The Shadow of Saganami (Honor Harrington - Saganami Island Book 1)

While war rages between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven in another sector, the Talbott Cluster has voted to join the former. As a show of diplomatic unity, flag-raising, and military strength, the heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma journeys to this remote sector. Though Captain Terekov is a weary war hero, much of the crew remains untested as recent graduates from the Saganami Island Royal Naval Academy.

However, the simple show of strength turns dangerous as an alliance has sprung up abetting local terrorists opposed to joining the Star Kingdom. Apparently a pact to destroy Manticore has been agreed to by the Manpower slaveholders, the genetic slavers of the kingdoms of Mesa and Monica, and the Solarian League bureaucracy. The crew of the Hexapuma is all that stands in the way of a rear attack on the Star Kingdom, but how will this untested crew stand up when brothers and sisters in arms start dying?

THE SHADOW OF SAGANAMI may be military science fiction great David Weber's best tale in the Honorverse as he shows war from various perspectives mostly from five newcomers. The audience can taste the excitement and fear that death stalks anyone and everyone and no one is immune. The rookie warriors will learn honor comes from the long tradition of those who previously served and in some cases died doing their military duty irregardless of mission for their kingdom. Mr. Weber provides an action packed tale with a fully developed multiple cast that lives up to the values of today's American army (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage)

Harriet Klausner

I just finished Shadow of Sanganami by David Weber. This is the first book in a series "spun-off" from Weber's "Honor Harrington" books. This series deals with the adventures and exploits of some midshipmen/junior officers serving in the Royal Manticorian Navy, but in theaters far removed from those covered in the HH series.

This particular book is about HMS Hexapuma "Nasty Kitty" a brand new Saganami-class Battle Cruiser, a pack of midshipmen on their "snotty cruise", and a Captain just returning to duty after a very traumatic wounding and recovery. The book is pretty consistent with other Weber books set in this milieu. If you like them, you'll like this. It is a bit more focused on political/clandestine action than most with only two real "space battles".

At any rate, if you like Weber and the Honorverse, but you're tired of waiting for the next HH book, this one might hold you over. I downloaded it for free from the Baen webwise, read it on my "Kindle for Android" app and it was good enough for me to order the sequel Storm from the Shadows from the store, but then again, I only paid $.23 for the sequel. That probably sums up my opinion of the book pretty well.

One thing has become abundantly clear: David Weber has transcended that ethereal something that divides truly great storytellers from everyone else. He has taken a fictional universe, a science-fictional universe, and has written so much detail and character into it, so much scope and story, that his fictional universe now seems real. Weber's universe is tangible; it makes sense. His characters do what people do; they feel what people feel. His futuristic technology fits, not only his readers' notions of the plausible, but the needs of his characters as well. The only cop-out device I ever found in Weber's universe was his magical, life-extending Prolong treatments, but now those fit, too, and are woven so tightly into his stories that, even though the reader cannot possibly relate to its effects, the reader easily suspends disbelief and accepts radically extended life-spans-absolutely crucial to the development of Weber's universe-as a given.

The paperback edition of this book is 917 pages, and the first shot isn't fired until page 363. Tolstoy wrote more sparingly! But it is a credit to the reality that Weber has written into his universe that "The Shadow of Saganami" is never boring. There is a lot going on; there are a lot of characters, each developing independently of everyone else, but each still linked to everyone else either through camaraderie, destiny, or confrontation. "The Shadow of Saganami" stands alone fairly well, though there are some back story elements from "Crown of Slaves", and even though there will be the inevitable sequels, "The Shadow of Saganami" ends appropriately and without any gimmicky cliff-hangers.

David Weber makes the introduction of a new band of characters in his latest spin-off series from his masterpiece the Honor Herrington series. Weber once again revisits the role of the single star-ship captain. Much as in the days of the sailing navy when frigates patrolled the seas and made port calls at distant colonial holdings, so does the captain of a solo starship.

In this new series Weber takes a brake from the Manticorian-Peep conflict, instead telling a story of a captain haunted by the past and a young tough crew facing off against the shadowy maneuverings of an old and unpleasant enemy. This series takes far from the boarders of Manticore so it brings home once again the flavor of the old sailing days when a captain was a captain-under-God (This is the say the captain was the highest ranking authority till the ship got home).

The Crew of the "Nasty Kitty" as the HMS Hexapuma is affectionately known is a mix of a few (Ginger Lewis, Aubrey Wanderman, Helen Zilwicki and Abigail Hearns) familiar faces and many new and fresh characters to know and love. Tasked with bringing a new cluster of planets into the Manticorian Star Kingdome, a haunted captain and his crew will show once again why the RMN is the best in the galaxy!

This book is set in the same Universe and timeframe as David Weber's "Honor Harrington" novels, sometimes nicknamed the "Honorverse." The events take place at approximately the same time as "At all costs".

If you have not read any of the other books in the series: this novel is a space opera set thousands of years in the future. It tells the story of a group of mostly new and inexperienced crew members on a brand new and powerful space cruiser, "Hexapuma." They face first intrigue and terrorism, and then increasingly desperate battles against some really evil bad guys.

The Hexapuma's home star nation, Manticore, has just been attacked by a star nation called Haven, and her crew were expecting to be sent to join in that war. At the last minute their orders are changed and they are sent to show the flag in a relatively poor and underdeveloped area of the galaxy called the "Talbot Cluster". This cluster has just voted in a plebiscite for annexation to Manticore: a number of people in the cluster are deeply unhappy about this and start to make trouble. This trouble is stirred up by some truly evil corporations, and the people they have bought in various governments: the bad guys are making big profits from an illegal trade in slaves, and want to stop the annexation because Manticore is one of the nations which enforces the laws against slavery most strictly. The crew of Hexapuma are in for a more dangerous and exiting time than anyone expects!

If you are familiar with the rest of the series, this book features a group of new central characters, mostly in the next generation from the heroines and heroes of the previous books. Some of the main characters in "The Shadow of Saganami" are completely new, others have had parts in previous books or appeared in short stories. Two familiar characters from "Honor Among Enemies" are serving on Hexapuma and take part in the induction of the new cadets - Ginger Lewis, who has earned a commission and is now the ship's Engineer commander, and Aubrey Wanderman, who is now a Senior Chief Petty Officer. It is obvious that they are still at least friends, but Weber deliberately leaves it to the reader's imagination whether Ginger and Aubrey are now an item.

With the most recent group of books in the "Honorverse" Weber and his collaborators seem to be establishing three groups of characters and storylines, although they are all linked in a reasonably consistent manner into one history.

There is the main sequence featuring Honor Harrington herself, in which the most recent novels are "War of Honor" and "At All Costs." There is a series of espionage stories, in which "Crown of Slaves" is the first full length novel. And "The Shadow of Saganami" kicks off a "next generation" sequence featuring some younger officers in the navies of Manticore and the allied nation of Grayson, such as Helen Zilwicki and Abigail Hearns. (Other crew members on Hexapuma who have appeared in previous novels include Ginger Lewis and Aubrey Wanderman from "Honor Among Enemies.")

Honor Harrington herself gets a cameo at the start of this book, as she presides over a graduation ceremony for the cadets leaving the naval academy at Saganami island. She goes off to command Eighth fleet, a story which is told in "At all Costs": they go off in the opposite direction as new midshipmen on "Hexapuma."

If you are planning to read both this book and "At all costs", read "The Shadow of Saganami" first: while the books run approximately concurrently, this one finishes first and the consequences are reported back to Honor Harrington about three quarters of the way through "At all costs" which gives away the ending of this book if you read that one first.

Although this book has a lot of intrigue and politics in the mix, most of those who read David Weber's books for the battles will still enjoy it, as it has a lot of fighting, some in space, some on planets. It also includes some of his best writing.

In particular, because most of the battles involve single ships or small squadrons rather than huge fleets, Dave Weber's worst weakness - that he started off as a wargame designer and still sometimes thinks too much like a wargamer - does not come into play. I mean by this that captains and admirals commanding real ships crewed by thousands of human beings and representing vast resources usually cannot, do not, and should not regard them as expendable to the same extent that wargamers moving counters on a board or images on a computer screen can.

The new characters are fun and intersting to read about. I liked all the Honorverse books, but "The Shadow of Saganami" is one of my favourites.

I like Honor Harrington, and her close friends. I do however like to see more of a ship than the bridge and the captains cabin. It's very interesting to see characters who are as worried about their peers as they are about Saving The Universe (again). The youngsters in this book are a delight to meet.

As for the politics, they are no where near as thick on the ground as in Ashes of Victory or War of Honor. The politics in the book are very integral to the plot and provide us far more subtly with background information than "The Dreaded Weber Info Dumps".

What you'll see in this book:
Views from the Midshipman's berth.
Views from the XO
Views from the ATO
Major players on several Talbott Cluster planets.
and of course "What the Bad Guys(tm) are up to Now!"

Few other authors do ensemble casts with skill, almost none do them as well as or better than Weber. It will be a treat to see the follow on to this book and follow the lives of the people we met in it.

Overall an excellent book, i can't wait for the next one like it.

Shadow of Saganami returns David Weber to the Honor Harrington Universe, finally, without a co-author.

Weber is an artist when describing single ship action and I feel a part of the crew as the take the new Hexapuma on her maiden voyage in a remote but volatile Star system.

Weber jumps the story perspective between enemies and I feel it takes away from journeying with the new midshipmen on the Hexapuma. I would rather he focus on the perspective of the ship as opposed to the galaxy on a whole as he did in the earlier Honor books.

Weber's writing remains top notch and it was definitely a page turner the dialogue and ship to ship combat exceptional.

I hope his next books sharpen their focus on the midshipmen, now ensigns as they progress in their careers.

A definite read, but not his best.

I felt his description,as narrated by Helen Zilwicki, of the events in the Crown of Slaves much more interesting then the book itself.

I hope he continues this series and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.

After going to college with Dave and then later fixing his Osborne computer for him, I read a draft version of one of his Starfire books. It was excellent and I encouraged him to get it published. Later I got hooked on his Honor Harrington books. Where David excells is when he has a narrower focus and this is why I like his new Saganami Island Series, of which this is the first book. We meet students from Honor's teaching days on their middie cruise in the Talbot Cluster. Why this book re-earns a 5 star rating is because he shrinks down the multiple story lines that dragged War of Honor down to a 4. He also minimizes the repetition of details that dragged that book down as well. This is a nice tightly written book that brings more life to the Honorverse, and looks at other forms of corrupt government. The action is well told and the political points of view make great warnings to us in today's world.

If you have read any of the previous books from the Honor Harrington Universe you will not be disappointed with this book. You will be thrilled and amazed as Weber takes you to a star system that is trying to join the Star Kingdom of Manticore. However, there are other powers in the galaxy that want the Star Kingdom out of this system altogether. Into this mix are thrown a task force of Manticoran warships who must find a way to expedite the star systems joining the Star Kingdom. Yes, this book is 900 pages. And yes, you will be wishing for 900 more before you reach the end. I can only recommend this book with my highest praise. Weber is a master at the top of his form. Read this book!!!

First I should say that a lot of blurbs for this book that I've seen--such as "a band of young warriors personally trained and assembled by Honor Harrington"--are very misleading. It is true that two of the middies featured in the book were HH's students, but that's about as far as it goes. Second, the book is as much about their captain as it is about them.

That out of the way, I liked the book for several reasons but I have two (well, three really) criticisms. First, the pace of the first two-thirds or so is sl-o-o-w. Second, there are really too many characters to keep convenient track of, even with the five-page cast list at the back of the book. Third, if Mr. Weber had only had the wisdom to consult me, I think I could have come up with a better nickname for HMS Hexapuma than "Nasty Kitty"; even "Bad Kitty" might have been better.

On the plus side, Mr. Weber manages to covey a great deal of background through dialog that fits the situation, not through the use of asides that break up the action. While his excessive use of italics is irritating, it is not as prevalent as in some of the earlier HH books. The science, too, has been tightened up. For example, there is a better realization that velocities in space are mainly relative, not absolute.

Although the last couple of pages are kind of mawkish (and echo the last few pages of "On Basilisk Station"), the book asa whole represents an original treatment of the issues raised by the discovery of the Lynx wormhole and Talbott Cluster that was narrated in "War of Honor".

I was a huge fan of the Honor Harrington series, but it is getting a little tired and worn at this point. Every story, no matter how good, must have an end. I was excited when _Crown of Slaves_, despite all expectations, was very good. Unfortunately, while _Shadow of Saganami_ had moments of greatness, it was, for the most part, a disappointment.

I am very interested in the whole Trevor's Star plotline, because I like the concept of stories where something new is built up, instead of merely preventing the baddies from destroying something.

The book was disjointed. The first part of the book switched back and forth between the good guys, who were doing military stuff onboard ships, and the bad guys, who were doing things which (the author took great pains to explain to us) were foolish. Part of the problem was that I get tired of page after page of people being foolish, part was that their was no connection between what the good guys were doing and what the bad guys were doing.

Another part of the problem was that the specter of the Havenite War got in the way. We are supposed to think that the annexation of the Talbot Cluster is an unmitigated good thing, but it would make the cluster part of a government fighting for its survival. Had Weber actually _ended_ the Harington series, that wouldn't be a problem. Similarly, near the end of the book, I was not convinced the actions of the heroes were a good solution to the problems set up in the first part.

This one will lull you to sleep if you read it before bedtime, trust me. The set up in the first two thirds of the book is tedious and I found myself flipping through page after page before the pace quickened to the point where it began to hold my interest. However, even the passages describing the action sequences are densely written. It is hard to believe that this is the same author that wrote "The Apocalypse Troll" or "Path of the Fury". This is the last time I'm going to be sucked into buying a David Weber novel from the blurbs on the book.

The Shadow of Saganami is the second novel set in the Honor Harrington Universe but not centered on Honor Harrington herself. Instead, it focuses on a cast of new characters, operating in the Talbott Cluster, a "new frontier" for the Star Kingdom of Manticore which threatens to bring it into direct conflict with the Solarian League . . . the most powerful human political uinit ever to exist. The crew of the new heavy cruiser Hexapuma, under the command of a highly decorated captain still haunted by the horrendous losses ships under his command suffered in the previous war, must find a way to defeat the plots of genetic slavers, corrupt Solarian bureaucrats and industrialists, local terrorists, political intriguers, and old-fashioned incompetence. And in the process, they find themselves facing the "tradition of Sganami" . . . the tradition that Manticoran officers may die, but they do NOT give up the fight.

Despite the political dimensions of the book, Weber achieves a better balance between the action he writes so well and the political machinations of his villians than he was able to maintain in the previous mainstream Honor novel, War of Honor. It looks as if he is deliberately spreading into two new series-- this one, the Saganami Island series, and the Crown of Slaves series of collaborative novels with Eric Flint -- in an effort to broaden his canvas and permit more of the swashbuckling adventure of the earlier Honor novels while moving the political dimension of the Honorverse ahead in more managable sized bites. If that is his intention, he has succeeded admirably in this volume. I believe this may be the best Honorverse novel since Honor Among Enemies, which is high praise indeed.

I cannot describe my disappointment in the book better than I did in the title. That describes the book, or at least as far as I got in the book, perfectly. I managed to get about 64% through (yes, I checked on a calculator. I was desperate) before I had to put it down. I'm still trying to struggle through it, but it is quite difficult.

David Weber seems like an excellent writer. He has talent when it comes to describing things. His characters seems, not like imaginary creatures in a book, but real people that you may meet absolutely anywhere. His characters' personalities and reactions to each other seem quite humane and, well, expected of people. His descriptions of places, when they actually appear, are well-done and give me a good idea of what the place looks like. And the once-in-a-lifetime battle scene is written brilliantly; they were probably the only things that kept me struggling beyond constant dialogue and politics.

I'll admit, I'm not one for reading about politics. I picked up this book because the cover, summary, and first few pages gave me the impression that this book would be full of action, particularly space action. I expected, not a bunch of hard-core politics, but ships shooting at each other and blowing each other up, and a space-version of Tom Clancy's submarine battles. In the beginning, I was willing to struggle through the politics with the hope that I would get to those secnes. Sadly, I never quite did.

There is far too much dialogue in the book, and in the end, I forget who is even talking because there is so much. As someone else already pointed out, there was a four-page scene of purely dialogue that could've been explained just as well with the last two sentences. When you write a story, you should be sure to evenly distribute the dialogue and description through-out the story, so as not to bore your reader with too much of either. Such was not done in Shadow of the Saganami; entire chapters will be purely dialogue with perhaps one paragraph of description. Furthermore, the dialogue couldn't even be of something of interest. It was all politics. Perhaps to some, that is quite exciting, but it bored me out of my mind. I kept checking a few pages ahead, desperately hoping for either the end of the dialogue, or the chapter.

To put it simply: if you constant politics and dialogue, get this book. If you want to read about ships blowing each other up, this isn't the book you want.

Once again, David Weber has done something marvelous. Our thirst for more Honor Harrington was mysteriously slaked by a book which featured almost NO Honor Harrington. Instead, Weber gives us a fabulous book using a few known characters with mostly unknowns and expands the universe (and the addiction) as well as providing a deeper look at the society he has created.

This does not mean that I'm not waiting anxiously to hear what Dame Honor herself is up to, but this book is a winner.

I just spent my Christmas vacation in the Talbott Cluster and the trip was a delight!

Weber's newest book in the Honor Harrington universe came just in time to make my vacation a five-star experience.

I agree with another reviewer that the mix of the politics and the space battles were not quite right. More battles would have generated more stars.

At the half-way point I found and thankfully used the directory of characters in the back of the book. I wish I had found it earlier in the 700+ pages.

Hardcore Weber fans have probably already purhcased this book in hardcover. If you somehow missed it this is a great investment. You won't be disappointed.

Now that I am done with the book I am back from the Talbott Cluster and I am back at work. (sigh) On the bright side I have another Weber I can reread!

I've read most if not all the Honor Harrington books. Over the years, they've become more about long discussions regarding politics and less and less about the action. Weber does a fabulous job with his action scenes, but he really needs to cut back on the lengthy discussions regarding politics.

There are scenes in this book where groups of The Bad Guys get together to discuss their bad plans. The scenes will go on for pages and pages but don't actually advance the story by taking so long. These scenes could be a half page. Crisp and clean.

If you don't mind skimming 10 or 15 pages at a time, waiting for a conclusion to the scene and for something meaningful to start, this is still a good book. But I had a hard time wading through large sections of the story.

Pre-publication book was not noticeably marked as such n the description detracted from the reading experience with a large number of printing, contextual, and spelling errors. The writing was quite good, as expected from Weber.

Don't get me wrong; I'll undoubtedly read everything Weber writes, so he can't be doing anything a reader can't forgive.

That said, his style can get wearying. I remember a 4-page discussion that boils down to three sentences:

"Hmm... do you think she's dead?"

"We can't be sure. Even if we had a forensics team in place, there are no DNA samples available for her."

This passage is the norm, not an exception, and that very same discussion is repeated at least four times, with no meaningful changes.

A Weber character would never say, "I'm going home now." No, a Weber character would say, "Under the circumstances, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure I won't be going home rather sooner than later."

And he'd say it again in different words, just to be sure.

Only in a battle does Weber cast off the chains of verbosity and get things in gear. But that's often enough, apparently.

Whoo this is a long read. My first foray with David Weber's Honor work. It has moments of interest and I actually found some of the political elements intriguing. However, the book began to play out like a weak space opera. The plucky midshipmen became a pale backdrop to the ongoing issues of Captain Terekov. There is a lot of dialogue. There is a LOT of intrigue, perhaps too much. I found the book adequate, but tiring. A book of this type should have wrapped up within 300 pages.

There is some interesting military aspects to the work, but for the uninitiated they will likely stay away from Weber. As will I.

Whoo this is a long read. My first foray with David Weber's Honor work. It has moments of interest and I actually found some of the political elements intriguing. However, the book began to play out like a weak space opera. The plucky midshipmen became a pale backdrop to the ongoing issues of Captain Terekov. There is a lot of dialogue. There is a LOT of intrigue, perhaps too much. I found the book adequate, but tiring. A book of this type should have wrapped up within 300 pages.

There is some interesting military aspects to the work, but for the uninitiated they will likely stay away from Weber. As will I.

If there is a current master of the military space opera, it has to be David Weber, hands down. Now he has taken his characters and done a "next-gen" version, and like the trek series, there are still a few problems to be shaken out. Not surprising when you leave old and familiar characters you know as well or better than you know yourself, and head into new territory. That is the only reason I don't give this one five full stars. All props to Weber for taking the step, though! And this is a keeper.

Good book of the Honorverse even without major involvement of Honor. Very nice expansion of the outer reaches of Manticore, building on a "A Crown of Slaves". Makes one appreciate somewhat just how difficult it is to build an empire. As usual, character development is awesome. Also has a nice little teaser of "At All Costs".

David Weber has done it again. An in-depth look at the military and political system of Manticore. Weber keeps amazing me with his knowledge and creativity when it comes to the space navy. The interaction with the characters is very insightful and developed keeping your attention throughout the book. Even without Honor Harrington I look forward to the next book.

New characters translate into new heros. This is yet another example of David Weber at his best. Captain Aivars Terekhov is at least as compelling as Honor Harrington herself, even if his name isn't quite as catchy.

I highly recommend this one for anyone, but especially for anyone who is an Honor fan.

Honor Harrington is mentioned a few times here but very much "off camera" as a few of her students get the spotlight.

Weber's trademark storyline of a routine show-the-flag mission becoming a desperately outnumbered battle rings true. But this time we've got a flawed captain, an irresolute admiral and midshipmen on their first cruise! Add in two very different terrorist groups, greedy corporate raiders, human slavery and corrupt politicians and you've got a can't-put-down blockbuster.

If you've been curious about David Weber's "Honorverse" here's a good way to get started!

Excellent series start, complementing the main Honor Harrington novels. Given the [British] Royal Navy achieved so much through its tradition, establishing how Manticore and allied students are taught role models, expectations, and when, no matter how good they are, sometimes all is left is to die gallantly, but never selling your life cheaply.

I enjoyed the first book in this new series very much. A distraction, however, was Mr. Weber's description of the height of every major, and a few minor, characters in centimeters. As a U.S. reader, I realize we are one of the few countries left in the world still using the old English system of measurements. That as a given, each time I encountered this usage it caused a break in the narrative flow for me while I worked out the conversion.

From the time I discovered the first two David Weber-Honor Harrington novels (all that were published at the time) he became one of my favorite sf authors and the Honor books one of my favorite series. Each newbook was a delight to read, if not better than the one before, than at least as good. I even liked his fantasy series that began with THE WAR GOD'S OWN.

However, when we reached the last Honor book, WAR OF HONOR, I began to have qualms. While adequate, I found it overly long and I thought the defeat of the Peeps was wrapped up rather clumsily.

Then came CROWN OF SLAVES, the first book set in the Honorverse "co-written" by another author (Eric Flint). I was willing to give Flint a try but the book was also long, dull, with little action and much endless dialogue and exposition about the increasingly complex diplomatic and political situation and populated with characters I found unbelievable, silly and for whose fate I gave not a damn. I abandoned it after a 100 pages.

Well, I thought, since the actual writing in that case was almost certainly done almost entirely by Flint, maybe it wasn't Weber's fault. So I still had hopes for the first new Weber Honorverse book, SHADOW OF SAGANAMI.

Unfortunately, they were quickly dashed. If you love endless discussions of political intrigues and the formation and dismemberment of diplomatic alliances, you'll adore this volume, the kind of book that once you put it down, you can't pick it up again! If you want the kind of good rousing "Hornblower in space" yarn that Weber used to excel at, forget it. You won't find it here.

It's sadly true that some authors, once they have built up a sufficient fan base to guarantee a certain level of sales with each new book, tend to go on autopilot and write routine tales with routine plots and routine characters. I'm sorry to say that this appears to be the case here. Pity.

P.S. - I almost forgot to mention Weber's other collaboration, this time with John Ringo on the "March" series about the Imperial prince marooned on an alien planet having to fight his way home. Also pedestrian stuff, but still better than SAGANAMI.

Usually I enjoy Webers work but this one was so wordy with so little action for a 2 1/2inch paperback that I literally skimmed through looking for action paragraphs. I don't like it when authors grind out "the next book....".

I have always enjoyed Dave's Harrington universe...until I got to this book. Please...will someone tell me who the protagonist of this book is? Whose story is it? Who am I supposed to get emotionally involved with or root for? The entire crew? The Manty's political process? And if there is no protagonist, who is the antagonist "against?"

I'm sorry, good writing is not enough...lets have a traditional antagonist/protagonist pair to hang this story onto please.

If you are looking for Honor Harrington, this is not the book to find her. This is a great book focusing on her students and how they apply her lessons. While a good read, and a good book; Don't be pulled in by the jacket cover. Honor Harrington is mentioned but the book has nothing to do with her.

I've been a huge fan of David Weber for years, so I really wanted to enjoy this--it had my goodwill from the beginning, but I only made it to around page 215 before giving up, it was that boring. I couldn't invest in the characters, I didn't care what their problems were, I couldn't take any more discussions of the intricacies of politics. Maybe this would have been better if it were about half to 2/3 of the length, but as it is, it's 960 pages. On the positive side, though, there's a scene with Honor Harrington (in the first chapter) which ruled.

I thought the Sganami book started strong in the first chapter but then it digressed to bring us up to date on all these new characters and bogged down. The captain should have been fleshed out more strongly initially. After mucking around for the first half of the book it finally found its pace. The book finished strong. I await the next in this new series but it is about as strong as In Enemy Hands or War of Honor.

Not first tier but enjoyable.

If you have enjoyed all the books in Weber's "Honorverse" then I suppose you too will have to wade through this one. Be prepared, you'll have that deja vu feeling all over again. Honor's little habit of rubbing her left finger over her right hand? The captain in this book has a little wrist flick. Overly devious Haven's? This book has overly devious Sollies instead. You get the idea.

The characters were cut out of cardboard - amazingly under developed. You'll recognize some of the plot as recycled from prior books. You get your usual assortment of ground action, a space battle, politics and a leftover villain for the next book. No telepathic treecats in this one, thank god.

mr. weber has taken us as far as he can with honor; unless he slips a novel in between times. that said i cannot overstate my praise for the saganami concept in keeping the honor-verse accessable and expandable. buy this book for if you do not you will find yourself chasing this volume to complete your collection while simultaneously kicking yourself for missing a good read.

I generally love david weber's work. I own almost all of his books in hardback. I am hoping that this book is just giving us more information that will be utilized in future offerings. I read very fast, and am on page 231. So far this book is boring. I am not sure I can force myself to finish. Maybe the next 400 pages are fantastic and explain the difference between my review and others on the store.