The Shadow of Saganami by David Weber
This is the second of David Weber's honorverse books that don't involve Honor Harrington, except peripherally. This book follows the Hexapuma into the newly discovered Cluster where the constitution convention is occuring.
In this book, you learn more about what was going on and why the Cluster decided they wanted to be annexed by the Star Kingdom of Manticore. And the reason is simple, they don't want to be forcibly annexed by the Solarian League instead. But in the space opera that is the honorverse, the Solarian League is not going to give up that easily.
What makes this book work is the single ship aspect that Honor has been promoted out of. What doesn't work as well is following so many characters at once. It's harder to care about everyone that enters into the picture. You spend 20 pages learning about a character's motivation, you start to care about what they are about and why they are doing things, but then you don't see them for another 100 pages. This style of writing can lead to a disconnect between the reader and the characters.
But, it's still a good book, and I recommend the series as a whole. It's simple, space opera that is about acting honorably in a world that isn't so honorable. The bad guys tend to be paper cut-outs without alot of greyspace. The good guys tend to be the same.
The book description follows:
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.
Other books by David Weber I've reviewed: Wind Rider's Oath, The Honor of the Queen, On Basilisk Station
In this book, you learn more about what was going on and why the Cluster decided they wanted to be annexed by the Star Kingdom of Manticore. And the reason is simple, they don't want to be forcibly annexed by the Solarian League instead. But in the space opera that is the honorverse, the Solarian League is not going to give up that easily.
What makes this book work is the single ship aspect that Honor has been promoted out of. What doesn't work as well is following so many characters at once. It's harder to care about everyone that enters into the picture. You spend 20 pages learning about a character's motivation, you start to care about what they are about and why they are doing things, but then you don't see them for another 100 pages. This style of writing can lead to a disconnect between the reader and the characters.
But, it's still a good book, and I recommend the series as a whole. It's simple, space opera that is about acting honorably in a world that isn't so honorable. The bad guys tend to be paper cut-outs without alot of greyspace. The good guys tend to be the same.
The book description follows:
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.
Other books by David Weber I've reviewed: Wind Rider's Oath, The Honor of the Queen, On Basilisk Station
posted by Unknown | 6:32 AM
3 Comments:
Mike, I work with your wife, she showed me your webblogs.
I recommend Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber series, Steven Brust's Taltos series (start with Jhereg), and Robert Buettner's orphanage and Orphan's Destiny books. Good stuff.
Rich, hopefully you come back to see, but I was wondering if you'd be interested in writing about the Bruins? I've been looking for someone to do so, but my brother-in-law is too busy.
Sorry, but I am still p*ssed at the B's for the lockout, and anything I have to say would be grossly overshadowed by that. Ask Tracy about Matt from work. He's a Bs fan and might be talked into it.
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