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Honorverse: Crown of Slaves #4
To End in Fire
THE CROWN OF SLAVES SAGA CONTINUES. ADVENTURE AND INTRIGUE IN THE STAR KINGDOM FROM NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHORS DAVID WEBER AND ERIC FLINT.
The Solarian League lies in defeat, crushed by the Grand Alliance of Manticore, Haven, and Grayson.
Obedient to the Alliance's surrender demands, the League is writing a new Constitution, to prevent the reemergence of out-of-control bureaucrats, like the "Mandarins" who led it to disaster. Frontier Security has been disbanded, the Outworlds' have regained control of their own economic destinies, and multiple star systems will soon secede from the League entirely.
Yet the League is — and will remain — the largest, most economically powerful human star nation in existence, and despite the overwhelming evidence that their unelected political leaders were the driving force behind the war, many League citizens deeply resent the fashion in which their star nation — the Solarian League — has been humbled. And those who most resent the Grand Alliance continue to blame Manticore for the nuclear bombardment of the planet Mesa after its surrender. They refuse to accept that the League — and the members of the Grand Alliance — could have been manipulated by a deeply hidden interstellar conspiracy called the Mesan Alignment. The Alignment is only an invention of the Grand Alliance, no more than a mask, a cover, for its own horrific Eridani Violations.
Those Solarians will never accept the "war guilt" of the League, because they know the Grand Alliance was just as bad. Because they deeply resent the way in which the Grand Alliance pretends to be the innocent "good guys." And in the fullness of time, those Solarians will seek vengeance upon their enemies.
Not all Solarians feel that way, but even some of those who accept that there was an interstellar conspiracy cherish doubts about its origins. But it is still out there, and now defeated Solarians and agents of the victorious Alliance must join forces to find it. Even if they don't believe in it, it believes in them.
They must find it and identify it, to prove to revanchist Solarians that there was a conspiracy.
And they must find it and destroy it to end its evil once and for all.
The Solarian League lies in defeat, crushed by the Grand Alliance of Manticore, Haven, and Grayson.
Obedient to the Alliance's surrender demands, the League is writing a new Constitution, to prevent the reemergence of out-of-control bureaucrats, like the "Mandarins" who led it to disaster. Frontier Security has been disbanded, the Outworlds' have regained control of their own economic destinies, and multiple star systems will soon secede from the League entirely.
Yet the League is — and will remain — the largest, most economically powerful human star nation in existence, and despite the overwhelming evidence that their unelected political leaders were the driving force behind the war, many League citizens deeply resent the fashion in which their star nation — the Solarian League — has been humbled. And those who most resent the Grand Alliance continue to blame Manticore for the nuclear bombardment of the planet Mesa after its surrender. They refuse to accept that the League — and the members of the Grand Alliance — could have been manipulated by a deeply hidden interstellar conspiracy called the Mesan Alignment. The Alignment is only an invention of the Grand Alliance, no more than a mask, a cover, for its own horrific Eridani Violations.
Those Solarians will never accept the "war guilt" of the League, because they know the Grand Alliance was just as bad. Because they deeply resent the way in which the Grand Alliance pretends to be the innocent "good guys." And in the fullness of time, those Solarians will seek vengeance upon their enemies.
Not all Solarians feel that way, but even some of those who accept that there was an interstellar conspiracy cherish doubts about its origins. But it is still out there, and now defeated Solarians and agents of the victorious Alliance must join forces to find it. Even if they don't believe in it, it believes in them.
They must find it and identify it, to prove to revanchist Solarians that there was a conspiracy.
And they must find it and destroy it to end its evil once and for all.
856 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 5, 2021
207 people are currently reading
382 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
322 books4,547 followersDavid 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).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
March 3, 2022
To End in Fire presents an interesting question to fans of David Weber's "Honorverse" novels centering on the intrepid Honor Harrington and now expanded to hundreds of characters across dozens of storylines. The question: Is one of Weber's zero-discipline, meeting-minutes-on-steroids doorstops worse when nothing happens? Or when something (but not as much as you'd expect given the page count) happens?
Fire is the fourth in the sidecar sequence called the Torch novels, following the backstage fight against the evil and shadowy Mesan Alignment that's trying to bend the star nations of humanity to its wishes. Weber co-writes this series with Eric Flint and it's mainly focused so far on Republic of Haven spymaster Victor Cachat and the Star Empire of Manticore's top agent, Anton Zilwicki. It picks up the story on the planet Mesa itself after that world was devastated by the Alignment's escape and Manticore's conquest. The Mesan storyline focuses on the way that its former citizens and serfs are forced by circumstance -- and orbiting Manticore dreadnoughts -- to pick up the pieces of their society and rebuild it on a more just and egalitarian footing. On Old Earth, recently brought to heel by the Grand Alliance Fleet commanded by Harrington herself, the Solarian League works its way through a constitutional convention designed to sweep out previous corruption, both Alignment-related as well as ordinary. The convention winds slowly -- overseen by, among other observers, orbiting Grand Alliance dreadnoughts -- and ties in with Cachat and Zilwicki's primary goal: Find out where the scampered Alignment members escaped to.
Unlike a few other recent Honorverse outings, Fire has a real, live discernible Point B as a destination and a real, live journey towards it. It clearly leaves room for more novels in this particular sequence, although Honorverse event threads are bundled closely together enough by now that whether or not the story advances through one set of novels or another is mostly a matter of emphasis.
But Flint and Weber take an exhaustingly long time to get to that point B. We first see Victor and Anton figure something out. Then we meet some Mesans who meet with our main cast and they figure that something out. Then the Manticoran occupying officers figure the same something out. Then we go to Earth and meet some Solarians who figure the something out. Every discovery happens with little or no variation in style, dialogue. Every character speaks in the same dry, wry, witty ellipticisms and few, if any, meandering asides are actually set aside in order to choose brevity over the chance for a quip.
Fire is just more than 700 pages long and should be about a third of that. It's filled with chapters that should be pages, pages that should be paragraphs, paragraphs that should be sentences and sentences that should be left out. The suffocating length dampens all but the last dregs of enthusiasm for attempts at whimsy -- such as the ruler of one planetary system insisting her title will be Her Mousety rather than Her Majesty, or the running gag of characters being brought up short wondering about the origins of common phrases dating back to the ancient days of our era. One of the latter is actually funny -- probably not the one Weber and Flint think, though -- but the humor has been leached away by the other dozen times the joke shows up.
Reading Fire is indeed a chore, but because actual plot development occurs, it's a necessary one. Is that worse than laboring through something like 2016's Uncompromising Honor and its grand total of almost zero plot development? Hard to say.
But neither of them is as much fun as reading some good, fast-paced military science fiction with solid world-building, just enough technical detail to be interesting and real stakes where you wonder if some of the characters you're following will make it all the way through. Like, say, this one.
Fire is the fourth in the sidecar sequence called the Torch novels, following the backstage fight against the evil and shadowy Mesan Alignment that's trying to bend the star nations of humanity to its wishes. Weber co-writes this series with Eric Flint and it's mainly focused so far on Republic of Haven spymaster Victor Cachat and the Star Empire of Manticore's top agent, Anton Zilwicki. It picks up the story on the planet Mesa itself after that world was devastated by the Alignment's escape and Manticore's conquest. The Mesan storyline focuses on the way that its former citizens and serfs are forced by circumstance -- and orbiting Manticore dreadnoughts -- to pick up the pieces of their society and rebuild it on a more just and egalitarian footing. On Old Earth, recently brought to heel by the Grand Alliance Fleet commanded by Harrington herself, the Solarian League works its way through a constitutional convention designed to sweep out previous corruption, both Alignment-related as well as ordinary. The convention winds slowly -- overseen by, among other observers, orbiting Grand Alliance dreadnoughts -- and ties in with Cachat and Zilwicki's primary goal: Find out where the scampered Alignment members escaped to.
Unlike a few other recent Honorverse outings, Fire has a real, live discernible Point B as a destination and a real, live journey towards it. It clearly leaves room for more novels in this particular sequence, although Honorverse event threads are bundled closely together enough by now that whether or not the story advances through one set of novels or another is mostly a matter of emphasis.
But Flint and Weber take an exhaustingly long time to get to that point B. We first see Victor and Anton figure something out. Then we meet some Mesans who meet with our main cast and they figure that something out. Then the Manticoran occupying officers figure the same something out. Then we go to Earth and meet some Solarians who figure the something out. Every discovery happens with little or no variation in style, dialogue. Every character speaks in the same dry, wry, witty ellipticisms and few, if any, meandering asides are actually set aside in order to choose brevity over the chance for a quip.
Fire is just more than 700 pages long and should be about a third of that. It's filled with chapters that should be pages, pages that should be paragraphs, paragraphs that should be sentences and sentences that should be left out. The suffocating length dampens all but the last dregs of enthusiasm for attempts at whimsy -- such as the ruler of one planetary system insisting her title will be Her Mousety rather than Her Majesty, or the running gag of characters being brought up short wondering about the origins of common phrases dating back to the ancient days of our era. One of the latter is actually funny -- probably not the one Weber and Flint think, though -- but the humor has been leached away by the other dozen times the joke shows up.
Reading Fire is indeed a chore, but because actual plot development occurs, it's a necessary one. Is that worse than laboring through something like 2016's Uncompromising Honor and its grand total of almost zero plot development? Hard to say.
But neither of them is as much fun as reading some good, fast-paced military science fiction with solid world-building, just enough technical detail to be interesting and real stakes where you wonder if some of the characters you're following will make it all the way through. Like, say, this one.
August 3, 2021
A very entertaining Honorverse novel that for once starts and finishes a plotline in one novel, though of course lots of other stuff remains; great new characters as well as old ones that get more prominence, while we meet (or name drop) almost everyone else still surviving; not to speak of Honor who despite the ending of Uncompromising Honor, has to come back at least temporarily as after all when it comes to taking the Alignment to battle, fleet against fleet, there is one commander the GA must have...
The blurb is kind of misleading as there is not much Solarian revanchism around, just the hunt for the Alignment (which somehow gets to multiply like the Hydra, or maybe better put divide and evolve like a virus, so there is scope for both the storyline of this novel and much more to come) and the political reconstruction of Mesa mostly with some Solarian league stuff only
Lots more cool stuff and since I do not want to spoil more, I will just mention that the McBryde family is sort of prominent again both on Mesa and on Darius, O'Hanrahan has a prominent and somewhat unexpected role (including meeting treecats), while the ending is both satisfying and a bit frustrating simultaneously, so hopefully we won't have to wait another three years for the next Honorverse novel.
Overall an excellent Honorverse entry picking where Uncompromising Honor ended and moving the action forward nicely, intrigue, romance, pirates, new places, battles, politics etc - all the stuff that made the series great is here in a tighter package with less fluff and repetition than in the past couple entries
The blurb is kind of misleading as there is not much Solarian revanchism around, just the hunt for the Alignment (which somehow gets to multiply like the Hydra, or maybe better put divide and evolve like a virus, so there is scope for both the storyline of this novel and much more to come) and the political reconstruction of Mesa mostly with some Solarian league stuff only
Lots more cool stuff and since I do not want to spoil more, I will just mention that the McBryde family is sort of prominent again both on Mesa and on Darius, O'Hanrahan has a prominent and somewhat unexpected role (including meeting treecats), while the ending is both satisfying and a bit frustrating simultaneously, so hopefully we won't have to wait another three years for the next Honorverse novel.
Overall an excellent Honorverse entry picking where Uncompromising Honor ended and moving the action forward nicely, intrigue, romance, pirates, new places, battles, politics etc - all the stuff that made the series great is here in a tighter package with less fluff and repetition than in the past couple entries
August 9, 2021
So lackluster, 90% info drops, conversations, and meetings, so many meetings. I am stunned that two of my favorite authors wrote so un-enticing a novel.
November 29, 2021
I mostly enjoyed this book but it made me angry, more as I thought about it.
Three members of the evil empire are rehabilitated. They realize they are, in fact, the baddies. They have spent their careers supporting the Malign Alignment, working to foment wars and overthrow all the anti-slavery governments in the galaxy. Their public affiliation is with Mesa, the galactic heart of slavery, responsible for trillions of murders of innocents, rapes, family separations, and centuries of abuse; and one fake and one real assassination in this novel. The thing that makes them realize this is all wrong is a few million murders in a secret war. But that's frankly trivial compared to their side's public agenda. These characters aren't rehabilitated. It would be one thing if we found out they just thought they were turning to the light, but we saw they'd never really awakened to their crimes. But I think I've read all Weber's novels, and I can tell you this series is not going that way.
The second problem is that this is about the 18th novel in which Honor Harrington fights a giant space battle with unimaginable casualties, loses a bunch of good people, beats herself up for it, and emerges stronger and more determined. I enjoy the stories despite the fixed act structure but, perhaps because they hammer so hard on how badly Harrington is hurt, it's especially painful to know she must fail (by her own lights) and suffer because Weber is unwilling to permit a different story arc for her. The problem is accentuated because she really fails here. She makes two fatal misjudgments, and of course once again beats herself up, but everybody knows she's honest and brilliant and the only people who criticize her are the baddies in full monologue. Her thousands of avoidable casualties are trivialized.
The third problem, and perhaps the worst, is that this is the fourth book about a slave revolution, but no slaves are part of the story. A few emancipated slaves (called 'seccies' for second-class citizens) are named, with less than a dozen lines. There are several badass escaped slaves (members of the Audubon Ballroom, now ex-terrorists/freedom fighters). But although the plot is about slavery, the redemption of Earth, and the war against slavers, slaves and slavery are swept under the rug; there are no slave characters or lines. The crimes behind the scenes, which the story (and several anti-slavery speeches) are nominally about, are absolutely terrible, but this book is really about nobility (of our human heroes, of our human villains, and about our alien heroes). Slavery is apparently too depressing to actually make it into the anti-slavery story.
My fourth beef is relatively minor. Gail is too good at her job to live on dangerous Galton, but has been expended on the Galton sacrifice battle scenario. Nobody in hyper-militaristic Galton can be trusted to lose a space battle??? And the Galton space navy didn't notice they either don't have any battle planners, or aren't using any of their plans? The critical factor to how well Gail's plan works is not a stroke of genius, but the availability of secret high-tech weapons. There's nothing special in her scenes, so anyone could have made her plans. And the actual battle is big on betrayal and violations of laws of war, but that's not part of Gail's planning or disaffection. So what's she really doing, then?
Three members of the evil empire are rehabilitated. They realize they are, in fact, the baddies. They have spent their careers supporting the Malign Alignment, working to foment wars and overthrow all the anti-slavery governments in the galaxy. Their public affiliation is with Mesa, the galactic heart of slavery, responsible for trillions of murders of innocents, rapes, family separations, and centuries of abuse; and one fake and one real assassination in this novel. The thing that makes them realize this is all wrong is a few million murders in a secret war. But that's frankly trivial compared to their side's public agenda. These characters aren't rehabilitated. It would be one thing if we found out they just thought they were turning to the light, but we saw they'd never really awakened to their crimes. But I think I've read all Weber's novels, and I can tell you this series is not going that way.
The second problem is that this is about the 18th novel in which Honor Harrington fights a giant space battle with unimaginable casualties, loses a bunch of good people, beats herself up for it, and emerges stronger and more determined. I enjoy the stories despite the fixed act structure but, perhaps because they hammer so hard on how badly Harrington is hurt, it's especially painful to know she must fail (by her own lights) and suffer because Weber is unwilling to permit a different story arc for her. The problem is accentuated because she really fails here. She makes two fatal misjudgments, and of course once again beats herself up, but everybody knows she's honest and brilliant and the only people who criticize her are the baddies in full monologue. Her thousands of avoidable casualties are trivialized.
The third problem, and perhaps the worst, is that this is the fourth book about a slave revolution, but no slaves are part of the story. A few emancipated slaves (called 'seccies' for second-class citizens) are named, with less than a dozen lines. There are several badass escaped slaves (members of the Audubon Ballroom, now ex-terrorists/freedom fighters). But although the plot is about slavery, the redemption of Earth, and the war against slavers, slaves and slavery are swept under the rug; there are no slave characters or lines. The crimes behind the scenes, which the story (and several anti-slavery speeches) are nominally about, are absolutely terrible, but this book is really about nobility (of our human heroes, of our human villains, and about our alien heroes). Slavery is apparently too depressing to actually make it into the anti-slavery story.
My fourth beef is relatively minor. Gail is too good at her job to live on dangerous Galton, but has been expended on the Galton sacrifice battle scenario. Nobody in hyper-militaristic Galton can be trusted to lose a space battle??? And the Galton space navy didn't notice they either don't have any battle planners, or aren't using any of their plans? The critical factor to how well Gail's plan works is not a stroke of genius, but the availability of secret high-tech weapons. There's nothing special in her scenes, so anyone could have made her plans. And the actual battle is big on betrayal and violations of laws of war, but that's not part of Gail's planning or disaffection. So what's she really doing, then?
October 18, 2025
To Close the Loop
When I read the first book - Crown of Slaves, I thought it would be a spinoff for younger Manticorian naval officers and other characters. After all, by At All Costs, Honor Harrington is already a fleet admiral and they don't go off on solo adventures. Rather, they bring their fleet with them, along with advisers and an entourage. They are no longer brash risk takers and fire eaters. With time and maturity, Admiral Harrington is a calculated risk taker and the entire fire brigade. Thus, the Crown of Slaves spinoff is meant to expand the universe in a new direction and it did so extremely well.
Somehow, that evolved in this book because it brought everything back to the main trunk. All the events are post-Uncompromising Honor and now this book stopped being the spinoff universe. It resolved many threads, explained more backstory, showed other characters whom we started to love - Anton, Victor. At the same time, there were so many more Solarian and Alignment characters who start to take center stage.
What made me drop a star and a half was 1) the lack of consistent action/combat and 2) the rather predictable ending. All of the action/ combat scenes happen in the last 25% of the book and even Honor shows up to save the day. Eric Flint and David Weber are great authors individually and in this team effort, but this book was disappointing.
After reading the end, I have to wonder if there is a book 5. It could be that they wrote so much that they had to break it into 2 parts. Time will tell; it took 7 years between Cauldron of Ghosts and this one that I really hope it will not take another 7 years.
When I read the first book - Crown of Slaves, I thought it would be a spinoff for younger Manticorian naval officers and other characters. After all, by At All Costs, Honor Harrington is already a fleet admiral and they don't go off on solo adventures. Rather, they bring their fleet with them, along with advisers and an entourage. They are no longer brash risk takers and fire eaters. With time and maturity, Admiral Harrington is a calculated risk taker and the entire fire brigade. Thus, the Crown of Slaves spinoff is meant to expand the universe in a new direction and it did so extremely well.
Somehow, that evolved in this book because it brought everything back to the main trunk. All the events are post-Uncompromising Honor and now this book stopped being the spinoff universe. It resolved many threads, explained more backstory, showed other characters whom we started to love - Anton, Victor. At the same time, there were so many more Solarian and Alignment characters who start to take center stage.
What made me drop a star and a half was 1) the lack of consistent action/combat and 2) the rather predictable ending. All of the action/ combat scenes happen in the last 25% of the book and even Honor shows up to save the day. Eric Flint and David Weber are great authors individually and in this team effort, but this book was disappointing.
After reading the end, I have to wonder if there is a book 5. It could be that they wrote so much that they had to break it into 2 parts. Time will tell; it took 7 years between Cauldron of Ghosts and this one that I really hope it will not take another 7 years.
October 15, 2021
To End in Fire by David Weber and Eric Flint is the fourth book in the Honorverse: Crown of Slaves series. This is the fourth collaboration between Eric and David in the Honorverse series. The styles of both writers can be seen in this book, which continues where the previous mainline novel (Uncompromising Honor) ends but focused mostly on the characters introduced in their first book Crown of Slaves.
In this one it is finally time to expose the Mesan Alignment and try to destroy it once and for all. Many of the characters that were introduced in earlier books only to play small roles in those stories come forward as the main characters in this one. And although she has semi-retired Honor herself makes a comeback in the last third of the book and plays a huge role once again. I had thought this book would tie up all the loose ends but it ended with more of this story to tell. Which in my opinion is a good thing because I look forward to every David Weber book.
In this one it is finally time to expose the Mesan Alignment and try to destroy it once and for all. Many of the characters that were introduced in earlier books only to play small roles in those stories come forward as the main characters in this one. And although she has semi-retired Honor herself makes a comeback in the last third of the book and plays a huge role once again. I had thought this book would tie up all the loose ends but it ended with more of this story to tell. Which in my opinion is a good thing because I look forward to every David Weber book.
October 9, 2021
A very good addition to the Honorverse.
I was very critical of the last Honorverse book I read, Shadow of Victory. It suffered from excessive retelling of events already covered on previous books and too many pages spent on throw away characters and locations that just slowed down the story.
This new book avoids that problem and concentrates on existing characters and actually moving the storyline forward. The alliance of former enemies works together to uncover more of the plot that originally sent them to war and resulted in millions of deaths. There are new victories, but the ultimate enemy remains hidden in the shadows.
I was very critical of the last Honorverse book I read, Shadow of Victory. It suffered from excessive retelling of events already covered on previous books and too many pages spent on throw away characters and locations that just slowed down the story.
This new book avoids that problem and concentrates on existing characters and actually moving the storyline forward. The alliance of former enemies works together to uncover more of the plot that originally sent them to war and resulted in millions of deaths. There are new victories, but the ultimate enemy remains hidden in the shadows.
November 4, 2021
An improvement over the last several books in the Honorverse. Still way too much "council room" talk and recap from other novels. Still needs more action.
November 30, 2021
Another behemoth of a book from Weber and Flint. It is actually great fun for fans of the series, in spite of its length.
There is no way to summarize the plot, as the action bounces around from Mesa, Old Earth, and points beyond, all in an effort to uncover the truth about the Mesan Alignment.
Almost everybody who was anybody (and is still alive at this point in this long-running series) appears or gets name-checked. There are discussions of weapons technology (which I skimmed) which are offset by an equal number of political theory discussions. We get sneaky spy missions and space battles.
What we don't get is The End. We do get a great ending to this mission. However, there are enough loose ends to guarantee us at least one more book, minimum.
There is no way to summarize the plot, as the action bounces around from Mesa, Old Earth, and points beyond, all in an effort to uncover the truth about the Mesan Alignment.
Almost everybody who was anybody (and is still alive at this point in this long-running series) appears or gets name-checked. There are discussions of weapons technology (which I skimmed) which are offset by an equal number of political theory discussions. We get sneaky spy missions and space battles.
What we don't get is The End. We do get a great ending to this mission. However, there are enough loose ends to guarantee us at least one more book, minimum.
October 24, 2021
It’s fine, but…
Ironically for such a slow read it can feel quite rushed, skipping over the action in favour of acting the voyeur in the minds of the protagonists.It’s like feeling all the “fun” stuff was happening somewhere else, almost like entire chapters were missing. Overall, 80% happy, but I was really hoping for more.
Ironically for such a slow read it can feel quite rushed, skipping over the action in favour of acting the voyeur in the minds of the protagonists.It’s like feeling all the “fun” stuff was happening somewhere else, almost like entire chapters were missing. Overall, 80% happy, but I was really hoping for more.
November 3, 2021
This book was an excellent addition to the Honor Harrington universe, but also a frustrating one. With the title it has, and a cover blurb saying "Defeat the Mesan Conspiracy Once and for All," you'd think that this would be the clearly final book of the Crown of Slaves arc. I mean, that would make sense, right? It was even a really big book, one that looked like it was tying up a ton of plot lines. This must be the final volume.
Sadly, no, that's not the case. For a variety of reasons that will become apparent as you read the book, there needs to be at least one more "this time for sure" last book in the series. This one leaves a lot of things not yet done, or even figured out, and a lot of balls still being juggled.
That said, this was an extremely good book, and I thought that it answered several questions that had been set up in earlier volumes. The various layers of the Mesan Alignment are shown to be even creepier than before, because it's really interesting to see how each layer thinks that it's the important one. Was it really a benevolent group to begin with, that slowly morphed into being the paranoid bad guys? Or was it a group of paranoid bad guys all along, but who created layers of benevolent cover stories? Or have we even seen all of the layers yet?
Sadly, no, that's not the case. For a variety of reasons that will become apparent as you read the book, there needs to be at least one more "this time for sure" last book in the series. This one leaves a lot of things not yet done, or even figured out, and a lot of balls still being juggled.
That said, this was an extremely good book, and I thought that it answered several questions that had been set up in earlier volumes. The various layers of the Mesan Alignment are shown to be even creepier than before, because it's really interesting to see how each layer thinks that it's the important one. Was it really a benevolent group to begin with, that slowly morphed into being the paranoid bad guys? Or was it a group of paranoid bad guys all along, but who created layers of benevolent cover stories? Or have we even seen all of the layers yet?
October 22, 2021
This story takes place after the Grand Alliance, led by Honor Alexander-Harrington, has conquered the Solarian League's headquarters on Old Earth. One of the major demands is the writing of a new constitution which makes it necessary to gather delegates from the various worlds in the League.
Also, a new government is in the works for Mesa which was also conquered by the Grand Alliance. Integrating all the the various groups of people - citizens, seccies and slaves - won't be easy. The focus is on organizing a police force that can replace the previous, corrupt forces. This one going to be led by a former Ballroom Terrorist which creates some problems.
Meanwhile, all manner of intelligence agents are in the process of deciphering the various information that has been gathered in order to locate the Mesan Alliance whose undercover actions caused various wars including the war with the Solarian League.
The Mesan Alliance has been working on its goal of enhancing the human race for hundreds of years using all sorts of techniques that have been declared illegal. In this one we learn that their are actually three different Mesan Alliances. The first are the fanatics who have been sowing chaos in the galaxy. The second is the group that remained on Mesa and were unknowingly acting as a cover for the fanatics. There is also a third secret group that we first learn about in this story who are seemingly part of the fanatics but have become disillusioned with that groups tactics.
The story follows lots of characters from earlier books in the Honorverse including Honor Harrington who comes off maternity leave to lead the task force that will deal with the fanatics once they are found.
I enjoyed this story, liked catching up with characters I knew about from earlier books, and liked seeing what happened after the big, exciting battle was done and the mop up begun. This is definitely the place to jump into the Honorverse. There were so many characters and so many plot threads. They did come together into a coherent story which leaves lots of room for more books.
Also, a new government is in the works for Mesa which was also conquered by the Grand Alliance. Integrating all the the various groups of people - citizens, seccies and slaves - won't be easy. The focus is on organizing a police force that can replace the previous, corrupt forces. This one going to be led by a former Ballroom Terrorist which creates some problems.
Meanwhile, all manner of intelligence agents are in the process of deciphering the various information that has been gathered in order to locate the Mesan Alliance whose undercover actions caused various wars including the war with the Solarian League.
The Mesan Alliance has been working on its goal of enhancing the human race for hundreds of years using all sorts of techniques that have been declared illegal. In this one we learn that their are actually three different Mesan Alliances. The first are the fanatics who have been sowing chaos in the galaxy. The second is the group that remained on Mesa and were unknowingly acting as a cover for the fanatics. There is also a third secret group that we first learn about in this story who are seemingly part of the fanatics but have become disillusioned with that groups tactics.
The story follows lots of characters from earlier books in the Honorverse including Honor Harrington who comes off maternity leave to lead the task force that will deal with the fanatics once they are found.
I enjoyed this story, liked catching up with characters I knew about from earlier books, and liked seeing what happened after the big, exciting battle was done and the mop up begun. This is definitely the place to jump into the Honorverse. There were so many characters and so many plot threads. They did come together into a coherent story which leaves lots of room for more books.
October 28, 2021
Note: I actually read a e-book version, through overdive. Currently only the hardback edition is listed here.
The e-version I read could really use an editorial pass. I've gotten used to formating errors - larger text fonts running off the page, potentially overwriting text on the next page. They are still annoying. Also special character's missing in the font - empty boxes show instead. And other wierdness. Incompleate sentances. Words out of order. Words overwriting each other. Jumbles. Lines repeating. I think this is as bad as I've ever seen a book from a conventional publisher for a major author. Doesn't appear as if anyone actually read it prior to release.
Actual novel was - mostly boring. The battle in particular - yawn. Very little humor. Very few character notes. As per usual far too much of an imaginary millitary manual. If it did not have soo many books behind it - DNF. However, I've lived with these characters long enough - I want the update. Even if if feels like it's given by carboard cutouts.
I'll read the next update too. Doubt I'll ever re-read.
The e-version I read could really use an editorial pass. I've gotten used to formating errors - larger text fonts running off the page, potentially overwriting text on the next page. They are still annoying. Also special character's missing in the font - empty boxes show instead. And other wierdness. Incompleate sentances. Words out of order. Words overwriting each other. Jumbles. Lines repeating. I think this is as bad as I've ever seen a book from a conventional publisher for a major author. Doesn't appear as if anyone actually read it prior to release.
Actual novel was - mostly boring. The battle in particular - yawn. Very little humor. Very few character notes. As per usual far too much of an imaginary millitary manual. If it did not have soo many books behind it - DNF. However, I've lived with these characters long enough - I want the update. Even if if feels like it's given by carboard cutouts.
I'll read the next update too. Doubt I'll ever re-read.
October 12, 2021
Overall I very much enjoyed this book. A very worthy book in the series. I just have a couple minor to medium complains.
But anyway, I reiterate that I still loved the book.
But anyway, I reiterate that I still loved the book.
October 10, 2021
I understand that David has been very ill, but I have waited SO long for this.
The end game with the Alignment is approaching, though not as quickly as Manticore hopes. The hint towards the end of yet a third branching within is intriguing, and I can’t wait to see where that leads,
David is filling in a lot of the blanks in the storyline, and although the level of action is more reduced with the end of active warfare, still he manages to keep my interest with all of the characters running down various clues to figure out what is happening.
It is perhaps inevitable with such an multifaceted storyline that the book won’t do well as a stand-alone, it’s a great continuation of the saga for those of us who have followed Honor from the beginning.
The end game with the Alignment is approaching, though not as quickly as Manticore hopes. The hint towards the end of yet a third branching within is intriguing, and I can’t wait to see where that leads,
David is filling in a lot of the blanks in the storyline, and although the level of action is more reduced with the end of active warfare, still he manages to keep my interest with all of the characters running down various clues to figure out what is happening.
It is perhaps inevitable with such an multifaceted storyline that the book won’t do well as a stand-alone, it’s a great continuation of the saga for those of us who have followed Honor from the beginning.
June 29, 2022
Disappointing read. No real action and the same exposition given to multiple people. The fact that the "big bad" has not one but two secret fully developed systems stretches reason, and was so "moustache twirly" that it just seemed silly. They basically outlined a group of people that are so textbook evil that it is almost laughable.
Additionally the "show down" was anticlimactic and honestly, tactically stupid. I don't believe Harrington would have taken those loses just to prove a point about how honorable the Grand Alliance was. They had the bad guys dead to rights and should have just pounded them into oblivion after the sneak attack.
Could have been 300 pages shorter, and I'm confused as to where this story thread will go from here. Will the second secret Alignment system do something nefarious? likely, but we the readers haven't been given even a glimpse as to what that might be.
I know this is exposition to gear us up for another arc, but it wasn't a great showcase of the world that Weber has created, and again, I'm confused as to where it's going.
Good for a die hard fan, maybe skip it if you've got a passing interest.
Additionally the "show down" was anticlimactic and honestly, tactically stupid. I don't believe Harrington would have taken those loses just to prove a point about how honorable the Grand Alliance was. They had the bad guys dead to rights and should have just pounded them into oblivion after the sneak attack.
Could have been 300 pages shorter, and I'm confused as to where this story thread will go from here. Will the second secret Alignment system do something nefarious? likely, but we the readers haven't been given even a glimpse as to what that might be.
I know this is exposition to gear us up for another arc, but it wasn't a great showcase of the world that Weber has created, and again, I'm confused as to where it's going.
Good for a die hard fan, maybe skip it if you've got a passing interest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2022
The thirty-something-th book in the "Honor Harrington" series.
In the last several books of the main series and the side series "Crown of Slaves" (confusingly, this volume belongs to both), the Star-Empire of Manticore has become aware that a conspiracy they have come to know as the Mesan Alignment has (1) manipulated the then Star-Kingdom into decades of war with the star-nation then known as the People's Republic of Haven; (2) been behind Manpower, Inc., and its vast commercial empire of genetic slavery; (3) also manipulated the Solarian League, the largest star-nation in the (human part of the) Galaxy into repeated military confrontations witih Manticore, all of which have turned out disastrously for the Sollies; (4) existed for centuries; (5) has a huge technological base that the rest of the human world does not; (6) protects itself with onion-like layers; (7) committed a number of acts of mass murder, including the use of nuclear and kinetic weapons on its own planet to hide its own activities; and (8)exists to force genetic uplift of some kind on humanity.
In the last few books, Manticore has (1) expanded from a star-nation to a star-empire; (2) allied itself with its former enemies in Haven and several other star-nations in the Grand Alliance; (3) led the Grand Alliance to conquer both Mesa and the Solarian League, with minimum causalties on either side due to vastly superior military technoligy; (4) given both very generous conditions, mostly involving cleaning up their acts and creating new Constitutions subject to approval by the GA.
In the meanwhile, a large number of ex-slaves (many of them from the freedom movement/terrorist organization, depending on whom you ask, called the Audobon Ballroom) has created an independent star-kingdom on the planet Torch, in the system called Congo; which was quickly and brutally attacked by mercenaries working for, yes, the Mesan Alignment, and rescued largely through the efforts of the fleet of a sector then in the process of declaring its independence _from_ the Solarian League.
Oh, and after the victory at Old Earth, Fleet Admiral, Duchess, and Steadholder Honor Alexander-Harrington, main character of more than half the preceding books, announced her retirement from the Royal Navy of Manticore.
Okay, enough backstory. As for the rest --
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS
-- but none that anybody who's followed the series up to this point will find terribly surprising.
In _this_ doorstop (696 pages), the Grand Alliance goes hunting for the almost-certain hidden fortress of the Mesan Alignment. The climax of the book, of course, is what happens when they find it
Meanwhile...
...on Mesa, it turns out that there was a much larger, and benign, group calling itself the Mesan Alignment. This one was peaceful and sought to persuade the rest of the Galaxy to accept reasonable genetic technology.
...in the system called Galton, a vastly defended Alignment base is preparing for the attack they consider inevitable.
...on Old Earth, as the Constitutional Convention proceeds, an ace reporter (and agent for the Alignment) is nearly assassinated, and rides the goodwill that arises from that to embed herself in the Grand Alliance fleet.
...on Torch, some of the POWs from the Meaan-funded attack receive a chance for freedom in return for hnoroable service.
...in the system called Darius, members of the Alignment contemplate the almost-inevitable loss of their base at Galton, which largely exists to hide the existence of Darius.
...and so on.
Startlingly few pages of this book are devoted to space-naval battles. The climactic battle, despite happening over a period of weeks, is covered in less than thirty-five pages, which is both a bit of a relief (given the tendency of Weber and company to spend page after page on excruciating technical details of the weaponry involved) and a disappointment (we basically see the opening salvos, and then jump forward to the final stages of the battle, with very little in the way of explanation or continuity).
So. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Will I read further books in this series? Yes; there's already on on Mount TBR. Would I recommend it to you? Only if you've already read the >mumble< books that directly preceed/lead up to it -- about twenty, if I count right.
And that's my main point. This book does not and _cannot_ stand on its own as a novel. I suppose that someone who has _not_ read at least a substantial number of the preceding novels might be able to follow it, with some difficulty; but a great deal of its effect depends on readerly knowledge not only of the vast and cross-connected plot threads that lead to this point, but also, and indeed especially, of the characters; without that, a reader is expected to take on faith (for example) that Victor Cachat and Anthony Zilwicki are the greatest spies in Human space, despite personalities that don't quite seem to fit that claim; but this has been more than fully established in the earlier novels and stories. Similarly, the technology and politics that underlie it are all taken for granted.
Finally, I should note that, as I was reading this book, one of its writers, Eric Flint, died. Flint was the author, co-author, or editor of literally scores of books -- even though his first was published when he was fifty years old (which gives this aging wannabee a certain amount of comfort and hope). A great number of them are collaborations, true, but my own limited experience suggests that collaborations take at least as much time as solo work. The only non-Harrington books of his that I have read are the three books in the "Boundary" series, cowritten with Ryk E. Spoor, and I enjoyed them -- especially the first one -- a good deal.
So, I dedicate this review to his memory. Requiscat in pacem, Mr. Flint.
In the last several books of the main series and the side series "Crown of Slaves" (confusingly, this volume belongs to both), the Star-Empire of Manticore has become aware that a conspiracy they have come to know as the Mesan Alignment has (1) manipulated the then Star-Kingdom into decades of war with the star-nation then known as the People's Republic of Haven; (2) been behind Manpower, Inc., and its vast commercial empire of genetic slavery; (3) also manipulated the Solarian League, the largest star-nation in the (human part of the) Galaxy into repeated military confrontations witih Manticore, all of which have turned out disastrously for the Sollies; (4) existed for centuries; (5) has a huge technological base that the rest of the human world does not; (6) protects itself with onion-like layers; (7) committed a number of acts of mass murder, including the use of nuclear and kinetic weapons on its own planet to hide its own activities; and (8)exists to force genetic uplift of some kind on humanity.
In the last few books, Manticore has (1) expanded from a star-nation to a star-empire; (2) allied itself with its former enemies in Haven and several other star-nations in the Grand Alliance; (3) led the Grand Alliance to conquer both Mesa and the Solarian League, with minimum causalties on either side due to vastly superior military technoligy; (4) given both very generous conditions, mostly involving cleaning up their acts and creating new Constitutions subject to approval by the GA.
In the meanwhile, a large number of ex-slaves (many of them from the freedom movement/terrorist organization, depending on whom you ask, called the Audobon Ballroom) has created an independent star-kingdom on the planet Torch, in the system called Congo; which was quickly and brutally attacked by mercenaries working for, yes, the Mesan Alignment, and rescued largely through the efforts of the fleet of a sector then in the process of declaring its independence _from_ the Solarian League.
Oh, and after the victory at Old Earth, Fleet Admiral, Duchess, and Steadholder Honor Alexander-Harrington, main character of more than half the preceding books, announced her retirement from the Royal Navy of Manticore.
Okay, enough backstory. As for the rest --
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS
-- but none that anybody who's followed the series up to this point will find terribly surprising.
In _this_ doorstop (696 pages), the Grand Alliance goes hunting for the almost-certain hidden fortress of the Mesan Alignment. The climax of the book, of course, is what happens when they find it
Meanwhile...
...on Mesa, it turns out that there was a much larger, and benign, group calling itself the Mesan Alignment. This one was peaceful and sought to persuade the rest of the Galaxy to accept reasonable genetic technology.
...in the system called Galton, a vastly defended Alignment base is preparing for the attack they consider inevitable.
...on Old Earth, as the Constitutional Convention proceeds, an ace reporter (and agent for the Alignment) is nearly assassinated, and rides the goodwill that arises from that to embed herself in the Grand Alliance fleet.
...on Torch, some of the POWs from the Meaan-funded attack receive a chance for freedom in return for hnoroable service.
...in the system called Darius, members of the Alignment contemplate the almost-inevitable loss of their base at Galton, which largely exists to hide the existence of Darius.
...and so on.
Startlingly few pages of this book are devoted to space-naval battles. The climactic battle, despite happening over a period of weeks, is covered in less than thirty-five pages, which is both a bit of a relief (given the tendency of Weber and company to spend page after page on excruciating technical details of the weaponry involved) and a disappointment (we basically see the opening salvos, and then jump forward to the final stages of the battle, with very little in the way of explanation or continuity).
So. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Will I read further books in this series? Yes; there's already on on Mount TBR. Would I recommend it to you? Only if you've already read the >mumble< books that directly preceed/lead up to it -- about twenty, if I count right.
And that's my main point. This book does not and _cannot_ stand on its own as a novel. I suppose that someone who has _not_ read at least a substantial number of the preceding novels might be able to follow it, with some difficulty; but a great deal of its effect depends on readerly knowledge not only of the vast and cross-connected plot threads that lead to this point, but also, and indeed especially, of the characters; without that, a reader is expected to take on faith (for example) that Victor Cachat and Anthony Zilwicki are the greatest spies in Human space, despite personalities that don't quite seem to fit that claim; but this has been more than fully established in the earlier novels and stories. Similarly, the technology and politics that underlie it are all taken for granted.
Finally, I should note that, as I was reading this book, one of its writers, Eric Flint, died. Flint was the author, co-author, or editor of literally scores of books -- even though his first was published when he was fifty years old (which gives this aging wannabee a certain amount of comfort and hope). A great number of them are collaborations, true, but my own limited experience suggests that collaborations take at least as much time as solo work. The only non-Harrington books of his that I have read are the three books in the "Boundary" series, cowritten with Ryk E. Spoor, and I enjoyed them -- especially the first one -- a good deal.
So, I dedicate this review to his memory. Requiscat in pacem, Mr. Flint.
October 6, 2021
This was a very disappointing book. David Weber is one of my favorite authors but this book was impossible to get through. I don't mind jumping around to tell a story but there was so much jumping around that it's hard to follow.
It's got to be hard to pull all the disparate threads together to wrap everything up, if anyone should have been able to hit it out of the park, it should have been Weber.
Definately don't recommend.
It's got to be hard to pull all the disparate threads together to wrap everything up, if anyone should have been able to hit it out of the park, it should have been Weber.
Definately don't recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2021
Read EARC IT WAS AWSOME!
Read
February 26, 2022I got curious, so I went through and listed the characaters that appear in this book (including treecats, not including characters just mentioned, not actually appearing). I kind of think Simon Hawk, mentioned as an armsman, is supposed to be Spencer Hawke. If so, there are 219 characters in this book.
Abelard Ishtu
Abigail Sorokin Abraham Kästner, Fregattenkapitän
Adam Zhang
Akanyang Moseki
Alfredo Yu, High Admiral
Alice Truman, Admiral
Allen Higgins, Admirel
Allison Harrington
.Ambrose McWhirter, Dr.
Andrea Jaruwalski, Captain (senior grade)
Andrea Murino, Corporal
Andrea Nur
Andrew Judah Wesley Alexander-Harrington
Anibal Eisenberg
Anton Zilwicki
Antwone Carpinteria
Arianne McBride
Audrey O'Hanrahan
.Austen Clinkscales
Benjamin Detweiler Benjamin Mayhew
Bernice Augenbraun, Captain
Berry Zilwicki, Queen, Her Mousety
Bozhidara Abadjieva
Branko Marković
Brianna Pearson
Bryce Tarkovsky
Cáo Li-Qiang
.Cary Condor
Catherine Montaigne
Celeste Bianchi
Charles E. "Chuck" Gannon, Dr.
Charles O'Daley, Hon.
Chien-lu von Rabenstrange, Admiral
Chong Chung-Ho
Chris Holderbaum
Christian Espina
Christina McBride
.Clifford McGraw
Cynthia Lecter
Cynthia X
Damien Harahap
Daniar Quinzio, Korvettenkapitän
Daud ibn Mamoun al-Fanudahi, Captain
Deepti Chandekar
Donald Toussaint
Dominica Adenauer
Edward Tecuatl
..Eileen Patel
Elizabeth Winton, Empress of Manticore
Elizabeth "Liz" Robbins, Rear Admiral
Ellen Shemails, Colonel
Elspeth Dreyfus, Lt. Esteban Burkanov
Evelyn Adebayo
Fanantenanirainy
Fran Selig
Francine Klusener, Commander
.François McGillicuddy
Gabriel Chapuis, Citizen Lieutenant
Gail Velasquez
Gail Weiss
Garlan Thwaites, Rear Admiral
Gebhardt "Geb" Juarez
Gillian Drescher, General
Giselle Montcalm
Gunther Montalván, Grossadmiral
Grauer Berg, Admiral
.Grünes Dorf, Admiral
Hamish Alexander-Harrington
Hammond Whiting
Hasrul
Hauptmann Chou
Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington, Lady Dame, Duchess, Admiral, Steadholder Honor Mayhew
Horace Harkness, WO5 Sir
Hormuzd Kham
Howard Simon Harrington
.Hugh Arai
Hyndryk Abbas
Indiana "Indy" Graham
Ingemar Bukelis
Irene Teague
Jacelyn Amsterdam
Jackson Chicherin
Jacob Trevithick, Citizen Commander
Jacqueline Harris
Jake Abrams
.James Gutierrez
James "Mac" MacGuiness
Janet Bradford
Janice Delgado
Janice Karanja
Janice Kolisnychenko
Jarmila Soubry, Citizen Captain
Jefferson McClure
Jennifer Bellefeuille, Vice Admiral
Jeremiah Sullivan, Reverend
..Jeremy X
Jerzy Scarlatti, Major
Jessica Milliken, Commander
Jessica Stein
Joanna Saleta, Vice Admiral
JoAnne (McBride)
Jonathan Braunlich
Joshua Atkins, Corporal
Jurgen Dusek
Justine Jackson
.Karoline Adebayo, Generalfeldmarshall
Katherine Alexander-Harrington
Kayla Barrett, Sergeant
Kell Haglish
Kevin Olonga
Kondraty Akdag
Lakshmi X
Lamar Ponferrada, Captain
Leonard Spadafora, Kontreadmiral
Lester Tourville, Admiral
.Lidija Križanović
Lindsey Phillips
Lucia Sharpe, Captain
Maeva Knežević
Magdalena "Maggie" Frazier
Mark Sarnow, Admiral
Mary-Lynne Selleck, Captain
Maurice Belknap
Mbuso Gambushe
McCauley " Mack the Knife" Sinclair
.Megan Petersen, Baroness Arngrim, Captain
Mercedes Brigham, Admiral
Michael Anderle
Michael Jeremiah Harrington
Michal Lukáč, Admiral
Michelle "Mike" Henke, Countess Gold Peak, Admiral
Mikhal "Misha" Velychko, Lt.
Mikolaj Ferran
Miloslav Brož
Mîrhem Alîkar
.Mitsukuni Umebayashi
Monica Acevski
Morris Gwaltney
Nandi X
Nasrin Khoshkam
Natsuko Okiku
Nganga X, Captain
Oberst Xú Chuntao
Oliver Diamato
Ona Eriquez, Lt. Commander
..Pascaline L'anglais, Admiral
Petro Calais
Philippus Malherbe
Phoebe
Prescott "Scotty" Tremaine, Commodore
Rafael Biggs
Rafael "Rafe" Cardones, Captain
Raoul Alexander-Harrington
Razeen Montgomery, Captain
Regan Snyder
.Roberta Bailey
Ronglu X, Colonel
Ruth Winton, Princess
Ryder Nelson, Commander
Saburo X Lara
Sandra Kaminsky
Sandra Tuminello
Santander Konidis
Shannon Foraker, Admiral
Simeon Gaddis, Brigadier
.Simon Hawk (?)
Skylar Beckert
Solange Dembélé
Sonja Hemphill
Sophie Bordás
Spencer Hawke
Stephani Moriarity
Stephen Salinas, Lieutenant
Stilson MacDonald, Lieutenant
Sue Thorn
.Supakrit Takahashi
Susan Hibson
Susannah Gulo
Takahara Mikazuki
Takahashi Ayako
Thandi Palane
Theodora Moreau
Thomas McBryde
Tobias Stimson
Tomasz Auberjonois, Kommodore
.Tristram Jacoby, Lt. Commander
Ursula Mason
Vergel Suarez, Lt. Comander
Victor Cachat (aka Citizen Commodore Beaumont)
Waldemar Tümmel, Lt. Commander
Web du Havel
Weng Zhing-hwan, Lt. Colonel
William "Bill" Howe, Ensign
Winston Kingsford, Admiral
Xander Riley, Lt.
..Yana Tretiakovna
Yolanda Harriman, Commander
Zachariah "Zach" McBryde
Zarmayr Nerguizian, Major
Zoltan Somogyi
Fire Watch
Hunts Silently
Lurks in Branches
Nimitz
Samantha
(I didn't get the full names of these, although in Yon's case at least, I'm sure it was there. My bad)
.Abruzzi
Alfred
Andy
Eskildsen, Lt. Commander
Gharsul, Commander
.Hu, Interior Minister
Kabweza, Lt. Col.
Rorendaal
Tuminello
Yon, Prime Minister
..Zuma
Abelard Ishtu
Abigail Sorokin Abraham Kästner, Fregattenkapitän
Adam Zhang
Akanyang Moseki
Alfredo Yu, High Admiral
Alice Truman, Admiral
Allen Higgins, Admirel
Allison Harrington
.Ambrose McWhirter, Dr.
Andrea Jaruwalski, Captain (senior grade)
Andrea Murino, Corporal
Andrea Nur
Andrew Judah Wesley Alexander-Harrington
Anibal Eisenberg
Anton Zilwicki
Antwone Carpinteria
Arianne McBride
Audrey O'Hanrahan
.Austen Clinkscales
Benjamin Detweiler Benjamin Mayhew
Bernice Augenbraun, Captain
Berry Zilwicki, Queen, Her Mousety
Bozhidara Abadjieva
Branko Marković
Brianna Pearson
Bryce Tarkovsky
Cáo Li-Qiang
.Cary Condor
Catherine Montaigne
Celeste Bianchi
Charles E. "Chuck" Gannon, Dr.
Charles O'Daley, Hon.
Chien-lu von Rabenstrange, Admiral
Chong Chung-Ho
Chris Holderbaum
Christian Espina
Christina McBride
.Clifford McGraw
Cynthia Lecter
Cynthia X
Damien Harahap
Daniar Quinzio, Korvettenkapitän
Daud ibn Mamoun al-Fanudahi, Captain
Deepti Chandekar
Donald Toussaint
Dominica Adenauer
Edward Tecuatl
..Eileen Patel
Elizabeth Winton, Empress of Manticore
Elizabeth "Liz" Robbins, Rear Admiral
Ellen Shemails, Colonel
Elspeth Dreyfus, Lt. Esteban Burkanov
Evelyn Adebayo
Fanantenanirainy
Fran Selig
Francine Klusener, Commander
.François McGillicuddy
Gabriel Chapuis, Citizen Lieutenant
Gail Velasquez
Gail Weiss
Garlan Thwaites, Rear Admiral
Gebhardt "Geb" Juarez
Gillian Drescher, General
Giselle Montcalm
Gunther Montalván, Grossadmiral
Grauer Berg, Admiral
.Grünes Dorf, Admiral
Hamish Alexander-Harrington
Hammond Whiting
Hasrul
Hauptmann Chou
Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington, Lady Dame, Duchess, Admiral, Steadholder Honor Mayhew
Horace Harkness, WO5 Sir
Hormuzd Kham
Howard Simon Harrington
.Hugh Arai
Hyndryk Abbas
Indiana "Indy" Graham
Ingemar Bukelis
Irene Teague
Jacelyn Amsterdam
Jackson Chicherin
Jacob Trevithick, Citizen Commander
Jacqueline Harris
Jake Abrams
.James Gutierrez
James "Mac" MacGuiness
Janet Bradford
Janice Delgado
Janice Karanja
Janice Kolisnychenko
Jarmila Soubry, Citizen Captain
Jefferson McClure
Jennifer Bellefeuille, Vice Admiral
Jeremiah Sullivan, Reverend
..Jeremy X
Jerzy Scarlatti, Major
Jessica Milliken, Commander
Jessica Stein
Joanna Saleta, Vice Admiral
JoAnne (McBride)
Jonathan Braunlich
Joshua Atkins, Corporal
Jurgen Dusek
Justine Jackson
.Karoline Adebayo, Generalfeldmarshall
Katherine Alexander-Harrington
Kayla Barrett, Sergeant
Kell Haglish
Kevin Olonga
Kondraty Akdag
Lakshmi X
Lamar Ponferrada, Captain
Leonard Spadafora, Kontreadmiral
Lester Tourville, Admiral
.Lidija Križanović
Lindsey Phillips
Lucia Sharpe, Captain
Maeva Knežević
Magdalena "Maggie" Frazier
Mark Sarnow, Admiral
Mary-Lynne Selleck, Captain
Maurice Belknap
Mbuso Gambushe
McCauley " Mack the Knife" Sinclair
.Megan Petersen, Baroness Arngrim, Captain
Mercedes Brigham, Admiral
Michael Anderle
Michael Jeremiah Harrington
Michal Lukáč, Admiral
Michelle "Mike" Henke, Countess Gold Peak, Admiral
Mikhal "Misha" Velychko, Lt.
Mikolaj Ferran
Miloslav Brož
Mîrhem Alîkar
.Mitsukuni Umebayashi
Monica Acevski
Morris Gwaltney
Nandi X
Nasrin Khoshkam
Natsuko Okiku
Nganga X, Captain
Oberst Xú Chuntao
Oliver Diamato
Ona Eriquez, Lt. Commander
..Pascaline L'anglais, Admiral
Petro Calais
Philippus Malherbe
Phoebe
Prescott "Scotty" Tremaine, Commodore
Rafael Biggs
Rafael "Rafe" Cardones, Captain
Raoul Alexander-Harrington
Razeen Montgomery, Captain
Regan Snyder
.Roberta Bailey
Ronglu X, Colonel
Ruth Winton, Princess
Ryder Nelson, Commander
Saburo X Lara
Sandra Kaminsky
Sandra Tuminello
Santander Konidis
Shannon Foraker, Admiral
Simeon Gaddis, Brigadier
.Simon Hawk (?)
Skylar Beckert
Solange Dembélé
Sonja Hemphill
Sophie Bordás
Spencer Hawke
Stephani Moriarity
Stephen Salinas, Lieutenant
Stilson MacDonald, Lieutenant
Sue Thorn
.Supakrit Takahashi
Susan Hibson
Susannah Gulo
Takahara Mikazuki
Takahashi Ayako
Thandi Palane
Theodora Moreau
Thomas McBryde
Tobias Stimson
Tomasz Auberjonois, Kommodore
.Tristram Jacoby, Lt. Commander
Ursula Mason
Vergel Suarez, Lt. Comander
Victor Cachat (aka Citizen Commodore Beaumont)
Waldemar Tümmel, Lt. Commander
Web du Havel
Weng Zhing-hwan, Lt. Colonel
William "Bill" Howe, Ensign
Winston Kingsford, Admiral
Xander Riley, Lt.
..Yana Tretiakovna
Yolanda Harriman, Commander
Zachariah "Zach" McBryde
Zarmayr Nerguizian, Major
Zoltan Somogyi
Fire Watch
Hunts Silently
Lurks in Branches
Nimitz
Samantha
(I didn't get the full names of these, although in Yon's case at least, I'm sure it was there. My bad)
.Abruzzi
Alfred
Andy
Eskildsen, Lt. Commander
Gharsul, Commander
.Hu, Interior Minister
Kabweza, Lt. Col.
Rorendaal
Tuminello
Yon, Prime Minister
..Zuma
March 10, 2023
TEiF feels like it's trying to wrap up both the Honorverse and its Crown of Slaves side-shoot. But it neither manages that nor provides much in the way of excitement until we reach the very end.
Up to that point, it's a book about meetings. Meetings across the galaxy. Meetings between every faction we've met up until now. Meeting about what's been going on. Meetings about understanding what's been going on. Meetings about whether anyone doubts what's been going on.
Long story (loooooong story) short, everyone who's anyone actually believes, more or less, that the Mesan Alignment is a deep, dark, terrible set of conspirators who have been manipulating star nations and history to their own nefarious and bloody ends. There's a lot of fuzziness around that -- multiple groups calling themselves the Alignment, onion skins within onion skins, perfunctory disagreement over some of the details. But by and large, everyone largely agrees that the Grand Alliance (as mostly personified by Manticore here) is correct that there's a powerful hidden cabal of Black Hats who were responsible for the war crimes the GA is no longer being actively accused of, and something must be done about it.
This broad agreement by everyone from Solarian intel folk to Torch intel folk to GA intel folk to even the few Mesans we meet removes much of the tension of the novel.
There's a lot of discussion about nationbuildling, a fraught topic, but one which ... ultimately kind of fizzles into the various parties -- Mesan, Torch / Ballroom, Grand Alliance -- singing a wary kumbaya with each other, dead set on creating stability and shunning any association with the Black Hats.
(Because there is a large-but-secret "Alignment" and a small-but-more-secret "Alignment" within that, the latter having been happy to see a lot of the former slaughtered to cover their escape, we get many chapters of the former being called the "Benign Alignment" and the latter the "Malign Alignment," until the former change their names to the "Engagement." And nobody involved in writing or editing this seems to have realized that "Malignment" was just sitting out there for someone to use.)
In short, except for some brief taking down of gang leaders -- 99% of which happens off-screen -- there is next to zip-zero action, let alone MilSF, in this book until the end. Just ... endless ... meetings, meetings everywhere, meetings discussing what people are doing next, meetings discussing what other people are doing, meetings discussing what was just done -- so many meetings, and with any interpersonal conflict quickly averted, sanded down, and made all nice and happy-faced.
Honor Harrington does show up in a few early scenes, mostly to detail how things are going with her pregnancy and, then, her delivery. None of which carries any tension or drama worth speaking of, and all of which feel like a strange interlude between ... more meetings.
Finally, *finally*, at the end, we get something that resembles a space battle. But it's a largely meaningless exercise. Lots of lobbing of weapons at long distance. Little to no tactics, or even strategy (which is, eye-rollingly, actually lampshaded by one of the Bad Guys). Just lots of explosions, bits and bobs of death, Honor speaking in her space-cold-battle-steel tones of death, and then the Good Guys have (mostly) won.
And for that final battle? We get a name-call to pretty much every surviving military cast member of the Honorverse -- who's there and what they're commanding, who isn't there and what they are doing instead, etc. It feels a bit like a series wrap-up, even if the book is left open-ended (more meetings!) and name-checks aren't the same as actual personal interaction.
There's enough plot advancement here to probably require a read from hard-core Honorverse people, but, damn, it was a slog waiting for something other than the next blend-up of talking heads discussing what they all agree with and revealing information we've already seen revealed before. I'm not convinced, though, that a three or four paragraph blurb couldn't provide all anyone needs without dropping $7-8 bucks on Amazon. Because that's about all the actual meat this volume consists of.
Now, let's take another meeting to discuss that.
Up to that point, it's a book about meetings. Meetings across the galaxy. Meetings between every faction we've met up until now. Meeting about what's been going on. Meetings about understanding what's been going on. Meetings about whether anyone doubts what's been going on.
Long story (loooooong story) short, everyone who's anyone actually believes, more or less, that the Mesan Alignment is a deep, dark, terrible set of conspirators who have been manipulating star nations and history to their own nefarious and bloody ends. There's a lot of fuzziness around that -- multiple groups calling themselves the Alignment, onion skins within onion skins, perfunctory disagreement over some of the details. But by and large, everyone largely agrees that the Grand Alliance (as mostly personified by Manticore here) is correct that there's a powerful hidden cabal of Black Hats who were responsible for the war crimes the GA is no longer being actively accused of, and something must be done about it.
This broad agreement by everyone from Solarian intel folk to Torch intel folk to GA intel folk to even the few Mesans we meet removes much of the tension of the novel.
There's a lot of discussion about nationbuildling, a fraught topic, but one which ... ultimately kind of fizzles into the various parties -- Mesan, Torch / Ballroom, Grand Alliance -- singing a wary kumbaya with each other, dead set on creating stability and shunning any association with the Black Hats.
(Because there is a large-but-secret "Alignment" and a small-but-more-secret "Alignment" within that, the latter having been happy to see a lot of the former slaughtered to cover their escape, we get many chapters of the former being called the "Benign Alignment" and the latter the "Malign Alignment," until the former change their names to the "Engagement." And nobody involved in writing or editing this seems to have realized that "Malignment" was just sitting out there for someone to use.)
In short, except for some brief taking down of gang leaders -- 99% of which happens off-screen -- there is next to zip-zero action, let alone MilSF, in this book until the end. Just ... endless ... meetings, meetings everywhere, meetings discussing what people are doing next, meetings discussing what other people are doing, meetings discussing what was just done -- so many meetings, and with any interpersonal conflict quickly averted, sanded down, and made all nice and happy-faced.
Honor Harrington does show up in a few early scenes, mostly to detail how things are going with her pregnancy and, then, her delivery. None of which carries any tension or drama worth speaking of, and all of which feel like a strange interlude between ... more meetings.
Finally, *finally*, at the end, we get something that resembles a space battle. But it's a largely meaningless exercise. Lots of lobbing of weapons at long distance. Little to no tactics, or even strategy (which is, eye-rollingly, actually lampshaded by one of the Bad Guys). Just lots of explosions, bits and bobs of death, Honor speaking in her space-cold-battle-steel tones of death, and then the Good Guys have (mostly) won.
And for that final battle? We get a name-call to pretty much every surviving military cast member of the Honorverse -- who's there and what they're commanding, who isn't there and what they are doing instead, etc. It feels a bit like a series wrap-up, even if the book is left open-ended (more meetings!) and name-checks aren't the same as actual personal interaction.
There's enough plot advancement here to probably require a read from hard-core Honorverse people, but, damn, it was a slog waiting for something other than the next blend-up of talking heads discussing what they all agree with and revealing information we've already seen revealed before. I'm not convinced, though, that a three or four paragraph blurb couldn't provide all anyone needs without dropping $7-8 bucks on Amazon. Because that's about all the actual meat this volume consists of.
Now, let's take another meeting to discuss that.
April 22, 2025
This is a long review, and I've tried to keep it organized, but I'm sure it rambles at times.
Neither a Honor Harrington book, nor a Cachat/Zilwicki book, To End in Fire instead comes across as a poor, undercooked attempt to smash two halves of two different books together in my opinion. In a lot of ways to be honest, it feels like an attempt to re-intertwine the mainline series, the Torch series, and the Talbott quadrant series all back together into one cohesive narrative so that future books won't need to cut and paste multiple chapters from one another.
Honor feels out of place here, and honestly, unwelcome. Presumably her scenes prior to retaking command of the fleet are meant to convey to us just how weary of war she is, and how happy she is to be done commanding fleets, but if that's the case, it's unnecessary and instead hampers the flow of the book. We already know that she's weary of this war and that she wants to spend time with her family. It has been hammered home across the previous books as efficiently as a Solarian squadron up against an Apollo-equipped dreadnought. So instead, we just have unnecessary scenes adding to the word count and yanking us out of whatever developments may be happening (which are usually just people sitting around in rooms talking, which is another issue).
When Honor does finally take command and go to hammer Galton into dust, we don't even see the battle. It fades to black, just like a sex scene on a PG movie. The first round of missiles are traded....and then suddenly we're at the end of it and they're discussing surrender after the system defenses have been hammered into scrap. That's bad enough, but Honor coming in to hammer the system also meant that Cachat and Zilwicki, the two nominal protagonists of this sub-series....aren't even in the finale. They're mentioned off-hand as being on their way to the system to poke around in the rubble for intelligence, like a pair of truffle pigs. So we get neither a good climatic space battle, nor do we get an interesting espionage thriller ending, just a disappointment.
I'm sure there are other things I will think of to say about this book, but I'll wrap up this review with this final critique:
There are so many hooks thrown out in this book that simply go nowhere. But the most egregious is the sudden appearance of a third alignment within the Malign Alignment. Oh by the way, the Malign Alignment have also stood up Galton, let's call them the Patsy Alignment. Somehow, these people exist, and have a presence in Darius system, meaning that there was the 'Benign Alignment', then the 'Malign Alignment', and its Patsy Alignment, and then this group. And somehow, of those four groups, the last three have never had any leaks or been discovered, despite existing and operating for centuries. The onion concept made sense, and was a nice design to explain such a threatening and capable adversary. But by the end of the book, the Malign Alignment still exists, and now suddenly there's a brand new secret alignment that presumably will become allies in a later book.
The issue is that it doesn't feel earned. Instead, it feels like Weber either can't, or does not want to come with up with other enemies, so he's simply going to ensure that the Malign Alignment is never ever defeated, no matter what happens. And that feels exhausting, and not appealing. They should have ended with the retirement of Honor as a mainline POV character, but instead, it's just a promise of the same story, over and over again, and it makes this story taste like ash in my mouth.
Neither a Honor Harrington book, nor a Cachat/Zilwicki book, To End in Fire instead comes across as a poor, undercooked attempt to smash two halves of two different books together in my opinion. In a lot of ways to be honest, it feels like an attempt to re-intertwine the mainline series, the Torch series, and the Talbott quadrant series all back together into one cohesive narrative so that future books won't need to cut and paste multiple chapters from one another.
Honor feels out of place here, and honestly, unwelcome. Presumably her scenes prior to retaking command of the fleet are meant to convey to us just how weary of war she is, and how happy she is to be done commanding fleets, but if that's the case, it's unnecessary and instead hampers the flow of the book. We already know that she's weary of this war and that she wants to spend time with her family. It has been hammered home across the previous books as efficiently as a Solarian squadron up against an Apollo-equipped dreadnought. So instead, we just have unnecessary scenes adding to the word count and yanking us out of whatever developments may be happening (which are usually just people sitting around in rooms talking, which is another issue).
When Honor does finally take command and go to hammer Galton into dust, we don't even see the battle. It fades to black, just like a sex scene on a PG movie. The first round of missiles are traded....and then suddenly we're at the end of it and they're discussing surrender after the system defenses have been hammered into scrap. That's bad enough, but Honor coming in to hammer the system also meant that Cachat and Zilwicki, the two nominal protagonists of this sub-series....aren't even in the finale. They're mentioned off-hand as being on their way to the system to poke around in the rubble for intelligence, like a pair of truffle pigs. So we get neither a good climatic space battle, nor do we get an interesting espionage thriller ending, just a disappointment.
I'm sure there are other things I will think of to say about this book, but I'll wrap up this review with this final critique:
There are so many hooks thrown out in this book that simply go nowhere. But the most egregious is the sudden appearance of a third alignment within the Malign Alignment. Oh by the way, the Malign Alignment have also stood up Galton, let's call them the Patsy Alignment. Somehow, these people exist, and have a presence in Darius system, meaning that there was the 'Benign Alignment', then the 'Malign Alignment', and its Patsy Alignment, and then this group. And somehow, of those four groups, the last three have never had any leaks or been discovered, despite existing and operating for centuries. The onion concept made sense, and was a nice design to explain such a threatening and capable adversary. But by the end of the book, the Malign Alignment still exists, and now suddenly there's a brand new secret alignment that presumably will become allies in a later book.
The issue is that it doesn't feel earned. Instead, it feels like Weber either can't, or does not want to come with up with other enemies, so he's simply going to ensure that the Malign Alignment is never ever defeated, no matter what happens. And that feels exhausting, and not appealing. They should have ended with the retirement of Honor as a mainline POV character, but instead, it's just a promise of the same story, over and over again, and it makes this story taste like ash in my mouth.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2022
I'm thinking a lot of readers are going to be put off by this book. It's not just long, it's also a very different feel than the typical Honor Harrington novel. Instead of a lot of action, whether stand-up battles (like the main series and the Saganami series) or cloak-and-dagger stuff (like the earlier books in this sub-series), the first three quarters of it is fundamentally a mystery, partaking of both the police procedural and the inverted sub-genres. We have a meticulous forensic operation by which characters who are sworn officers of their respective star nations (even if not in agencies normally regarded as police forces) piece together the scraps of evidence to solve the whodunnit of what may be the greatest mass murder ever. And since anyone who's read Cauldron of Ghosts and Uncompromising Honor knows who the actual culprits are, the suspense lies in whether the protagonists will recognize the clues for what they are and not go chasing after the red herrings.
And there are plenty of those, thanks to the Mesan Alignment's onion organization. For instance, there's another group that calls itself the Alignment that is not super open about it, but isn't quite so super-secret, and are very opposed to what Manpower is doing with the genetic slaves. From this group our heroes learn that Leonard Detweiler's original idea was something more like the azi CJ Cherryh's Cyteen, not disposable slaves to be trod underfoot, but future citizens and parents of citizens -- but something went terribly wrong in those early days, apparently tied to the indenture system.
Meanwhile, we discover that Darius isn't the only secret bolthole that the malign Alignment created. There's another, Galton, where they've turned all the nasty parts of Mesan society up to eleventy -- and then surrounded it with weapons so massive that any fleet that tries to take it will be guaranteed massive casualties. It seems to be designed as bait -- and as something that will make the Grand Alliance think they've won, so they won't be looking for Darius.
And as if that weren't complicated enough, there's a group there on Darius who are not on board with the official program, and are trying to protect people who discover too much and are in danger from the security forces. However, they have to act in secret, very cautiously, lest their actions put them in danger of a visit that will end with their suicide nannites activated so they just drop dead.
However, an Honorverse book simply wouldn't be complete without a massive battle -- and the final chapters of this book bring one. In the end of Uncompromising Honor, Honor Harrington retired -- but knew that her star nation and her Queen would need her again. Now is the time, and she has not forgotten how close she came to answering atrocity with atrocity after her mother's homeworld was attacked.
The final chapters make it clear that things are still not over. Not only does the Malign Alignment still have Darius, but it still has its own hidden opposition within it.
And there are plenty of those, thanks to the Mesan Alignment's onion organization. For instance, there's another group that calls itself the Alignment that is not super open about it, but isn't quite so super-secret, and are very opposed to what Manpower is doing with the genetic slaves. From this group our heroes learn that Leonard Detweiler's original idea was something more like the azi CJ Cherryh's Cyteen, not disposable slaves to be trod underfoot, but future citizens and parents of citizens -- but something went terribly wrong in those early days, apparently tied to the indenture system.
Meanwhile, we discover that Darius isn't the only secret bolthole that the malign Alignment created. There's another, Galton, where they've turned all the nasty parts of Mesan society up to eleventy -- and then surrounded it with weapons so massive that any fleet that tries to take it will be guaranteed massive casualties. It seems to be designed as bait -- and as something that will make the Grand Alliance think they've won, so they won't be looking for Darius.
And as if that weren't complicated enough, there's a group there on Darius who are not on board with the official program, and are trying to protect people who discover too much and are in danger from the security forces. However, they have to act in secret, very cautiously, lest their actions put them in danger of a visit that will end with their suicide nannites activated so they just drop dead.
However, an Honorverse book simply wouldn't be complete without a massive battle -- and the final chapters of this book bring one. In the end of Uncompromising Honor, Honor Harrington retired -- but knew that her star nation and her Queen would need her again. Now is the time, and she has not forgotten how close she came to answering atrocity with atrocity after her mother's homeworld was attacked.
The final chapters make it clear that things are still not over. Not only does the Malign Alignment still have Darius, but it still has its own hidden opposition within it.
January 12, 2022
The latest book in the Honor Harrington Universe, To End In Fire by David Weber and Eric Flint, expands on the stories that were last visited in Cauldron of Ghosts, Uncompromising Honor, and to a lesser extent Shadow of Victory. The Solarian League has been defeated, Mesa has been conquered, and the good guys know who the bad guys, the Mesan Alignment, are. There’s definitely a feeling that the storyline, which has been going on for almost three decades, is coming to a close.
While the series might be coming to a close, this book definitely isn’t the end. Yes, the characters run around looking for where the bad guys have run off to so that they can run them to ground. Yes, there’s some character development. Yes, some new twists are added to the mix that give the Mesans more depth than just being “bad guys”. Finally, there’s a battle in space with Honor Harrington leading the Grand Alliance fleet, and she wins. Unfortunately, that might have been enough of a description of what happened that you don’t actually need to read To End In Fire and can just wait for the next installment to see if anything exciting or revelatory occurs.
It’s sad that this book just doesn’t work very well as a single novel. Ideally, I feel like it should have been delivered as a set of short stories that each had a beginning, middle, and end with a contribution towards the overarching narrative. We know that both authors are capable of pulling that type of story off because they’ve done it before. Eric Flint especially has a lot of experience collaborating on short stories that are brought together to tell a bigger story.
Overall, I found To End In Fire to be the weakest effort I’ve seen from either Weber or Flint. I’m glad that I was able to get it from the library rather than spend money on my own copy like I’ve done for every other book in the Honorverse.
While the series might be coming to a close, this book definitely isn’t the end. Yes, the characters run around looking for where the bad guys have run off to so that they can run them to ground. Yes, there’s some character development. Yes, some new twists are added to the mix that give the Mesans more depth than just being “bad guys”. Finally, there’s a battle in space with Honor Harrington leading the Grand Alliance fleet, and she wins. Unfortunately, that might have been enough of a description of what happened that you don’t actually need to read To End In Fire and can just wait for the next installment to see if anything exciting or revelatory occurs.
It’s sad that this book just doesn’t work very well as a single novel. Ideally, I feel like it should have been delivered as a set of short stories that each had a beginning, middle, and end with a contribution towards the overarching narrative. We know that both authors are capable of pulling that type of story off because they’ve done it before. Eric Flint especially has a lot of experience collaborating on short stories that are brought together to tell a bigger story.
Overall, I found To End In Fire to be the weakest effort I’ve seen from either Weber or Flint. I’m glad that I was able to get it from the library rather than spend money on my own copy like I’ve done for every other book in the Honorverse.
October 23, 2022
The book is good. I am starting to have a love-hate relationship with David Weber's books, wherein I love the universe but I am starting to hate the writing. It seems like every twenty pages a character uses a current day expression (never something new, culture was in stasis for 2000 years) and then explains to everybody what it means and where it comes from. There is also way too much useless dialogue that retreads what happened in the same book (I can understand having wooden expositional recaps for the previous gazillion books). People criticize David Weber for his very detailed technical discussions, but those at least have a place and a role (and I like them). Repeating to a character the revelations from 50 pages ago, especially in such a slow moving plot, is a recipe for boredom. His human interest dialogue is also off-putting and repetitive, especially in his roster of supermen with superlative skills. The characters are growing, sure, but this is not David Weber's forte. Honor Harrington keeps tasting emotions like an addict on bath salts. Her family have nothing much to do. I will continue reading the series though and it gets 5 stars for being more of one of my favorite series and actually moving the universe along, in contrast to some other books. If you find a contrast between the score and my complaints about the writing (which is what a book literally consists of), then it just goes to show how star ratings can be misleading and irrational. I don't see anyone getting into the series if they did not start years ago and dozens of books ago. David Weber's annoying prequel series make sense as hooks for new readers in such a convoluted main timeline. I do hope the next book will be a continuation of the main series and that we get to see more of the geopolitical side players like the Renaissance Factor and the Maya Sector, who are the most interesting at the moment.
May 7, 2023
This is the 4th book in this spinoff series and if you liked the other three books, you will like this book too.
The story: The Mesan Alignment is actually two Alignments. One is an unwitting decoy that only wants peaceful research into human genetic improvement. The second Alignment wants to force the human genetic improvement on humanity and doesn't care how many millions of people it murders to get to its ultimate goal. At first the bad guys are called the Malign Alignment. (I would have called it "The Malignment".) But eventually the terms are established and the hunt is on for the Malign Alignment. It soon becomes obvious that there is a decoy Malign Alignment at the Galton Star System that the Grand Alliance could find rather than the really bad Alignment at the Darius Star System, thus doubly covering their tracks. (I don't think I'm giving anything away. This all becomes obvious in the first 10% of the novel.)
Any problems with this story? The authors introduce new characters whose names are the same as some of the people they work with such as Charles E. Gannon and Michael Anderle. They did it a little too often.
Also the character Saburo becomes prominent, but in a strange way. He becomes an executive of the police force. He sounds very competent and reliable which is a far cry from how he was portrayed in previous books. He seemed more like a knuckle-dragger back then. I was having a case of cognitive dissonance to see him as a source of mature sensible reason and order.
I was happy to see Honor Harrington taking on a critical role.
The ending was as expected... mostly... and left a big opening for yet another sequel. This is not over yet.
I will probably read this book again as part of revisiting the entire series.
The story: The Mesan Alignment is actually two Alignments. One is an unwitting decoy that only wants peaceful research into human genetic improvement. The second Alignment wants to force the human genetic improvement on humanity and doesn't care how many millions of people it murders to get to its ultimate goal. At first the bad guys are called the Malign Alignment. (I would have called it "The Malignment".) But eventually the terms are established and the hunt is on for the Malign Alignment. It soon becomes obvious that there is a decoy Malign Alignment at the Galton Star System that the Grand Alliance could find rather than the really bad Alignment at the Darius Star System, thus doubly covering their tracks. (I don't think I'm giving anything away. This all becomes obvious in the first 10% of the novel.)
Any problems with this story? The authors introduce new characters whose names are the same as some of the people they work with such as Charles E. Gannon and Michael Anderle. They did it a little too often.
Also the character Saburo becomes prominent, but in a strange way. He becomes an executive of the police force. He sounds very competent and reliable which is a far cry from how he was portrayed in previous books. He seemed more like a knuckle-dragger back then. I was having a case of cognitive dissonance to see him as a source of mature sensible reason and order.
I was happy to see Honor Harrington taking on a critical role.
The ending was as expected... mostly... and left a big opening for yet another sequel. This is not over yet.
I will probably read this book again as part of revisiting the entire series.
June 30, 2022
[29 Jun 2022]
I liked this book a lot more than I expected to. The previous books of the Crown of Slaves subseries were focused primarily on the settlement of Torch and the elimination of the genetic slave trade more than the main Honorverse series was. They were pretty good, but didn't engage me nearly as much as the main series which focused on the Manticore worlds and especially the Royal Manticore Navy.
This book felt more like a continuation of the main series, which supposedly ended with Uncompromising Honor. It does include some of the characters from the Torch series, but it also includes many from the Honor Harrington books, including Honor herself. A lot of the action took place in the Mesan system, on Old Terra, and in other locations around the galaxy.
As with many of the Honorverse books, it sometimes got a little talky. Too much conversation, including dialogue as exposition. But there was also plenty of action, including a big space battle that was pure Weber. And a number of new, or newish, characters explored. And a big tease about more to come.
I really enjoyed it and recommend it to all Honorverse fans.
I liked this book a lot more than I expected to. The previous books of the Crown of Slaves subseries were focused primarily on the settlement of Torch and the elimination of the genetic slave trade more than the main Honorverse series was. They were pretty good, but didn't engage me nearly as much as the main series which focused on the Manticore worlds and especially the Royal Manticore Navy.
This book felt more like a continuation of the main series, which supposedly ended with Uncompromising Honor. It does include some of the characters from the Torch series, but it also includes many from the Honor Harrington books, including Honor herself. A lot of the action took place in the Mesan system, on Old Terra, and in other locations around the galaxy.
As with many of the Honorverse books, it sometimes got a little talky. Too much conversation, including dialogue as exposition. But there was also plenty of action, including a big space battle that was pure Weber. And a number of new, or newish, characters explored. And a big tease about more to come.
I really enjoyed it and recommend it to all Honorverse fans.
February 26, 2022
Helps flesh out the other sagas
This series of books ties real well to the other series of books both the shadow series and the honor series it provides a much-needed backdrop to the supporting characters shall we say this book enables the stories to continue without major books coming for the other series allowing Mr Weber to hand off a lot of the writing to Mr Flint so he can pursue his other works at least that's the impression I get from the way the characters are developing I like the way that it's going into this area of what appears to be finally settling all the major storylines so the sagas other than the manticore sentence saga will finally come to an end the writing is good the space warfare of course is excellent David Weber is a master of The Craft and Eric Linda's a master of fleshing out his character so is Mr Weber and together they make an awesome selection of how to portray each character I can hardly wait for the next book in this series which hopefully will finally end the Mason evil alignment saga
This series of books ties real well to the other series of books both the shadow series and the honor series it provides a much-needed backdrop to the supporting characters shall we say this book enables the stories to continue without major books coming for the other series allowing Mr Weber to hand off a lot of the writing to Mr Flint so he can pursue his other works at least that's the impression I get from the way the characters are developing I like the way that it's going into this area of what appears to be finally settling all the major storylines so the sagas other than the manticore sentence saga will finally come to an end the writing is good the space warfare of course is excellent David Weber is a master of The Craft and Eric Linda's a master of fleshing out his character so is Mr Weber and together they make an awesome selection of how to portray each character I can hardly wait for the next book in this series which hopefully will finally end the Mason evil alignment saga
September 23, 2022
I started my "Honorverse" journey in 1992 with Basilisk Station and kept up fairly well with all the connected series until 2005 (so about 15 books in). I then went on a reading hiatus until late last year when I decided to jump back in by re-reading what I had finished (with 7 thru Audible) and then reading onward in one marathon run to this latest entry: #30. I love everything about Honorverse. I love all the series and all the different characters and perspectives, and even the way the books sometimes overlap events through different characters eyes. Over the past couple of months I have come to appreciate it all, especially the elaborate world building and battle minutia, even more. This series is massive, with 1,000's of characters and multiple star systems, plots, sub-plots, powers, villains, skulduggery, battles (so many battles), heroics and death! By reading the series back to back, I was able to recognize when minor characters from earlier side plots were slotted into later stories and events, many of which I would have missed if I had read the books as they were published.
"To End in Fire" brings so much of what has gone on previously and ties up a ton of loose strings back into the main thrust of the story. It ended at a satisfying point in the Grand Alliance's battle against the Malign Alignment, but still leaves room for the series to progress. I can't wait to find out where Honorverse goes next.
"To End in Fire" brings so much of what has gone on previously and ties up a ton of loose strings back into the main thrust of the story. It ended at a satisfying point in the Grand Alliance's battle against the Malign Alignment, but still leaves room for the series to progress. I can't wait to find out where Honorverse goes next.
December 2, 2021
No guarantees, but this seems to be intended as the last Honor Harrington novel. (Or at least the end of the mainstream story. Certainly no guarantees about the franchise.) It wraps up as many plot threads as possible, as benignly as possible. It's going to appeal to fans, and it's going to appeal only to fans.
There isn't much plot. The Solarians are reforming their government - a process that entails many committee meetings. The Mesans are reforming their government - a process that entails almost everyone behaving rationally. Various flavors of spooks are looking for the Alignment - and having surprisingly-little difficulty.
There isn't much story-telling, either. Much of the page count consists of characters lecturing each other. Much of the remaining character interaction consists of banter - and almost all the banter sounds the same.
Mostly, it's a chance for the readers and the writers to say goodbye.
There isn't much plot. The Solarians are reforming their government - a process that entails many committee meetings. The Mesans are reforming their government - a process that entails almost everyone behaving rationally. Various flavors of spooks are looking for the Alignment - and having surprisingly-little difficulty.
There isn't much story-telling, either. Much of the page count consists of characters lecturing each other. Much of the remaining character interaction consists of banter - and almost all the banter sounds the same.
Mostly, it's a chance for the readers and the writers to say goodbye.
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