Weber has a story to tell and who knows how many books it will take. So fair warning to new readers--this is NOT the place to start. You really need to start with Off Armageddon Reef.

Though at first it seems like all Weber is doing is moving people around, there are a few bits of story arc that are tidied up and brought to a conclusion. A couple of these endings will make readers happy and one will probably break their hearts. And it always nice to catch up with the large cast of continuing characters.
However, Weber, while not as willing to kill off characters as George R R Martin, still is willing to kill off secondary characters that we have come to know and enjoy. And several of those bite the dust in this book. It will be interesting to see whom he tags to step into those roles in following books.
Weber also loves to tell us lots of stuff (whether we want to know it or not), so parts of some scenes read like an info-dump. But these bits are easy to skip over without losing the point of the scene. And I found the book to be a page turner in the best possible way.
Fans of the series should not be disappointed.
And let's hope the next volume comes out soonest!