A Call to Duty (Manticore Ascendant series Book 1)

Having become obsessed with Weber's Honorverse, I have come to have pretty high standards. Over time, readers come to feel like they're living on the planets and ships in the books. It isn't just a story line that Weber and the other authors have created over the years, it's a history. Going back and filling in the gaps in the historical narrative is challenging, but I feel that A Call to Duty accomplished it's task, certainly as a first installment of a historical narrative. Worth a read for sure. A new verse has been added to the song.

Going backwards in time or remembering is always frustrating in real life. It's especially so literature. Some things are so clear others so obscure. I LIKE Travis. I was in the Navy. We might have been buddy's. I don't have a correlation for the RMC though. It made sense to the story. But not to compare to my reality of the military life. I really enjoyed the story though and look forward to the next one!

Okay, so I haven't actually read it yet. But since I own and have read everything -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- else that either David Weber or Timothy Zahn have had published over these many years (and that's a lot of books, folks, I can tell you), there is not the teeniest little bit of doubt in my mind that "A Call to Duty" will be a fantastic read! Just judging by all the other works by these two great authors, this latest is a book I can most highly recommend.

An excellent stand alone chapter in a much larger story, this prequel (set when Manticore is just finding its way onto the galactic stage) will delight hardcore fans and new readers alike. Well done, Mr. Weber, well done.

How marvellous it is that David Weber (assisted by Timothy Zhan) has presented us with a new series set in Manticore, 300 years before the birth of Honor Harrington et al. And a whole new cast of characters to get to know, both goodies and baddies. This first effort shows that Weber continues to improve with age and I can't thank him enough for the hours of enjoyment he has provided for me thus far and for knowing there is more to come. He can't write them fast enough for me!

This is about as bad as it possibly could be. Way too much aimless talking and nothing happening. Way too many characters for a reader to keep track of. David, you should be embarrassed to have your name associated with this mess. I finally gave up in disgust after chapter 21. I definitely will not buy another book in this series.

i have read many books by both Weber and Zahn, and know the caliber of their talent, and so am surprised they wrote this clunker. First off, the main character is too passive. Professor Xavier in his wheelchair got more into the action.It's really not Travis Long's fault, the authors painted him into a corner early on as an enlisted man who had brilliant out of the box notions, which he would tell to officers. The officers would order people to carry out the ideas, which they did. If this sounds clunky in description, it is more so on the page.

The second big problem which it never overcame is prequel syndrome. This book is like Attack of the Clones. You know Aniken will grow up, Obi-wan will try to put him down, and beat the snots out of him in an epic fight, and Darth Vader will be born. In the meantime we have to sit through 2 1/2 movies to get to that scene. That is how this book reads. You know the ending, and have to sit through the machinations to reach it. I just cannot suspend disbelief far enough to entertain that the RMN will be eliminated in favor of a costa garda.

The authors are supremely talented and could have delivered a better product.

Seems like the opposition has always kinda disliked spending for the navy rather than their own vote buying pork barrel from the early days of the Manticorian Monarchy. And most especially the people who fight against it, some of them aren't any less politics driven than the opposition.

It is clear that this book wasn't written by David Weber. No long chapters of nothing but people sitting around and talking. The story moves along telling the story of the early days of Manitcore. It's exciting. I can't wait for the next book to continue the story.

Spellbinding, I couldn't put it down. David Weber with other authors have written an outstanding collection of Science Fiction, Space Warfare, type of military action Books. Great characters, outstanding adventures and super action. Everyone of them.(my opinion).

Its a simple book that leaves you wanting more. The depth in story telling, for a new series is lacking. On Basilisk Station or The Shadow of Saganami were much stronger starts for a new series. For the money its not worth it.

There is a lack of background to all of the characters that you normal get from David Weber that he is known for. I had no real connection and I really wanted there to be one. Maybe I am to used to his books being longer SS was over 700 pages for a new series and BS was 432, about the same for this book but it had so much more in it.

I have read many the store self published books, i.e. Marco Kloos Frontlines books or Elliot Kay's Poor Mans Flight, that follow along the same path as this book and they are much much better.

The only thing this book has that they don't is a better editor to find the little mistakes.

At this would be a 2.99 book if it was self published on the store and that all I should have paid.

Very disappointing start to what cold be a great new series.

Another great collaboration from David Weber and Co. I appreciate the effort he and the other authors go through to bring us books a consistent quality.

About the book, its sort of a prequel to the Honor Series and has a very good sounding of the time period in the series. Nothing is easy for the RMN in it's slump, and it tells by how certain activities are done in the book.

I liked this a lot, and look forward to the next in the series.

I hesitated in purchasing this book as I have been disappointed and more than a little bored with the direction of the Harrington series. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised by this novel. It was a fun and refreshing view of the Honorverse and I can't wait for the next book in the series.

The early day of the RMN have been mentioned in the Honor Harrington books but now David and friends brings those days to life.This is an adventure easily equal to the early adventures of Honor herself.

This book marks a return of David Weber books back to the original reason I started reading Honorverse books in the first place. Good solid character development, a succinct and uncluttered story line, with action and tech adventure. Loved it!

Excellent writing, amazing story - this is a priceless look into the early Manticoran Navy! The story and career of this young man promises to be as riveting as Honor's herself! A must read for every Honor Harrington fan!

A wonderful new adventure from start to finish! I can't wait to see what happens next to Long. Seems like fate is writing out his destiny and where it may go only Weber and company know ... Hurry up with the next installment!

Wow... I WANT MORE! I have read, and often re-read, all the Honorverse books and stories. I'm not saying that all of them are perfect, they're not. But they're all—as far as I'm concerned—worth reading more than once (and only small percentage of the books I read make that list). But you don't need to have read any of the Honorverse books to understand or enjoy this one... It doesn't end in a cliff hanger but it does end with questions that will be answered in the next book in the series.

I'm not going to go through the plot except to say that this book is set pre-Manticore gates! That means no Honor Harrington, not even a smidgen. It's the beginning of a new story-line about the Star Kingdom and the early Royal Manticoran Navy. The Honor books begin around 1870 PD (Post-Diaspora). This book begins in 1529 PD!

For me this book is well written, interesting, full of action and characters to care about. And, although knowing what the future holds ads a bit to the reading, this book is the beginning of a standalone series. The combination of David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Tom Pope of BuNine (and NO this is NOT an anthology! It's a damned good novel!) is great! I've read, and appreciated, the stories Zahn has written of the Honorverse and I understand that Pope has been the keeper of the continuum of the Honorverse at BuNine. Read the foreword, it explains a lot and it's short!

Travis Uriah Long is a character that grows as you read the book, I want to know what happens to and around him! The early history of Manticore and the RMN is fascinating! If you get the feeling that I liked this book—YOU'RE RIGHT!

In case you're wondering, I bought this book as part of Baen Books Oct. 2014 bundle which means I got it on Sept. 16th and I gobbled it on Sept.16th! I think I need to go back and read it again (something almost never do)... I'm sure I was reading so fast that I missed some of the more subtle points. If I did, I shall add to this review.

It has been some time since I started reading the Honor series and at times it wasn't great but it was always good. This is a very good addition. Most enjoyable. Mr weber keep up the great work that has entertained me for many years.

Rubbing my hands with glee over a new series, I had high hopes for this book. Travis Long makes a likable and interesting protagonist. I was a little concerned that the lack of a military action would make for boring reading, but the authors kept my attention with the rescue and the pirate action. I really enjoyed the unique ideas by Travis and appreciated the fact that they aren't always acted upon. I'm a sucker for origin stories and this is a great start.

I have been following the books since they first came out. I have enjoyed every book by David Weber I have read an I also liked the books by Timothy Zain, so seeing a joint effort I simply had to read it. I found the book to be well written and well edited, something I have grown to expect from writers such as these. The story line and projected arc should help fill in many of the blanks in the history of the kingdom. I look forward to the next book in the series.

A great story for those who are already in love with the "Honorverse" and a good tale for those who just want to read something entertaining in military science fiction. Reminded me of Heinlein's best, like Glory Road or Starship Troopers.

I am happy to see the Star Kingdom epic tales continue. After reading the full Honor Harrington series I knew there had to be more to the Star Kingdom's history for hungry readers. This was an excellent tale.

Owing More to Ender's Game than either the Honor Harrington or Star Wars series, A Call to Duty casts a wide net before honing in at the end to a single event. The story moves easily but can be a bit confusing with such a diverse cast of characters. Those who have not read either Weber or Zahn need not worry about being lost - this takes place 400 years previous in the Honor Harrington series. But fans will also appreciate the hints of 'things to come' and the cameo of the big bad.

Story: The Manticoran politics are in an upheaval - with the validity and survival of the Navy at the center. Those who feel it is a relic are fighting those who believe the RMN is an absolute necessity to protect their worlds. Enter a wide range of diverse characters on all sides of the conflict: from a raw gifted recruit to a husband wife team of marine and engineer. Politicians, royalty, civllians, navymen, and even pirates are about to collide when a group of battle ships are put up at action for the highest bidder.

Although the synopsis would lead a reader to believe this is a young adult story of a teenager enlisting, in reality, there is a multiple
POV story in which Travis Long is a player but not a key narrator. The heart of the novel is politics vs integrity and the consequences that result. Those familiar with the British government system will especially recognize the Manticoran system of exchequer, royalty, and political maneuverings.

Although there is a lot of action at the end, it takes a long time to get there and to go through quite a few view points. Starting that broadly felt a lot like having to read about the American Revolution, Civil War, and Stock Market Crash of 1929 in order to finally end up at the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. It's a bit much but certainly the basis for a more robust series with all that groundwork.

There were a few minor detractors for me. I really wanted to follow just one person's viewpoint, not a huge cast. The plot machinations and character motivations were fairly simplistic, almost middle grade level. And that cover....not sure who thought that was a good idea.

In all, I love space opera and A Call To Duty was an enjoyable read that has a great reach for several ages (young adult through to adult). Reviewed from an ARC.

Bought this book at Books Inc in Mountain View mid-morning. By late afternoon, it was where it belonged: in the garbage bin. I understand the motivation for a successful author like David Weber (once my favourite mil sci-fi author) to adopt the franchise-authoring model – it's called naked greed. Lots of famous authors do it (Clancy, for one) but it is a model that treats loyal readers as sheep to be shorn. As I was.

All of that said, if the book had been half decent, then okay. A good read is a good read. But this wasn't. Rambling, discursive wanderings through the Byzantine politics of an imaginary star system might appeal to some; godknows, it does to Weber and it was always the worst part of his writing. And the ludicrous titles for the aristos! I can hear the long-suffering citizens of Manticore dusting off the guillotine, greasing the slide, and sharpening the blade ready to send Lord Noxious Swamp back to recycler.

Pity poor old Mister Zahn. I can picture him, sitting down with Mister Weber with the latest draft of Manticorean rip-off junk.

"More politics, Tim! More politics!" Weber says, full of the self-confidence of successful authors. "It's what my readers want."

"But, Your Magnificence," Zahn protests, "half-a-book's worth is just too much. And I'm not sure it is what they want."

"Oh, who cares?" Weber replies with a disdainful flick of the wrist. "I like it. Besides, my loyal fans will buy anything with my name on it. And remember, it's not about them; it's about making me a ton of money."

Never, ever again will I buy anything from Weber, co-authored or not. Pity. I loved his books.

Not that Weber gives a toss.

First in the Manticore Ascendant series in the overall Honorverse and revolving around a poor, isolated Manticore. It's the year of 1529 PD and well before Honor's time period.

MY TAKE
The "4" is more for my enjoying the back history, as it took some 230 pages before we FINALLY got into some action. It was "weird" getting that perspective on Manticore and Haven being friends and allies, and it simply feels too odd. The Republic of Haven is rich, powerful, and generous to its friends and allies. And it's terrifying to think of where it will descend. You can't help but feel for what is ahead for its people. The horrors. Meanwhile, Manticore is the poor cousin and with almost no influence in their universe.

That said, I do wish that Weber & company had provided more of a sense of when this took place within Manticore history. I know it's before events in House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion . And I suspect you should put off reading House of Steel before you read this; it'll help keep your sense of time from skewing too badly. If you've already read it, no biggie. Ooh, and the Andermani Empire is not yet, for Anderman is just beginning to build it.

Oh, it gets your heart rate up, mostly because (if you've read any of the Honor Harrington stories) you get so angry with shortsighted politicians more interested in feathering their own nest than in protecting their planet or their people. Nothing ever changes, does it? Then there's the slack discipline at the training school. Cheating? Who cares. Nobody really knows anything because of the cheating? Who cares.

That perfect proving ground for the Chancellor's big plan for his own aggrandizement that results in the Phobos disaster and then events onboard the Vanguard simply prove that Travis' concerns are legitimate.

It's a rough period for Manticore. They aren't building any ships, in fact the Royal Manticoran fleet is being dismantled! Their king is heading toward the end of his kingship, although he has planned, quite brilliantly it seems, to give his son a chance to bring their navy back to life. One of a number of small hooks to encourage us to pick up the next in the series.

There is a bigger hook at the end of the story: the discovery of the wormhole that will change everything for Manticore, except it looks as if someone else will benefit from it! I can't wait to see how Manticore will lay its claim!

Most of A Call to Duty is laying the background for this new sub series, introducing us to the very few officers who will help project Manticore into the future that lies ahead of it. One important sub theme is the cheating, the lack of discipline, the lack of caring with Travis as the counterpoint who does care. It's through Travis that the story is told, a spacer who believes it's important to really know how things work. It's lucky for Travis when he gets assigned to HMS Guardian where the difference between how Davison runs his ship and how Eigen runs Guardian is like night and day. It's a belief, a way of doing, that is carried through in the Honor Harrington series. Knowing that eventually Travis' beliefs will come true and be enforced is encouraging as you read through this muck of lazy sods. It all makes you appreciate Honor's way of doing business.

I do feel for Travis. That mother of his…she shouldn't have bred herself, that's for sure. Although I'm sure the Kingdom of Manticore is quite grateful she did! We can also be grateful for Lieutenant Blackstone! She had some good questions for Travis, and she's a stand-up officer.

When it comes down to the excitement of the story finally beginning…whoa. Guzarwan plays it well. He's got almost all the eventualities figured out, except he doesn't expect competent officers or dedicated men. Heart-stopping moments here! It's possible that this is where the seeds of discontent are sown, waiting for bad guys to fan it into a bonfire.

THE STORY
It's a scattered trail of Travis Long's reports of negligence and cheating that ends with him aboard the Guardian and the battle of his life. It's a battle that will do him well in the eyes of those who truly count.

THE CHARACTERS
Travis Uriah "Rule-Stickler" Long is a one of those rule-abiding types who doesn't get along socially with anyone. Even his mother, Melisande Vellacott Long, ignores him. Well, she has her own issues and prefers breeding her dogs to remembering she even has a family. Gavin Vellacott, Second Baron Winterfall, is Travis' older half-brother.

Manticore
Casey-Rosewood Instructional Center is…
…the RMN's training base for enlisted and non-commissioned officers: boot camp to training school. Gunner's Mate First Class Johnny Funk is Travis' platoon commander. His boot camp mates include Charlie "Chomps" Townsend is from Sphinx and has the appetite to prove it; Elaine "Whistler" Dunharrow; "Shofar" Liebowitz; "Professor" Cyrene; and, "Betcha" Johnson.

Lieutenant William Cyrus is the Impeller Tech Division's senior officer to whom Travis reports the cheating. Again and again. He's not the only instructor tired of Long's being a stickler for the rules or practicality. There's also Stockmann. Senior Chief Dierken (Eleanor is his wife) and Funk try to save Travis.

Fire Control Specialist First Class Matayoshi and his assistant is Fire Control Tech Third Class Lorelei Osterman are leery about an outsider in their fire control class. Students in the class include Smith, Kelderman, and Townsend. Lieutenant Krauss teaches gravitics.

Colonel Jean Massingill is the CO at Casey-Rosewood, and she's hating it more and more. Alvis "Gill" Massingill is her husband and a very capable engineer with extensive engineering and yard-dog experience; and, both are retirees from the Solarian League. Manticore had promised great things if the Massingills would come to the Star Kingdom and train the Royal Marines and work on ambitious projects. Those promises aren't coming through.

Captain Alexander Caldecott is an idiot, to use Massingill's words, a "staff weenie". He has no experience, but because of his "exalted" family, he thinks he knows it all.

Travis' small circle of friends in high school
Bassit Corcoran leads the group that includes Pinker, Jammy, and Travis.

The Royal Manticoran Navy
Captain Horace "Race" Kiselev has been keeping watch over the mothballed fleet that includes the HMS Mars, and is being named to be Casey-Rosewood's new commanding officer and promoted to commodore. Juliana is his wife. Admiral Carlton Locatelli is the commanding officer of the Star Kingdom's System Command. First Lord of the Admiralty Admiral Thomas P. Caznestro. Lieutenant Anne Blackstone was the Royal Manticoran Navy recruiter that night.

HMS Vanguard is…
…where Travis will be assigned under the command of Captain Robert Davison, a waste of space. There's no good hoping that Spacer Second Class Tully Atherton's experience will slow Travis down. Master Chief Dovnar is the bosun. Commander Bertinelli is ticked off with Travis' saving Esterle. Spacer Second Class Suzanne Marx is in Communications. Lieutenant Lisa Donnelly is the officer who listens to Travis. Grillo. Lieutenant Commander Allegra Metzger. Lieutenant Elmajian is the assistant tactical officer.

Chief Gravitics Tech Randall Craddock is Travis' new boss. Senior Chief Gravitics Specializ Inzinga. Spacers First Class Bonnie Esterle and Amber Bowen are also in gravitics as are Yarrow, Benson, and Kilgore.

HMS Phobos, her sister ship is the Deimos, and both…
…were made from the Mars. Commander Sophia Ouvrard is in chargel; her XO is Lieutenant Commander Armand Creutz. Dinks.

HMS Diactoros and her escort Perseus are…
…one of the Navy's fast courier ships and her escort, respectively, and the king has sneakily dispatched them to offer passage to interested governments in Ueshiba and Minorca and then on to the Secours sale in Haven.

HMS Casey is a…
…light cruiser that will be quickly refurbished to use as advertising for the shipyard Prince Edward wants to start up. She'll then be sent to the Secours sale.

HMS Guardian is…
…going to the Secours sale with Commodore Kiselev in overall command of the mission and leaving Captain Eigen in command of the ship. Kiselev takes on Metzger as XO; Massingill will be onboard as the Marine commander with Sergeants Holderlin and Pohjola; Gill will come aboard as well; Donnelly and Long are assigned too; Lieutenant Ioanna Kountouriote is in gravitics. Aflonze Joyce is on com. Ensign Joji Yanagi. Commander Calkin keeps a wish-list of missiles. Gravitics Specialist First Class Jan Vyland is considered a cold fish. Com Specialist Second Class Patty Boysenko is cool with helping out with communications or with her sharpshooting skills; Lieutenant Grace Burns, Officer of the Watch — and daughter of Baron White Springs, I'll have you know — is not. It doesn't help that she's letting personal animosity get in the way of making that call. Carlyle.

The government of Manticore
King Michael is nearing the end of his kingship, and he's most grateful for that. Mary is his second wife. His son, Commander Prince Edward Winton, will succeed him. Cynthia is Edward's wife. Prime Minister Davis Harper, Duke Burgundy, is a perpetual conciliator, a long-term plan between himself and the king.

First Lord of Law Deborah Scannabecchi, Duchess New Bern, doesn't seem to belong to any particular party. Clara Sumner, Countess Calvingdell, sits on the Appropriations Committee and has faith in Winterfall. Earl Broken Cliff is the Secretary of Education also has faith in him.

Pro-Navy Party
Seems that Burgundy has been biding his time until Edward can come on board and they can revamp the Navy. James Mantegna, Earl Dapplelake, is the Defense Minister and has authority over the Royal Manticoran Navy.

Anti-Navy Party is…
…more interested in promoting their personal interests and power in the MPARS (Manticoran Patrol & Rescue Service; pronounced Em-Pars) fleet which patrols the spacelanes around the twin suns of the Manticore System.
Earl Breakwater is the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Baroness Castle Rock, Earl Chillon, and Baroness Tweenriver are some of his allies.

Martin Ashkenazy designs mining ships and has a "brilliant" plan to tear battlecruisers apart and make baby ships.

The pirates and the Fenris, a.k.a., the Wanderer
I'm a little confused in this. I think the ambitious Captain Wolfe "Moss" Guzarwan is "leading" the fake delegation from Ueshiba while Captain Oberon Jalla claims to be part of the Concordia Shipping Company of Third Brunswick. Dhotrumi is Guzarwan's computer geek. Vacahli is in command of the boarding parties. Shora; Mota; and Labroo, his second-in-command, are part of the plan. Seems Canaan is Guzarwan's client.

The Secours sale at Marienbad in Haven
Haven ship RHNS Saintonge is hosting…
…the Secours sale. Commodore Jason Flanders commands the Saintonge. Ambassador Boulanger is the head of the Havenite delegation. Lieutenant Riley pilots a shuttle. Crevillan is the shuttle's coxswain; Prevost is the co-pilot.

General Chu is in command of the land forces on Marienbad.

Other systems interested in the sale include…
…Micah, Zuckerman, the ravaged Ramon, Suchien, Yalta, and Casca.

Captain Gordon Henderson is with the Cascan Defense Force and brings their pirate problem to everyone's attention. He is also the new commander of the former RHNS Péridot. Kanth Padua is the chief Yaltan delegate. Petrov Nahnawa is Ramon's chief delegate.

Beowulf
Axelrod of Terra is…
…a star-spanning megacorporation. Karen Wamocha is a manager. Luther Luangpraseut is an analyst working under Wamocha who believes he's found a new wormhole near Manticore. Carnahiba and Oehm are other analysts.

The mining ship
Rafe Hanford is an asteroid miner and now commands his own small ship, the Rafe's Scavenger. Katerina Shankweiler seems to be his engineer. Gratz is the pilot. Pickering, Chou, and Juarez are part of the crew.

Gustav Anderman is a mercenary. Acton and Samuel Tilliotson each own a single-ship freight company in Manticore. Countess Acton has built one merchantman and wants to build two more.

Genies are humans who have been genetically altered to better survive particular planets. The Brotherhood sounds as if they were a very, very powerful group of pirates who were able to terrify whole planets.

THE COVER & THE TITLE
It s a Baen cover with its cartoonish graphics. The background is a black space with the Saintonge filling most of it as that shuttle is about to blow up on top of it, and a spacesuited Massingill is blasting out into space away from the eruption to come.

The title is all about Travis, it's A Call to Duty for him and others like him.

"A Call to Duty" is the first in the "Manticore Ascendant" naval SF series which is set in the same Universe as the "Honor Harrington" books but nearly four centuries earlier, The Honor Harrington Books are set about 2,000 years in the future, this series begins in 3532 AD/CE, or 1529 "post Diaspora" in the Honorverse calendar. That actually puts this story in the same century as the trilogy featuring Honor Harrington's ancestor Stephanie, which begins with "A Beautiful Friendship (Star Kingdom (Quality))" and starts in 3521 AD/CE by our calendar.

"A call to duty" only has two names on the cover but in fact is a collaboration between three authors - David Weber who originally created the Honor Harrington universe, Timothy Zahn whose substantial output includes some of the best "Star Wars" novels and "The Cobra Trilogy (Baen Books Megabooks)" and successors, and Thomas Pope. There is an author's note in which Weber and Zahn explain the contribution of Thomas Pope, who is one of the "BuNine" Honorverse fan club.

The hero of the new series is Travis Long, who previously appeared in the novella "A Call to Arms" by Timothy Zahn, which appeared in the anthology "Beginnings: Worlds of Honor Book 6 (Honor Harrington)." That story is set later in his career: in this book Travis joins the Royal Manticoran Navy as a seventeen-year-old recruit.

Most of us have met somebody of very high integrity and zero flexibility who is an absolute pain in the neck because they just will not adjust to the real world: most of us have also met people of equally high integrity and a bit more flexibility who are also more likeable because they are open minded enough to make some attempt to allow for the needs and failings of other human beings, but who still attract trouble like a lightning rod because their constant attempt to do the right thing often cause more problems than it solves.

Travis in this story is somewhere between these two positions.

The story is set at a time when the human colony of Manticore, which is many light years from Earth in the back of beyond, has been at peace for a century and is facing arguments about whether it still needs a navy to defend itself. There are political factions which would dearly like to abolish the Royal Manticoran Navy, either to transfer its' resources to use on other priorities or to support their own power bases. They think that there are no threats against whom such a navy might be needed.

Other people in Manticore think the last thing Manticore needs is politicians who think "the Universe is a safe and cozy place," as one of them ironically puts it. Readers of other books in the series such as "House of Steel (Honor Harrington)" will know that those who think the Universe is dangerous are absolutely right. They also know that the men and women of the Royal Manticoran Navy will not just be needed, but find out just how dangerous the Universe really is, far sooner than anyone thinks. Spacers like Travis Long who want to make sure that ships and weapons actually work properly may soon be desperately needed ...

If you are planning to read both I would recommend tackling this book before "A Call to Arms"

I thought this was a well written and entertaining story. I think Zahn and Pope have brought some good ideas and storytelling ability to the Honorverse and am very much looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

Fearful that this full novel set in the Honorverse would be another Weber "Meetingverse" I began this novel with trepidation, ready to set it down like I have all of Weber's latterday Manticore novels. But Hurray! Meetings and Machiavellian office politics take up only 15% of the pages-- and even if that is 10% too many, the other 85% really moves!

Weirdly, our hero is male in gender, something I just didn't think was DONE anymore in military sci-fi. However, I quickly adjusted to Travis Uriah Long as our callow youth catapulted into the Royal Manticoran Navy both as an escape from possible legal trouble and a cold and remote family situation. Yes, it proceeds as pure formula from there, but well done formula at a very quick pace! Boot camp with its troubles and triumphs; early specialty school, with new enemies and new friends; Then duty that starts out dull and disillusioning in a shoddy Navy being downsized and run in large part by mediocrities. When excitement does come with an attempted rescue, events reveal what a poor choice Travis may have made in selecting a navy that is rife with politics and falling apart.

Things ramp up with an interesting new assignment brought about because not everyone in the RMN is deadwood, and Travis' early display of smarts are good for more than just getting him in trouble. Initiative and spark get him sent on a new and scary path.

The last half of the book is tense and exciting as... well no spoilers, but hijacking figures in there somewhere.

I am comfortable with the fact that the story doesn't show our hero ground down to the depths of despair and most of the problem people he meets in the service are not evil incarnate but simply and realistically not up to snuff. This is a novel that sets us up for the development of Manticore as a major power, the RMC as a future version of the Royal Navy, and Travis Uriah Long on what I feel will be a most interesting career in the Royal Manticoran Navy.
Call to Duty also stands well on its own as a great story while making me salivate for the next installment. Well done!

I've read and enjoyed all of Weber's Honorverse novels, as well as the anthologies by various authors, so I was really looking forward to this.

The main character is a bit of an obsessive-compulsive who finds the disorder and less-than-straight-up family environment distressing. He's a good young man, and wants the chance to escape the criminal life around him and be around other good people doing good things... so he enlists in the space navy.

This is a nice twist on the usual coming-of-age, joining-the-military stories, in that the main character, rather than needing to be whipped into shape, finds that things, and the behavior of his mates, are not necessarily up to the quality of his personal standard.

This story unfortunately falls into the habit of the later Honorverse novels of being too heavy on technical descriptions and not heavy enough on the character development. However, there is quite a bit of worldbuilding which feeds into the existing Manticoran universe, and that is quite interesting.

This is a definite must-read for avid Honorverse fans.

The formula for military science fiction follows a predictable arc. The typical story tracks a young man or woman from recruitment to training to war to an ultimate act of heroism. A Call to Duty departs from the formula in some respects by glossing over recruitment and training and focusing instead on the impact of politics on the novel's protagonist. That twist on the formula makes A Call to Duty more interesting than conventional military sf.

Travis "Stickler" Long joins the Royal Manticoran Navy to put discipline into a life that has none. He is called "Stickler" because of his adamant insistence on following military rules. Much of the story's interest comes from the ethical dilemmas he encounters as his desire to obey rules conflicts with friendships and with the pragmatic need to carry out his duty when strict adherence to rules would hinder his ability to succeed.

When the story isn't following Travis, it focuses on the political conflict between Manticore's military and something that is more akin to a spacefaring Coast Guard, tasked with the protection and rescue of merchant ships close to home. Travis' half-brother, Gavin Winterfall, a minor Baron, is recruited by his political betters to support a project to convert old battleships into new, smaller corvettes that will be no longer belong to the Navy. This leads to a political competition that provides much of the story's meat.

The novel's other political element concerns a trade convention on the planet Haven, a leading supplier of military ships. Representatives of various worlds attend the meeting, including poor worlds that can't quite afford warships but still want to protect their merchant ships from piracy. Yet Haven has a hidden agenda, as do the people who want to crash the party so that they can steal a couple of Haven's ships.

A Call to Duty is plot-driven science fiction. It tells a good story while giving only modest attention to character development. That's a common and not particularly troubling problem -- a good story might be enough to ask for in genre fiction -- but the novel would have been better if the characters had been vested with more complex personalities. The last part of the novel is filled with the kind of action that characterizes military sf. It is a little too predictable but reasonably exciting. This is a better political novel than it is an action novel, but the two forms blend nicely.

A CALL TO DUTY is the first book in a new series that takes place early in Manticore's history. The main character is Travis Uriah Long who is seventeen when the story begins. He had been a neglected child and ached for order and boundaries in his life. He rather impulsively joins the Royal Manitcoran Navy in hopes of finding the structure his life had been missing.

Travis hasn't picked the best time to join the Navy. A recent plague and other political considerations have put into question whether or not the navy would continue to exist. There hadn't been any threat to the star system and many in politics felt that the money devoted to the navy could best be used for domestic needs.

The navy itself was going through some issues too. Politically well-connected students were advanced over more competent students and cheating was common. Travis was a rule-follower and his calling attention to breaches in the rules didn't endear him to all his commanding officers or to all of his fellow recruits.

However, he makes it through training and finds himself on a ship where he gets involved in a situation. He comes up with a possible solution but can't get the commanding officer to accept it which leads to the death of a ship which happened to contain two of the people who helped him when he was a recruit.

He is surprised when he is assigned to another ship that is on its way to a meeting with Haven and some other star systems. He is even more surprised when a well-planned pirate attack happens. Despite being a rule follower, Travis also has a unique way of thinking outside the box. He does manage to provide some ideas that are very useful in Manticore's counter-attack.

This story has a lot of the usual Honorverse things - political intrigue and infighting, lots of descriptions of ships and weapons, and multiple points of view. It provides a good explanation of the development of the Star Kingdom.

I enjoyed watching Travis find his people and find a place in the Royal Manticoran Navy. I look forward to his further adventures.

One should not be confused by the listing of authors. As you read this you can see that Weber has minimal to do with the writing, for this book is actually readable. It is a story that has a beginning, middle and end and does not suffer from Webers repetition. It does not suffer from the over use of title dropping that serves to confuse. It does not suffer from a multiplicity of characters so that it takes you have a chapter to decide who is in the conversation.

Weber gave us a universe and he used to know how to write, but his solo work has shown that he suffers from successful writer ego. Been fortunately has gone to its stable of competent writers to find those who can take a story idea and create a true novel from it.

Zahn was a successful writer long before we had heard of Weber, and then he was not so successful. Here he tells a great tale that lays the work for the foundation of the growth of the universe that Weber allows his Honorers to play in.

It reminds me a great deal of the Engineer stories from James Doohan as our hero is not the heroic watch officer, or jet fighter pilot. Our hero is at first a tech, but one who sees things outside of the box, and the science is grafted to support his theories. The politics is a little forced and one sees the hand of Weber again there for Weber has striven to make the politics of his series more convoluted as it progressed.

Aside from the places where you can tell Weber has pushed the story from its path, it is a good read and perhaps will be a worthwhile series to reread.

As high as David Weber was on my list of favorite authors, and as much as I love Honor and Stephanie Harrington, I have to say that I was getting tired of 600 pages of calculations of mass, velocity, speeds, times, etc. (I am an engineer, and yes, sometimes I DO want to do the math!) It is all very impressive, and contributes immensely to the authenticity, but I am not sure how much it contributes to the plot and pacing.

I have always wondered how Weber could crank out so many hundreds of thousands of words per year. I have been suspicious all along that Weber had a role-playing group actually enacting these stories and he just logged them and added all of the characters and side plots. He essentially confirmed this in the Afterword to this book.

BuNine is the role-playing group. I believe I can discern the increasing BuNine influence over the years. I liked the earliest Honorverse books better than the later ones.

Call To Duty has the flavor and pacing of the best of the earlier Honorverse books. It is pre-Honorverse, but is 100% Manticore-verse. It may be more Timothy Zahn than David Weber. It has just enough BuNine (Thomas Pope) to keep it VERY hard SF, but not enough to get in the way of the plot and pacing. The very close, personal, character-driven viewpoint is a lot more entertaining and satisfying than the broad systemwide battle scenes involving people and ordinance in numbers with lots of commas.

A brand new series in Weber's Star Nations saga that spawned Honor Harrington, set before Manticore's ascendancy when the Star Kingdom was one of many the Diaspora nations and when Haven was still fairly young.
Travis Uriah Long is an exciting new character with that sense of honour, truth and gutsy characteristics that those gallant icons we loved in the Honor novels displayed. On the converse side there are those money grabbing politically adapt morally bankrupt characters and downright evil plotters as well.
As I see, it the character that could go either way is Travis' half brother Gavin, the young Baron Winterfell, who's tied up with the 'let's get rid of the RMN' group. Will he go the way of the corrupt or will he become a bulwark for the navy group. Only time will tell.
So when it seems politically expedient to cut up the Royal Manticorian battleships and send that budget somewhere else the anti navy (politically bankrupt) group is baying for blood. After all there's no-one out there who has their eyes focused on Manticore, or is there?
Caught in the middle is the monarchy. Hopefully they are lying in wait and not sleeping.
I look forward to the continuing surprises this series is going to bring.
With Weber and Zahn at the helm I'm sure we're in for a great ride!

A NetGalley ARC

Oh, sooo entertaining! This is military science fiction at its best! And it isn't Honor Harrington's Manticore; it's that world 330 years before she was born. However, many of the problems that plagued the military of Honor's time show up in this prequel: budget problems, the adverse effect of political power struggles, governmental mismanagement, nepotism, snooty attitudes of the upper-class, and example after example of why the military invented the term SNAFU (Situation Normal - All F*ed Up).

The protagonist is Travis Uriah Long, a young man who desires the discipline he assumes is to be found in the Manticore Navy, who longs for the structure and boundary-setting he had never received from his disconnected mother after his father died. Unlike the big-picture thinking and strategic problems we observe Honor having in her series of stories as an officer candidate and a commissioned officer in the Navy, here we see Travis's more personal point of view as an enlisted man. His problems are tactical in nature, interpersonal or technical, and we celebrate his outside-of-the-box solutions.

Thematically, the problems faced in the story involve the purloining of goods or equipment and the ineptitude and lack of discipline exhibited by Travis's shipmates. As Travis grows from a raw recruit to an experienced sailor these problems expand in scope and danger. Along the way, we commiserate with him on the unfairness of life, celebrate his ingenuity, and get absorbed in the tension and danger that he and his shipmates face. A most entertaining read! I hope we get to see more of Travis in the stories that follow A Call to Duty!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I had somewhat high hopes for this new series because although I'd consider myself a pretty big Honor Harrington fan I feel like that series peaked at "In Enemy Hands" and "Echoes of Honor" and has been getting drawn out past it's natural life-span by ever more ridiculous plots. I do remember liking Zahn's Star Wars series back in the day though and had hope that he'd breathe some new life into the Honorverse. Not so much.

Overall a less than thrilling plot, a slow start (with really underwhelming time at Basic Training), the standard venal politicians that Weber likes to focus on these days, and characters (including the main) that just aren't very compelling. Perhaps they'll pick things up as they go along but I think fans of both Weber and Zahn are destined to be disappointed with this one.

BTW...the tremendous volume of brief 5-star reviews in here...probably the most blatant attempt to skew an the store rating that I've ever seen. Not even close.

I like a well rendered tale about a young fellow of good intent, merit and gumption who finds helpers along the way to aid him on the path of life. Travis Uriah Long is just such a character. David Weber created the Honorverse, a future society far into the galaxy, and has now written his 23rd volume peopling the fictional space with events, history and characters millions of us have grown to enjoy. We buy the books as they come off the press.
Weber and his co-writer Timothy Zahn have begun a new Honorverse series, Manticore Ascendant, with “A Call to Duty”. The MA books pre-date other works in the Honorverse.
Travis Uriah Long lives several hundred years before the birth of Honor Harrington. We enter the story in the Star Kingdom of Manticore, a bombasticly named little batch of planets far from anywhere of any importance. Beset by internal conflict and an economy trying to recover from a disastrous plague, the Star Kingdom has trouble a-plenty. Long, a youngster without a clear path or many prospects, enlists in the Royal Manticore Navy as a common spacer.
I enjoyed this edition even more than some of the previous Weber novels. I think the Timothy Zahn addition brings something extra and even better to the mix of ideas. Lucky for us Weber writes fast. We can hope for another turn of the page soon. Good.

This a copy of my the store review and pics may not transfer.

I checked out this book through the Mead Public Library in my hometown. I do not own it, but I added pics of the book and barcode from the Library.

This book works hard to setup the beginning of the of a strong Manticore Navy thru the eyes of one recruit, Travis Long, and his actions. There are many side characters, a great deal of conversation with the sideshow of politics and horse-trading. There is also some space action which is suspenseful and easily stimulate your brain.

All in all, a fair book which most Honorverse fans should read.

I am listening to the audible version of "A Call To Duty."

Cons:
Hand-waving physics
Paper cut-out characters
Inexplicable non-use of extant technology
Do you really think that "gravivid" operators - analogous to sonar operators on todays subs won't have access to an instant database lookup of ships signatures? That only experienced old-timers will be able to say, something like, "Seems like a pre-disgronified diddle bucket I once ran into on the Kessel Run?"

A Call To Duty by David Weber, Timothy Zahn, (and Thomas Pope)
(While I did receive a copy of this book free for an honest review, I did purchase a copy)

I am a huge science fiction fan, and when I saw a prequel Honorverse novel offered on Netgalley I was excited. Timothy Zahn and David Weber are both fantastic authors and I could not wait to see what they would do together. I read the original Honorverse novels back in the 90’s and this does capture much of what I liked about those original books.

Now I have read a ton of Military training novels set in a future world that reads very present day. (Heinlein’s Lazaras Long series, Gordon R Dickenson’s Dorsai to name a few) This novel focuses on Travis Uriah Long, son of a middling level noble family who happens into a recruiting office for the Royal Manticore Navy when his buddies are robbing a jewelry store. (hokey. yes a bit.) and Long follows a bit of a stereotypical "underachiever who comes up with brilliant unconventional solutions to save the day....every time", oh and he is a Ship Lawyer (ask a Navy friend what that means) so I was not particularly impressed with Long and that is why the three stars. Not because of poor writing or bad pseudo science, just the main character took a while for me to like reading about. And Boy were there a lot of characters to get to know.

Along the way we collect a rather impressive number of supporting cast, which is normal in a science fiction story, but the sheer number of throwaway “red shirt” characters was surprising especially since this might be a Honorverse novel, but it takes place long before the others, AND a good twenty years after the first book was published. Even having read the earlier books, I still was lost at times with geography, or place in space of the various worlds and shipping lanes that are talked about but just sort of waved as “out there”. This is a first book in a new series so there is a lot of set up. Be prepared for a lot of techno babble, and committee meetings. It bogged down in the middle (there are several "we jump three years in the future" parts that happen abruptly), but the story picked up once they were in Haven space and Stayed in one place for a time.

This is a slow starting book that jumps around a lot in the beginning, but once Travis is actually on a proper ship and the action starts, it is a good start to a new part of the Honorverse space opera.

After reading nearly 20 books from the contemporary Honorverse, it's great to jump into some stories from the historical Honorverse before the eponymous heroine's time. A time when the Solarian League is the technological leader of the Galaxy and Manticorans and Havenites are friendly trading partners. Getting into the politics of the monarchy is also fun.

Aside from the different time and characters, it's Weber's "comeuppance porn" as usual: characters get exactly what's coming to them based on how competent they are, how honorable they are, how they follow the rules, etc. I've read so much Weber that I'm not even mad at how predictable it is; I actually crave it!

David Weber enlists Timothy Zahn for A Call to Duty (trade from Baen) in a tale set in the early years of the Manticore kingdom when politicians want to get rid of the Solarian Battle cruisers moth-balled in orbit because the kingdom has no threats. The tale follows Travis Uriah Long through his enlistment in the Navy till he is part of a special mission to investigate ships that Haven is selling. Pirates have decided to highjack two destroyers but thankfully a Manticore Battle cruiser is available to stop them. Fun.Review printed in the Philadelphia Weekly Press

With a skillful blending of political intrigue and naval action, A Call to Duty is an excellent read. The Star Kingdom of Manticore is a kingdom of only three planets, and their primary defense is that there is nothing worth invading for. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is leading the fight to downsize the navy. Defense is looking to modernize and hold on to what they already have. The Republic of Haven is inviting all of the local star nations to a used warship sail in order to get their help in a fight against space pirates.
For fans of Honor Harrington, this book is excellent backstory giving an idea as to where the Star Kingdom came from before it was a major player in the region. The life in the Navy sections of the book had me checking Weber’s bio to see how long he spent in the Navy. Surprisingly, it looks like none. However, Navy life was portrayed so realistically, it is a must read for any fan of military science fiction.

A Call to Duty
David Weber and Timothy Zahn
Baen, Oct 7 2014, $25.00
ISBN 9781476736846

Seventeen years old Travis Uriah Long knows life changed when his dad died as his mom seems lost and inattentive to him. Though some teens would relish all that freedom, Travis misses some adult supervision. Thus Travis enlists in the Navy. After surviving boot camp, Travis attends advanced training school before being assigned to a battlecruiser.

Travis’ older half-brother, Baron of Winterfall Gavin Vellacott listens to Chancellor of the Exchequer, Earl Breakwater argue to disestablish the Navy; as the impoverished Star Kingdom of Manticore has better uses than funding a horrible defenseless fleet. Defense Minister James Mantegn, the Earl of Dapplelake, disagrees though accepts the assessment that the vessels should have been mothballed and replaced, and the corrupt lazy officers dismissed. Gavin offers a compromise that methodically reduces the Navy while assessing the impact on security. The Crown Prince Edward Winton, an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, wants to modernize the fleet and remove the freeloaders while much of Parliament wants to reprogram the naval budget for other purposes.

Occurring several centuries before Honor Harrington began breathing; the first marvelous Manticore Ascendant science fiction thriller focuses (through the subplots of the half-brothers) on a critical political-military budget debate (guns or butter). Fans, especially armchair historiographers, will relish A Call To Duty as what is ancient history (and legend) in the Harrington saga is new or relatively recent in this winning outer space drama; and at times differ in what each era believes happened.

Harriet Klausner

Another cluster...of authors working together to produce substandard fare. Whoever was in charge of the prose never met an adverb he didn't want to use ten times, almost *reflexively*.

Long sections of weak text narrative, telling events in a linear fashion while skipping over the things that make a book interesting, like character interaction and dynamic tension. I looked forward to the "boot camp" section HOPING I'd find something like Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Ehhhh. Wrong. Boot camp in A Call to Duty is exhausting, or so we're told. The only time we see any part of it is during the Great Food Theft Caper. The rest is glossed over with, and I paraphrase: It made him very tired.

My question is: Where are the editors and why are they allowing big name authors like Weber to produce this amateurish level of work?

I actually bought this book from the publishers web site.

It is kind of a prequel to the Honor Harrington Universe series, which has probably mostly run out its course.

This shortish book tells the story of the first few years of Travis Long's adventures in the Royal Manticoran Navy as a spacer, before he is sent to college and OCS.

It has some good stuff, including a lot of political background that makes for good reading.

In this book that pre-dates the Honerverse series of books, we find a Manticore that has just gotten over an empidemic and is in a state of trying to bring their economy back into an upward swing. We find a Manticore not at the cutting edge of technology nor is it the wormhole junction that it becomes in the Honerverse timeline.

The story focuses around Travis Long, an enlisted spacer who really did not have much going for him before he joined the Royal Manticorian Navy. Travis finds that all is not as he thought it would be, with politics, nepotism and general human disregard for rules being a large part of his military experience. Add to this his 'out of the box' thinking that brings him to the notice of his superiors, both good and bad.

David Weber does a great job of bringing a human element into the story. There are challenges to overcome, personal issues to examine and a nefarious unknown enemy with a hidden agenda.

I really enjoyed the story and hope to see the next book out soon. Plus I hope to see another Honor Harrington book out there as well.

Travis Long seeks structure and discipline in the Royal Manticore Navy but finds rampant favoritism and, worse a dearth of motivation. Fortunately there are a few good women and, men who love their country and its navy. This volume recounts his struggles up from the hawse into OCS. An exciting new branch or perhaps root for what has been an extended and excellent alternate world series.

I really enjoyed this book, starting a new series in the Honorverse. I will mention that this book is highly character driven and slower moving than those in other series, so if you require fast action and lots of 'splodies you might be disappointed. Stick with it. I suspect things will be heating up in future books.

I always enjoy stepping into one of David Weber’s stories. I know it will be interesting and well written. A Call to Duty, by David Weber and Timothy Zahn (the store link) doesn’t disappoint. Set in the Honor Harrington universe, but many years before she arrives on the scene, the people of Manticore are rebuilding, following a devastating plague. With no wars being fought, some of the politicians would like to dismantle the Royal Navy and dedicate additional resources to other endeavors. The process begins. Fortunately, it doesn’t get too far.

Enter a young man flirting with trouble, Travis Uriah Long. Finding no structure in his home life, he enlists in the Manticore Royal Navy. Travis doesn’t find as much discipline or structure as he was hoping, and falls afoul of certain senior officers. Fortunately, others are on his side, or at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Showing a talent for learning star ship mechanics, he eventually finds himself assigned to a ship reconstruction crew lacking — you guessed it! — discipline and structure. The story takes off from there, with Long serving on a star ship that goes on rescue missions, and later battles pirates. For the sake of brevity, I’m simplifying things in the extreme. The book is much more original than that.

Likeable characters, good action scenes, intrigue, and tough decisions all factor into a grand space opera and a welcome addition (as the start of a new series) in the Honor Harrington universe. Just don’t go looking for her.

Confession: I didn’t read the entire book in one sitting; I took a few minutes to grab a bite to eat.

You’ll enjoy A Call to Duty. I certainly did!

It's obvious this was written mostly by Tim Zahn rather than David Weber. The style is completely different, and a nice change of pace from Weber's normal Honorverse books. Better than Weber's own Stephanie Harrington books. much less concerned with tech details and with better character development.

A Call to Duty (2014) is the first SF novel in the Manticore Ascendant series. This volume is set four centuries before Honor Harrington.

Parliament consists of various groups of empire builders. The Star Kingdom of Manticore has a navy, but the ships are old and the personnel are mostly slackard officers and thieving enlisted. Some members of Parliament want to kill the Navy budget.

In this novel, Travis Uriah Long is seventeen. His school grades were fair, but not high. He doesn't know what he is going to do next.

Gavin Vellacott is the Baron of Winterfall. He is an older half-brother of Travis. He is starting to learn the ropes in the House of Lords.

Earl Breakwater is the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the Star Kingdom. He is ambitious and wants to disband the Navy.

James Mantegn is Earl Dapplelake. He is the Defense Minister.

Edward Winton is the Crown Prince of the Star Kingdom. He is a serving officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy.

In this story, Travis is going out for the evening and wants the aircar. He finds his mother feeding the dogs. He informs her of his plans and asks for permission to use the aircar. She agrees, but doesn't stop attending the dogs.

Before his father died, his parents were in his life. Since then, his mother has not paid much attention to him. He gets to do anything he wants to do, but he craves order and adult guidance.

Travis meets his friends in town. They are going to buy a gift for a girlfriend at the jewelry store and then go out to eat. They ask Travis to wait for them at his aircar.

While they are gone, Travis notices that one of the stores is now a recruiting station. He goes over to talk to the recruiter. While they are talking, Travis hears gunshots.

The recruiter tells him to stay there and goes over to the door with a pistol. Travis follows behind her. The shooting seems to be coming from the jewelry store. By the time the police arrive, Travis has completed most of the paperwork to join the Navy.

Boot Camp is a shock to Travis. His muscles are always sore. He has to learn new ways of doing things. But one day he becomes accustomed to the grind.

After graduating, Travis goes to impeller tech school. This time he suffers nightmares. But one day his brain catches on and his nights are calm.

Then he notices that half the class are cheating on the tests. He reports the cheating to his officer, but nothing is done. Finally his petty officer explains that the school just gives them background skills. The real training will be done onboard their ships.

Travis is not happy with this news, but adjusts to his environment. He still can't cheat because it just isn't part of his mindset. After graduating, he is assigned to one of the working battlecruisters.

Meanwhile, Gavin is called to a meeting with Breakwater and his faction. He is informed about Breakwater's views on the Navy and brought up to date. He decides to join the group.

Breakwater presents his case to the King and the Navy. Dapplelake presents the Navy's argument. The two continue down the same well trodden path. Dapplelake asks Gavin what he thinks.

Gavin presents a well considered plan that changes things, but allows time for evaluation of the results. Both sides agree to his approach. Afterward, Breakwater thinks him for moving the proposal forward.

This tale introduces a ship sale by the Navy of the Republic of Haven. This will also includes a gathering of governmental representatives from the region. Parliament sends several emissaries to the meeting.

Edward is interested in building their own warships. The RMN sends a destroyer to see what kind of ships are being bought at the sale. Travis is included in the venture.

Some pirates are also interested in the ships. The next installment in this sequence has not yet been announced on the store.

Highly recommended for Weber & Zahn fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of naval affairs, political intrigue, and a touch of romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

No up to snuff for Timothy Zahn or David Weber... big snoozer. Kept waiting for it to get up to speed and it never did. If you expecting an Honor Harrington book you will be sorely disappointed. Never got out of first gear and you don't ever really like the main character. Skip it, unless you are a hardcore fan. And I really like the above two authors. Sometimes 2+2=10 in collaborations but this equation = only a 1.

I am surprised that the writer of "On Basilisk Station" would put his name to this. There is no charm, no depth, no invitation to enter the story. I got the book from the library, read a few pages, and gave it up. The cardboard cut-out characters are introduced as stereotypes wrapped in cliche' situations, with no promise of it getting any better. The only thing this book has in common with Honor Harrington is in the misuse of her name.

Come on, Mr. Weber. I know you can do better than this. You've proven it many times in the Manticore books I've enjoyed. I think Zahn et al wrote this.

I say it's the best Honorverse book I've read. to be honest it's only the second I've been able to read. The other being the first of the tree cat books. ( I haven't bothered with the second). I'm usually turned off by the spin-offs and haven't read the last Honor book because it has been reviewed as a honorverse book and not a real Honor Harington. Any way I say all that to say that I liked this book. It's really a prequel not really a spin off, and that's what makes it good. Being set 300 years or so before Basilisk gives it the room for the characters to have their own lives but familiar enough to jump right into the story. I still had a little trouble with Travis not acting like a fully matured Honor, but it didn't hurt the story at all. Just a note: I reviewed this under my the store account but bought the kindle edition of this book on my wife's account witch we share, It's unfair to her to catch any flak for my words. I have been accused of not buying a book I reviewed.

When I saw this book was written by David Weber, I just knew it was going to be a good read. And I wasn't disappointed.

This story is what we once called an E-ticket ride. Absolutely the best! It's a good science fiction story with lots of action and a plot that's fast moving and suspenseful. Fans of "Ender's Game" will love Travis Long, a smart and likable character. The good news is the end of this story sets the stage for the next volume in the series. I will be looking forward to the next Travis Long book.

It's a very good book. It compares favourably to most Weber books.

Pros: Characters were interesting. It was always fun waiting to see if Long was really messing something up, or being setup for unsung victory - you never know which it is until the dust settles.

Cons: It could have been longer, I suppose. They should have told the story of Long's second ship in parallel to his own, setting up the ship and its crew before he got to it.

Phooey on the naysayers. This is a FANTASTIC beginning to a new Honorverse series! I love Travis Long & all the characters interacting with him. Bravo, guys! I can hardly wait for the next one!

This entry in the Honorverse lexicon is very well done. Lays out in great detail the beginnings of the rise of the Manticore "Empire". Lots of great new characters, and looking forward to the next book in this mini-series.

Wonderful start to what I hope is a nice, long series. I've been looking forward to this book for a while now, and while it started a little slow, once the action picked up, it was everything I'd hoped it would be. It's a great expansion to the Honor Harrington series, but at the same time, you don't need to be familiar with the universe to enjoy it. Although if you haven't read the Honor Harrington books, you need to fix that right now.

Great new series. I'm always a little leary about shared author books. They tend to be only as good as the least author. Weber has at least one co-author I don't care for. (Professional even there, just not to my taste.) But he picked a good one this time! I'm ready for the second book in this series.

Whew! Another stunner from David Weber! Non-stop, can't put down but......where's the next installment?
Some of Weber's books are tedious, not many and not this one, but if you're reading this review you already knew that.

An excellent start to what I hope will be a new series in the Honorverse. I like the fact that this is a prequel and the RMN is a nascent force waiting for the chance to shine. The story itself was entertaining and the central character starts out in as a square peg because he's trying to fit into the wrong slot, but the foundation for further stories is laid.

Just finished A Call to Duty. I really enjoyed the book and eagerly anticipating the next one. They all put out a great book. Loved the character progression. I know a bit of the lore and can't wait to read it.