A Call to Vengeance (Manticore Ascendant)

As much as I enjoy the Manticore series it can descend into long technical explanations. This book was full of great characters and a good well paced story. Much enjoyed, I can’t wait for the next one.

Again. We Arctic going into the world of the Manticoran Navy. David Weber writes with a male protagonist as well as he does with a female protagonist, making both believable and bringing them to life.

Absolutely phenomenal, love Honor Harrington and Zahn brings a superb element that is like an extra gleam on top of a platinum that already shines. Very much looking forward to more of their collaboration!!

As I've come to expect with anything David Weber is involved with, this book was awesome! I really enjoy the complexity of the characters and the detail of the space battles. I can't wait for the next one!

Well now, this is far better than the first two entries. This is much more action packed, the plot moves along much faster, and I'm really becoming interested in that way where you are impatient to see how things resolve and try to read faster.I'm still not in love with Travis Long but he is starting to grow on me. As is his brother and a few others. I was disappointed it ended without resolving everything but knew that wasn't going to happen. I am, however, impatient for the next book, which I certainly wasn't after the first.

I obtained this book directly from the publisher's (Baen's) website.
I picked this one to read, because it was a finalist fer the 2018 Dragon Award for 'Best Military Science Fiction Novel;' and it WON! Congratulations to the team!

This book, like many others on the list, is a single installment in a series. However, unlike the other finalists, the three volume series is only a small part of the overall body of work in the Honor Harrington/Manticore universe. It's a bit of a numbing experience to try to do justice to a single patch in the quilt.

That isn't meant to be a criticism of the book. It's well-written, good characters, good story; all the things you want to find when you pick up a space opera, with a sufficient quantity of exploding spaceships. The ONLY way in which the book suffers from being a part of such an extensive library is that the cast of characters is....massive. I include in 'characters' not only people, but factions, governments, and entire systems. They are so developed in the OTHER parts of the body of work, that they have to be included to some extent in any installment that isn't specifically limited to a specific individual or incident; for example, the treecat-human relationship. That can be, and was, executed with very little reference to the outside world. In a novel of this type, though, those well-developed entities must appear, and it can be overwhelming, unless you have made it a point to read everything in this universe.

And speaking of: Lt. Travis Long is a young man of proficient skills, as well as the ability to have flashes of insight that can make the difference in a battle. He does NOT have the ability to keep his mouth shut when people with power and influence are being stupid, and that gets him into trouble. Fortunately for him, his talents have been noticed by people who are a bit above the ordinary political games, and he is given the opportunity to develop some additional sets of skills (as in: espionage).

Elizabeth had the misfortune to be born a royal, but because she had an older brother who bore children, she was able to do things other than be an aristocrat. That didn't last. It's rather amazing just how far the reach of her commitments to her people goes.

And meanwhile, everyone in the entire planetary system has been placed on notice that their lives and security are nothing more than dust in the wind, when repeated attacks by unknown forces bring every defect in their naval defenses to light, in the worst way possible.

I had a VERY strange experience as I started to read this work: I felt like I was sinking into a relaxing pool of water, and letting all my weary muscles get a rest. I really wasn't expecting that; yes, I have greatly enjoyed stories in this universe before, but I wouldn't claim to be a devotee. However, I just KNEW I was going to enjoy reading the book, that it wasn't in ANY sense going to be a struggle. Thus, I can highly recommend that you read this, but you REALLY need to read a LOT more to properly appreciate what you find here.
It will be time well spent.

This book, "A Call to Vengeance" by David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Tom Pope, is the third in the "Manticore Ascendant" naval Science Fiction series which is set in the same Universe as the "Honor Harrington" books but nearly four centuries earlier. It follows on from

A Call to Duty (Manticore Ascendant series Book 1), and
A Call to Arms (Manticore Ascendant series Book 2).

Those who have read any of the books about Honor Harrington or her contemporaries will know that in this series the Royal Manticoran Navy must eventually defeat both the internal political opponents who want to close it down and various external bad guys who are plotting to destroy the independence of the Star Kingdom - because the RMN is still around for Honor Harrington to serve in several centuries later. However, you don't know exactly how, or which of the supporting characters will survive so there is still plenty of tension.

Those who want to know a very broad outline of the events described in this series can find it in the companion book House of Steel (Honor Harrington Universe Book 1) in the section on Manticoran history. Those who hate spoilers,. however, might be well advised not to look at pages 236, 237 and particularly 262 of that book until you have read "A call to Vengeance" and possibly the next book, because I think the autnors must be planning at least one more.

I had originally understood that "Manticore Ascendant" was going to be a trilogy but the story isn't finished yet and some of the key events described in "House of Steel" as occurring at this time have not yet come to pass by the end of "A Call to Vengeance."

The Honor Harrington Books are set about two thousand years in the future, this series begins five hundred years earlier and this book starts in in 3546 AD, or 1543 "Post Diaspora" in the Honorverse calendar.

That puts this story in the same century as the trilogy featuring Honor Harrington's ancestor Stephanie, which begins with "A Beautiful Friendship" and starts in 3521 AD/CE by our calendar. So the characters of this series would be alive at the same time as Stephanie Harrington but to date there has been no overlap at all between the two series or any indication that any of them ever met her.

The primary hero of the new series, Travis Long, was put onto the track for promotion to be an officer at the end of the first book: at the start of this one, about none years later and fourteen years after joining the Royal Manticoran Navy as a teenager, he is a Lieutenant. Meanwhile his half brother is still allied to the idiotic politicians who are trying to shut down the navy.

That group of daft politicians, including Travis's brother Gavin, are still doing so at the start of this book even after Manticore has narrowly survived a sudden and unprovoked attack by a large force of mercenaries. They justify this insanity by the argument that a system defence force consisting of lots of small ships would provide a more effective defence and be less of a provocation to other powers than a proper navy with some large ships and force projection capabilities.

Meanwhile the Manticoran Navy is still trying to work out who attacked them and why, and whether there is likely to be a follow up assault. Travis Long, Lisa Donelly, Chomps Townsend and several other new and old characters find themselves in a race for time and a search for clues ...

This series fills in a lot of the backstory for the Honor Harrington Universe. At this time the Haven system has not yet become the "People's Republic of Haven" and they are still friends with Manticore. Gustav Anderman, the half-mad military genius who founded the Anderman Empire, has just begun his career of conquest. There are a number of encounters in this story with people who are apparently the ancestors of characters from Honor's time - mostly showing similar characteristics to their descendants although not always - one ancestor of a villain seems harmless enough, in other cases ancestors of brilliant officers can be incompetent ones or vice versa.

Anyone who has read the "Honor Harrington" books already knows that the Manticore system contains a wormhole junction of immense strategic and commercial value, but at the time of the first two books in this series that wormhole network has not yet been discovered and nobody on Manticore suspects it might be there. Which is why they don't realise they have anything which might make it worth anyone's while to invade them.

But at the end of the first book before this one, a scientist working for a very powerful, wealthy and greedy corporation called Axelrod had worked out that there might be one or more wormhole termini in the Manticore system ...

The reader knows throughout the second and third books that Axelrod is behind the attacks on Manticore and why, but as at the start of this book the "good guys" have no idea what's going on. Alexrod's representative, a master spy called Jeremiah Llyn with a thousand faces and a capacity for killing anyone who gets in his way which makes Ernst Stavro Blofield appear squeamish, always seems to be one step ahead of them ...

The book is Space Opera rather than romance or comedy but there are gags scattered through it which I found to be laugh-out-loud funny. Look out for the Monty Python reference ("No one expects the Spanish Inquisition") in the second paragraph, for instance.

I enjoyed this book and the first two books in this series. I think Zahn and Pope have brought some good ideas and storytelling ability to the Honorverse, hope that I's correct in assuming there will have to be at least one more in this series and look forward to reading it.

The events in this third entry into the Manticore Ascendant series follow closely on the events of book 2. The Royal Manticoran Navy is trying to pick up the pieces remaining after the battle with pirates was won and the politicians, especially Lord Breakwater, are trying to further reduce the power and influence of the Navy. When a second wave of attack comes just weeks after the first, it is up to the RMN to defend Manticore with a very damaged Navy. Luckily, a bluff suggested by Travis Long manages to send them running for safety.

We, the readers, know why this unknown force wants Manticore, but no one on Manticore does. Since one of the viewpoint characters is Mr. Llyn who is the puppetmaster pulling all these strings to get Manticore for his employers.

Travis is recruited into a new intelligence force that is led by a former cabinet member and is working without the oversight of the Office of Naval Intelligence. His mission is to track down the pirates who attempted to invade Manticore. To do this he is assigned as an officer on the most up-to-date ship in the RMN which has the mission of doing a tour to try to drum up business for a new Manticore shipbuilding operation. One of the first stop connects them with an Andermani "freighter" where they learn that they aren't the only ones on the trail of the pirate. Apparently the Andermani Emperor wants his found and destroyed.

Meanwhile, Travis's girlfriend and fellow RMN officer Lisa Donnelly is part of another mission to Haven to try to track down some parts found in the wreckage after the battle also in hopes of locating the pirate. There Lisa reconnects with a woman who was RMN bur moved to Haven and is now a shining light in their military. Together they are also trying to destroy piracy that affects Haven.

Meanwhile, Mr. Llyn has decided that his hired pirates have outlived their usefulness and know to much about his secret employer and need to be taken off the board. I started to almost feel sorry for Admiral Cutler Gensonne and his mercenary band given that Manticore, Haven, the Andermani and his own employer Llyn were all, individually, working to defeat him.

Back on Manticore, the monarchy changes hands when King Edward and Crown Princess Sophie die in a boating accident and Edward's widowed sister Elizabeth becomes the new queen. Lord Breakwater looks on this as an opportunity to increase his power and prestige as he tries to find a way to influence or control her. The death of the long-standing Prime Minister also helps destabilize things. But Elizabeth isn't a pushover. She is very able to deal with the political maneuvering fomented by Breakwater.

This was another intriguing science fiction space opera about the early days of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. I hope that there are more books planned for this prequel series to the Honor Harrington books. Int

About halfway through this book, I realized what bothered me so much about this series. I REALLY dislike Travis Long. He is an annoying character who feels like he should develop and grow, but never does. In the first book, it made sense for him to be hidebound and rules-obsessed, but in the 10+ years since, he should have mellowed. Although it seems at times like he has, he'll turn around and do something to show he has not.

So why, if I dislike the main character, did I rate this book 4 stars? Because really, LT (later LCDR) Long does not play the starring role. Other characters are taking more of the spotlight, which is making this series better. Also, this book is slowly getting back to what I like about the Honor Harrington books - space combat! There is still a lot of politics, and the lead-up to the battles is long, but even the lead-up is good, in that it builds the way the early HH books built. You know where it is going - you just have to get there.

However, one thing really bothered me at the start of the book. Earl Breakwater does not seem to pay a political price for his shortsightedness. The Star Kingdom ends Book 2 with a clear sign that the rest of the galaxy is out there and they need a strong defense force, but the man who has been fighting against that same force (who has been shown to be clearly very wrong), just goes about his life and job. In reality, the King and Defense Minister could have easily spoken up and shoved Breakwater's folly in his face, weakening his political power and reducing him to a back-row hack. (He is the Exchequer, but he serves at the pleasure of the King, and pulling the rug out from under him would have been the perfect opportunity to take away his position.) And yet, they do nothing. Everyone just continues along as if no major crisis had barely been averted by the horribly under-supplied, under-staffed Navy. (I suspect the book was written that way to lead into the rise of Elizabeth II, but it makes no sense in-world.)

I enjoyed this third installment in the Manticore Ascendant series. If you enjoyed the first two, you will enjoy this one. However, there were two problems with it overall. First, as another reviewer pointed out, this book drags a bit compared to the others. This resulted in it being less fun than the first two. I still liked it - these are great authors - but this was simply not as enjoyable as their previous work.

Second, I don't believe this is the version that the editors meant to publish. The authors used the less common method of showing possessive by adding an 's to Travis. In other words, the authors wrote Travis's instead of the more commonly used Travis'. While mildly annoying, that alone would not be too bad. However, another author or editor went through the book and underlined all of these - presumably to check if this was a case of mistaken usage (unfortunately not, it is correct, just uncommon). The book was published with all of these underlines throughout the work. I've attached a picture to show this.

Again, despite my nitpicks, this is worth reading and still enjoyable. Progress is made at all levels (Travis gains in skill, furthers his personal relationship, and the overall plot advances. Looks like his brother may actually have a spine after all - a welcome touch). I just hope the fourth book is more fun.

With the third prequel of the series leading to the Honor Harrington series, David Weber and his co-authors, Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope, have written their best novel yet. 'A Call to Vengeance' is the most action-packed and the most riveting characters.

Lead characters Travis Long and Lisa Donnelly continue to progress within the Manticoran navy through innovative thinking and bold action, risking their lives. Meanwhile, shady politics combine with shocking plot twists, and ironic results to make this novel both tragic and comic.

Travis and Lisa face multiple antagonists, from bad guys on their own side to worse foes opposing Manticore, who compete with each other. The authors deftly portray three and four plot threads so the reader can see four points of view and anticipate the upcoming clashes.

This novel and this whole prequel series are must-reads for any fans of Honor Harrington. They portray the development of Manticore from an insignificant system to a dominant galactic power.

Disappointing.

This 3rd novel in the "Manticore Ascendant" series starts with what seems to be a bang. But the bang fizzles. Then the novel lumbers toward some battles that don't matter where not much is at stake for Manticore and where the simultaneous narration from a zillion points of view makes it hard to even follow what's going on.

This series has suffered from having the heroes facing a mystery, but having the readers already know the answers to the mystery, so we just wait for the heroes to find out. At the end of this novel, chess pieces have been moved, some character development has happened, but basically nothing meaningful has happened in the broader challenges that face Manticore.

This prequel to Honor's time has the action, twists and characters that made the original Honor series so good. While I don't care a lot for the battle and technical details, the action and hardware should satisfy the fans who favor those parts of the story. I liked the politics and characterization that set the background for the growth of the Manticore of Honor's time. Both action and psychology were well balanced. I want more of this series.
Hopefully Mr Weber will keep his story telling fast paced and well edited. There was an editing glitch underlining Travis's which shows that while the editing was better than the bloated mess that was Shadow of Victory there still needs to be a watchful editing eye in the publication process.

David Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Thomas Pope continue their tale of Manticore centuries before Honor Harrington. The Manticore barely fought off an attack in the previous tale, and now it’s a matter of A Call to Vengeance(hard from Baen) by tracking down the mercenary admiral who led the attacking fleet. Unfortunately the agent for the company who hired Admiral Gensonne, also wants him dead and all traces erased. As a result the star kingdom makes new friends and future enemies with planets who appear in the later books. There’s also a problem with royal inheritance that has to be resolved. This is fun with some exciting space battles.

Lots of moving parts in this continuing prequel to the Honor Harrington series. Great characters, good and bad as Manticore strives to provide a stable government following a fatal accident that confounds the ruling succession. Early days for the Manticorean Navy; picture the US after Pearl Harbor. Few and aged ships commanded by staid old-time leaders and a legislature that does not support building a strong defense need to be overcome, and in a hurry, as invaders are acoming. Bring on the next episode.

Book 1 is good. Book 2 is better. Book 3 (A Call to Vengeance) is awful. I tried this series, because of Timothy Zahn. Zahn's books consistently grab the reader's attention on page 1. His books are full of action, smart dialogue, unexpected twists, surprises (often on the last page), and satisfying conclusions. Where was Zahn in "Vengeance"? This book drags from the beginning and gets worse. There is very little satisfying about the end --- and one could hardly call the end a "conclusion". When the book came to an end, it felt like there should have been at least a few more chapters. I had to force myself to finish reading it. I think I'm done with Weber and will stick with Zahn, but only when he is the sole author.

i truly loved the original honorverse series. seems like the the authors have lost their way. the characters are not very interesting. it feels like a rehash of characters and plots. i am having a very hard time finishing. very disappointing.

Enjoyed this book a lot. Then went back to start re-reading the whole threesome! Waiting eagerly for the book that addresses the major events sure to befall them when various natural features are discovered...trying not to give a spoiler here!

A nice installment on the beginnings of Manticore Navy, and the politics of the region. You will need to pay attention because at times you are flipping between characters and locations as action is happening at the same time.