Mission of Honor - David Weber.

[Dard Shayari]

Just finished Mission of Honor by David Weber. It's the 12th book in the Honor Harrington series and it is a fantastic read. Eric Van Lustbader could learn a lesson from David Weber in how to write books in a long series that do not feel repetitive. Weber has done a fantastic job of creating a story arc and universe that is so rich and interesting. This is Tom Clancy in space. Great military fiction in a science fiction setting.

You could read this book as a stand alone and enjoy it, but starting from the first book is highly recommended. I love a good series. Matter of fact, I had been in the midst of two books that just weren't capturing my interest much and discovered that the latest in one of my favorite series had come out. It is such a joy to read Weber's HH series. There's terrific action, lots of good politics and intrigue. Not so much character development this time round. This one isn't built so much on Honor Harrington as on the plotting and machinations of three star empires at war and a fourth one that turns out to be pulling the strings of the other three.

There's a rousing conclusion that is both satisfying and yet makes you eager for the next installment.

Highly recommended.

I also want to commend the publisher, Baen. The book was just released in hard back, and the ebook is available -- without DRM -- in practically any format you want on their website -- for $6.

Lee

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[mewmartigan]

Looking forward to reading this! I have enjoyed all the Honor Harrington books and have also read the Saganami series as well.

It's been a while since i read At All Costs......may have to check the internet and brush up on my history.

I second Baen's commendation......I buy more ebooks from them than the Kindle store itself.

[Xanthe]

Is mewmartigan the name of madmartigan's cat?

Ditto what you said about Baen. They get my money.

And ditto what the OP said about Weber's HH series. He's managed to keep that series fresh and interesting much more successfully than a lot of series writers I could name.

[JSWolf]

I do need to get back to the Honerverse series. I'm reading in chronological order.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

Is mewmartigan the name of madmartigan's cat?

I use this name on every forum i go to, including a movie/dvd one, and your the first person to mention the reference

Changed the mad to a mew as those are my initials, haha.

[dengar]

I just finished Flag In Exile so Im almost halfway there. Great series so far.

[Jaime_Astorga]

I tried reading the 10th book of the Honorverse once, War of Honor, without any prior introduction to the series (I just got the urge to try some military sci-fi while at Barnes and Noble one day, and the book looked nice). I couldn't stand it, though, because the protagonist was the most blatant Mary Sue I had ever seen in a commercially published novel. Which is a shame, because I liked the prologue's writing style and it looks like the author is pretty good at political and technological world-building.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by Jaime_Astorga

I tried reading the 10th book of the Honorverse once, War of Honor, without any prior introduction to the series (I just got the urge to try some military sci-fi while at Barnes and Noble one day, and the book looked nice). I couldn't stand it, though, because the protagonist was the most blatant Mary Sue I had ever seen in a commercially published novel. Which is a shame, because I liked the prologue's writing style and it looks like the author is pretty good at political and technological world-building.

I think the author is very good at political and technological world building. If you still have any kind of interest, I think you need to start with the first book, On Basilisk Station. Watching the main characters grow over the course of the books is important. They may act a certain way in book 10 because of what happens to them in books 1-9.

Plus, I think On Basilisk Station is much shorter than the later books so it would take less of your time to see if you want to invest in the series

[mewmartigan]

So I finally got around to reading this...the next one, A Rising Thunder, comes out in March.

Wow, Mission of Honor was a great read. The last half of the book is just some crazy good stuff for those of us that have followed the story since the beginning.

I do feel that you get a lot more out of the book as well if you read A Storm from the Shadows before it. It isn't part of the main line of books but its got a large impact on Mission of Honor.

I know I am reviving an old thread but I had to say something to get the smile off my face.

[ametzler]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I do need to get back to the Honerverse series. I'm reading in chronological order.

I recently did that when I bought a kindle. - Large parts of the series are available for free on BaenCD.

I managed to read up to and including War of Honor. However the second reading just confirmed my initial feeling: It starts as a really great series, but the later novels were just not enjoyable to me anymore. - The books grow and grow in volume, action is getting sparse, the politics in WoH were too inplausible to me. Also I cared less and less about Honor herself.

I would still recommend the first two novels, the following ones up to Honor among Enemies are still quite enjoyable ("More amazing adventures with your favorite heroine"). In Enemy Hands wouldn't be to bad, but it kind of forces one to continue with Echoes of Honor to get to an acceptable end of this part of the story. EoH was split in two parts: A small interesting (break-out) and the other parts. Ashes of Victory was the last book of the series I bought, reading it was too painful.

[morriss003]

Weber is good as long as he doesn't get into his information dump mindset. The early books were the best, but Mission of Honor is better than the previous. The Saganami books are good. Weber is best when he collaborates with Eric Flint. The two writers seem to come from slightly different political perspectives, and when they collaborate, they moderate each other.

[jbcohen]

I can understand why someone would not like the honorverse very much, its very dry and a lot of yakking not much action. Especially in book ten, which is the one I am working on now (my kindle says I am 68% through the book). If you are one of those people that gets bored with a novel that does not have a lot of action then I would recommend Mack Bolan books at mackbolan.com.

As for me I can put up with a lot of yakking to some extent but I can see the political maneuvering going on. Seems to me that the Haven government is modeled on the US Government with some minor exceptions: Secretary of State Clinton serves at the pleasure of President Obama, Obama can dismiss her at any time for any reason, he does not need congressional approval to dismiss simply to appoint. In the books the President needs congressional approval to dismiss. The Manitcore government appears to be modeled on the UK Government again with an exception, budgetary authority is in the house of commons in the UK in Manticore its in the house of lords.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Seems to me that the Haven government is modeled on the US Government with some minor exceptions: Secretary of State Clinton serves at the pleasure of President Obama, Obama can dismiss her at any time for any reason, he does not need congressional approval to dismiss simply to appoint. In the books the President needs congressional approval to dismiss. The Manitcore government appears to be modeled on the UK Government again with an exception, budgetary authority is in the house of commons in the UK in Manticore its in the house of lords.

According to Weber himself, Haven is both the US (http://www.davidweber.net/faqs/index/page:2/series:3) and Revolutionary France. From the latter, even some names are recognizable or even the same (Rob S. Pierre -> Maximilien Robespierre, The Committee of Public Safety). They even go through a Reign of Terror-like period. Manticore is the same-era British Empire.

[jbcohen]

Nevertheless I am still enjoying book ten of the series and I hope to push on to book eleven before new years dawns. Once I conclude all of the honorverse novels that have been published in kindle format thus far I intend to read A beautiful friendship, which although it is a young adult novel is interesting to me since it includes info on how the harrington family first enountered tree cats. I would like to read Andy Mc Dermott's Empire of Gold but the $10 kindle price violates my $8 limit on book prices, thus I will have to wait. I still have some Mack bolan books to read comming up, if anyone wants to investigate Mack Bolan books they can find out all about them at mackbolan.com.

[dengar]

I stopped at the end of the Haven war. I started reading the next novel (I forget which one it was) and I felt like he was trying to squeeze out some extra novels and cash, plus I just didnt have the energy after a marathon of 10 or so books. Great series though.