is a constitutional convention going on filled with its own political infighting. And some of the people who weren't in favor of the annexation are developing their own homegrown terrorist organizations to oppose the vote. We get a look at two of the terrorist organizations. Stephen Westman is on the planet of Montana and Agnes Nordbrandt is on Kornati. They are taking two radically different approaches to their protests. Nordbrandt is favoring killing lots and lots of people whereas Westman has been scrupulously careful not to kill anyone though he isn't opposed to destroying a lot of the property owned by those he considers interlopers. What these two protest organizations have in common is under-the-conter support from an agitator called Firebrand who, unknown to either of them, is an agent of Frontier Security.
I enjoyed getting to know Helen and her fellow snotties and watch them grow as potential Queen's officers. I liked seeing a new part of Weber's world which was away from Manticore. I liked reconnecting with characters from earlier in the series including Commander Ginger Lewis who is the ship's engineer which is quite a change from when we met her as a noncom engineering mate in an earlier book. And also Abigail Hearns whom we met as a young girl on Grayson who wanted to break the stereotypes of her planet and follow her idol Honor Harrington into military service. Now she's a tactical lieutenant. Many other characters from earlier books in the series also make appearances here.
I thought this episode was a nice blend of the political infighting, the military battles and the personal stories of many of the characters.
Many in the Talbot Cluster are afraid that their star systems will be gobbled up by Frontier Security and the Solarian League and have voted to be annexed by Manticore instead. There is a constitutional convention going on filled with its own political infighting. And some of the people who weren't in favor of the annexation are developing their own homegrown terrorist organizations to oppose the vote. We get a look at two of the terrorist organizations. Stephen Westman is on the planet of Montana and Agnes Nordbrandt is on Kornati. They are taking two radically different approaches to their protests. Nordbrandt is favoring killing lots and lots of people whereas Westman has been scrupulously careful not to kill anyone though he isn't opposed to destroying a lot of the property owned by those he considers interlopers. What these two protest organizations have in common is under-the-conter support from an agitator called Firebrand who, unknown to either of them, is an agent of Frontier Security.
I enjoyed getting to know Helen and her fellow snotties and watch them grow as potential Queen's officers. I liked seeing a new part of Weber's world which was away from Manticore. I liked reconnecting with characters from earlier in the series including Commander Ginger Lewis who is the ship's engineer which is quite a change from when we met her as a noncom engineering mate in an earlier book. And also Abigail Hearns whom we met as a young girl on Grayson who wanted to break the stereotypes of her planet and follow her idol Honor Harrington into military service. Now she's a tactical lieutenant. Many other characters from earlier books in the series also make appearances here.
I thought this episode was a nice blend of the political infighting, the military battles and the personal stories of many of the characters.
June 20, 2018
First things first, this is a pretty damn solid read. I wasn't particularly blown away by anything that I read, but I wasn't bored by it either and I didn't feel the need to skip passed any huge sections of the narrative. (Despite my love of the Honorverse, I have definitely felt the need to skip through certain sections, especially on re-reads). This book has a little bit of everything--the political intrigue, the military situation, and the engaging characters. What it did not have is Honor Harrington (as this is one of the sort-of-side-novels-but-contains-important-plot books, and at times I felt like the writing tried to make Terekhov into Honor-Harrington-but-male though for the most part I think it managed to avoid doing that too often.
I enjoyed the way that the book centred on multiple different characters, and in large segments revolved around characters of a much lower rank than we'd ever interacted with personally before with the exception of Honor Among Enemies. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Helen Zilwicki's sections and I became far more attached to another of the Midship-persons than I thought that I would... or even than I thought that I had, because there is an incident toward the end of the book and instead of just reading on to see what the result of it was I had to put the book down and search for the answer online. That told me that I'd become more attached to these characters than I thought I had, and I think that's a powerful positive of this story. It was about the characters and the characters shone for me.
Without straying into spoiler territory I can't say much about the end of the book, but I will say that it was a satisfying ending. It wasn't perfect, but it was satisfying and I think that the first book in a new side-series has to be satisfying to engage readers and make them what to devote their time to another thread of the story.
Overall, this was a solid read. There are things that I think could have been better, such as the pacing but Weber seems to be a bit prone to ramble on for a few hundred pages with background and build up before the plot gets moving. I was interested by the sheer lack of Haven and intrigued by the influx of background information on the Solarian League, so, I'm hopeful about where this series and the Honorverse as a whole are heading.
I enjoyed the way that the book centred on multiple different characters, and in large segments revolved around characters of a much lower rank than we'd ever interacted with personally before with the exception of Honor Among Enemies. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Helen Zilwicki's sections and I became far more attached to another of the Midship-persons than I thought that I would... or even than I thought that I had, because there is an incident toward the end of the book and instead of just reading on to see what the result of it was I had to put the book down and search for the answer online. That told me that I'd become more attached to these characters than I thought I had, and I think that's a powerful positive of this story. It was about the characters and the characters shone for me.
Without straying into spoiler territory I can't say much about the end of the book, but I will say that it was a satisfying ending. It wasn't perfect, but it was satisfying and I think that the first book in a new side-series has to be satisfying to engage readers and make them what to devote their time to another thread of the story.
Overall, this was a solid read. There are things that I think could have been better, such as the pacing but Weber seems to be a bit prone to ramble on for a few hundred pages with background and build up before the plot gets moving. I was interested by the sheer lack of Haven and intrigued by the influx of background information on the Solarian League, so, I'm hopeful about where this series and the Honorverse as a whole are heading.
September 22, 2019
I fell in love with this book. Some of the characters I'd met already -- Abigail Hearns, Ginger Lewis, Helen Zilwicki, and Aubrey Wanderman -- and liked. It is Helen's midshipwoman cruise and we get to meet four of her classmates who are aboard the Hexapuma. Assigned to the Talbott Cluster where the planets overwhelmingly asked to be made part of the Star Kingdom, the ship's role is nearly as much diplomatic/political as it is military.
The cast of characters is pretty numerous; luckily in the back of the book is an index to them if you need to keep track of them. They include ship personnel, delegates from the planets to the convention to draft a constitution, various people on the planets, and some Bad Guys (and Gals). You need to be up on previous books that have mentioned genetic slavery ("from the Highlands" in Changer of Worlds, "The Service of the Sword" in The Service of the Sword, and Crown of Slaves come to mind) to get the most from the book.
All that said the story is solid political/military science fiction. I liked the character of Stephen Westman of the planet Montana. His actions blurred the line between patriot and terrorist. There were tissue moments, both sorrow and joy.
If you like the Honor Harrington main series, this is a book that you might also enjoy. Captain Terekhov doesn't tackle things the same way that Honor would, but I could see why he did what he did and how he inspired others. I think this book is well worth the read.
The cast of characters is pretty numerous; luckily in the back of the book is an index to them if you need to keep track of them. They include ship personnel, delegates from the planets to the convention to draft a constitution, various people on the planets, and some Bad Guys (and Gals). You need to be up on previous books that have mentioned genetic slavery ("from the Highlands" in Changer of Worlds, "The Service of the Sword" in The Service of the Sword, and Crown of Slaves come to mind) to get the most from the book.
All that said the story is solid political/military science fiction. I liked the character of Stephen Westman of the planet Montana. His actions blurred the line between patriot and terrorist. There were tissue moments, both sorrow and joy.
If you like the Honor Harrington main series, this is a book that you might also enjoy. Captain Terekhov doesn't tackle things the same way that Honor would, but I could see why he did what he did and how he inspired others. I think this book is well worth the read.
October 18, 2023
As I am rereading the honor series, I realized some interesting stuff was going on in the Saganami Island series. I originally didn’t read the series because it did not seem very interesting. I likely would have ignored it again except when I started the 12th novel (Mission of Honor), they were discussing what Mike Henke did in Talbott.
I did like it a lot more than I thought I would, but it wasn’t as good as the main series. There was the normal political discussions and the plots within plots within plots that you come to expect from a David Weber book. There was also a couple to characters that I really liked from the main series (Ginger Lewis and Wanderman) although not as much as I would have liked.
That said, I really think some corners were cut in the actually plot. It seemed that the characters took action based on too little information. The biggest leap was when the merchantman was “borrowed� for a recon mission.
Also, this was supposed to be about the snotty cruise and outside of Zilwicki, there was not much depth in the other snotties. Frankly I was hoping for more about Hearne’s time than anyone else.
Over all, this book can be completely skipped and no real information would be lost. All the information is summed up nicely in the main series and I don’t feel anything in this book is needed. Of course, before reading the horribly boring “through the fiery trials,� I wouldn’t have believed David Weber could write a bad novel.
I did like it a lot more than I thought I would, but it wasn’t as good as the main series. There was the normal political discussions and the plots within plots within plots that you come to expect from a David Weber book. There was also a couple to characters that I really liked from the main series (Ginger Lewis and Wanderman) although not as much as I would have liked.
That said, I really think some corners were cut in the actually plot. It seemed that the characters took action based on too little information. The biggest leap was when the merchantman was “borrowed� for a recon mission.
Also, this was supposed to be about the snotty cruise and outside of Zilwicki, there was not much depth in the other snotties. Frankly I was hoping for more about Hearne’s time than anyone else.
Over all, this book can be completely skipped and no real information would be lost. All the information is summed up nicely in the main series and I don’t feel anything in this book is needed. Of course, before reading the horribly boring “through the fiery trials,� I wouldn’t have believed David Weber could write a bad novel.
December 2, 2020
I have to say that this book was a disappointment. I tend to be somewhat sensitive about plot errors, particularly when they happen for adding additional "action" & unneeded drama.
Things like police attempting to capture some terrorists, who stress beforehand that they need prisoners not just bodies, then return small arms fire on the part of the terrorists by opening up with MINIGUNS & turn the people they need to capture ALIVE into "red mist"! If you need prisoners you don't go after them armed only with weapons that won't leave survivors! Or you've found a safe location to receive contraband shipments. So after receiving the FIRST of 20 shipments, they burn it to "conceal traces" which no one would see, THUS creating the need to find 20 MORE locations for an illegal flight to land!
There are not a huge amount of these (at least not so obvious), but enough to irritate if you're a sharp reader, and after coming to expect better from this author.
There were also a few dialogues that seemed skewed, where a character seemed to be carrying the wrong side of the discussion, or where some point of theirs didn't seem to connect with what they were arguing for/against.
Things like police attempting to capture some terrorists, who stress beforehand that they need prisoners not just bodies, then return small arms fire on the part of the terrorists by opening up with MINIGUNS & turn the people they need to capture ALIVE into "red mist"! If you need prisoners you don't go after them armed only with weapons that won't leave survivors! Or you've found a safe location to receive contraband shipments. So after receiving the FIRST of 20 shipments, they burn it to "conceal traces" which no one would see, THUS creating the need to find 20 MORE locations for an illegal flight to land!
There are not a huge amount of these (at least not so obvious), but enough to irritate if you're a sharp reader, and after coming to expect better from this author.
There were also a few dialogues that seemed skewed, where a character seemed to be carrying the wrong side of the discussion, or where some point of theirs didn't seem to connect with what they were arguing for/against.
August 10, 2022
4.5* Great addition to the Honorverse, expanding the stories of several characters from the novella "Worlds of Honor" anthologies. The space naval battles and techno garble were top notch and Sr Capt Terekhov makes for an excellent addition to this Universe's heroes. My only negative, was that were was a little too much on the internal Talbott Cluster planet politics. The different factions were interesting, but some scenes dragged on the novel's momentum. For Honorverse completionists and fans of military sci-fi, this is a must read.
January 25, 2021
Book was enjoyable and the new/old characters we interesting and well done. Narrator is the weakest part. He would be fine but he keeps attempt to do women's voices and he does not do a good or even decent job with it. Which is such a shame considering how many female characters exist within the book.
Would probably have been better with a different narrator or if he didn't attempt at making his voice sound "girly".
Would probably have been better with a different narrator or if he didn't attempt at making his voice sound "girly".
February 22, 2021
I’d actually rate this 3.75. There’s tons of pages of battle descriptions, which I’m not terribly interested in. There’s also a plethora of selfish, greedy egotists, who are unpleasant to read about.
A group of newbies are leaving training under the elite military academy. They think they might be headed to a quieter section of the universe rather than the major battlefield, which bothers some of them. However, it appears that there are more than just vicious pirates out there.
A group of newbies are leaving training under the elite military academy. They think they might be headed to a quieter section of the universe rather than the major battlefield, which bothers some of them. However, it appears that there are more than just vicious pirates out there.
April 3, 2025
Goodness, I struggled to put this down, even with how dense it is. The action picked up very slowly and across multiple star systems meaning a lot of players and a lot of moving parts, most of which I managed to keep in my head. The plot twists kept me guessing leading up to an explosive and delicious climax. The resolution answered most of my questions, but I'm going to have to read more very soon.
July 17, 2017
Zdecydowanie odświeżająca pozycja całą serię. Brak kryształowej Honor tylko poprawia obiór cyklu. Marysueizm dużo mniej odczuwalny,z a to świetna intryga, fajny obraz rozgrywek politycznych, kilka starć lądowych i w kosmosie. Do tego kilku ciekawych bohaterów pobocznych (westman i Van Dort chociażby) uatrakcyjniło powieść.
November 26, 2019
This novel has lots of what I come to Weber for: politicking, space battles, and characters you can actually like doing things that make sense. It has all the same foibles of the core series, and all the same strengths. And it manages to maintain that quality with an all-new cast of characters (well, as much as The Law of Conservation of Characters allows, at any rate).
September 21, 2023
Con este libro empieza otra saga de aventuras en el universo de Honor Harrington. Aunque coexiste con alguno de los últimos libros de la serie principal y el marco es el mismo, como historia es independiente. El planteamiento consiste en seguir las andanzas de un grupo de guardiamarinas en su primer viaje, que se van a ver envueltos en un grave conflicto interestelar. Todos los personajes son nuevos, aunque existen algunos altos cargos que evidentemente coinciden con otros libros.
La forma de la historia es similar a libros anteriores: presentación de los personajes, desarrollo de una trama polÃtica, acciones militares intercaladas con conflictos personales y finalmente grandes batallas. A los seguidores de David Weber les va a encantar.
La forma de la historia es similar a libros anteriores: presentación de los personajes, desarrollo de una trama polÃtica, acciones militares intercaladas con conflictos personales y finalmente grandes batallas. A los seguidores de David Weber les va a encantar.
November 7, 2018
Once again, Thank You Mr. Weber.
I recommend David Weber's books to everyone!
Again, a story that had me laughing at times and with tears in my eyes at others. Sometimes at the same time.
I recommend David Weber's books to everyone!
Again, a story that had me laughing at times and with tears in my eyes at others. Sometimes at the same time.
July 9, 2020
Wow, what a long read. I was expecting a novel more about the Manticorian Navy training was like. I didn't expect it to be about newbies patroling a new sector of space. I should have read the Jacket better. Still a great book
February 3, 2022
It’s not really a bad book, tedious might be a more appropriate word. Weber is still excellent when it comes to writing space battles, and making his readers feel the impact of the losses. But this was a 400 page story on 900 pages of book.
February 15, 2022
Lost some sleep on this one
As in, too good to put down. The characters are well thought out, the plot is spot on, and the story line ties things together with the other Honor Harrington stories.
As in, too good to put down. The characters are well thought out, the plot is spot on, and the story line ties things together with the other Honor Harrington stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.