War of Honor

Honor Harrington: 10

ISBN: 0-7434-3545-1 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com

A worthy successor in this popular series, this military adventure is full of politics, battles, brilliant heroine and new complications.

Reviewed by David on October 18, 2002 (rev. 1)

Genre: Science Fiction (Military, Naval Adventure, War)

Synopsis: At the conslusion of Ashes of Victory, the Manticoran government was taken over the Honor's political enemies. Combining political skill with almost universal venality and lack of military insight leads them—and the entire alliance—into very dangerous waters. Meanwhile, the long-time enemy of Manticore, Haven, has at last taken some steps towards a law-abiding, fair governance.

The advancing peril threatens Honor, whose membership in the now opposition Centrist party leaves her with no influence on the military policy of Manticore, and whose growing attraction to the widely respected and quite married Admiral White Heaven causes more complications.

Added to Andermani politics, Treecat evolution, and new navigation discoveries, the political climate surrounding Honor and her friends is getting even more tense.

Full Review: As in the previous novels, the action takes place on a broad canvas. Many interstellar nations are involved, as are fleets and governments. The author switches views between the protagonist, the extremely capable Honor Harrington, and various other politicians and officers who take place in the evolution of the war. Furtunately, a large proportion of the book is spent with Honor, providing continuity and involvement.

While exciting and satisfyingly consistant, the political structure is somewhat credibility-straining. In particular, much of the new Manticore government is shown in a very bad light. It would have been more believable if some of them exhibited positive qualities, such as technical competence, or moral conviction, or at least charisma.

The naval battles are tense and exciting, and as before, technical advances and logistsics play an important role in all battle outcomes.

This is a very enjoyable series of naval adventures in space, and this book is a solid and logical continuation of the series.

An important aspect of the first edition is the CD included with the book, which has full, unencrypted text of all Honor Harrington novels so far, most anthologies, as well as text of a number of Baen novels by Eric Flint, Mercedes Lackey, James Schmitz, and others. There is also Honor-inspired filk and initial sections of new (not-yet-published) Baen books; and clips from audio versions of Baen books.

Overall: 7; Plot: 6.5; Characters: 6; Style: 6.5; World-building: 7; Originality: 6;

ISBN: 0-7434-3545-1 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com