- Honor Harrington universe Book 3) - Cauldron of Ghosts (Crown of Slaves

David Weber has created a rich and exciting universe that takes place 2000 years in our future. His tales of Honor Harrington are compelling reading, but Honor doesn't exist in a vacuum. The stories involving other people serve the double purpose of advancing the over-all story line as well as fleshing out the characters and villains in the story. I find myself caring about what happens to some of the most unlikely supporting characters, and this book doesn't disappoint in that regard. Eric Flint is a first-rate writer on his own, and the collaboration of the two authors leads to another masterful tale in the Honorverse.

I love this series! This book seemed to cover a lot of the same ground that was in two other books. I know the author explained that this is to put the reader at the correct location of events occuring in the other threads, but it seemed to be word for word for a significant part of a chapter in more than one location. I gave it four stars because there was still enough new story to make it worth the price of the book, just letting my annoyance show by not giving it five stars (which I normally would).

After reading other reviews and the book, I find that many of the negative ones off base. This book was a lot of fun to read, really enjoyable. So what, if it is to be continued, I am sure the next book will be available in 6 months to a year and I can't wait to read it.

This is Space Opera at its finest, enjoy for what it is.

And that is what happens here. The cavalry arrives at the last minute. But what happens next. I waited forever for this book and now another cliffhanger. I am 73 and I do not think I will live long enough for the next book in the series.

David Weber and Eric Flint are among my favorite authors... but this is not my favorite book by either one let alone both of them. As with all these sideline books Honor only appears in cameo roles but that’s to be expected.

This is not a book to be read out of context, you need to have read (at least) Torch of Freedom and Crown of Slaves before jumping into this book.

I love the Honorverse... I’ve read every single one of the books (most of them several times) and I eagerly awaited this book. I enjoyed reading it but... well... it left me a bit hollow. And I wonder who edited it... or if there was an editor...

Yes there’s lots of action and Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki turn everything on its ear more than once but... it just doesn’t hang together. It goes from an involved information gathering project to a massive insurrection of the downtrodden seccy’s with some massive steps that simply don’t make sense. Lots of action, just not a lot of sense.

And, as another reviewer noted, the boys spend a lot of time and verbiage convincing Steph Turner to help them return to Mesa and set up a front from which to work but, other than obtaining a ‘store’ it fades into nothing. And, once they’re on Mesa, Steph vanishes. Her boyfriend, Andrew Artlett—who reluctantly follows her—later shows up again and again... what happened to Steph?

And what is all this drooling over Yana’s new boobs and hips as part of her ‘disquise’? It’s annoying, needless and eventually tiresome.

And I found all the violence and atrocities visited on Mesa itself by the Alignment to cover its actions to be flat, needless... and not terribly interesting.

All that said, I did enjoy reading the book and I will buy the next one... I just hope it’s a bit better.

Chap 67 does a great job in putting it altogether. David just is too busy to write a quick sequel to these worlds and these outstanding heroes but I would like to see where Victor and Anton go next. They right wrongs and they defend those that need defending. It is just a great story and I need more because we do not have enough writers with the talent. Thank you David Weber and Eric Flint.

In true weber suspense it was awesome I can't wait to read the next one my brother introduce me to honor Harrington and her friends they have become what I call old friends I can read and reread and still find something new and the stories draw you in

I really enjoyed the characters of Cachat and Zilwiki as I have in the past. I enjoyed the book as I have all the stories from the Honorverse although the book ends before what appears to be the obvious conclusion. Are the authors considering a change of direction or will the next book in this series be a continuation?

After reading other reviews and the book, I find that many of the negative ones off base. This book was a lot of fun to read, really enjoyable. So what, if it is to be continued, I am sure the next book will be available in 6 months to a year and I can't wait to read it.

This is Space Opera at its finest, enjoy for what it is.

And that is what happens here. The cavalry arrives at the last minute. But what happens next. I waited forever for this book and now another cliffhanger. I am 73 and I do not think I will live long enough for the next book in the series.

David Weber and Eric Flint are among my favorite authors... but this is not my favorite book by either one let alone both of them. As with all these sideline books Honor only appears in cameo roles but that’s to be expected.

This is not a book to be read out of context, you need to have read (at least) Torch of Freedom and Crown of Slaves before jumping into this book.

I love the Honorverse... I’ve read every single one of the books (most of them several times) and I eagerly awaited this book. I enjoyed reading it but... well... it left me a bit hollow. And I wonder who edited it... or if there was an editor...

Yes there’s lots of action and Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki turn everything on its ear more than once but... it just doesn’t hang together. It goes from an involved information gathering project to a massive insurrection of the downtrodden seccy’s with some massive steps that simply don’t make sense. Lots of action, just not a lot of sense.

And, as another reviewer noted, the boys spend a lot of time and verbiage convincing Steph Turner to help them return to Mesa and set up a front from which to work but, other than obtaining a ‘store’ it fades into nothing. And, once they’re on Mesa, Steph vanishes. Her boyfriend, Andrew Artlett—who reluctantly follows her—later shows up again and again... what happened to Steph?

And what is all this drooling over Yana’s new boobs and hips as part of her ‘disquise’? It’s annoying, needless and eventually tiresome.

And I found all the violence and atrocities visited on Mesa itself by the Alignment to cover its actions to be flat, needless... and not terribly interesting.

All that said, I did enjoy reading the book and I will buy the next one... I just hope it’s a bit better.

Chap 67 does a great job in putting it altogether. David just is too busy to write a quick sequel to these worlds and these outstanding heroes but I would like to see where Victor and Anton go next. They right wrongs and they defend those that need defending. It is just a great story and I need more because we do not have enough writers with the talent. Thank you David Weber and Eric Flint.

In true weber suspense it was awesome I can't wait to read the next one my brother introduce me to honor Harrington and her friends they have become what I call old friends I can read and reread and still find something new and the stories draw you in

I really enjoyed the characters of Cachat and Zilwiki as I have in the past. I enjoyed the book as I have all the stories from the Honorverse although the book ends before what appears to be the obvious conclusion. Are the authors considering a change of direction or will the next book in this series be a continuation?

Weber and flint deliver another stirring tale of intrigue and battle. Their characters, I'm particular Victor Catchat, are as excellent as any in science fiction today, and this series has kept up the fine tradition of the Honor Harrington novels. Easily the most entertaining book I've read this year... I know, it's only March, but i read a lot.

The adventures of Victor and Anton continue on Mesa. I am always eager for new books in the Honor Harrington 'verse.I was not disappointed! I hope that a fourth book is on the way, because I don't think they are quite finished with Mesa.

It's tough waiting for the next book to be published! I read all the chapters posted on Baen's site. Waited (im)patiently for the publication. Read it it two days, now waiting for the next!
If you like the Honor Harrington saga, this fits perfectly. More new, possibly long-term characters introduced.
Another good read. Remember, this is entertainment!

This makes the third collaboration between Eric Flint and David Weber in the Crown of Slaves trilogy. The action takes place in the now gigantic fictional creation we call the Honorverse. These two authors work well with each other and have several other well received books with other settings.
The great charm for me with these two authors has to do with the way they compliment each other so well. This might be my imagination talking here but I think Flint has a very deft touch with the creation of his characters. Weber can spin out combat and battle scenes like no bodies business. When penning a space opera, vivid characters engaged in very well described and dangerous situations makes for a book we want to read.
Apart, each of these authors has written many entertaining books with great stories. Working together, they are even better.

I've been an Honorverse fan since a friend introduced me to On Basilisk Station. I eagerly await the new books. This book unfortunately was no where near the quality on any of the previous books. It almost makes Beginnings look good.

This book has the distinct feel of being a first draft, unedited for continuity or logic. With entire chapters seemingly added just to lengthen the novel. A few examples that may or may not spoil parts of the book follow.

Yana who has been following Victor and Anton, from Mesa to Parmley to Haven to Manticore and now they want her to go back to Mesa with them, so we then get this...

“It’s worth a try,” said Victor. “If we want Yana, we’ll need to send a courier to Parmley Station anyway. We can ask Steph to come back with her. For reasons unspecified, of course—"

But she's been with them, complaining of how bored she is the whole time... Did she leave her favorite gun?

And the authors spend several chapters both discussing Stephanie returning to Mesa and convincing her to return, then once they all get there, she virtually disappears from the book. Similarly the three surviving Mesan Seccie's that helped Zilwicki and co. escape get several scenes and are then rescued only to disappear for the rest of the book.

We get long descriptions of Mesa Alignment atrocities committed to cover up Operation Houdini, but we already know that the Alignment is willing to slaughter anyone for their purposes. It is just more filler to lengthen the book.

Then we get the miracle of Zilwicki figuring out that the Alignment is covering up their leaving Mesa. There is nothing that leads up to this, just out of the blue he figures it out... Had the authors had Zilwicki after each atrocity discussing this with Cachat, one of the crime lords, Ballroom members on Mesa, or even a pet cat, then there would be context for his conclusions.

This entire book could have been 5 or 6 chapters in another novel and nothing from the story would have been lost.

I certainly hope that the next effort in the Honorverse is better, it would be difficult for it to be worse.

I used to love the Honorverse. It was full of action and suspense. Now it is full of meetings, rehash, exposition, more meetings, and talk talk talk. Some of the chapters here are in other books. The authors need to show, not tell. The first two books in this particular spin-off series were fantastic. Now this one has seemed to succumb to the never-ending plot as well. I had a hard time staying awake reading this. I thought maybe Flint would reign in Weber's excessive verbiage, but no such luck. I'm starting to wonder if they are paying Weber by the word, and where the heck the editor has been for the past few years

Ann Rice wrote a very successful first novel. After that, no one could edit her. Her books got tremendously wordy, windy, and long-winded. And, frankly, not worth the effort. David Weber has, I feel, fallen into the same trap. This would probably be a good book at half the length. It just has too much information, too much nuance, and too much trivia. I found it just hard to read. Mr. Weber needs a good editor to cut this book down to size.

Once more Mesa and the doings of the Alignment are the core targets. All the usual suspects are in play with a few new characters added..
The Alignment is cleaning house and exiting Mesa to regroup somewhere else after the latest breach of their facilities. That last episode had ended in complete havoc and destruction, a nuclear detonation being blamed on Zilwicki and Cachet. Operation Houdini is underway with highly placed minions disappearing under the cloud of mass killings, again being attributed to terrorists from Torch. Modelled on an onion the layers of the Alignment are stripped back, but the core is yet to be breached. Peeling the onion has become the task of Victor Cachet, Anton Zilwicki and Thandi Palane. These three are right in the thick of the action. And what action it is!
I really enjoy the stories where these three are central. The references to Victor and his amazingly intuitive schemes are amusing. People find themselves 'joining [the] informal club,
the one called, Hey-look-Victor's-sucking-everybody-into-his-schemes-like-a-black-hole-again!' The places Victor takes us are as always ingenious.
Sure my eyes crossed several times with the acronyms for weapons and organizations but if you barrel on through those the story is fantastic. As are the pearls of reflection that litter our heroes' paths. The action ended on an unexpected cliffhanger. I was just immersed up to my eyeballs. Now my eyeballs have to settle down to await the next chapter!

A NetGalley ARC

I agree with other comments - Flint's writing and Weber's are distinctive enough to tell who wrote which parts. And the two parts are not as smoothly integrated as they could/should be (for authors at this level). Agree also that the writing ratio is too heavily towards Flint's part (although to be fair, Cachet is really his character and this mini-Honorverse series [of which this is the third installment] is more Flint's than Webers). But it's kind of jarring to go from Flint's heavy sarcasm and (somewhat over the top) caricaturing of Cachet, Anton, Ruth, Yana, et al - to Weber's battle scene's without a little more caulking to hold it together. Especially when it doesn't really seem to serve much purpose beyond having fun with puns. A little is cool, too much is like...too much pepper. Makes it hard to enjoy the taste of the main dish.

As others have mentioned - Steph and Cary and Karen and Stephanie are all set up as potentially important characters, only to fade into nothing in the last half of the book (yes, better editing needed there). The cliff-hanger ending (Gold Peak arrives to stop the slaughter) could be anticipated from pretty early on if you have read the other books. Weber wasn't going to deliver any really new developments on this sideline novel, so you read the book understanding that it has to link up the action at a point no later than the last point of the story on the main line.

Was also a little disappointed in the direction taken in portraying the Alignment folks. Yes, they are the bad guys, but in previous novels they are at least interesting and complex bad guys. In this novel, they're just indiscriminate and vicious killers without much depth. Even Lajos's potential "awakening" is poorly explored and abruptly terminated - and his (and other members of the onion's) abandonment by the Alignment doesn't really seem to fit with the story line set up in previous novels.

However, as a "fill-in the blanks" story, intended to run parallel to the main line story and to flesh out what has admittedly become a massive stage scene (I mean, we've got Mesa, the Alignment/Renaissance Factor, Beowulf, Maya/Torch/Erewhon, Grayson, Manticore, Haven, the Solarian League, the Andies, the Verge, the Talbot Sector and Silesia to focus on - just to name the big boys), it serves well enough. I enjoyed it enough to look forward to the next installment (main or sideline).

The only reason for four instead of five stars is two fold, one the proofing was only fairly we'll done. Two, I was extremely irritated that the Detweiler chapter was a straight lift from another book from the Honorverse.
Hint for future, We don't need a recap, and anyone picking up one of these at this point won't benefit from one.

In closing, I guess that I have just enjoyed how little of this type of authorial laziness David Weber has allowed in his works in the past and I hope that it was just a weak moment.

"Cauldron of Ghosts" is the nineteenth full length novel in the "Honorverse" group of novels set some 2,000 years in the future. It is the third novel, after "Crown of Slaves (Honorverse)" and "Torch of Freedom" in a sub-series about how two super-spies from star nations which were originally at war fought to help free "genetic slaves" and the "seccie" descendants of slaves from the tyranny of the government of the planet Mesa and the corrupt companies which run the planet.

The particular enemy in this sub-series, though in all the "Honorverse" books set later it becomes clear that they are the ultimate bad guys, is a company called "Manpower" which is a front for a vast conspiracy known to its inner core as the "Mesan Alignment." Everyone assumes that Manpower is simply a rich and corrupt company out to make money by genetically crafting people who can be sold as perfect slaves. Unfortunately for the galaxy they are much, much more than that ...

In the previous book in this sub-series two unlikely allies, Manticoran super-spy Anton Zilwicki and Havenite super-spy Victor Cachat went undercover on Mesa and discovered an outline of what the Mesan Alignment is really up to. They then returned to their home nations and explained what they had found.

In this book Anton, Victor and some of their friends return to Mesa, hoping to get more information. Instead they arrive on Mesa as the planet is on the verge of disaster. In response to Anton and Victor's revelations the Mesan alignment has activated a ruthless continency plan called "Houdini," which they had ready to deal with the possibility that the rest of the galaxy gets an inkling of how big a threat the Mesans are.

"Houdini" was mentioned in both "A Rising Thunder" and "Shadow of Freedom" so anyone who has read either of those books will have some idea what it entails, but I don't want to say too much about it to avoid a spoiler. But it won't come as a surprise or a spoiler to say that when Anton and Victor return to Mesa, as a consequence of "Houdini," the planet has been brought to the brink of a civil war. The "seccies," nominally free but effectively second class citizens descended from slaves, are about to be made scapegoats and victims for atrocities which the reader knows were actually perpetrated by the Mesan Alignment. If Anton and Victor do nothing, millions of seccies and slaves will be murdered. But they're not going to let that happen without a fight ...

If you have not read any of the "Honorverse" books and are interested in doing so, do not start with this one: I would recommend starting with the first book in the main Honor Harrington sequence which is "On Basilisk Station (Honorverse)."

The first eleven Honorverse novels, despite being Space Opera stories set in the far future, had strong parallels with the story of Nelson's navy up to 1805. The central character of most of these books, Honor Harrington, is a bit like a female mix of Horatio Nelson and Horatio Hornblower. Assumed technology in the first group of stories imposes constraints on space navy officers quite similar to those which the technology of fighting sail imposed on wet navy officers two hundred years ago.

Similarly, the galactic situation in the novels up to the battle of Manticore at the end of "At All Costs (Honorverse)" (which corresponds to Trafalgar) had marked similarities to the strategic and political situation in Europe at the time of the French revolutionary wars.

However, having finished the interesting parts of the battles at sea between the Royal Navy and the French Navy, the story is turning into something completely different. In "Torch of Freedom" and "Storm from the Shadows (Honorverse)" (SFTS) the reader learned that the genetic slaver company called "Manpower" is merely a front for something far more powerful and dangerous, known to its inner circle as "The Mesan Alignment" who are planning to remake the galaxy in pursuit of their idea of a genetically purified paradise - and they don't care how many hundreds of billions of human beings and other sentient life-forms will die in the process.

Albrecht Detweiler, head of the Mesan Alignment and the new primary "baddie" introduced in "Torch of Freedom" is an interesting and complex person for the reader to love to hate, combining as he does some of the characteristics of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (without the cat), Dr Soong from Star Trek Enterprise (without the scruples), and the Emperor of Cetaganda from the Miles Vorkosigan Universe (without the humour.)

Interestingly, "Cauldron of Ghosts" reveals how much more dangerous the Mesans are than the good guys originally asssumed "Manpower" to be, when in this book for the first time one of their operatives proves that there are people who are willing to die for the Mesan cause. And when I write "willing to die" I do not mean just take risks, and I'm not talking about people who were programmed against their will to carry out suicidal commands by what the good guys call "assassination nanotech." I'm talking about people who care enough about the Mesan cause to willingly undertake suicide missions.

The Galaxy's original view of Manpower, perfectly articulated by Honor Harrington's uncle Jacques at the end of the novella "Beauty and the Beast" in the collection "Beginnings: Worlds of Honor Book 6 (Honor Harrington), was that they were a bunch of crooks who were just in it for money, and although some of their people might be willing to risk death in a battle they expected to win, nobody on Mesa's side would willingly give their life for it.

Up until "Cauldron of Ghosts" all the people who have done suicidal things at Mesa's behest were unwilling victims under the contol of tailored "assassination nanotech" which can be used to make them carry out very simple but lethal commands such as to grab a gun and start shooting people, hit the panic button that fires all a fleet's missiles, crash an aircar, or shoot themselves in the head.

But one of the Mesan security enforcers in this book, a member of an elite security force nicknamed the "Gauls," demonstrates that the "good guys" in the story do not have a total monopoly of people prepared to die for their side.

Let me give a contemporary if perhaps controversial example. In the real history of the 20th and 21st century most human beings would violently disagree with, say, the Waffen SS, or with Al Queda suicide bombers, but although most of the rest of humanity would regard them as sick and depraved both thought they were or are serving a higher cause and are willing to die for it.

In this book it becomes clear for the first time that the Mesan Alignment appears to have people in the same category working for them. Although the Mesan alignment appears utterly evil to the heroes and heroines of these books and hopefully to the reader, they do have an ideology which some of their people are willing to die for.

A "Gaul" enforcer in this novel, who cannot possibly have been under the control of "assassination nanotech" because his actions are too complex, and are clearly a deliberate and carefully executed use of his initiative in response to a situation which his superiors may have foreseen but could not possibly have predicted in sufficient detail to programme a course of action into him against his will, carries out his mission ruthlessly and effectivlely even when his own death is an inevitable consequence. (Can't give more detail without a spoiler.)

This novel is the first time we have seen the Gauls, and I will be interested to see if there is more detail about them, and about why they are willing to die for the Mesan cause, in future books.

LIST OF HONORVERSE BOOKS

As hinted at above, the Honor Harrington series (sometimes nicknamed the "Honorverse") has developed two spin-off storylines. Stories set in this Universe fall into three series set 2,000 years from now amd two prequel series set 1,500 years from now, although they link together in a reasonably consistent manner.

There is the main sequence, currently of 13 novels, which follow the career of Honor Harrington herself. This main sequence is:

1) On Basilisk Station
2) Honor of the Queen (Honorverse)
3) The Short Victorious War (Honor Harrington)
4) Field of Dishonour
5) Flag in Exile
6) Honor among Enemies
7) In Enemy Hands
8) Echoes of Honor
9) Ashes of Victory
10) War of Honor
11) At All Costs
12) Mission Of Honor
13) A Rising Thunder

There are currently six collections in the "Worlds of Honor" series of short stories by Weber and co-authors set in the same universe, and featuring a range of characters, some from the main series of books, others new.

Some of these are espionage stories and the "Crown of Slaves" sub-series co-written with Eric Flint, in which this book is the third volume, brings together several of the most prominent spies from the novels and short stories. As explained above this series comprises "Crown of Slaves," "Torch of Freedom" and "Cauldron of Ghosts."

And then there the "Shadow" series, dealing mostly with events in the Talbott Cluster and the relationship between Manticore and the Solarian Republic based on Old Earth. This sequence starts with "The Shadow of Saganami" and follows on with "Storm from the Shadows" and most recently "Shadow of Freedom".

PREQUEL SERIES

There are two series set five hundred years before. The "Star Kingdom" series, currently a trilogy consisting of "A beautiful friendship," "Fire Season" and "Treecat Wars," tells the story of how Honor's ancestor Stephanie Harrington became the first human to form a telempathic "adoption" bond with a Sphinx treecat. Weber is also about to bring out the first of a new "Manticore Ascendant" trilogy about the early days of the Royal Manticoran Navy, set in the same century (it starts 11 years after the prologue of "A Beautiful Friendship"). This first book, which is co-authored by Timothy Zahn, will be called "A Call to Duty" and is due for publication on 7th October 2014.

OVERLAPS

Cauldron of Ghosts is set at almost exactly the same time as "A Rising Thunder" and "Shadow of Freedom." But in my opinion this book is easier to follow if you have read those books first.

At one point early in this book Admiral Honor Harrington excuses herself for leaving a meeting to make sure her fleet is ready to deal with an imminent event which those who have read "A Rising Thunder" will recognise as having taken place in that book. The Mesan Alignment are implementing throughout "Cauldron of Ghosts," in response to the revelations made by Anton Zilwicki and Victor Chachat, a pre-prepared contingency plan discussed by Albrecht Detweiler and his son in a conversation which appears in both "A Rising Thunder" and "Shadow of Freedom."

And - apologies if this sounds Delphic, I am trying to avoid a spoiler - the final pages of this book are very closely linked to the final pages of "Shadow of Freedom" in a manner which IMHO makes the ending of this book easier to follow if you have read that book first.

I found "Cauldron of Ghosts" to be interesting and entertaining and recommend this book.

This series started out great, but this book isn't keeping up. Weber's latest books are beginning to develop a pattern, tremendous detail at the beginning and middle, then a rush to the finish with awkward or nonexistent transitions, and a finish that is incomplete and unsatisfying. Hopefully he steps his game back up!

This is Weber's version of Jordan's Crossroads of Twilight. In other words, very little happens that actually matters to the series storyline. The entire book could be summed up in one sentence, the rest is uninteresting filler. Too bad, since the first two books in the series were pretty good.

This is Weber spinning his wheels. Back to the main universe series, David. Move the story along.

This is an Honoverse novel. That simply means the setting is in the Universe created for the terrific Honor Harrington series. This book deals with The Mesan Alignment a secret society on Mesa that has been playing puppet master over the nearby star systems.

I have trouble keeping track of the Honorverse. I do like both Weber and Flint as authors. I, inadvertently, read this book out of order so a great deal of it was confusing. If I hadn't read all of the Harrington books I would have been annoyed.

The story is good but a bit wordy. The action aspect is not as apparent as in many of the Flint stories. it was a good book but not up to the Honor Harrington standards.

This book is totally unnecessary (except to earn David Weber money). It doesn't advance the story at all. Since I read A Rising Thunder I don't buy Honorverse books anymore. I get them from the library. This is a pleasant read, but Weber is just padding the story. As someone said in another review, the same thing is now happening in the Safehold series. A Rising Thunder should have been the final story in the Honorverse arc. Now, I don't know how long he will string it out.

Weber and Flint are able collaborators, and have advanced the storyline of the honorverse in interesting ways. The challenge, as I have found in my own future history, is to fill in the blanks for the readers and still build viable plots and storylines. Cauldron of Ghosts generally succeeds. The books, however, are now resembling serials, and do not stand alone as well. Cliff-hangers are okay every once in a while (indeed I have done it as well), but readers need closure. That being said, I will probably buy the next book in the series.

Cauldron of Ghosts (2014) is the third SF novel in the Torch subseries of the Honorverse series, following Torch of Freedom. The initial volume in this sequence is Crown of Slaves.

In the previous volume, Queen Berry and her advisors began to suspect that Manpower was not a normal transtellar corporation. They had too much money and were involved in too many operations. Then somebody tried to assassinate Berry.

Meanwhile, Parmley Station was visited by another ship. Although the Parmley family had resisted attempts by slavers to take over their station, they soon realized that the slavers had more resources. So now the slavers paid rent to live in the tower and to maintain a holding facility for slaves from occasional harvester ships.

However, the current visitor was not a slaver ship. Rather, it contained a BSC commando. As hidden observers from the Parmley family watched, the supposed slavers -- and their slaves -- wiped out all the slavers on the station.

The Parmley family were well shielded, so the BSC ship did not detect any other lifeforms on the station. When Hugh declared his intentions to nuke the station, Brice exposed himself and asked for further consideration. The BSC commando decided to link Parmley station with the Torch system.

In this novel, Berry Zilwicki is the Queen of Torch. Berry is only seventeen years old, but has had a very perilous life before becoming Queen. She doesn't like to be called by her titles.

Hugh Arai is a former genetic slave and an agent of the Biological Survey Corps, Beowulf's covert operations organization. He was the commander of the BSC ship Ouroboros. Now he is Berry's consort and a royal advisor.

Ruth Winton is a Manticoran princess. She would rather be a spymaster and is rapidly learning the role from Anton and Victor. She now heads Torch's intelligence service.

Web du Havel is the Torch Prime Minister. He is most conservative on the Queen's advisors, which still is left of moderate.

Jeremy X is the Torch Secretary of War. He will be training soldiers and sailors for years before his personnel goals are met.

Thandi Palane is a General in the Torch Army and senior commander of the armed forces. She is a former Solar Marine who deserted to Torch. Now she is studying military and naval procedures as fast as she can.

Anton Zilwicki is Berry's father. He was an intelligence analyst for Manticore. Now he is the common law husband of Catherine Montaigne and part of the Torch government.

Victor Cachat is a Haven FIS secret agent. He is Head of Station for Torch and Erewhon. He also works closely with Anton and the Torch government.

Yana Tretiakovna is a Skag, a genetically enhanced individual. She helped Zilwicki and Cachat in their penetration of Mesa and the Alignment.

Elfriede Margaret Butry is the matriarch of the clan that once owned Parmley Station. Ganny apparently has no military training, but she is a very experienced ship captain. She commands the merchant ship Hali Sowle.

Andrew Artlett is the grand-nephew of Ganny. He is also a starship mechanic who single-handedly repaired and nursed the Hali Sowle star drive on the return to Parmley Station. He now works on Torch.

Steph Turner is a Seccy from Mesa. She and her daughter left the planet on the Hali Sowle with Anton, Victor and Andrew.

Jack McBryde was the security chief of the Alignment's Gamma Center, a hidden research facility on Mesa. He had rebelled against the Alignment. He steered Simoes to Zilwicki and Cachat and then committed nuclear suicide.

Zachariah McBryde is Jack's brother. He doesn't know that Jack turned against the Mesan Alignment.

Herlander Simoes is a mathematical physicist on the Alignment drive research team. He has played a key role is developing a new type of interstellar drive.

In this story, Anton, Victor and Yana have informed Torch, Haven and Manticore about the Alignment capabilities and plans. Now Manticore and Haven are newly allied against both the Solar League and the Alignment. The coalition is milking Simoes of all he knows about the Alignment weapons and plans.

Yet Anton, Victor and Yana know that there is more to discover on Mesa. McBride and Simoes were not aware of all the Alignment plans. Besides, they had left Seccy agents on the planet without any way of getting out.

Anton, Victor and Yana discuss another venture to Mesa to continue their investigations and retrieve the Seccy agents. They will need DNA modifications just to enter the planet. They take these plans to the Manticoran and Haven councils and receive approval and assistance.

Meanwhile, the BSC on Parmley Station have prepared to raid slavers. A slave ship has come into the area. Ganny takes the Hali Sowle out as the slaver approaches the docks.

The slaver makes some trades at Parmley Station. They leave with a few new slaves. On their way out, they meet the Hali Sowle returning. Between the station armaments, the BSC operatives onboard and the Hali Sowle, the slaveship becomes a BSC prize. No slaves die and only two slavers are killed.

Then Ganny takes the Hali Sowle out to reconnoiter. They pull in to trade with stations and then take out the slave centers. Since the slavers often use legitimate -- but poor -- stations, the BSC troopers try not to damage anyone other than the slavers.

On Torch, Berry proposes that Andrew return to Parmley Station. Andrew wants hazardous duty pay. Then he learns that Steph and her daughter are going to the station. Andrew decides to go with his girlfriend.

Berry and her cabinet also discuss an invasion of Mesa. Since the naval battle at Torch, their navy is larger than the current Mesan planetary forces. Yet they are very short of experienced officers. Jeremy and Thandi are training them as fast as they can. Luckily, they have Manticoran officers to advise and assist such training.

Thandi learns that Victor had gone on to Manticore rather than returning to Torch. She blows her top. Then Berry decides to visit Manticore herself and takes Thandi with her. Berry leaves Hugh in charge of Torch.

Berry and Thandi are briefed on the return to Mesa. They decide to send Thandi with the Mesan infiltration team. If they invade Mesa later, Thandi will have some experience of the planetary conditions.

This tale takes the thoroughly disguised spooks and Thandi to Mesa. They rescue the stranded Seccy operatives and establish a reputation as hardcore criminals. Then they introduce Thandi to the Seccy crime-lord of Neue Rostock.

Meanwhile, the Mesan Alignment is removing the inner circle from Mesa. Zachariah is almost caught by a BSC raider. Anton finds statistical evidence of the evacuation and starts spreading the word.

The Alignment has other plans. The next installment in this sequence has not yet been announced on the store. However, a novel -- A Call to Duty -- in a new Honorverse series is coming soon. Weber is writing so many novels that is becoming hard to keep current.

Highly recommended for Weber fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of interstellar intrigue, covert operations, and a bit of romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

I am big fan of both authors and have read everything in the Honor Harrington series at least twice. I also enjoy this subplot series. But this one was phoned in. It coasts on the images of the two principal characters and dilutes the series.

Weber and Flint collaborate to create a good read. This is one of a series of books, that can be read as stand alone books, but are better if read in sequence. These stories take place in the "Honorvrese" and are an ancillary story line to the Honor Herrington Books. As with all David Weber's work, a well told story, worth a read. I like the character development, and his female characters are believable as people, not merely men in skirts.

The leadership of the Mesan Alignment are bugging out, and don't care how many corpses it takes to cover their tracks. The remaining Mesan leadership sets out to punish the Seccie population, having believed the false evidence that the Alignment set up to frame the Seccies. The cost in blood and lives is staggering, and ultimately futile for Mesa's overlords.

Solid entry in an excellent subseries(Wages of Sin) and and outstanding major epic(Honorverse. Anton and Cachat dive into the underworld of Mesa to find allies to take down the Alignment. A Stalingrad-like stand ensues as the Alignment cuts its losses by blaming its campaign of nuclear terror on the Autobahn Ballroom. Not much space action but the ground battles are impressively staged and described.

I enjoyed the book, but Weber/Flint's writing style uses a lot of necessary words and repeated reflections to run up the word count. They also never use a simple title. E.g. The Most Royal Snuff Box Holder and Grand Fleet Admiral Josephine Amanda Paternowsky the Third. It gets tedious. Thank god the plot is interesting.

I have written that as co-authors Weber and Flint produce excellent books. Unfortunately, this book is an exception.

If you must read everything set in the 'Honorverse' do NOT buy this book in hard covers. Do NOT buy a large size trade paperback. Wait until you can buy a used paperback for not more than two dollars.

I love science fiction and the Honorverse and it's sub genres, Empire of Man, Fury, and Bolo are all excellent. This book was a bit harder to read since the plight of the Mesan seccies strikes a parallel with current life under fascism in the US and worldwide. No matter how dystopic science fiction gives us stories of hope that good people will triumph - eventually (even if not in our lifetime).

Cauldron of Ghosts
David Weber and Eric Flint
Baen, Apr 8 2014, $25.00
ISBN 9781476736334

Republic of Haven Foreign Intelligence Service operative Victor Cachat and Star Kingdom of Manticore agent Anton Zilwicki exposed the shocking centuries old plot of the Mesan Alignment that successfully manipulated the two former enemies into a debilitating war. Leaders of Manticore and Haven forge an alliance between them while creating new internal ones to counter the now known common adversary, but need more information about their foe. Thus, undercover, Cachat now assigned to the Foreign office, and Zilwicki, accompanied by Steph Turner, return to Mesa.

The two spies begin collecting data that stuns both of them as they learn more about the brutal opponent who will do anything to anyone to achieve its genetic BHAG. As the spies create havoc and help enflame a slave rebellion, Cachat and Zilwicki realize how diabolical the foe has been and still is.

The third Crown of Slaves Harrington sidebar science fiction (see Torch of Freedom and Crown of Slaves) is for the most part an exciting tale that requires readers to ignore logic and lacks depth into the home-fronts' reactions to a seemingly unnecessary war. The fun in the storyline is the antics of Cachat and Zilwicki who both live up to the latter's previous boss describing him as an out of control lion made even crazier by this partnership.

Harriet Klausner

Very well written, what I have come to expect from these authors working as a pair. They each bring strengths to the writing, making the novel faster moving than some in the series, with more background than others.

This was a good read. Sometimes if felt as if there was a deep desire on the part of the authors to either be as blood-thirsty as possible. A couple of times a change in author seemed to throw me out of the book, which doesn't usually happen with this pairing.

If you're into SF at all, either byline would be more than enough. Together... unbeatable! Even without the previous stories in this side of the Honor Harrington saga as background, this book is able to stand alone. These guys just flat know how to write!

This stands apart from all the other books in the Honoverse series by not being very good. If I had not already developed a "relationship" with the main characters I don't think I could finish it. The plot advances very slowly. It feels like it's coming out of a formula. The constant anachronism jokes and rambling about the merits of different political systems are tedious. Disappointing.

A great story. I appreciate the chance to learn more about some of the ancillary characters from the main Honor Harrington storyline, and the adventures of Cachat and Zilwicki are a good choice. Now I am anxiously awaiting the next novel, so I can see how this storyline gets resolved.

I felt that at times, unnecessary times, the authors were verbose about trivial matters. Other times it seemed that they were skipping over some important scenes. Overall it is a good, if not great, book.

A great story. I appreciate the chance to learn more about some of the ancillary characters from the main Honor Harrington storyline, and the adventures of Cachat and Zilwicki are a good choice. Now I am anxiously awaiting the next novel, so I can see how this storyline gets resolved.

I felt that at times, unnecessary times, the authors were verbose about trivial matters. Other times it seemed that they were skipping over some important scenes. Overall it is a good, if not great, book.

As a long time fan of the honorverse this is a needed fix. I see by some of the other reviews that the cross over chapters kind of confuse them. Personally it helps keep the timelines straight for me. And I do understand the concern... it wasn't edited to former standards. I volunteer to proof read any of Davids books if it would help, but I'm not complaining about this one either I needed that fix!
To the newbie's I would recommend Reading them in order if only to keep track of who's doing what to who. Now like everyone else I wait on the edge of my seat for the next one!