Ashes of Victory (Honor Harrington Book 9)

I know, I know - we can never go home again. I know that Honor is now in the senior, SENIOR ranks of the military and can't be at the helm of space battles any more. BUT...that doesn't excuse Weber from writing a boring, technojunk- filled, overlong book. David, are they paying you by the word? All of the Honor Harrington books have used the literary device of introducing characters and then following their individual stories. Weber has introduced soooo many characters that following them in every book gives us character "sound bites" not plot lines. Further, he skimped on the best stuff - like Rob Pierre's death, Honor's return and how she's going to handle her love for a married Admiral. The emotional upheaval dominates the first few chapters and then disappears. Boy, those two have first-class sublimation techniques! Finally, if Honor's mom gets any cuter, I give the population of Yeltsin's Star permission to shoot her....along with half the treecats! So there! Let's get back to good, old-fashioned story telling, please! Don't buy this weighty tome in hardbound. Wait for the paperback.

Less combat action than some of the previous books in this series, but I found it a totally involving book. I continue to find myself really caring about each of the subplots and characters, and only wish there had been more to read. Take this series on from the beginning, you won't be disappointed.

Picture yourself stealing hours of short supplied time torevisit what once was an extremely enjoyable universe only to discoverthat it no longer exists. Nothing is left but 558 pages of unending words. Repeat to yourself that if you stay with it just one more chapter, you will find the story. Imagine repeating that until you are within 30 pages of the end of the book and can't believe anymore. Finally, despite your best effort, you break into document skim mode just to end the torture. This might be 20 pages for a good appendix. It is not a novel.

I was looking forward to reading this book because I had really like the other Honor books in this series. But only 25% of this book was about Honor and the rest got all tied up in politics and other minor charictors that I was not interested in reading about. I was disappointed in this book.

Half a story, and pretty dang unsatisfying. Filled out with hundreds of pages of weapons systems description that add nothing to the plot. Weber has done more with less in the past. What possessed him? Where were his editors? (probably encouraging anything to make this half of the story look like a complete book). Just hope they don't stretch the story to a trilogy.

I found this latest installment of the HONOR HARRINGTON series to be both the best and the worst of the books that Mr. Weber has written about her so far. this book has something for everyone - thundering space opera, tricky political dealings, and space battles.

This is where I leave the saga of Honor Harrington. I've loved her as the badass, sword-wielding woman of war as she was portrayed in the previous eight books, all of which I've read and enjoyed, even hungrily devoured. Some of those scenes of heroism had me standing and cheering. Now she's become a political animal, and I hate every plodding moment. I hate David Weber's right wing libertarian politics. They were always there, of course, but never before in such bitterly large doses. They intrude on the narrative, and since the conflict between big-government (the Peeps) and big business (Manticore) have become the focus, with its discursions into galactic political strategy, economics, and the intrigues of the factions, it approaches unreadability -- even surpasses it. It's no longer the adventure it once was.

Still like the last 3 books where it kind of plods along, but overall better written story. One thing I've noticed since this is one of the more recent releases - you can tell that publishing house editing as not near as prevelant as it was when the first books came out. Many misspellings, awkward phrases, reuse of the same adjectives and other things that editors would typically assist with. They are distracting once you first start noticing it.

In these "honor verse" books story lines are really good and sometimes brilliant but authors skills to tell the story are getting worse book after book. Instead of telling the story author goes to great length to bore the hell out of innocent reader. Author needs merciless editor to cut out unnecessary politics and religious views from his books. And one more thing...babbling. I am seriously thinking not to buy more authors books because two thirds of contents is babbling. I wish mr Weber and mr Deprima would put their effort together. They would complement each others weaknesses

I bought this book used and it stated that was in good condition, but when I stated reading it, it feel apart at the binding and pages came out. I feel this was not in the condition that it was reported, this book was in poor condition. I recommed this book for the reading, but the seller should have been more clearer about the books condition, it was not good it was poor.

I've read most of the preceding of this series twice. I'm an old fart whose memory isn't so good anymore, but at least I get my monies worth out of books. I will probably only read this one once. Too much filler and the author kills off the good guys and mutilates the main characters that survive. Of course the mutilation occurred in the preceding book The most horrible bad guys live on to amuse us in the next book. NOT. The one bad guy that gets caught finally is just sort of mentioned as an aside. Apparently it's more important for the readers to know what the queen wears to tea. . It doesn't add to my enjoyment of a book.

Ashes of Victory (2000) is the ninth SF novel in the Honor Harrington series, following Echoes of Honor. The initial volume in this sequence is On Basilisk Station.

In the previous volume, the palatial HD room in Harrington House was filled with Honor's family and friends. Allison and Alfred were there and so were Howard and Miranda. Thirteen treecats were also waiting for a special broadcast.

The People's Office of Public Information had released an announcement about Honor's execution with a video showing the hanging. It was a very realistic video. It left Alfred prostrate with grief.

Boardman linked the execution with treatment of POWs. The Deneb Accords included a provision for excluding POWs with prior criminal histories. The Peeps cited a court verdict convicting Honor of the murder of the crew of a Peep ship. Of course, the ship was a disguised merchant raider, but Peep propaganda ignored their military status.

The public reaction to the video within Manticore was widespread outrage. The private reaction within the People's Republic varied. Boardman was very pleased with the video, but Esther thought it was a mistake. The Solar League would probably forget the video in three days.

The reaction of the Graysons was even stronger than the Manticorans. Grayson sailors and marines intend to take no more POWs. Naturally, a policy of no quarter would be used by the Peep propagandists to paint the Alliance as barbarians.

In this novel, Honor Harrington is a Commodore in the Royal Manticoran Navy and an Admiral in the Grayson Navy. She is commonly called the Salamander from her involvement in the thick of combat. But now she has led a group of escaped POWs from Hades to Trevor's Star.

Alfred and Allison Harrington are Honor's parents. Alfred is a retired RMN medical officer. Ally is a genetic surgeon. They are both respected physicians on Sphinx.

Elizabeth III Winton is the Queen of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. She has been interested in Honor's career for many years.

Devon Harrington is Honor's cousin and heir in Manticore. He inherited Honor's title of Earl after her reported death.

Thomas Caparelli is an Admiral in the RMN Navy. He is also the First Space Lord.

Hamish Alexander is a RMN Admiral and Earl of White Haven. He is the designated commander of the new Eighth Fleet.

Alice Truman is a Rear Admiral in the RMN. She had served under Honor prior to the Peep capture of her.

Prescott David Tremain is a Commander in the RMN. He had also previously served under Honor on several occasions and has returned from Hades with the other former prisoners.

Andrew LaFollet is a Major in the Steadholder's Own Guard. He commands Honor's personal guards.

Harold Clinkscale is Honor's regent. A former general in Grayson security, he is now her chief servant and in charge of the steadhold when she is away.

Miranda LaFollet is Andrew's sister. She is head of Honor's household.

Benjamin Mayhew IX is the Protector of Grayson. He is a reformer determined to bring Grayson society into the current era.

Nimitz is Honor's treecat. They have a bond that allows Honor to sense his emotions.

Samantha is also a treecat and Nimitz's mate. She has recently delivered four kittens: Jason, Achilles, Cassandra and Andromeda.

Farragut is a male treecat. He is bonded to Miranda.

Rob S. Pierre is Chairman of the Committee of Public Safety. He is Head of State of the People's Republic of Haven.

Oscar Saint-Just is a member of the Committee of Public Safety and head of State Security. He is not interested in becoming gaining more power.

Esther McQueen is the new appointed Secretary of War for the People's Committee on Public Safety. She is a former Admiral in the People's Navy.

Thomas Theisman is an Admiral in the PRN. He is currently the commander of the Barnett system.

Javier Giscard is an Admiral in the PRN. He is under a cloud after his losses in Silesia.

Lester Tourville is now a Vice Admiral in the PRN. He has a reputation as a firebreathing character and had tried his best not to be promoted.

Leonard Boardman is Second Deputy Director of Public Information in the People's Republic. He manages the public releases on Honor.

In this story, Honor is overwhelmed time after time by the emotional reaction to her return. First is the feelings of the former prisoners while they wait for the shuttles to take them off the former Peep ships. They all credit their freedom to Honor.

Second is the reaction of White Haven to her return. He is still in love with her, but he controls his emotions better than before. He is also feeling impish as he refuses to tell her about other surprises.

Third is the overwhelming joy from the Grayson crew. One of White Haven's surprises is the name of the GNS Honor Harrington. Then she is greeted by Benjamin.

Benjamin is also feeling impish. Her fourth surprise is her parents and their babies. She is beginning to overload on the joy with which she is welcomed by everybody. Luckily, she finally learns to turn down her reception to emotions.

Then Honor is taken to Manticore and presented to the Queen. Elizabeth tries once more to give Honor the Medal of Valor. Honor turns it down even more firmly than she had the previous times.

Elizabeth addresses Honor's Manticore title. She decides not to take back Devon's title, but give Honor a new one commiserate with her Grayson title. Honor is appointed as a Duchess and gets more land from the Royal Reserve.

After Honor is cleared for light duty by the medics, Caparelli has a few jobs for her. He wants her to instruct at Saganami Academy and advise Alice on modified LAC tactics. He also wants her to be the Commandant at the Advanced Tactics Course. Of course, he has to promote her first, so Honor is now a full Admiral in the RMN.

Meanwhile, Scotty reports to Alice aboard the RMN space station Weyland. She needs someone to replace her former COLAC on the HMS Hydra. Scotty seems to be the answer to her needs.

In the Republic of Haven, the Committee is just now getting the bad news. Boardman was contacted by a Solar League reporter about the breakout from Hades. He didn't have a clue, but managed to give an elaborate "No comment" to her.

Then he reported the news to Pierre. Esther is not pleased. Neither are Pierre or Saint-Just. They conclude that they are behind the curve in the Solar League, but can keep the news from spreading in their own population.

This tale starts the RMN comeback. They have been fighting defensively over the past two years and are taking damage in the media. Yet they have been producing new ships and weapons and keeping them out of the public view.

The Peeps are planning new raids on the Allies. Theisman, Giscard and Tourville are trying hit and run attacks on poorly defended systems. Of course, the Manties are beefing up their pickets, especially in core systems.

The Manticore Opposition is having fits over Honor's return. The next installment in this sequence is War of Honor.

Highly recommended for Weber fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of naval combat, political intrigue, and a lot of excitement. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

Ashes of Victory ( Honor Harrington Book 9) by David Weber

I enjoyed this novel for what it is and what it is is a large deviation from the normal. This novel is the heaviest tense political thriller to date of the Honor Harrington series. This means that those who love the battles and strategy might be put off. Those don't start till somewhere near the 300th page. That's better than half way through the story. For me that meant that this ended up being a book I kept picking up and putting down depending on how much I could endure of the long political details or in some cases the lengthy explanation of the details of training for use of the new LACs and the Harrington series of ships.

Honor Harrington is sidelined by her injuries from Echos of Honor and In Enemy Hands. While she's mending she spends first some time at her Steadholder estate and then time at her new estate when Manticor's Queen Elizabeth III elevates her to Duchess. This conveniently takes care of all potential problems of the heirs that have taken her place while everyone thought she was dead. To move the story along the Manitoran Navy promotes her to Admiral and assigns her temporarily to Saganami Island Naval Academy to teach. For those waiting for her to go back to battle a forewarning that she see's little action and is in fact being cultivated for a more politically active position.

The People's Republic of Haven is still undergoing dramatic changes as the political landscape is littered with bodies. No one trusts anyone. And there are some devious plans going on that only a few know pertaining to espionage in Manticoran space. This thread is rapidly moving into a demonstration of how they manage to bungle the war efforts.

Admiral White Haven (Hamish Alexander) is rapidly moving toward a special offensive operation which ties in neatly with the training that Honor is putting the students of Suganami through.

On the Grayson political front there is still a conflict with Benjamin Mayhew and the Steadholder Keys and some intrigue that will put Honor and Benjamin and the Queen of Manticor in grave danger.

There are battles, but by the time that they occur David has demonstrated the superiority of the new technology of Manticor and the battles are almost a sure win to further demoralize the People's Republic of Haven.

There are a lot of surprises and suspense but mostly in the way of a suspense thriller with espionage and politics. And this book seems to serve mostly as bridge between Echos of Honor and War of Honor.

One special function of this novel is to fully introduce the sapience of the treecats to a select number of characters.

This novel is great for people who love the SFF Military and Political Suspense novels with the emphasis on Political. I really felt the lopsidedness of the battles made it less of a military thriller.

My favorite quote from this novel is from Peoples Republic of Haven's Commander Shannon Foraker.

"Oops"

You will definitely have to read this to know why this is such a singularly popular quote.

J.L. Dobias

Slow, grinding read as Honor is NOT the major element and thus the story flatlines with rather dull, cliched renditions of the other sides of the conflicts. One major flaw is the cost of the major spy plot/assassination element of the too long book, that cost would have been tremendous the control of the action would have literally been impossible and dubbing in the Masada fanatics using the God tested anti-iconoclasts of the steadholders was just too intricate for believability. That tracking emitters were secreted openly on two sovereigns and that Masada fanatics could use a secretly modified ship to fire two missiles that stealth at low speed into a protective formation and use emissions NOT detectable is plain unreasonable. Having 'ghost' indications was dramatic license driven to the wall by the author. YUK squared. Honor's save was plain superhero hogwash. Point is for an Honor Harrington book it was lame, for a Weber Honor Universe space opera it was still very weak. NOT truly recommended. Thanks, Harry!

In Echoes of Honor, Weber makes use of a technical detail of warships to give advantage to defending forces. Admit it: Chapter 49 was long-overdue vindication. Not joyful, war isn't, but it was REVENGE. And thereafter, it's time to return home.
Now, AoV begins with arrival home, and the sad dispersion of crews who achieved so much. Bittersweet, emotional. Honor begins medical treatment and evaluation of her options. I do not chafe at the exposition that follows; all of us must catch up on two years' happenings. The fortunes of this war take a positive turn.
At the extreme border of Manticoran territory, Elric is a Navy outpost:

' ...The RMN had established the station only to fill a hole in the outworks of the far more important satellite yard at Grendelsbane. Squarely between Treadway and Solway, two of the forward bases the RMN had taken from the Peeps early in the war, it helped cover the approaches to Grendelsbane by supporting a "picket force" large enough to pose a threat to the rear of any raiding force.
But thirty-five ships of the wall was a bit more of a raiding force than the planners had intended Elric to stand off, even with Trikoupis' Harringtons in support. Which meant the Alliance was about to lose yet another system to the Peeps.
The thought was not a palatable one, but it was hardly unexpected. No one had ever expected Elric to resist a major attack, and Trikoupis knew Admiral Malone's instructions were clear. He'd even surmised the strategy upon which those instructions rested, and while he liked giving ground no more than the next man, he rather approved of what he suspected Sir Thomas Caparelli and High Admiral Matthews had in mind. But that was for the future. For now, the evacuation order must already have gone out, and the transports held in-system for just this eventuality would already be filling up while the demolition charges were armed. It was a pity that so much investment--in time and effort more than in money--was about to be blown into very tiny pieces, but the Peeps would receive absolutely nothing of value for their efforts.
And in the meantime, the Elric picket force, and Rear Admiral Aristides Trikoupis, had a little something to show them. . . .' (pp 383-4)

Their advanced ships, weapons systems, and trained crews are making a difference in battle with the Peeps. A new set of Admirals demonstrate their tactical savvy. The list of characters is long, but we deserve to see the larger world through which Honor now moves. Have patience, events approach a climax....

I think I've just given up and decided to attempt and catch up with David Weber's Honor Harrington series. All the way up. That means I'm currently working on Ashes of Victory, and it's impossible not to notice the books are getting longer as the series rolls on.

And in this case, it's not just longer in page-length, but in exposition, political maneuvering, and copious droning. Compared to Echoes of Honor, this is almost an unremitting snooze-fest. Echos is one of the most action-packed of the series, so holding every book up to that standard would be immensely unfair, yet writing this a few days after finishing the book, I'm having trouble remembering what actually transpired. It's like my eyes glazed over and refused to transmit the words to my balking cerebral cortex.

Yet it didn't have to be this way! This is the long-awaited novel where everything hits the fan. Saint-Just decides to move on his perception of McQueen's ambition; Haven enters yet another series of regime-swapping antics; Manticore finally launches an offensive against Haven using all the nifty new weapons they've developed; Honor hires a linguist to teach the treecats sign language for God's sake. That's not even mentioning everyone coming to terms with Honor's return, the repair of her face, and replacement of the arm she lost in In Enemy Hands. There is a ridiculous amount of material, but it all gets lost in the too-long pacing and tooth-grindingly glacial setup for each minuscule maneuver and implied, contextually-important discussion.

This is the first time I've mentally implored for an edited copy of a book, not because of syntactical errors, but due to the sheer amount of unnecessary brain vomit it contains. This is not due to Weber painstakingly describing a room, ship, or battle in exacting detail, but because every single thought and loosely-related tangent of even minor characters is explored like an architectural dig. Pages and pages are devoted to introducing a character, the context of their presence, what they ate for lunch last Tuesday, and what the implications may be for Manticore. I've noticed this about Weber occasionally, but this time he was in rare form, and looking back on the previous novels, I have to wonder what changed.

Since I've read a bit of War of Honor already, I can safely say he cut back drastically on irrelevant details, so I'll call this novel a fluke. It's still good, just a huge departure from the quality of previous entries.

First, I will grant that the Honor Harrington Series is perhaps the best combat science-fiction series ever written.
While the Honor Harrington is always removed from the thick of the action in this book, many familiar characters are there, still in the middle of the battle. And in each case, they are where they are because of the influence and experience gained under Honor's tutelage.
In many ways this book contains two separate, but related, stories.
One story draws us along to the inevitable conclusion of the war between the Star Kingdom of Manitcore and the People's Republic of Haven. The action is fast-paced; the descriptions of fleet-level naval combat are gripping and absorbing.
The second story describes Honor's welcome home after her escape from Havenite captivity, her re-entry into Manticoran society, and her receipt of the rewards which she has deserved for so long. This story line shows a more intimate, and personal look at Honor's life, in an atmosphere almost totally different from that of the past books. Instead of being out at the sharp end with the fleet, she is resting and recovering, with time to tend to more personal--and equally fascinating-- matters than we have previously seen.
Both stories work well, and the reader is drawn along quite happily through David Weber's fast-paced storytelling.
But, having said that, I felt a small measure of disappointment about this book, because the story itself seemed to have an abrupt and unsatisfactory ending. The fact that it is intentionally written to make the reader feel that way, and to mirror the feelings of the protagonist, doesn't make it any more likeable.
We are used, I think, to having our stories come with happy endings, and with all the threads tied up. Ashes of Victory doesn't accommodate us. It does, however, promise us that there is more to come.

Soooo this is a great series but there is a sad trend happening. Firstly for a series that revolves around Honor Harrington the story doesn't really involve her very much. For the amount of time DW spends talking about politics, random other characters, and techno gobli-gook he should really just call this series "The Chronicles of the Star Kingdom" or something. That would justify his indulgence in spending so much time on so many characters and random non plot essential blather. The book was entertaining but I found myself skimming paragraphs which I never do. And there was so much repetition, at times I couldn't believe what I was reading because I had just read it, albeit from a different characters point of view but it still makes it a chore to read it again. It felt like this book wasn't edited, or maybe that Baen has decided to pay Weber by the word... Secondly there is the matter of Honor. She has become larger than life at an alarming rate. Too much time was spent on worshiping her. It's like a cake with too much frosting. Yes, tribute must be given, the character deserves it, but he lays it on too thick. Which brings to the surface a problem with Honor. She is starting to be too perfect, she always comes out on top in such a huge way that I think DW is almost writing himself into a corner. At this point in the series she is starting to do too well without enough of a struggle or that beloved "ah ha!" moment. Don't get me wrong I want her to come out on top but there needs to be more drama. To exacerbate the matter further in Ashes DW lets us know that Honor is actually not only genetically altered to be extra strong but also smart. Now that's just silly. She's already stronger than average, super intelligence makes me just expect more from her and be disappointed if it is not delivered. Also it cheapens her victories against those "lesser mortals." It's like a dog fight between a chihuahua and a German Shepherd, it's not as much fun to watch Honor win when you know she is genetically better than her opponent. She is just wearing too many hats these days. So I think I am calling it quits on the series after this. Plus I suspect that Honor is going to wind up with Hamish which I think is creepy and weird. It's one thing for him to not be perfect and to have made some mistakes which he has overcome or something, but continuing to cheat on your crippled wife? Eww! He doesn't deserve Honor, and for her to wind up with him and be in love...ick. It would lesson my opinion of her to stoop so low. So I shall live in happy ignorance and preserve the Honor of the series so far.

Having disseminated to the news services a video of their execution (by hanging) of Honor Harrington, the Peeps are mightily embarassed when she returns after razing Hell, their inescapable prison planet, bringing with her hundreds of thousands of prisoners she has liberated, including Amos Parnell, who is able to tell the truth about who murdered President Harris. In fact, Rob S. Pierre and Oscar St. Just never do live it down. White Haven clobbers the peeps with his new, improved toys, but Oscar's final bit of mischief robs him of his final victory. Oscar tried to have Queen Elizabeth III and Benjamin Mayhew assassinated, but Honor interferes, stopping one of the missles, but she can't stop the other one from destroying the ship the Queen was supposed to be in, but wasn't. But Cromarty was in that ship, and this results in a lot of trouble. Too many loose ends are tied up; is this the final episode? I earnestly hope not, because this series is just too much fun to have it end here. But there is hope; there are still a few loose ends. What will the new government of Haven be like? And What will be the undoing of the new, bad government of Manticore?

This is the longest Honor Harrington novel yet, and there is much more in it than I have mentioned above. Get it and read it; you'll be glad you did. This is a series I would enjoy reading again, if I can ever get caught up on the other books waiting to be read. Every book in the series is great fun.

[email protected]

Having read and loved the other books like oh so many of you, I found this to be overly long, and a chore to read, like eating a heaping plate of broccoli after the tasty addictive candy of the first 8 books. This could have been two books done properly, or one book with the dross cut out. With three arenas to take care of, Manticore, Grayson, and the PRH it seems that the author has decided to quickly simplify the plot threads using a pair of shears. Snip snip, all PRH major characters are gone. Snip snip, goodbye Mr. Prime Minister, this war has gone on too long, Snip snip, there goes the fleet of the PRH. Amazing that Grayson was mostly untouched.
Then the unforgiveable happens, shades of the Wing Commander series, the overused device of the defeated evil side suing for a false peace and the power-hungry "liberal" government falling for it and leashing in the heroic military. It is all too realistic, but after 600+ plodding pages it was all too depressing and unnecessary.
What is left, an exposition of the somewhat more capable and enlightened PRH getting back on it's feet led by a government put together by Theisman while he and the capable admirals neutralize the Manties new tech advances, or Honor and Grayson taking the rest of the allies and carrying the fight whilst telling Manticore's new government to stuff it?
Interesting parallels between this and Moon's Change of Command, both series are very similar, and both stumbled with similar books. Large complex stories can be done well, but it seems here that they don't have the ability to pace and present it appropriately.
To be honest, after the many battles, political intrigues, assasination attempts and just sheer brutality she's suffered it probably would have been best to have won the war and ended the series. Maybe the next chapter will surprise me, but I'm afraid it will be another wearying experience.

A very good series takes a very serious stumble on this one. Very little action, too much politics and FAR too much "clever" dialog (which comes across as no so clever). Weber should have made this novel into a paragraph or 2 in then next novel in this series.

Honor Harrington is back and if the "Peeps" thought she was trouble before, imagine what she can do now as an admiral! I have enjoyed all of the HH series and was not disappointed in this one a bit and I, for one, am glad to see Honor getting out of the line of fire a bit more than in the past. Despite Admiral Harrington not being directly involved, (at least to the degree she has been in the past), some of her old comrades are, and not all of them make it to the end of the book. The "treecats" figure even more heavily than they have in the past...I wonder who the first treecat to become an officer in Manticorian Space Navy will be? If you enjoy science fiction or, for that matter, military fiction, and are not reading the Honor Harrington series, you are missing a big bet. (You don't have to start with the first book, "Balisk Station" but you should) Honor Harrington is one of the best fictional characters around......

With 'Ashes', David Weber joins an elite group of authors: those good storytellers who show us the very best of humanity. Weber is not blind to the evil of man, but he prefers to show that evil as a foil rather than as the main subject of his work. His work is not shallow, he clearly shows the prices men pay to do good, but he also shows us both the need for and consequences of right action.
Honor Harrington is not Hornblower, Manticore is not England, and Haven is not France. To watch Honor Harrington grow has been one of the best parts of this tasty series, and here we see not only a more mature Honor but one for whom the world is no longer as simple as Havenites under target lock. The window into Manticore's political process offered here is also most promising, and I look forward to more glimpses in the future.
As Hornblower in space this was a great series, it has truly blossomed from there without losing readability.
I have purchased 2 hardcover work of fiction in the past year, out of about 200 total novels. This was one of them.

If you can get through the first 300 pages of people kissing up to Honor, people repeating how amazing Honor is, pages upon pages about Honor's treecat, and endless pages about Grayson and how hard working they are and how much they respect Honor and about their religion, this book is actually good.
I know it doesn't sound that way from my review, but 3 quarters through the book the war with the peeps takes some very interesting twists. Alot of things are resolved in this book and as always, whenever Weber gets to the fighting, it is amazing.
But I must say, I am getting a bit tired of Honor. It was okay when she was an underdog and had challenges to overcome, but now she is one of the richest people in the universe, having telepathic powers, and being one of the highest ranking officers in the Grayson and Manticore Navies. Also, does Weber have to tell me how pretty she is in almost every page? I get the impression that Honor is starting to think she is better than everyone, from arguing with the Queen to receiving praise from EVERYONE, it is getting old.
But again, the battles with the peeps are top notch.

Please note, I went to college with David Weber, forewarned is forearmed.
Honor is back from the dead, but without an arm and an eye she can't fight. She can, however, teach. She has the first native born Grayson female middy as a student, as well as the responsibility of restructuring The Crusher curriculum. Nimitz can't talk to his fellow cats(his telepathy speaker is broke), so Honor's Mom suggests sign language as a cure, and now even the sceptics must acknowledge thats cats are as smart as humans. The Peeps are still in charge on the frontlines of the war pushing the alliance back, but McQueen is in trouble over St. Just's paranoia about her. Manticore and the Graysons have some new secret weapons that they belive will win the war.
OK, is that enough excitment for you? Although it isn't my favorite book in the series, it is well written; but, this book seems to be the start where editors start losing control of David. Repeated descriptions of the same thing start creaping in to his writing. To the good, we become more familiar with the royal families of Manticore and Grayson, and learn more about key figures in the Peeps navy. If you haven't read any of the Honor Harrinton series start with On Basilisk Station and read all 11 of the novels. The 4 short story books are also good, but they aren't needed to apreciate the novels. They do however expand the whole Honorverse.

I'm a pretty big fan of this series of books, as well as a Star Wars and Clancy fan, among other things. When I read Ashes of Victory, I was struck by how much it reminded me (not, mind you, through similar story or characters but through the pace, style and sheer size and scope of the book) of Clancy's more recent books, namely Executive Orders and Debt of Honor. There really are an astounding number of similarities, when you think about it. All three books are behemoths of 500+ pages, with enough separate plot lines to make up entire volumes of separate novels. Clancy could have written Executive Orders as a trilogy easily. This is essentially what Weber suffers from here. He is a victim of his own interesting and engaging characters. He has introduced so many interesting plots, sub-plots and characters that he has to give them all some mention in every new book. That's why the size of the books keeps increasing.
Don't get me wrong, I liked this book and all his others, but compared to some of the leaner and more action-packed books Ashes seems hugely bloated and slow-paced. Again, that reminds me of Clancy, as that is exactly where the Jack Ryan books went as time went on. Early in the series, Ryan was neck-deep in the fights and the action, much like Honor was in Weber's earlier books. Now, both characters seem somewhat stagnant, though they are still very interesting. But in both cases, the authors have had to introduce younger characters to take the mains' places on the firing line, which makes sense enough, but because a character becomes more important in a universe doesn't mean the author can't be inventive with new physical and action-oriented challenges for them to face. It would be harder for an author like Clancy, who writes in a very contempory setting similar in almost every way to our real society, but Weber should be able to use the fact that his universe is nearly entirely of his own making.
I'd heartily recommend this book to anyone who has read the preceeding few, especially Honor Among Enemies through Echoes of Honor. Those three books, along with Ashes, make a superb story together. However, this book does not stand on it's own very well... if I'd picked it up not having read the previous few I would have missed out on three-fourths of the most rewarding parts of the book. Keeping that in mind, there is definitely a lot here for HH fans, a solid if unspectacular effort.
With Echoes of Honor and more recently Ashes, Weber has moved from sharp, action-oriented, engaging and exiciting stories to the sort of huge, epic, still engaging but involved and occasionally fatiguing stories. Where they were once easy to pick up and blow through, his books are now somewhat heavier and seem to come with more baggage, because of the exponential increase in the number of sub-plots and switches of focus. He doesn't match the almost wizardlike ability of Tim Zahn to weave in and out of sub-plots, but easily matches Clancy's in that regard. I like hearing from all the minor characters that both Weber and Clancy have introduced over their respective careers, but I'm not sure I like the change in the scopes of the books. A little more creativity when drawing up the challenges that Honor faces wouldn't hurt.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but I hope that it doesn't represent a permanent trend. Treecats are always great, Honor's instructional dinner-parties are painful fun, the new weapons blasting away Peeps with impunity is okay... But where is that "Salamander" tradition? Honor is painted into a corner as far as the story goes; she's recovering from her injuries while the usual assorted enemies continue plotting the demise of Manticore, and the Peep hierarchy undergoes radical revision. It's greatly written, but... I remember when Honor stood between a world and destruction, just an insignificant squadron CO or ship's captain versus a giant battleship full of religious fanatics or so forth, and David Weber made it MORE than just "Sci-Fi." It was EPIC. This book may represent an important crossroad, as it affects the entire setting of the series (and I DO mean the ENTIRE setting), but if you're reading this, David, please put Honor back in a command chair. Or else put Honor away for awhile and play with new, younger toys that can move up in the universe. And you had better fill in those gaps in this book, mister! When you have fellow writers helping to tag the epic lines in the anthologies, I want to know the REAL story of Esther McQueen and what happened at the Octagon, and Rob S. Pierre. Failure to comply will result in further investigation by State Security!

I enjoyed ASHES, but it was definitely not the best of the Honor Harrington books. Fans of the series will enjoy it, and find it worth their money. Other reviewers have pointed out that this book features Honor more as a teacher and mover-shaker than as a warship or fleet commander. I felt it started out a little slowly, but that feeling soon passed. The major "news" I can mention without committing spoilers is that there are MAJOR changes in the Harrington universe here. Important people die, and the politics change dramatically. If you are a fan of the series, you will enjoy the book. If you don't know the series, do not buy this book (yet), instead go buy ON BASILISK STATION! By the way, some of the reviews published before this one commit some serious spoilers. Before you read on, you have been warned....

This is the book which marks the derailment of the Harrington series. The preceeding books are largely 5-star novels that I love - from here it becomes a 2.5-star series. The average ratings on the store seem to agree that the series goes off track with this book.

At this point, the series loses its focus on the meaningful storylines from the preceeding novels and instead, hundreds of pages are spent exploring "daytime drama" topics like clothing fashions and teenager-style relationship crises. Plus, the way that the novel dives into these topics is itself mind-numbing. For example: a full chapter could be devoted to an informal, back-room political discussion, but this discussion is frequently interrupted by side banter related to the characters' personal lives, which in turn leads a character to reminice to themselves about an experience from their youth, which is when they learned an odd thing about their family's past, which requires numerous asides by the book's author to provide technical background... Wait, what was this chapter about again? Oh, it turns out that it doesn't affect the plot at all anyway!

This book also marks where the Honor Harrington character starts to get "weird." Superhuman, telepathic abilities... Awkward intimate thoughts about a really old guy who is devoted to his physically disabled wife... It used to be science fiction that was notable for feeling like it was "real." This book shifts toward the more bizarre "what-if" style of science fiction.

Perhaps I chose the wrong moment to read the latest book in the Honor Harrington series. Not long ago I read the last novel of the magnificent series "The Lost Regiment," by William Forstchen and now I had to choose this one. I have read all the other HH books, and they are entertaining, fast reads, even if the joke of transporting the English and French at the time of the French Revolution 2000 years in the future wears thin after a very short while: Robespierre and Rob S. Pierre, get it? Cute for three pages, but no more. Still, the battles made this series, and its heroine, always larger than life, always, well, heroic. Honor Harrington is back from Hell and from the dead, and she is... perfect. This woman has no flaws. She is a billionaire but has no monetary ambitions. She is an Admiral and wields enormous political power, yet she has no political ambitions and is just one more loyal servant of her Queen (another perfect one). She can hate, but her anger and hatred is only toward bad, bad men and women. She has a pure heart, a soprano voice, a great body, good looks, youth (prolong), no prejudices, no pride (let's borrow from Austen), no blemishes of any kind. Her crews adore her, her Queen adores her, her parents adore her, her cat adores her... Is it only me, or is this way beyond "cute" even for space opera? I liked the series, but to read "Ashes of Victory" was like being slapped with the book. Weber goes on and on about her cat, and her mom (another too cute for words character), and how terribly embarrassed Honor is to live like royalty, and have all that money, and have the Queen give her a palace, and have all those bodyguards ready to die for her, and have all those people think of her as a heroine when she is just another down to earth woman (yeah, right). It never ends! The dialogues are terrible, with mock indignation here and mock shock there, and mock threats, and winks of the eye... I was ready to enjoy this book. Now I realize I wasted money and time. Honor Harrington had been perfect ever since she appeared in the first book, but at least the action saved those other members of the saga. Nothing redeems this one. I found myself rooting for the Peeps!

I strongly recommend this book -- for the reader seasoned in the Harrington Universe. For the interested new reader, go plunk down your dollars for On Basilisk Station, the first novel in the series. After you are thoroughly addicted, you'll be up to this 9th installment before you know it and [like the rest of us Honor-philes] clamoring for more.
This is a transitional novel for grown-ups who want more than slambang. Some misleading comparisons have been drawn between this series and Forester's Hornblower books. Where Forester and Patrick O'Brian had the advantage of repackaging actual history that those esteemed gentleman could simply look up in reference books, Weber has carefully constructed a detailed, self-consistent universe with plausible future politics and physics,
And for the last eight installments, Weber has been hurling us [and Honor] through his universe at breakneck pace.
Now we are -- to pluck a Weberism -- dropping out of hyperlight velocity and entering the realm of real space, the nitty-gritty where the hard work gets done. In this phase-shift transition, Weber provides us with some of the rich, interrelated details which, when left gasping by previous turn of events, we neglected in our haste.
Not everyone will be satisfied with this approach, but revelations offered in Ashes remind me of nothing less than the Relativistic perspectives of space & time in Durrell's Alexandrian Quartet.
Once I was blind, but now I see.

This is not any easy book to read, and if you are looking for tons of action, brave Honor Harrington fearlessly leading her folks into the jaws of death, well - you won't find that here. You will find someone who has just survived a major life-changing experience, came back from hell, and is now going about a convalescence. At the same time she is also helping the rehab of Nimitz and Andrea Jarulwalski, just to name two. There's a lot more political stuff here, important for an Admiral to understand, and some good scenes with the Queen chewing the scenery. Mr. Weber is taking the series in a new direction, so don't try to compare this with C.S. Forester any more. Prepare yourselves for a whole new Honor Harrington series: the times, they are a-changin'.

I love the Honor Harrington series and I easily recommend it and any of the side stories to anyone I know that likes sci-fi and fantasy type books. The plot is well developed and deep and the characters are always being tested by their surroundings requiring them to adapt and grow. Great story!

Ashes of Victory (Honor Harrington Book 9)

This series began as Space Opera. Superior space opera, but still space opera. It has matured. Honor and her fellow characters are now a real persons with depth, complexity and personality. Even Oscar Saint Just is more than a cardboard cutout.
Weber has not neglected developing Honor's society, politics, technology and civilization, something that most SciFi Writers tend to ignore.
Obviously he has been inspired by the Napoleonic era, but is not slavish about it. Still I wonder if the Republic of Haven is destined to become an Empire? Theisman as its first Emperor?
"Ashes" is an enjoyable read, but requires that you have read the earlier books in the series. It also is a pivot in the series. Its obvious that Honor is going to have an interesting life.
I'm a great Fan of Patrick O'Brian, and the Aubrey/Maturin series. Weber is not quite at O'Brian's level, but he's playing in the same league.

Honor Harrington returns, both in this book and to her home, having escaped the clutches of the Havenites. Politics seems to dominate everywhere, with scheming taking place on both Manticore and Grayson. Meanwhile, the Star Kingdom of Manticore is feverishly deploying new military technology as a defense against the suddenly successful Havenites.
Most of the first two-thirds of the book seems to be setup for the last third, which gave me the feeling that the book could have been a lot shorter: it took a long time for anything truly interesting to happen. It really just doesn't seem up to the level of the early books, and Weber seemed to be somewhat self-indulgent, with too many feeble attempts at striking a humorous note. Once it gets going, though, it's characteristically lively. And for all my impatience with the book, I'm still eager for the next one.

Focus is not on Honor but several characters and plotlines within her universe. Not the least of which are the Peeps. This is a good "bridge" story for future books.
Two interesting, vivid segments: Honor's thoughts while preparing to teach a classroom of eager young students and Queen Elizabeth eruption of temper with a group of opposition politicos. You can almost "see" Sigourney Weaver in the former and Angela Basset in the latter. Pity Hollywood cannot appreciate the potential of this series! It would take a young Spielberg/Lucas/Scorese hybird to pull this off!
There's enough action to please most fans, but the real elegance here is behind-the-scenes skrullduggery. All in all I say, "disconnect the phone, forget the remote and log off the 'net", Lady Harrington is in the Building!

I sympathize fully with the "Ugh!!!!" review. Over eighty percent of the book was wasted on incidental, humbuggery political machinations, and dripping with preadolescent kitty-'cat nonsense (I suppose to attract the preadolescent female readership here). The only good political machination that I enjoyed was at the end, when the enemy declared a truce to delay their buildup of a final offensive. But the swift ending felt cramped and I felt completely cheated. That ending could have happened within the first half of the book. Then it could have gone on to a mature conclusion worthy of the title and cover art enclosing this novel. But for now the book cover yields to an empty sense of puffery, a smidgen of self-importance, one that is not backed up in the skill of the writing of an interesting tale; in essence, it is an annoying little example of the publication house's latest feat of ledgerdemain -- one rife with tedious adolescent jiggery-pokery.

I have to say that one of my most favorite things about this book was also what made it most incomprehensible--the way Mr. Weber keeps shifting from a fog of political intrigue so thick I could have choked on its atmosphere, to often-humorous, lighthearted scenes of Honor Harrington's family life which reminded me strongly of some of the more genuinely humorous moments in Leo Frankowski's The Cross-Time Engineer. After reading this novel, I agree with the first reviewer, who recommended that people new to the series should read On Basilisk Station first--if for no other reason than to give readers like myself who jump straight into the "Honorverse" with the latest novel a chance to get used to Mr. Weber's writing style first. Otherwise--great book, especially because of the humor!

This is a finely tuned tale.
Plenty of things have been thrown in the stew. For those coming to the Series, don't start here--- it will only knock you over with thousands of points you can't appreciate.
This series is worth every minute that Weber spends on it. So go back to the beginning and start there.
Little can be added that other reviewers haven't said. This book is quite a good bit of its own and the next should be formidable in action and pace. This series is a classic. No other space epic out there right now can compare for character and story.
And the ending is a topical comment on politics, timing, and the illusion of control of the large issues in the war.
Enjoy.

This book was tedious to get through, to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I love character development, but this book goes way beyond that to painful, plodding, expositive diarrhea! Several times I just wanted to throw this book across the room and hope it landed with pages open to something relevant to the overall plot. Weber is a great storyteller, but in this book, it was like he wrote out a fairly decent storyline and then handed the book over to a computer, programmed with the text of his previous novels, to randomly generate proliferous puffery, in order to create a book of sufficient size to justify the cost! I truly want to follow through with the adventures of Honor Harrington, a very noble and compelling character, but I am not sure if I can plow through "War of Honor," if it is as full of itself as this one.

Some of the reviews on this book strike me as being from the easily entertained reader. I say this not to insult them but because there are a lot of people out there like them and this book is not for them. If you read a book simply to escape then this Ashes of Victory is not for you. In fact if you are considering buying this book and have not read any of the other Honor Harrington book I would try to dissuade you. I like this book better than some of Mr. Weber's middle books because some of them were just more of the same old shoot 'em up stories. (Not to say they weren't good because they were.) Ashes of Victory is good because of the background information it gives. No author can sustain a series of book if he/she concentrates only on one character. Eventually it becomes a repeat of what has gone before. I applaud Mr. Weber for not taking this road and continuing to bring us new and fresh stories. It seems to me that if Mr. Webers books continued along the same lines that the complaints would soon change from "this book doesn't have all the space battles we've come to expect" to "it's all the same thing she just shoots 'em up and its over."

I only recently (about a year ago) discovered Weber's Harrington series. I was instantly hooked when I picked up OBS. Weber is able to create people for us. People of all types live in the pages of this world, and getting to know them is as much fun as learning about the world in which they live.
This novel, the ninth in the series so far, is filled with information about this world. But it seems unbalanced somehow.
It is said that great literature is defined not by what is added but rather by what is removed from a story. In this case the wrong information seems to have been removed. We get detailed descriptions of minor events, yet major events seem to have been the ones removed. We get whole chapters of filler, yet we miss an entire revolution within one of the empires.
There is a great deal of good action towards the end of the book, yet the characters familiar to us are treated as minor extras rather as the main players.
Since Honor can no longer be the Starship Captain that she once was, I just hope that some of her students will be brought forward to become her successors in the action sequences. I miss the stories where I can feel the sweat rolling down the captain's cheek as the battle gets tenser and tenser.
I see this volume more as a transition point in Honor's universe than a story unto itself. It seems to be written to setup the next set of dominoes. There were many loose threads waving in the wind at the end of this one.

I was actually counting this. It took until page 331 of this book for space combat to actually occur. Two thirds of those first tedious 331 pages were spent in friendly gabfests between Honor and her friends. I had to grit my teeth and go on hoping that this is just an isolated abberation in Weber's writing style, and that some fantastic combat ahead will redeem this novel. Alas, when combat came, it was a one-sided slaughter. On top of that, several reality-defying events occurred in the political arena. First off people, don't any of you marvel how the Peeps can survive the war despite several coup de tats and purges that decimated their political and military leaders? Honestly if any of the political things that happened to the Peeps happened to a nation in OUR reality while in a major war, that nation would have been promply lost the war (see Russia and Germany in WW1, USA in Vietnam war, and Soviet Union in Cold War).
Secondly, I simply refuse to believe that the war hawks in the Manticorian House of Commons would hold a mere 20% of the seats! In most major wars in the history of humanity, a solid majority of the political players in a government were solidly behind the war effort. Bear in mind ladies and gentlemen that the PRH-Manticorian War bears parallels to the Pacific Theater of WW2. The PRH did a first strike on a democratic nation killing tens of thousands of combat personnel. As I recall, the US House of Representatives passed the declaration of war with only 1 dissenting vote. The US Senate passed it unanimously! Imagine, the PRH-Manticorian War has been raging for about a decade. The Manticorian public is also aware of the atrocities the PRH government (but not their military) inflicts to not only captured RMN personnel but their own people. This on top of the fact that hundreds of thousands of Manticorian sailors and marines must have died in the war. I would think that in this situation, being a dove would be suicidal! Further more, it is strange for Weber to hand the Peeps a respite (in form of a truce and an eventual peace treaty) so Oscar Saint-Just can reorganize his government then have Theisman take the reins. Theisman, as Weber describes him, is an honorable man with no political ambition (save when the survival of his fellow military personnel is concerned). A man like that would take advantage of the cease fire and the peace treaty negotiations to end the war permanently AND reform the PRH's political and economic system if only to prevent the circumstances that made him seize the reins of power.
I suspect that the rational things above will not happen. Instead, Weber will have Theisman use the cease fire to reorganize the PRN, give their R&D time to catch up with the Manties, and to institute reforms that would take greater advantage of the PRH's superiority in man power and industrial capacity. The war would then be back to square one.
I suggest that Mr. Weber take the high road and let the PRH and Manticorians to have lasting peace. It's time to move on. Now, if only Mr. Weber can find a way for the Manticorians (and maybe their newfound allies the Peeps) to fight a war with the titanic Solarian League. I think that it would be quite a challenge for Honor Harrington and company to defeat a nation with not only several times the industrial capacity and manpower Manticore possesses, but also technological parity!
One last thing. Why don't Peep warships keep their wedges and sidewalls up all the time? I mean the Peep security thugs kept getting the jump on the PRN because of this. Does keeping wedges and sidewalls up cause strain and wear on a ship's systems that they can't be maintained for indefinite periods of time? I don't remember a constraint such as that being discussed ever in any of the Harrington novels.

I must admit that I hesitated to buy this book when I saw how large it was. And I also admit that I don't read much "hard science fiction" nowadays. With that out of the way, please let me disagree with the others listed here by stating that I was engulfed in the Harrington universe immediately. I care for more than just Honor, although she first drew me in. I enjoyed the looks at everyone else's lives. Weber is strongest in his characterization and makes you care for the people he writes about. All of them, not just one or two! I look forward to the next episode about the Peeps and the Manties!

If you have been following Honor Harrington's career, and appreciate her growth and maturation as an officer and statesman you're going to love this book. I would love to comment on the excellent plot, but don't want to spoil the surprise; suffice it to say, Honor has her hands full. As a series, these books, like it's spiritual predecessor, Hornblower, displays the progression of a conflict between large-scale powers. Over the course of 8 books, now, Honor has grown from an awkward Midshipman to a superb statesman. Her character is a product of her family, her genes and, once an adult, the world she lives in and the events in which she has participated; it has progressed amazingly over time. This work is a pinnacle (hopefully not a culmination) of this evolution. I have to comment that I'm impressed with his grasp of the way Navy's work at all levels. One area that most people would miss is the development of one's subordinates and colleagues; Mr. Weber has done an excellent job of portraying this obligation of a leader and in setting an example in how to execute it. If you haven't discussed this delightful series of books, don't start at the end; read them in order, starting with "On Basilisk Station."

After having read all the previous books in the Honor Harrington series I was looking forward to this new book. I liked the parts about Honor and the way Nimitz and the other treecats are evolving into "persons" to people other than their bond mates. What I did not care for at all were the large parts of the book that had nothing to do with Honor. I would rather have read more about Honor's family and friends. I was also wondering if the recuperation period might not have been a good idea for Honor to mother a child of her own... After all that would avoid the dilemma the Graysons had faced on her death at the time of her real death.

Well I still have 50 pages to go. Which is a rarity for a Weber book. Usually I pick one up and can't put it down till I finish it. Many of Weekends have been wasted. It has taken me all week to get though the middle. The beginning and end are great and typical of Weber's past work. But the middle is difficult and boring.
The dull sections are getting bigger with each book in the Honor series. They used to be intense stories the whole way though requiring several readings to get all the subtle facts. Now there seems to be a very long setup for each change of scene and a detailed map on where the story is going. I even reread the whole series in preparation for this new book.
I thought the hiatus would have helped. Maybe it didn't. "The Apocalypse Troll" was a great book and so were the others outside of the Honor's series. I know that series books a difficult to write. I always liked it when I knew less on what the Peeps were doing and being surprised like the Mantys. I also would like less on the chapter long mental dialogs. I think it took whole chapters just to open a door. I don't think Honor did anything this book expect sit back for the ride. Try this one again next time, "Mac, they have given me the Nike."

As an avid fan of Honor Harrington and her creator, David Weber, it was with great anticipation I waited for this book to appear at my doorstep. I won't go so far as to say I was disappointed, because I wasn't. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed the read and it felt good again to be reading fresh news about my favorite heroine. But... well, it's not up to Weber's standard, in my opinion. Perhaps he's setting the stage for the future, and the book did draw wonderfully from the past novels, but...
If you love Honor, get the book. If you've never read her before, read them in order and you won't be quite so disappointed.

"Ashes of Victory" picks up where "Echoes of Honor" left off.
In this book, we see Honor Harrington finish turning into a senior flag officer. There is not the action in previous Harrington novels, instead, this is a developmental, possibly the pivotal, novel in the Harrington series. Harrington turns into an advisor to Queen Elizabeth, Michelle Henke, William Alexander [Earl White Haven's brother and Chancellor of the Exchequer] and Queen Elizabeth herself are further developed here, along with a host of others.
Weber uses "Ashes of Victory" to tie up a number of loose ends from the past, and to open several new avenues for the future. The treecats finally go public as a sentient species. Other events occur.
Having first read "Ashes" on the eWebscription feature of Baen's website [[...] I enjoyed re-reading it when my hardcover was delivered. An excellent read, highly recommended.
A word to those who are new to the Honor Harrington series: while this book stands by itself, it will make more sense to read the series in publication order. Look for "On Basilisk Station" and go from there. Read and enjoy them all!

I like the Honor Harrington series a lot, but this book is starting to burn me out with the treecats and the new technology and the politics. I don't mind any of it in small doses, but when being cute and multistage missiles and petty arguments between petty people drive the plot, I start to lose interest.
To be blunt, I liked Honor when she was just a captain or squadron commander. This simple fact put her in very interesting situations. However, I find that her extremely rapid rise to Fleet Admiral kind of spoiled the fun of deep space engagements (which I hate to say are becoming few and far between.) In most situations, the Fleet Admiral flies a desk at HQ while the down and dirty stuff (at least in a tactical command sense) is handled by the commanders, captains, commodores and rear Admirals.
Also, while I'm at it. I wish the author would tone down the honorariums about Honor. I like the character without being reminded for the 1000000th time that she was once ugly and now considered beautiful or her black dead eyes. I get the message--she is a looker who can rip out my throat without remorse.
Still a good book if you enjoy the series, though.

As I eagerly awaited the latest Honor, I re-read the previous 10 books. I wish I had taken notes to keep everyone straight! Weber has no "meaningless" characters, it seems. For devotees of Honor, the book will be a little short of progress on her plot line, but far from a disappointment.
Other characters come into their own. Weber spends lots of time fleshing out what were brief sketches in previous novels. I especially enjoyed the development of the the royals and Thomas Theisman.
While this book is a fun ride, it is more, as other reviewers have written, a set up for the future. But isn't that what all life is? And pro-long can let Mr. Weber take as long as he needs!

Thanks to my Baen Webscription, I have already read the entire book and must say it is a simply wonderful sequel to Echos of Honor.
This book deals mostly with characterization and plot development rather than the usual life or death struggle. Weber is obviously setting things up for future books.
A larger than usual portion of the book concerns things happening with treecats and of course *some* things have to happen to Honor as well.
If you are a fan of Weber Honor Harrington series, you don't want to miss this one!

I guess it had to happen. With series as complex as this one, political intrigue must play it's part. Honor is tapped for duty on Saganami Island where she learns to delegate, a lot. The "true believers" from Masada are back in play and almost manage to kill the ........SPOILERS!!!! Oh, by the way, treecats are really smart.

I have read a lot of these reviews, and I have this to say to all those people who didn't like AoV -So what!! I think it's one of the best! I mean, in this book, David expands his universe immensley and gives us more details. So what if Honor doesn't go on any long,courageous death rides, vastly outgunned,in the face of certain death, when we know the whole time she's going to win anyway? It's time for a change. If he doesn't jam-pack this one with that sort of stuff, he takes some time off to tell us more about his universe and develop his characters. I was really glad to see through other peoples eyes when they're thinking about something other than Honor, or something directly related to her. this one is a transition novel, so? It didn't have as much action,that's true, but we got a great big explosion of it towards the end(look for "Oops" and the sentence "Goodbye _______ _______" I won't give away any more about this, because It's SO GOOD, it would be a crime to give it away.
Lots of people are complaning that it brushes over major events in favor of long boring passages about seemingly *unimportant* happenings. Well I, for one, don't think that, say the ability for treecats to really communicate wiith people, and the proof of treecat sentience is very minor, do you? And usually, if David gives us a lot of detail,it will usually be very important later. I *was* slightly annoyed at the fact that David did set some of the things, like McQueen's coup off-stage, but it's his book, he has a right to wright it the way he wants to.
I agree with most people, If you havn't read this series yet don't start with this.Start with OBS and work your way up.(I Started with HotQ and proceeded in no real order from there, but I havn't been able to find HAE yet so I finally ordered it online. So I can tell you it makes a lot more sense if you read it in order.)It will be extremely boring if you don't, since there's all this backcround you would'nt understand.If you have read the series, buy this book NOW!! It's worth the extra money for the hardcover.
I really, really love this book,(It's *almost* as good as EoH, my personal favorite)so the reason I gave it only 4 stars is that,after the first few pages, the whole Honor/WhiteHaven thing completly dissapears, exept for one teensy little paragraph near the end of the book. I mean, there's all this stuff about it in EoH,he could mention it once in a while. I know they can't actually act on it,(Man, those two have AMAZING self control) but it would be nice to hear about it sometime.( Actually, there's this rumour that it *is* going to work outin some later book)
Just some parting notes here, for any one who would like to try to figure out what will happen in the next book, read,CAREFULLY, pages 261-265 of From the Highlands(Canger of Worlds) -Will there be a role reversal between the SKM and the PRH after this government overhaul and Thiesman's little Jack-in-the-box? - and last, but not least, has ANYONE noticed that Tiesman's initials are *TET*?

As I read the previous reviews I was taken by the blood-thirstiness of some of the reviewers. I, for one, vastly enjoyed this book (and all the series preceding it -- including the short story adjuncts). David Weber comes up with people who move you to tears for their way of thinking and for their devotion to doing the "right thing". So what if Honor has gone from LtCmdr to Admiral -- it has taken her 30 years or so and an arm and an eye and the destruction of more ship tonnage that most people can even envision to do so. One of the problems noted by an earlier reviewer concerns Honor's 'rapid' rise through the ranks. In war time that happens, even in real life. In fiction it is even easier -- witness Kimbal Kennison, who went from Lensman Cadet to Governor of an entire galaxy in much less time than Honor took to make admiral. As for where can we go next, how about Honor as First Lord of the Admiralty? She is now a Duchess and an Admiral so has plenty of rank.
So, David Weber, keep those HH stories coming and she really doesn't have to lose a body part in every novel for me to enjoy the excitement that surrounds her.

The number 1 pain in the Republic of Haven's side has returned to her home(s). Ashes of Victory starts within a few hours of where Echos of Honor ended. Honor returns to Grayson aboard her namesake, GNS Honor Harrington, where she mets her baby sister and brother. Nothing she can say will change what the Grayson's had done to 'honor' her with. Honor has luck from her point of view from her other home world, Manticore, into getting some of the 'honors' renamed. While Honor is recouping from her injuries, she is given command of the Advance Tactical School and promoted to Admiral. Honor prevents Saint-Just's assassination attempt against Queen Elizabeth but cannot prevent the second prong of the attack from happening. We say a fond fareware to the Duke of Cromarty. And we can say good ridence to Saint-Just, McQueen, Pierre, and Lord Mueller. After the Duke's untimely death brings the opposition into power in Manticore's politics and they force the Queen into accepting the 'red-herring' cease-fire agreement from Haven. We have not seen the last book in the series and it seems to be getting better with each release in it. Stay tuned and see what happens in future books in the series.

I agree with several of the other reviews in that the story spends a lot of time on substance and chat, but loses some of the normal tense action to long drawn out scenes that, in the previous books, would have been summed up in two or three sentences. There are many areas of the book where you get lost because there are details that you need and since you are not given them, you need to make assumptions about what did happen. There is good action, but very little with HH. DW may have to go back to the drawing board over this one. The project encompassed too much time and information and lacked the planning that we saw in the previous books. It appeared the book was rushed to press and vital information had to be left out or was not properly thought through. There was not a lot of detailed battle sections like the other books. Most of the scenes in this one, were straight slaughters. Please don't make HH a diplomat, she was great the way she was.

I've enjoyed this series from it's beginning, but I'm disastified with this book. Weber has become popular enough that Baen seems to have stopped editing him entirely.
The three page exposition on why do-nothing, careerist navy officers resent warrant officers is a perfect example. It could have been done in three sentences, but because it rambles on for too long, it detracts from the more interesting things around it.
Weber also drifts to far into cliche, and because of that, into predictability. As soon as you recognize the cliche, you know what the next 20 pages will be about.
For newcomers to the series, please read the other books first. For fans of the series, keep your fingers crossed, maybe the next one will be better.

Well, well, well. Honor finds out that coming back from the dead can cause problems. This is a great read, but I can see where people new to the series might find it a tough go. However, the overall sense I get from this is of a hiatus, while Honor, her family and friends and her professional peers try to figure out what's next. And, of course, there is a pause on the political/military front. The next full-length book in the series could go almost anywhere, and there is little to allow us to predict the next moves of any of the parties, be they Grayson, the Star Kingdom, the Peeps - hell, for all I know, the Andermani Empire could throw in on the side of the Peeps! Wouldn't that cause a stir?
On the up-front-and-personal side, we are already seeing the effects of high rank on Honor - the chances are less and less that she will go on death rides, and certainly not as commanding officer of one of HM Ships. Unless, of course, she does something that so completely pisses off Her Maesty/The Government/Their Lordships of Admiralty that she's busted back to the rank of Captain; the only problem is here that an officer who's busted from flag rank is usually NOT considered ideal command material, Captain Kirk's example to the contrary.
So, Mr. Weber, what evil and devious machinations roil in your brain now? I feel certain that Honor will not retire to the life of a country Duchess; but how she is to continue serving her Queen and Kingdom and be afforded opportunities to display her excellence as a tactician are beyond me. Over to you, sir.

One of the things that David Weber has alluded to in his anthologies about Honor Harrington is that the series is about the first truly major interstellar war. There is even an indication that the scope of the war may widen from being "Manticore vs. the People's Republic of Haven" to a larger conflict that even embroils the largest government, the Solarian League.
The source of the mixed reactions that people are having to this book stems from the fact that the book focuses more on the war itself than other books in the series. Weber has conceived a war that is far larger in scope than World War II, and this book delves into the details of that conflict.
Weber has created an imaginative vision of furturistic warfare technology, with two closely matched stellar nations developing new advances and tactics to gain advantages.
But wars are as much about politics as they are about technology. And Weber has created a detailed political situation which continues to drive the war forward, and possibly, as a result of the actions in this book, into an entirely new direction.
Weber has illustrated much of the war so far by showing it to us through the eyes of Honor Harrington, particularly through her various ship-to-ship engagements. As the scope of both the series and the war has increased, though, it becomes more necessary, I think, for Weber to use a larger cast of characters to cover the overall conflict.
I'd like to point that his series represents the most detailed and ambitious depiction of an interstellar war ever attempted in the science fiction field. To me, the war is as fascinating as Honor Harrington and all of her henchmen.

This book looks as if DW was rushed into sending it to the printers. This book sadly lacks the attention to details necessary to bring it up to par with the best in this series and is chock full of the unnecessary drivel that grows so tiresome in the worst.
Major storylines were ignored to present minutiae or secondary events that could have been mentioned in passing or handled in a couple of well-crafted paragraphs. The details he skimmed over that were of significance to major events boggle the mind. Sometimes being oblique enhances perception and brings greater focus to the characters point of view and sometimes it is just plain oblique. The author totally ignores dramatic happenings or presents them in a desultory manner only to give us approximately 8 chapters of everybody saying "Hey, Honor! We thought you were dead!" and have honors (ha!) and rewards heaped on her head. The secondary plotlines he handled so well in "Honor Among Enemies" are sadly left dangling in this installment. He could have easily made this book shorter and concentrated on the main and secondary characters and left the changing political scene for the next book.
I have never been impressed with how DW woefully neglects important emotional scenes that would enhance his character development and here he continues the tradition. He writes great military SF but needs to work on his characters, especially the secondary characters he builds up and then forgets. His readers don't forget them and would like an occasional mention once in a while (without killing them off, if possible). :)
The reunion scenes were sadly mishandled and many fine opportunities lost.
For instance:
Horace Harkness, who saves the day in EoH through some very quick thinking and nifty acting, recieves his medal off-screen, so to speak. He just shows up with it on his chest and we have to sit through several pages of why people have to salute him. This could have been handled much better.
Also, what a reunion it would have been between bad-boy-gone-good Chief Horace and his spit-and-polish bride, Gunny Sergeant Iris Babcock (who's courting and nuptials DW completely ignored in previous tomes).
Honor has a quick intro to her younger siblings, the scene is stolen by Honor's and Nimitz's realisation that he can't communicate telepathically, and the kids aren't seen again. If they were just a ploy to keep people focussed on Grayson and give DW something to fill up pages in EoH, what a sad misuse of an opportunity to see Honor in a totally different and unfamiliar role.
Also, BIG PET PEEVE of mine, I HATE it when grown women call their fathers Daddy. She doesn't call her mother Mommy. It doesn't make her sound like a loving daughter, it sounds juvenile and manipulative.
I don't mind the fact that Honor didn't get shot up, but she did have to make "the tough choice" and ride to the rescue in a rather obvious way at the end.
I do like this series, I just hope the next book is up to DW's earlier efforts. Maybe he needs to take a break from Honor and concentrate on one of his other irons in the fire, then come back to Honor fresh for another go-around.
I loved the first six books in this series. The next couple of books in the HH series are not bad at all, but this one was a disappointment.

The biggest problem with Ashes of Victory is that regardless of what the intention of the author was, the book is not worthy of the series which it's in. Had this been an independent book, it would have been a complete flop.
The entire book has the beginning of several major plots but no plot of its own. Furthermore, there is a enormous disparity between the amount of filler and text on the actual storyline.
As an example, consider how we are given an endless amount of detail on tree cats' anatomy, surgical procedurals, political trivia, yet a major occurance such as the change of an entire faction's government has very little coverage.
It is probably the worst book in the Honor series that I've read so far.

Weber does an absolutely superb job of detailing the significant periphery issues that surround Honor; however, that left little time for Honor in the book. Regardless, the book is an absolute must read because so many of the background issues surrounding Honor have simply been handled in passing, making Honor seem one-dimensional in many of the texts. So many issues in preceding texts concerning her have been handled in at best a businesslike fashion, quickly presented to provide the requisite background and settings, then pushed aside to get back to Honor and the action. This text answers a great many of those questions and also leaves open a great number more, awaiting Weber's attention in future novels. Weber has still managed to pack in some solid action with Alexander and the 8th Fleet and many of Honor's "proteges". This is not a book for those who have not read any of the previous novels, particulary Basilisk Station and Flag in Exile. Read those first! Then come back and get the details. The many sub plots and supporting characters needed time to catch up with Honor; this novel has certainly accomplished that task. The multiple threads Weber left us with at the end certainly have me for one waiting with baited breath for the next episode.

Once upon a time, there was a book with a young, inexperienced, phenomenally lucky female protagonist. Over the past few years we have read about this protagonist as she grows in experience in personal relationships, diplomacy, and war. We've seen her evolve from an emotionally constrained person into woman of considerable empathy. And we've come to know the people near & dear to her as well as her enemies and honorable opponents. And with this book David Weber poises his heroine to take the next step in her growth. This is the pivotal book in the series, the one that ties the old with the new. For that reason, he takes the focus off his heroine for the bulk of the book. We need the explanations, the whys & hows of the events that will change her life, and the motivations of the minor characters. There's a lot of information in "Ashes", so much so that I hurried through when I first purchased it. I had to get to the end and find out where we were going. Then I re-read it for the details. And they were awesome. Is it a fun, fast read like the other books in the series? NO. But it is a book that I will pick up again and again, because it contains a wealth of material. It is the future Honor's foundation.

Mr. Weber keeps the Honor series fresh and moving in new direction without losing focus on what makes this series exceptional...characters and a "S-F universe" as intricate as any currently in being. Some folks may not be able to deal with a "supposed space opera" that doesn't spend 70% of it's ink blowing up each others ships, but the real strength is all the supporting characters and how they grow and have apparently began to virtually write themselves. ( This could be neccesary as Mr. Weber seems to injure himself almost as often as Honor gets hurt). Yes, there was some rather extreme editing apparent, but since part of the growing appeal of this series is it's shared universe sister books, they is always a remedy for leaving various fights, politic or otherwise off stage a bit more than I prefer. Thsi is wonderful stepping stone to a point in the series where anything now can happen...and Mr. Weber has so many possible new major POV characters, the usual problem of a main characters success itself limiting storylines just doesn't apply...it does seem possible that Honor may be fighting more in the political arena than in Space, similar to Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan. Superior "Science fiction" is always strongest for me when the the tech and violence underpins the various political realities possible to a well in formed imagination, and this is one of the best I have read in a while.

... for my taste, of course.
Unlike some of the other reviewers, it wasn't the changes in Honor's life that bothered me. I really admire an author who has the courage to make substantial changes to his/her characters and their circumstances.
The weaknesses of this book have to do with pacing mainly. The repeated love fest awaiting Honor's return was a bit much, but returning "from Hell" is not an everyday occurance so if that had been the only place that the pacing was "off" I could have overlooked it.
I don't know if it's getting worse or if I'm just overloading on it, but the endless pages of technical description of the fleet and it's capabilities is beginning to wear on me. I found myself skimming and saying to myself "Yeah, yeah. They outgunned them vastly, then kicked the snot out of them. Get back to the PLOT." If Mr Weber has reached the point where the emphasis is no longer on Honor as an individual commander but now focuses on the development of her as a character and evolution of "things on a grander scale" some of the time spent giving us Bills of Materials of the ships could have been spent exploring the Honor/Hamish relationship. (Like it or not it's gotta be a MAJOR factor in her character but it was treated as a post script.) Some of the time spent describing some of the individual battles after the "turning of the tide" of the Manticore/Haven war could have been spent fleshing out what happened during the attempted coup in Haven. A piece of action that kills off several long running characters and substantially changes the future of Honorverse was covered in what was bascially a conversational aside for heaven's sake.
That said, it was still a largely enjoyable book I think most Honor fans will enjoy it and I don't regret ordering it in hardcover.
I commend Mr. Weber from taking Honor out of the same-old-same-old. I challenge him to complete the transition and rely less on (LONG)technical descriptions and "off screen" expositions.

This is a departure from the earlier "Honor" books, and not a good one, in my opinion! I agree with Mike Gallogly ... waaay too much exposition, a lot of it repetitive for those of us who have read all the previous books. I actually found myself skimming through paragraphs full of political/philosophical musings from the various characters and paging forward hoping for just one good space battle to make it all worthwhile! Frankly, even the few battles included were one-sided with pre-ordained outcomes! Also, I'm disappointed that Weber has turned the tree cats into "little people" rather than leaving them the unique and unexplainable creatures he started out with.
I'm a big fan of David Weber and think his earlier writings, both the "Honor" series and, for example, "In Death Ground" with Steve White, are some of the best military sci-fi around, but this book was greatly disappointing. I'm not looking for escapism, Greg J., but I am looking for a book that takes me inside its universe and makes me want to stay there for the duration of the story. I'll read the next one, but only because I'm hoping Weber goes back to what he does best.

I'm a recent HH discoverer, and have enjoyed the books immensely, reading all of them in the last 3-4 months.
As others have mentioned in their reviews, it seems that in Ashes of Victory, much attention to detail is devoted to what appear to be minor or irrelevant topics, while major events, like a coup or two and turning tides in the war, get short shrift. Beloved characters' deaths are handled rather poorly (in a sentence or two), while much is made of situations that have little impact on the story (the "special training" session with students comes to mind). I think Esther McQueen was vastly underdeveloped in this book.
On the positive side, at least we didn't have to put up with page upon page of Honor berating herself over the death of a loved one (e.g. Tankersley / Coursovier) and how it was all her fault (in her own mind). Those long self-deprecating/loathing, "woe is me" monologues have tried my patience too often in the series. HH seems to finally have grown past that stage of self-pity. Thank God! And, Honor doesn't get mutilated or lose any additional body parts in this round - hope that's not too much of a spoiler for anyone.
The last few chapters really move along briskly, but I felt that they were the ones given short shrift - as if the outline had some padding added to it rather than full development. Major, MAJOR events happen with such scant coverage that you feel cheated. While at the end of Echoes of Honor I felt like cheering, I went "hmmm?" at the end of Ashes. Maybe that was DW's intent, as this seems to be a transition novel. Still, I'd expected more blood 'n' guts detail on certain events that impact scores of planets.
Certain intriguing developments (e.g. treecats learning to communicate better w/ humans) commanded too much detail in their introduction, but then were ignored until suddenly they were tied up, but then underused. Another example was Hughes' role and ties in Mueller's scheming, and how Mueller's efforts were ... um ... resolved. Lots of build-up, but then a sentence or two after-the-fact later on.
One of the most irritating problems I encountered with this book were editing / typographical errors. Cases where "if" instead of "of", or "emphasize" rather than "empathize" were used. Also, it seems DW LOVES the word "wry". I found myself making mental bets in both Echoes of Honor and Ashes of Victory about how many more pages it would be before someone was wryly smiling or thinking. At some points, you could bet on reading that word every 2-3 pages. PLEASE try to avoid overusing the same word. "Wry" isn't really a commonly used word for most people, and seeing it so often makes it jump out as a "pet" word, or even worse, that not much care is being taken in writing descriptive text.
Let there be no doubt that enough tantalizing threads are left untied at the end of this book to lead us to believe that there is much still to come. It will be interesting to see how Honor adjusts to life away from the front lines, and engages in more political sparring. The suspected, but additional undiscovered wormhole junction is another opportunity to rejuvenate the series. Please do not let it be a parallel of what's happening in the Star Wars books. I don't want to hear DW be accused of pilfering that idea.
What I'd like to see is just how the Solarian League reacts to Manticore's victory, assuming the Peeps are toast. Also, there are plenty of political problems on the horizon, with plenty of nasty - if non-military - developments possible. But please tighten up the stories and improve the editing / proofreading and I'll be happy.

I stopped reading this book when, about a third of the way through, I realized that NOTHING HAD HAPPENED. All the characters seem to spend their time doing one of two things:
1. If they're good guys, they tease each other playfully and twinkle their eyes.
2. If they're bad guys, they sit around thinking about past, present, and future plots and conspiracies, all their co-conspirators and their respective motives, and the history of the universe.
This was my first introduction to this series, and I would guess that the previous books were better, or there never would have been a series.

Well allow me to start with why I gave it 4 stars not 5...I HATE CLIFF-HANGERS. nuf said! Honor Harrington is the kind of officer I always wanted to serve under when I was in the service. I often wished for someone who gets in the mud and the blood and still maintained leadership abilities. Yeah some of this stuff is Clancy-ish, and several of the characters appear to be quite superficial. WRONG! Mr Weber has done an outstanding job of presenting all kinds of charters from several walks of life. The universe is not perfect but redemption is available for those who wish to find it. Example: Harknes was quite the troublemaker, but after he had an excellent example set for him, he got his act together and became part of the solution. Honor herself exemplifies all that is best in an officer. Ultimately this entire series is about starting at the bottom and working your way up. As long as you are willing to do the work and not give up when the Pavel Young's of the world try to knock you down, you can accomplish anything. Finally, Honor Harrington is about earning you way, not having it handed to you on a silver platter.

Ashes of Victory delivers all I have come to expect from a Weber novel EXCEPT a white-knuckled death-ride by Lady Harrington. Well, the bad news for the white-knuckle enthusiasts is that Honor is now too senior to take a single cruiser into the teeth of an entire enemy fleet. The GOOD news is that her universe has just gotten enormously larger in the detail and insight Weber has shared with us.
Yes, the book drags a bit in some spots, particularly in the middle sections, but it also accelerates to a slam-bang conclusion in which monumental changes completely reshape Honor's world. And the book shows us an Honor who is growing up--a woman who is now a mature person, in command of herself and her life . . . and ready for new challenges.
And that's the REALLY good news, because Weber has told us he is no more than half-way through the series, which suggests to me that he used what is admittedly a transition novel to set up fresh challenges, dangers, risks, and--yes--the occasional white-knuckled death-ride by our favorite heroine for many books to come. As for all the other characters, I say bring 'em on! The fact that Honor does not live and achieve things in a vacuum has always been one of the things I love about this series.
I have to agree that if you are not already familiar with the Honorverse this is not the best book with which to begin your acquaintance. But that's what the earlier books are for, so what are you doing sitting around listening to me or anyone else carry on about them? Go buy Basilisk Station and get hooked. The rest of us will be waiting for you when you catch up with us!

The "Salamander" is back, and even though she has lost an arm and an eye to the enemy, don't think she's done for. Honor Harrigton is ready to take on the universe on all fronts - the Grayson Navy, the Manticoran Navy, the Queen, the Protector, and a host of others want her help, and of course they get it while Honor herself undergoes surgery to replace her arm and eye, as well as the nerves in her face. In addition we get to see Honor react to her "heir" she didn't know she had, teach classes on Saganami Island, play political games with the best, acquire a new set of responsibilities in the form of a new gift of lands from Elizabeth, and save the lives of both Queen Elizabeth & Protector Benjamin while loosing other friends along the way. Along the way she and her mother come up with a plan to help treecats actually talk with humans. I can't wait to see what Weber has in store for her next!

This is a very good and fun book to read. It continues the Saga of Honor Harrington and her world as she reaches new heights. While some of the reviews I've seen have wailed and moaned about the book being less action oriented then the beginning books had been. I don't agree fully. Yes, our hero does not appear in the fore front of the action this time around. But really, how many admirals (especially recovering from serious wounds) do you know actually are always in the thick of things? (Some people want a simple cookie cutter type plots. The same basic theme over and over, without the main character growing. Well, I'm glad Weber isn't one of those types of writers!) This book still has plenty of space fights and action to thrill those who need it. Wait till you read one chapter and the last word was "Opps!". But this book also takes our hero to a new level of having to deal with politics and their effects. And unfortunately into some action must fall some politics. I think a lot of what was shown in this book is necessary to help build an understanding of things to come in future Honor stories. And I'm sure Mr. Weber (once his wrist is healed) will have Honor in action again. So buy this book, it is well worth buying and reading (and later re-reading too)! Enjoy!

This book did an excellent job gathering loose ends together in preparation for the next stage of Honor's carreer, to say nothing of the war against the Peeps. Unfortunately, in order to do this Mr. Weber had to cover everyone, from Protector Benjamin, to Queen Elizabeth, to Honor's mother, to Saint-Just, etc, etc. Sometimes it seemed that Honor got added in as an afterthought. This is a great story if you're a die hard HH fan, but boring if this is the first HH book you've read.
The book is far too light in the action department, and what action there is comes close to the end of the book. However, Mr. Weber's view into the working of government, both Peep and the Allies, is much more detailed than in previous books. Again, great for the series fan, but otherwise.....
This book positions everything nicely for the war to blow up big time. I expect Mr. Weber's next book will live up to our full expectations, much like 'Flag in Exile' was a barn burner after 'Field of Dishonor'. Personally, I enjoy a lot of detail in my books, and I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Mr. Weber, please keep 'em coming!

This book often seems to be a preface for the next book - stage setting or catching of the breath for the next major action. I agree with other reviewers that some sections were glossed over too lightly. In a perfect world, Mr. Weber would have the opportunity to write whole books on things that were touched on in this one.
However, I can hardly wait to see where the story goes next! And this book simply whets my appetite for more.

This is a riviting book which I was unable to put down until I finished reading every page. The ongoing story of Admiral Dame Honor Harringtion, Steadholder Harrington, and Duchess Harington three distinct personas with awsome responsibilites all held by one heroine. This book developes several members of the supporting cast in the series and makes them more vivid while providing an inside look at what made them what they are. Particularly intersting is the development of Manatcore's Queen Elizabeth of the house of Winton.
While there is plenty of action for any reader the strong characterizations and the plots within plots provide excellant reading. If you have read any of the previous books in this series this is a must read. If you have not, while it stands alone, you will enjoy it more if you take the time to read the other novels in the Honor Harrington series first. This novel makes the whole series more enjoyable. I am planning to reread them in order again as I think I will get more out of each of them after reading this one.
I can hardly wait for the next volume in the series. Hope it comes out this year. The sooner the better.

Ashes of Victory was not the best book of the series, but it was not the worst. I agree with most people that I would rather see the swashbuckling captain ripe the life out of the enemy in an all or nothing, hopless, against the odds shoot'em up kill'em now gunfight. BUT this book and the others of the series are not all about that. For example the consept of the story is right out of the French Revolution and Robespiere's reigh of terror in the latter 1700's. The intregue has moved past the mere action and has turn into an epic consept of Empire's and individual stories. It is abvious to me that Honor will be an active part of the next Government on Manticore and her former subordinates will take the helms of the new warship's and hey maybe a showdown with the Solarian Legue itself. It is too bad the the people who will stop reading the stories because blood and guts are no longer the only avenue of success, will miss the good stories and developed charactures. I hope David Weber will spin the series off to focus on Scotty, Raef, Allistor and the rest of her people in books that will represent his talents. Yes, it could have been better, but it was very good instead!

Another exception book by David Weber in the Honor Harrington series. I love the female heroine, which is not common in the sci-fi genre of this type, and she is totally believable, totally relatable, and simply amazing! I have read each and every book of this series and except for one, I found them all to be equally compelling. Now, I want one of those cats! (read the book to find out what I mean!)

First, let me say that I wholeheartedly agree that this is the wrong Honor Harrington book to start with. Pick one of the earlier ones or just do what I did - go back and buy all of them and read them in series.
Honor continues on her trip up the ladder in two navies and society at large in this book, and as usual has to deal with all of the good and bad that this brings. She isn't the dashing heroine figure in this book, but anyone who read Echoes of Honor knows that she deserves a little time off.
The book is generally slow to build, but once again I found myself staying up late to finish it. A tip from me - plan to read the last 75-100 pages in one sitting.
The blockbuster, world-changing ending reminds me of the ending of Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor. I can't wait to see how different Honor's world is in the next book.

It seems that Mr. Weber has tired of the series he has been writing, and wants to do something else with this character. About 2/3rds of the way through this book, he kills off many of the major characters, while completely breaking with the fairly close historical parallels he has used until now. This carnage is only very loosely motivated, and the authorial hand is far too evident.

The characterization (never Weber's strong point) is flatter than ever, and the writing rather more wooden than before.

I didn't buy this after I borrowed it, and while I may buy future books in this series (if any) I will probably not pay h/c prices.

As a fellow writer of science fiction, I feel compelled to take issue with some of the reviews which have appeared here. I'm giving Ashes of Victory 5 stars because it deserves it. For those of you not familiar with David Weber's Honor Harrington series (now, with Ashes of Victory, up to nine volumes), it is one of the most ambitious series currently being written in science fiction. Unlike most series, this one does not consist of a number of individual adventures held together merely by the continuity of a central character. It involves an ever-expanding range of political, social and military forces as the heroine's career progresses.
It is simply not possible to write a successful series of that nature without the author taking the time to develop and explore the complexity of the universe in which it takes place. The kind of relatively simple, straight-ahead action which characterized the earlier volumes of the series can't be sustained forever. At a certain point, the author faces a simple choice: end the series, or go deeper into it. C.S. Forester's Hornblower saga, which is the loose inspiration for Weber's Harrington series, pretty much ended at the point where his character reached the same stage of development that Harrington reaches by the beginning of Ashes of Victory. (Forester wrote only three more volumes, all of which -- which the partial exception of Commodore Hornblower -- were episodic in nature.)
David Weber has chosen to go the other way, and continue depicting his heroine's career after she attains the upper reaches of success and power. I applaud him for doing so. Partly because I love the series and hope to keep reading it for years to come. But, mostly, because I think the story gets more and more interesting as time goes on. I have no doubt whatsoever that Honor will continue to have many harrowing adventures --- just as she does in Ashes of Victory. But, for me at least, the complex political and social maneuvers in which she is now enmeshed are ultimately more interesting than one space battle after another.
My point is simple: you can't expect an admiral to have the same adventures as a ship commander. Nor, frankly, would I be that interested in a series which simply repeated the same formula over and over again -- which the Honor series certainly doesn't.
There are lots of series out there. This one is very special. I strongly recommend Ashes of Victory to anyone who enjoys reading a fascinating and complex tale extremely well told.

David Weber scores again with the highly anticipated ninth book of the Honor Harrigton series. I enjoyed this book a lot. It keeps right on moving with a fast pace and many of the gems readers have come to expect from the HH series. I couldn't put this book down. It was riveting. I wish "War of Honor" (#10) came out NOW! Honor now comes full circle, becoming more politically minded, taking care of her steading on planet Grayson and having plenty of time to play with her tree cat. Being and Admiral and one of Queen Elizabeth's personal friends could be a lot for one woman to handle but Honor takes it in stride and soars. I would recommend this series to anyone, it makes you want to stand up and be counted. Newcomers should start with Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington ...and others already introduced should thoroughly enjoy this book.

I have really have enjoyed all of the HH series. This book is a significant addition in understanding Honor's world, yet there is not all that much action in the plot. The one thing that constantly amazes me about this series is its reference to the French Revolution, with the Republic of Havan as a reprentation of the First Republic of France and Manicore represents Great Britain. Weber is does not try to hide these references, yet so often I find that other people often do not make this connection. I can't wait to see how Weber will continue this connection in the next several books. I stongly reccomend the series, but a new reader should definately start at the beginning of the series to get the most out of these books.

Following straight on from the last installment Ashes Of Voctory (AOV)carries on the careers of all our favorite HH characters (well those that are still with us) on both sides of the Havenite war. Offering basic, good old-fassioned space opera mixed with in-depth characters who all exist on multiple levels weather they are well established or only with us for a chapter or two. No character is super-human, and both the Mantacoran Alliance & the Peoples Republic Of Haven Have thier fair share of good guys and bad guys, brilliant stratagists and morons with power. All in all a job well done. I eagerly await Honor's next adventure.

As a history and SF buff, I'm loving DW's use of the past as prologue. This could so easily be a simple pastiche of the Napoleonic War but DW keeps it interesting with increasingly better drawn characters and motivations. At the end of this book with the end of the revolutionary leaders, I'm left wondering who will be the Napoleon analogue and have I missed Marat and will there be a 'Recalled to Life' episode? The possibilities are interesting and challenging and I look forward to DW's next episode very much!

David Weber once more proves that he can write a gripping, exciting story. In "Ashes of Victory" he focuses not so much on the main character of the series, Dame Honor Harington, but on the bigger picture. He gives us more insight on other characters in the his universe. I was particularly pleased with the look the reader got into the minds of some of the key characters, specifically, Elizabeth III Queen of Manticore, Oscar Saint-Just the head of StateSex for the PRH, and Dame Honor's mother Allison Harrington. Long time readers of the series feel as if Honor is a close personal friend from reading the books, and now we get to know her fiends, family, and even enemies better. Weber manages with "Ashes of Victory" to write a more cereberal novel without sacrificing any of the action and conflict that readers of this series have come to expect and enjoy. I sincerely hope that this is not the last Honor Harrington novel, but if it is, one could not ask for a more perfect conclusion to a wonderful series. Thank you, Mr. Weber.

Weber gives us a whole galaxy, not just the highlights. I like the the way he adds so much detail to the rest of the characters. It is much more than just Honor Harrington. While I have to admit the story does drag a bit, it is overall quite good. Since the begining of the series Weber has explained what has been happening to the other characters and the political happenings and why. This latest book has so much depth I can't wait for the next one.

HH as a supporting character is not the reason I purchased thisbook. All of the previous main characters have become a supportingcast without a leading actor in this release. Instead of 'Long Live the Fighters', the theme of this current novel should be 'I Ain't Gonna Go To War No More'. If you want action, treat the first 485 pages as a forward.
This novel may be a method of transition to multiple short stories in a common universe, with various authors providing their flavors to it. My preference is the plain vanilla, HH world the previous 8 novels provided.
Trying to keep an extended series interesting over a long period of time is not an easy position to be in. The environment which spawned the original OBS has certainly changed. I hope that Mr. Drake will rethink the current direction this novel is apparently heading towards. Bring back the action and conflicts which spurred many of us to begin collecting this series as soon as 'The Honor of the Queen' was published.
The cynical conclusion to this would read, "Yes Virginia, there are reasons why the politicians always win."

This book was very much in the same vein as Mr Webers previous Honor Harrington books. Yet it was different in that Mr. Weber took the time to supply his readers with information that so far we have only been able to guess at. Granted the usual space duel between Honor and the PEEPs didn't materialize as some have complained. What makes Mr. Weber such a great author is his ability to look at his own work and decide I don't need to send Honor out to battle when she's not fully recovered from her little sojourn on Hades. There are still some good space battles, but as some of the less astute among his readers have complained, they are not as detailed as when Honor is involved. Of course they won't be, Honor isn't involved so they are not the main focus of the plot. I'll give this book 5 stars for content and excitement...

I wish I could say that reading the HH is like eating candy -- momentary pleasure followed by guilt. No, most of the time I don't even get the pleasure. I'm too busy being irritated by how the author sets up his simplistic villains (well, all the characters are simplistic in the Honorverse -- if they have more than 4 character traits, they're considered fully fleshed out) and his ridiculous political commentary.
All of Honor's enemies are E.Vil. Our poor innocent heroine is always perfect, trying to do the best for everyone concerned, while religious or political zealots who Don't Understand the Perfection that is Truth, Justice, and the Honor way do their best to bring her down. Honor, being in all ways worthy of our collective adulation (she must be, since the reader is told how wonderful she is on every other page), ultimately prevails against all odds.
Sounds like fun? No, it's not. It's endlessly tiresome. The first books in the series were fluff, but good fluff. Since Weber fell head over heels in love with his character, I have to slog to get through the later books. I only continue because I sadly do see the potential for good space opera in his basic story structure, and so I hope that THIS will be the book where it all comes together. After this book, I'm giving up on this series entirely.
Yes, I GET IT. Honor's wonderful. Except, I would much rather come to my own conclusions about a character. SHOW ME why she's amazing, and then you don't need all the characters in the book to give endless exposition about her heroic qualities.
Give me Miles Vorkosigan, a flawed, fully developed character in addition to being a military genius. I think I'll go back and read Bujold's Memory.

I found Ashes of Victory to be another good book featuring Honor Harrington. There isn't quite as much space battle action as some of the preceeding books but the overall view of this universe was expanded and deepened. For those who don't like any political manuvering the expanded amount of this in the book may be a negative factor but I found it interesting. As HH moves up in rank the 'action' seems to be taking place at the command and behind the scenes level more and more. A lot of the direct action involves other long standing characters. Highly reccomended.

This is Mr. Weber's best yet! He's done an awesome job with his characters (as usual) and has created quite a few surprises. At one point (no, I will not spoil the story by telling you), he could have easily killed off Harrington for real and gotten away with it. He would be the type of author to do that, too. The only quarrel I had with the book was that Harrington should have been a part of Buttercup. Sure, she was in the thick of things in the kingdom, but she sould have been there! Oh, well. And, of course the two best scenes are the ones with Foraker's quote, "Oops." and the final one. For those who haven't read this book yet, READ IT. It's the best yet.

As a long-time appreciator of Weber's "Honor Harrington" series, I feel "Ashes of Victory" is an apt title for this book; it certainly left me with a desire to incinerate it. Weber deftly advanced many of the minor plot threads developing throughout the series and then must have become bored. Previous books in the series gradually fleshed out important plot threads involving the characters and government of the "People's Republic of Haven" (the enemy) which added faces and interest for the reader. Weber hints of important events unfolding and exciting action to follow - then skips it entirely in favor of a pitifully inadequate, miniscule, one-chapter summary of what could have been an climactic turning point for the series. The book fails to regain energy after that, ending with a whimper (both figurative and by this reader!).

I was introduced these books about three years ago and was impaitiently for this book. To be honest most of this was because of the whole White Haven-Honor thing. Unforunatly nothing happened on that front but this book is still great. The ending does leave a lot of questions about the whole situation between haven and star kingdom but that opens another realm of possibilities. Regardless, i will be waiting for the next one to find out how the white haven and other storylines turn out

The latest book by David Weber is an outstanding continuation to a series that equils Star Wars in its excitement and surpasses it in its depth. Honor Harrington has died, gone to Hell, and has returned setting free close to half a million prisoners from the Peoples Republic of Havens prison planet known to it's inhabitants as Hell. With the openning passages of the book it brings forth, the rising from the ashes a true hero, who was feared lost forever. With that, the beginning of the end for a great evil presence that castes it's spell of destruction on both the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Empire of the Peoples Republic of Haven. Court intrigue, plots with in plots, War scenes that have you on the edge of your seat. This is a novel that has one entranced from the beginning. David Weber once again shows he is a Master of his Craft with few peers present or past.

In the series Honor has gradually matured and we now see her more as a trainer and mover and shaker than as a fleet commander.
Well Honor's friends and Manicore and its allies strike back. With their new weapons they are victorious but a assassination and the consequent political turmoil drifts ashes over the victory.
DW has terminated the Muller thread, the Summervale thread, the whole Commitee of Public Safety thread, probably the McQueen thread, the Shannon comes of age thread, the Giscard and his secret lover thread. It is true that the Frisbee thread is still going strong and IMO it would be better to have the White Haven/HH thread stuffed down the back of the acceleration couch but there is still lots left for the next books in 18 months time - start saving now.

I liked Ashes of Victory. But from what I see from looking at all of theses other reviews, it is either they loved it, or hated it. Now I didn't read all 77 other reviews, nor will I ever, but from the ones I did read about how they hated it they only said that it was because Honor wasn't in it every much, or that there wasn't much action, or too much of one thing. Well people, you can hate it, but understand that this is more of a transition (memo, I am not a good speller) book. I see it as a major changing, which I am sure others do. It is never easy to change how a seris goes, so it will be different. I however take it as it is, and I hope that... no, I know David will do great in the next one. As one person put, they can't wait to see who the next emeny is, as do I.

I loved it! Nimitz and Samantha get a more active role and show how smart they actually are. The deadlock with the peeps seems to be broken, finally. We get a greater look into interstellar politics. Truely the 'salamander' could have shown up more in the book, but one of the times she does show up she literally lives up to her name.

The only reason I bought this book was because I was so impressed by Weber's previous novel "In Enemy Hands" (actually, I unknowingly skipped from Honor Harrington book 7 to 9). "In Enemy Hands" was so addicting because it had all the traits of a classic sci-fi adventure/drama: interstellar warships, exciting space battle, hand to hand combat, and of course the cute & cuddly alien creature (who can get very nasty if someone pisses them off). Honor Harrington seemed to be up to every challenge, and kicked ass with such ease that it was rather entertaining to read.

Which brings me to "Ashes of Victory". This novel started out very strongly, explaining the dramatic escape of Honor and the 500,000 prisoners she freed from the prison planet Hell. Although it is hard to top the previous drama of Honor's escape from the clutches of Cordillea Ransom's P.M.S rage, I thought the introduction was well written and showed a nice transition between the two books. I also liked the hero's welcome Honor received when she got back home.

So far so good, but then Honor got promoted by the queen herself to a nice desk job where she would help train cadets at the military academy on Saganami, at the same time she would get physical therapy for her many battle ailments. Now that's when the problems started. This novel got so boring that I had to force myself to finish it! In between countless diner parties Honor would organize so she and her top students could talk about military history and assign home work, and in between numerous sign language lessons to her lovable treecat, there was simply no new developments for about a hundred pages. This novel could have been half as thick and still contain the same amount of drama.

I was seriously considering rating this book with 1 star because it was so freaking BORING, I even promised myself never again to read an Honor Harrington novel, but I decided on giving it 3 stars because the ending had definitely surprised me when I thought David Weber had no more ideas left: Admiral Theissman finally got some balls and that prick Saint-Just finally got what was coming to him. The People's Republic is in pieces and anything can happen now.

I really liked the conclusion to this novel, but only read this book if you have lots of patience and if you are willing to skip a few chapters that are obviously not relevant to the Honor Harrington saga.

IF you have read the previous books from Weber, here is the point where things focus again. This is the nineth book in a series, so tons of stuff is going on, and Weber tries to tie loose ends up, well mostly. The only reason I didn't give him 5 stars is personal preference on what scenes made the book. A lot of things happened, and only so much will fit. The reunion of the escapee's at the beginning was a little too maudlin, and for some that seems to set the tone. But if you skim that part, you get to the meat of the book. And a filling meal it is. Lots of loose ends tied, old villians dead, perhaps new villians on the horizon - who knows? If you read the first eight, then you have to buy this one!

I have to agree with the "pack" that this was one of those (rare) Harrington books I had trouble getting through. The beginning was full of long anticipated reunions and the ending was full of tantilizing clues to future action, but the middle of the book seemed to drag. The series appears to be at a transition point--Honor is no longer the underdog fighting for recognition and the political situation seems about to shift dramitically. David Weber has fast become one of my favorite authors and he has created a group of memorable and likeable main characters. His challenge is to keep them "real" dispite his and their success. I look forward to the next "installment".

This was my first book by David Weber and I enjoyed it immensely. However this is not a book I would suggest you start from because some of the backstory is lost and it was hard to follow at times if you had not read any of the other books in the series before.
I did not find the first pages to be ill paced. I like other people would have liked more information on how McQueen staged her coup. But other then that it was very enjoyable.

I gotta hand it to David; with this book he has taken Honor to a new level. The Manticore universe is tremendously detailed and the war between the Alliance and the People's Republic was clearly settling down to the sort of slogging match that made WWI such a horror. I won't give anything away but by the end of the book the momentum of every spectrum of the universe has changed. It is truly awe-inspiring to watch such a masterful performance and I eagerly await the next installment.
Oh, and look for one line. "Oops."
Read this book!

Ashes of Victory is a little differently paced than Weber's other books but it lends depth to the series which is promising to be something akin to Tokin. This book foreshadows the greater role the Solies will play in future HH books and with the demise of the Peeps, who else can provide the macro antagonist the Peeps can no longer play? This book completes many of the story arches Mr. Weber spent earlier books creating. This may disappoint some readers used to the fast paced action but the speed bumps allow you time to appreciate the truly epic proportions this saga is beginning to grow to. Again, I can't wait for the next one. (And unlike Robert Jordan... Mr. Weber's books keep getting better.) A true find.

Yes, a lot goes on. And yes, there's a lot of incidents and changes in Honor Harrington's universe. But still...
My biggest complaint is that David Weber's habit of sacrificing dialogue and characterization in favor of large, indigestible chunks of political manuevering and technology explanation has gotten worse as he's gotten more popular. A good fifth of this book could have been cut without a trace. I'm also very tired of being *told* how the characters feel and never seeing them *express* their emotions. Weber should know better by now.
I read it, and it was okay, but the best space opera out there is still Lois McMaster Bujold, who knows how to write a scene about interstellar politics in less than twenty pages.....

This book was horrible. I would never have believed that Weber wrote it if his name wasn't on the book. In the space of one book the war has gone from a NATO/Warsaw Pact technological balance to a British/Zulu one. And unlike the Zulus in Zulu Dawn the villians of this peace the PRH don't have the numbers to make it into range and do some damage. A very large part of military science fiction is a belief that the villians actually have a chance to win. That doesn't exist here. All that Weber did in the previous couple of books to build up and make his adversaries credible he destroys here. He can do so much better than this! I have never before been so disappointed by a book!

Ashes of Victory is a surprising and fun twist to the Honor Harrington saga. In Ashes, you will follow Honor Harrington, Scotty Tremain & ever faithfull Horace Harkness, Peep Admiral Thomas Thiesman (GO ADM THIESMAN), members of the peep council.
Ashes will keep you on the edge of your seat. While AoV does tie up some evil loose ends, it cracks open an whole new can of worms. Please Enjoy!
As all HH fans say, "WE WANT MORE HONOR!"

David Weber has done it again. Ashes of Victory is agood solid read, one I will be rereading often. The only problem I had with the whole book was it ended too soon, and some story lines didn't get tied up at the end. Guess that is for the next book. So I say : "Write David, write!"

Frankly, having read all of Mr. Weber's Honor books, I've found this one to be seriously addictive. Although the plots involved appear to be scattered like birdshot, they give a feeling of depth to the "Honorverse" referred to by another reviewer. The whole of it doesn't revolve around Honor, nor should it, in a work of this scale. There were enough cliffhangers left at the end of the book to assure hordes of slavering Honor addicts will be buying the follow-on books by the gross. It's good to see literature wherein strong moral fibre and dedication to duty are made to look desirable. Thanks, Mr. Weber.

This is the worst one yet. Pages of discursive, repetitious prose, and going-nowhere conversations. All the good guys are cute and coy and teasing with each other, it really sets your teeth on edge, and there is no tone change so all the characters sound alike. The technical stuff is good and fun, but it really tells you a lot when you'd rather read about LACs and lidar than whether Nimitz will regain telepathy. And please, kill off Honor's mother or the next time she lowers her lashes demurely I may get very ill.

David Weber has once again captured the hearts of the Honor Harrington fans. Ashes of Victory picks up right where Echoes of Honor ended and flows with pure grace.
David Weber's perfect descriptions of people (two legged and six legged . . . for those of you who know what I mean) and space combat keeps the readers attention.
This is perhaps the best Harrington novel so far.
Please, Mr. Weber, speaking for all fans, We Want More Honor!

As a fan of Hornblower I awaited the next Harrington Book. The similarities are striking. The peeps are the French. Honor/Horatio. However, I do not count this as one of the better books of the series. It would seem the universe is entirely in the hands of women. I kept wondering if there were any male strategists, intel officers, or ship handlers going to show up. Studies show that women CAN make a decision faster than a man (40% faster), but its the wrong decision more often (60%). Additionally, you do not jump an officer three grades without exceptional reason (Gen Stillwell was promoted to 2 stars over 40 senior officers). Honor is now a staff weenie. No more ship to ships for her. Now she's a JAFP. Just Another Female Passenger. Not the best of an excellent series. Looking forward to the next one, however.

David Weber is my favorite Sci-Fi writer. I am willing to give him a lot of leway. This book was a bummer from the begining. Honor is featured in the book, along with all the other people you love and hate. The ones you want to get what they deserve do and new bad guys come in for Honor to thwart. Mr. Weber has several directions that he can go in from here. If he continues the series for several books, don't be suprised to see Honor doing most of her battling in the political areana rather than in space with the RMN or GSN. I look foward to the next book to see if this series and Mr. Weber continue to warent my respect. Like I said, ever the optimist....

A good read which looks at Honor Harrington's times and recounts them with her as one of many major personalities rather than a book about just Honor's exploits. A nice change that explains matters and moves them along, setting up, I hope, another book focused on Honor herself. As many have observed, Honor has risen so high that she seems out of the adventure/command business, but.... remember back in an early book we learned that Manticore was thought to possibly have another wormhole...and it has not been found. I wonder what will come out of it and if it will be human.

this book makes me wish I owned an sort of incidiary device that could properly take this out of circulation. If you want thousands of words about Honor's Honor-
and endless courage-
and awesome brilliance-
and irresistable physical appeal-
and loyalty-
and fearless leadership-
and deserving success-
etc.etc. ad infinitum, this is the book for you. Of course, little if anything happens between its covers to support all this nonstop praise. Oh, she <i>is</i> made a Duchess, in addition to being a steadholder, but she is also made richer than anyone can apparently imagine without at least three unimaginative chapters to describe it.
WATCH as she has not one, but two oversize statues constucted in her honor (pun intended, sorry)!!
WATCH as she tries unsuccessfully to turn down promotion after promotion to higher and higher posts such as Admiral of Something or other!!
STARE IN WONDER as she meets and greets dignitaries who stand in awe of her!!
there are some decent bits about prejudice and some interesting notions about xeno-biology or sociology or something.
Mainly it reads like a treatise on the justice of hereditary monarchies, besides being boringly soap-opera inspired.
there is none of the action that Weber is known for.
Never buy this and THANK YOURSELF, apparently everyone would if you were the protagonist of this silly drivel.

I definitely want to add my vote for this wonderful book. Even though it was slow in some places, we can't always have space battles. I loved the further character development and new twists in the plot lines. Ashes will definitely be one that I read again many times as with the complete Honor Harrington series. My one hope is that David will not make us wait another year for the next book! Please GIVE US MORE HONOR!

Probably my least favorite of the Honor Harrington books. While Weber tries to expand on his universe, and make it focus an things other then Honor, it seems to jump from point to point with no focus. Also, it was flat-out boring in many parts. As far as I am concerned, the number of times Honor has saved the entire Manticore Monarchy is starting to get a bit ridiculous. However, the ending did save the book from a two-star review.

I've been hooked on the "Harrington" series from David Weber for a long time. Unfortunately, this latest edition to the series was one of the most boring books I've ever read (almost painful). Mr. Weber has missed the boat on one of the most successful elements of his series, which is "Action". There's not enough action! I read Eric Flint's review and he's right, a writer has to take the time to development the characters and background to the story but to say that you can't always have the same of level of action every time is way off base. Of course you can, that's what a writer's imagination is for. The level of intensity simply isn't there, you travel through this book for hundreds of pages on details and conversations that are far more than anyone wants to know. When you reach the first space battle, where the Peeps get zapped, you feel like you've run five miles!
I don't know what Mr. Weber motivation is but he has forgotten what made his books successful in the first place. I'm like most people, I read books to be entertained not bored. In his other books, I couldn't put them down until I finished them. I only read this because I'm one of his fans. It's my hope that he gets back on track soon. Good Luck David!

Why is everybody not liking this book? With a few exceptions, all the reviews here are rather negative. I see no reason to be so down on this latest work by one of my favorite authors. So Honor doesn't get herself shot at much. So what? So the one time she does get shot at, she isn't even wounded. Big deal. So she never even gets involved in a battle except on simulators. Who cares? I don't. I should say David Weber has the right to do whatever he wants to with his characters and his plot line. One way or another, let him write the books and let us enjoy them.

The book itself is excellent. It begins with Honor's 'return from the dead', and continues onward to a startling ending (or not) to the war with the Peeps. It is definatly a worth the read, but it seems different. It does not focus so much on Honor as it does Earl White Haven and other characters, and has many more political overtones then other books in the series. Instead of its own independant novel, Ashes of Victory reads as if it is a setup for an even longer and more impressive novel...
...We can only hope!

A necessary addition to the HH series. Unfortunately the middle (particulally the HH politics and tree cat anatomy scenes) was very slow. Weber needs to stear away from MAnticorian politics and technical achievement and return to the original theme - the navy. Having said this, I loved himself's Havenite vinettes and action at the end was great. However this is addressed to David Weber --- How could you do that to them? How could you do that to us? Have you no soul? What an absolutely evil and awful ending! I absolutely loved it!

David Weber has done it again. While this book is not as good as Field of Dishonor or Honor of the Queen, it is a very captivating read. I got home with the book at 8:30 and didn't put it down until 1:30 am. This book does not focus as much on action as it does to plot and character development, but the war against Haven is obviously near the end. But there are a number of plot twists in the political end of things, both in Manticore and Grayson. The book is highly recommended.

This book is not as action packed as the previous books in the
series. There is a lot of wrapping up of the war and foreshadowing of the inevitable sequel.
If you are into the series, you should probably read this book to see how things are wrapping up. If not, skip it, there is a lot of material that would not make sense to someone without the background of the rest of the series.

Okay,so the Honor worship can get redundant and then what happens to the Bad Penny made me a little sad.However,life goes goes on even if that means Honor gets a desk job.Do you really think that after escaping from Hades,the Manticoran Navy would put her back in a ship(Especially if they want it to come back in one piece,but in all fairness its never her fault).I do have one suggestion for Weber,could you include more ground combat that is as in-depth as your space battles?

This book is a must have for any fan of Honor Harrington. Although she is not the "star" of this book her character and Nimitz are developed even further, as are a few other characters. The ending of the book will have you cursing the opposition leaders. Then will leave you wondering just what IS coming. Which means that the reader is left with the question "Now What?" after all of the plot twists. Now for the real question when is the next book due? I want it now!

This is without a doubt the worst book David Weber has ever written. I thought the previous books in the series were great, and luckily, the remaining books in the series are also good. But this one was a real stinker. The entire first 250 pages of the book is about lavishing Honor with praise and rewards. Each time, she is "so surprised", finds it embarassing, and claims she doesn't deserve it. This goes on for chapter after chapter - first on Grayson then on Manitcore. There is also chapter after chapter of "witty banter" between characters that is anything but witty. It is just silly and ponderous. If you are reading the entire series, there are enough important events in this book that you'll need to read it, but be prepared to either be bored to tears throught much of the book or be ready to skim through large sections of it.

I guess, from reading other reviews, that some things are a matter of taste but I have gotten so bored with Honor and her social life. Other than moving from one society to another there is very little space involved and I find the dialogue repeatative and unoriginal. The characters are two-dimensional and I don't like any of them very much. I just don't see the attraction of this series.

... (especially the Manticoran ones), far too much exposition, a character (Honor's mother) that seem to have walked in the series from one of Heinlein's worse late novels, and many episodes that seem far too contrieved (especially towards the end). If one were to compare the Honor Harrington books with the Miles Vorkosigan ones, it would be possible see that in the former, the series is getting repetitive and far too wordy, while in the latter the main character is growing with each book. A pity, because I used to like the first Honor books.

If you have not yet read any of the "Honor Harrington" series
DO NOT start here. But do yourself a favor and go back to square one with "On Basilisk Station". By the time you reach "The Honor of the Queen" you'll be as "Honorably" smitten as the rest of us and have time to put "Ashes of Victory" on your Christmas list. And if not you're reading the wrong genre.

This is a logical progression in the life of Honor Harrington. I loved some parts and hated others; and without giving any of the plot away, the best line in the entire book is the word "Oops."
All in all it is an excellent story and I'll recommend it to anyone. My only complaint is that it'll be a minimum of six months before the preview chapters of the *next* book are posted on the publisher's website.

I thoroughly enjoyed the early Honor books but Ashes of Victory is disappointing, dull and requires real perseverance to get through (I started skim reading).
I cannot understand how the average reader rating is 4 stars - virtually all the ratings I read were from unsatisfied readers.
David is a great author and I would recommend his books to anyone. I will buy more any new Honor books but only after reading a few pages to confirm they follow the early books format not that of Ashes of Victory!

As usual David Weber has more than made me satisfied with my $25 purchase. I eagerly anticipate the next installment of the Honor Harrington universe.
I disagree with some of the previous reviewers. I like the fact that he is adding more background to his universe and less action. Mix things up a little.

Many of the people who have offered their opinions on Weber's latest "Honor-verse" installment have expressed disappointment in the lack of knock-down drag-out battle scenes in this book. Ok, I admit that I get a andrenaline rush every time Honor charges into a battle with the odds hopelessly against her. But there's more than one way to get one's blood pumping.
In _Shards_, Honor is promoted to senior Admiral. Senior Admirals do not often find themselves fighting ship-to-ship engagements, but they often do fight battles on other fronts - quite often political ones. As any fan of Tom Clancy's novels can tell you, a political battle can be just as tense and engaging as traditional combat. I suspect that Honor's future battles will be fought more and more on the political front - and I, for one, look forward to this. I'm confident that we'll still get a good dose of space combat - fought by Honor's (former) subordinates - while Honor fights equally nasty battles on the political front.

I give up.
The first three will always be personal favorites. After "In Enemy Hands" I had hoped for a revival, but this is terrible, easily the worst of the lot. It was actually a chore to finish. The predictability and heavy handed joviality has become remeniscant of a David Eddings novel.
First Robert Jordan, now Weber... It's time to find another SciFi series...

I would like to give AoV a glowing review. Unfortunately this is a dull and predictable book. A great deal of space is wasted on trivialities such as teaching Tree Cats sign language. Interesting stuff but it was completely out of place, much too long and acted as a BIG speed bump. This and many other sections could have been drastically trimmed without affecting the book. Areas of great interest, the McQueen coup attempt, are passed over in a few brief words. Another big disappointment, among many, was the absurd attempt to assassinate the Queen and Protector. The author uses a clumsy and unbelievable method (planting a homing beacon for stealth missiles on the "victims".) Why not just plant a _bomb_ and be done with it? Well that might actually work. And it wouldn't have given HH a chance to yet again save the day in a suitably heroic (been there done that) fashion. Very cliched, very predictable, very disappointing.
While there were some bright spots (Queen Elizabeth raking the opposition over the coals) this was overall a mediocre book that does not live up to the authors previous standards. Wait for it to show up in used book stores. And hope the next one is better.

“Ashes of Victory” **9

Stereotype / Stock character: Mary Sue: author character, author surrogate, self-insertion

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington returns in triumph. The escaped prisoners did everything for Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington and nothing for themselves. She has infinite charisma and instantly gains the loyalty of everybody. According to Hamish Alexander-Harrington she can convince everybody to do everything, regardless of the risk of death. Lester Tourville agrees with this statement in “War of Honor”. Only evil people refuse to obey her orders.

Nobody questions or debates the legality of the military tribunals Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington ordered on Hades in “Echoes of Honor”. Not even her one-dimensional stereotype/stock character enemies consider using the military tribunals as a way to discredit her. Nobody brings up the question of Manticorian war crimes and/or Victor’s justice. In real life, the Nuremberg Trials are still being debated about their legality.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington does not flinch when Benjamin Bernard Jason Mayhew shows joy at Cordelia Ransom’s death. She does not censure Judah Yanakov for his “no mercy” order at the Second Battle of Basilisk.

Horace Harkness is awarded the Parliamentary Medal of Valor, promoted to Chief Warrant Officer, and given a knighthood because of his false defection in “In Enemy Hands”. In reality, those who even pretend to commit treason are viewed with suspicion since there is a “reasonable doubt” that they were willing to commit genuine treason and their display of final loyalty was because they realized the reality of the enemy’s ideology. Harkness is never shown facing the consequences for his continued hacking of the Manticorian computer systems. He is assigned as the senior LAC flight engineer for HMS Werewolf, even though the position requires a Lieutenant Commander. Tom Clancy and the storylines of “Babylon 5” and “Man in a Suitcase” showed the reality of how the concept of “guilt by suspicion” operates.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s Bay House on Manticore (not Harrington House on Grayson) serves as the Harrington Steading Embassy. Real-life administrative divisions and/or political divisions do not have individual embassies. Having an embassy is the privilege of the country/nation/nation state/sovereign state.
-- Champagne-Ardenne (France)
-- Florida (United States of America)
-- Free State of Bavaria (Germany)
-- North Holland (Netherlands)
-- Wales (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (British Isles, Great Britain))
-- Yukon (Canada)

The Manticorian espionage/intelligence services (Criminal Investigation Division, Office of Naval Intelligence, Security Ministry, Special Intelligence Service) are written as amoral/immoral people who view common decency and humane actions as obstructing the war effort. Tom Clancy has always maintained a balanced and real life view of spies.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington uses her treecat’s empathy and telepathy constantly. She never considers the issue of privacy.

Weber writes that Royal Manticoran Naval Academy (Saganami Island Academy) midshipman (cadet, officer cadet, officer candidate) avoid their flag officer instructors; however they fanatically compete to get Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s dinner invitations.

Despite being in Manticore, Abigail Hearns uses the Grayson loyal toast at a military dinner. In real life, do British officers use Great Britain’s loyal toast at ceremonies that do not take place on territory controlled by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (British Isles, Great Britain)?

The Graysons are written as practicing honorable vengeance. Abigail Hearns, a Grayson midshipman (cadet, officer cadet, officer candidate), entered the navy solely to avenge Honor’s false-death. In “The Shadow of Saganami” she gains a Manticorian bodyguard, Mateo Gutierrez; due to her Grayson father’s, Aaron Hearns, political influence.

Rachel Mayhew, daughter of Benjamin Bernard Jason Mayhew, decides to join the Grayson Space Navy, and follow the example of Abigail Hearns; who was inspired by Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington.

The Grayson Space Navy views Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s judgment as all knowing. Therefore, if she gives a paranoid statement, such as the Operation Hassan assassination missile launch, then it is automatically believed while doubt and skepticism would have been cast if it had been Hamish Alexander-Harrington or Thomas Caparelli.

Manticore officials constantly state the need to please and appease the Protectorate of Grayson over all their other allies who have been only moderately mentioned. The Graysons are written as the only allies who matter to Manticore. Furthermore, the other allies have been portrayed as weak, worthless, incompetent, and selfish. The Graysons are constantly written as heroic and noble. Aristides Trikoupis was a captain (junior grade) in the Royal Manticoran Navy; but after he transferred to the Grayson Space Navy he was promoted to rear admiral.

Grayson has been stated to be Haven’s bad luck area. However, a factual review says differently.
-- First Battle of Endicott: Manticoran victory
-- Battle of Blackbird: Grayson/Manticoran victory: Grayson would have lost without the Manticoran warships
-- First Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Masadan victory
-- Second Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Manticoran victory
-- Third Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Manticoran victory
-- Fourth Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Grayson victory: Grayson would have lost if Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington (Manticoran) had not been in command

Wars involving the Protectorate of Grayson
-- Grayson Civil War
-- First Grayson-Masadan War
-- Second Grayson-Masadan War
-- First Havenite-Manticoran War
-- Second Havenite-Manticoran War

Manticoran Alliance
-- Andermani Empire (Anderman Empire)
-- Caliphate of Zanzibar
-- Casca System
-- Idaho System
-- Minette System
-- Poicters System
-- Princedom of Alizon
-- Protectorate of Grayson
-- Republic of Candor
-- Republic of Erewhon
-- Republic of Sidemore
-- Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore)
-- Yorik System

The Manticoran Alliance San Martin (Trevor’s Star System) Reconstruction Commission provides transport for any San Martin (Trevor’s Star System) citizen who was a: collaborator, fellow traveler, sympathizer; with the Havenite occupation. This is unrealistic from 2 perspectives. First; the people who collaborated, thereby committing treason, escape a trial. Second; in the aftermath of World War 2, thousands of French citizens were executed or imprisoned for collaborating with Nazi Germany.
-- 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)
-- Dégradation nationale
-- Épuration légale
-- Épuration sauvage
-- Indignité nationale
-- Legion Imperiale
-- Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism
-- Liberation of Paris
-- Milice française (French Militia)
-- Révolution nationale
-- Vichy France (Vichy Regime, Vichy Government)
-- Zone libre

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s steward (adjutant, aide-de-camp, batman, butler), James MacGuiness, is allowed to view Top Secret information despite the fact that he is a civilian and lost his security clearance after he resigned from the navy. Nobody in the Manticorian espionage/intelligence services (Criminal Investigation Division, Office of Naval Intelligence, Security Ministry, Special Intelligence Service) insists that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington follow the Manticoran Articles of War. Like the previous Grayson example in “Field of Dishonor”, nobody objects because he is the steward (adjutant, aide-de-camp, batman, butler) to Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington.

Adelina Arif should have refused Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s offer and not developed the treecat sign language. It is tiresome to constantly read that everybody wants to work with Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington and aid her in achieving her objectives. Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington needs to encounter people who force her to compromise or retreat from enforcing her high-handed ideals.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington alone redeems Andrea Jaruwalski’s career. In addition, when Andrea Jaruwalski slightly stutters in a sentence Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington ignores it; despite the fact that stumbling in a sentence is not insubordination or “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman”.

While it is required to sacrifice yourself in a symbolic and worthless attack for “the honor of the ally/ruler/country/nation/nation state/sovereign state”; you are not supposed to sacrifice yourself for “the honor of the flag”. A nation state’s flag is a representation of the ally/ruler/country/nation/nation state/sovereign state.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington uses the “strength of her name” to get the latest model of an inertial compensator for her courier (cutter, dispatch boat, pinnace, shuttle), the Jamie Candless. The Jamie Candless (Operation Hassan) is designed and built by Samuel Silverman & Sons; who also built the royal yachts (HMS Duke of Cromarty, HMS King Roger I, HMS Queen Adrienne, HMS Queen Elizabeth I) for the House of Winton. Weber writes that the inertial compensator would not have been given to someone else. If another person had gotten the inertial compensator, then that person would have been written as having abused his or her authority. The buying of the inertial compensator is the only time during the entire novel that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington takes advantage of her privileges. The rest of the novel constantly reminds the reader that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington would never do anything amoral/immoral; such as using a privilege.

After Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington is made a duchess, she comments on the number of nobles (nobility) who were pleased with the appointment. These are the same nobles (nobility) that vengefully exiled her in “Field of Dishonor”.

When being promoted, Thomas Caparelli states that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington deserves seniority in any combat situation. The sole person to disagree with her in “Echoes of Honor”; Harold Styles, was allowed to resign instead of being charged with insubordination and cowardice. While the insubordination charge was valid, the cowardice charge was obviously filed because Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s ego was hurt.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington, unrealistically and arrogantly, threatens to resign if forced to accept the Parliamentary Medal of Valor and/or if the Medusa class (Honor Harrington class) superdreadnought pod-layer (podnought) uses her name.

Devon Harrington, Earldom of Harrington, is given part of the Unicorn asteroid Belt Crown Reserve. The Duchy of Harrington (Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington), located on the planet Gryphon, is created using the Westmount Crown Reserve.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington expresses extreme regret when major characters are killed during Operation Hassan and blames herself for the deaths. However, no other good person blames her for the deaths. This is seen again in “A Rising Thunder”. After the Second Battle of Manticore, Honor blames herself for the battle since she believes Massimo Filareta was offered a lose-lose scenario and decided to fight to the death. Alfredo Yu is the person who realizes that the missile launch was uncoordinated and states that Mesa’s (Mesa System, Mesa Terminus) nanotech was responsible.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington has been given too much respect and glory. She is Manticore’s only first rate hero/heroine. Hamish Alexander-Harrington and the other admirals/captains are written as: second rate, third rate, fourth rate, fifth rate, sixth rate (rating system of the Royal Navy); officers.

The use of “moral courage” has been overused.

The treecats have been given too many privileges and exceptions, however they are not held responsible for their actions. Eventually Weber will write that the treecat’s abilities of empathy and telepathy are used for loyalty tests of everybody. This type of loyalty test is already used by the royal guard of the Kingdom of Torch (Congo, Elysium, Verdant Vista), Lara’s Own Regiment. In the Honorverse, privacy is irrelevant and the concept of trust is obsolete. Weber has forgotten what happened in the United States of America:
-- Communist Control Act of 1954
-- Communist registration act
-- Executive Order 9835 (Loyalty Order)
-- First Red Scare
-- House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA) (HUAC)
-- Joseph Raymond McCarthy
-- Loyalty Review Board
-- McCarran Internal Security Act (Internal Security Act, McCarran Act, Subversive Activities Control Act)
-- McCarthyism
-- Second Red Scare
-- States Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations
-- Subversive Activities Control Board

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s mother, Allison Benton-Ramirez y Chou Harrington, once again gets her own way in everything and can ignore the laws/customs of the Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore) and the Protectorate of Grayson.

The character of Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s mother, Allison Benton-Ramirez y Chou Harrington, is long overdue to make a mistake that results in exile and dishonor from all of society. She returns only after having completely changed her ways; she no longer teases everybody.

Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton fails to control her temper. Weber needs to write a storyline where Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton loses her temper too often and leads the Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore) to civil war while also dishonoring the House of Winton.

Allen Summervale states that Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton will eventually get everything she wants. This is a characteristic of a dictatorship (autocracy, authoritarianism, totalitarianism), not a democracy.

Weber needs to write that genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) is not evil. The ethics of genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) have always been written in good-and-evil terms. Genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) has always been written as evil regardless of use. “Andromeda” had a balanced view of genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology).

Weber has written that technology is only evil if it is misused. He has never written about the evils of cybernetic (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) surgery. Cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) have been written as being irrelevant to a person’s morality. Weber should write that cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) are seen as dehumanizing and Sharpton is reviled for its heavy use of cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics). In the “Star Wars” universe, cyborgs were viewed with distrust and fear since they were part machine and had been dehumanized.

The Beowulf Life Sciences Code outlaws any serious genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology), even for the colonization of heavy gravity (gravitation) planets. Even though the planets in San Martin (Trevor’s Star System) and the Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore) were colonized by modified colonists, it is now outlawed by known space. Modifying colonists for different environments is not the equivalent of the genetic slavery promoted by Mesa (Mesa System, Mesa Terminus).

Everything is written in “black-and-white” morality, there are no “shades of gray/grey” morality.

The things that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington can do without failure:
-- alternative dispute resolution
-- appropriate dispute resolution
-- arbitration
-- bravery
-- character judgment
-- common decency
-- conciliation
-- courage
-- diplomacy
-- dispute resolution
-- duels (Dreyfus Protocol, Ellington Protocol)
-- emotional control
-- ethical behavior
-- external dispute resolution
-- facilitation
-- gliding (glider)
-- honor
-- integrity
-- leadership
-- logistics
-- marksman (designated marksman, scout sniper, sharpshooter (Scharfschütze), sniper)
-- martial arts (hybrid martial arts, mixed martial arts)
-- mediation
-- moral behavior
-- negotiation
-- non biased actions
-- politics
-- strategy
-- swordsmanship (Daishō, fencing)
-- tactics

Honor Harrington
-- HH1 -- On Basilisk Station
-- HH2 -- The Honor of the Queen
-- HH3 -- The Short Victorious War
-- HH4 -- Field of Dishonor
-- HH5 -- Flag in Exile
-- HH6 -- Honor Among Enemies
-- HH7 -- In Enemy Hands
-- HH8 -- Echoes of Honor
-- HH9 -- Ashes of Victory
-- HH10 -- War of Honor
-- HH11 -- At All Costs
-- HH12 -- Mission of Honor
-- HH13 -- A Rising Thunder
-- HH14 -- Shadow of Freedom
Anthologies
-- HHA1 -- More Than Honor
-- HHA2 -- Worlds of Honor
-- HHA3 -- Changer of Worlds
-- HHA4 -- The Service of the Sword
-- HHA5 -- In Fire Forged
-- HHA6 -- Beginnings
Crown of Slaves
-- CS0 -- From the Highlands (Changer of Worlds)
-- CS0 -- Fanatic (The Service of the Sword)
-- CS1 -- Crown of Slaves
-- CS2 -- Torch of Freedom
-- CS3 -- Cauldron of Ghosts
Saganami Island
-- SI1 -- The Shadow of Saganami
-- SI2 -- Storm from the Shadows
-- SI3 -- Shadow of Freedom
Star Kingdom
-- SK1 -- A Beautiful Friendship
-- SK2 -- Fire Season
-- SK3 -- Treecat Wars
Manticore Ascendant
-- MA1 -- A Call to Duty
-- MA2 -- A Call to Arms
-- MA3 -- A Call to Vengeance
Book Companion
-- HOS -- House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion
-- HOSH -- House of Shadows: The Honorverse Companion
-- HOL -- House of Lies: The Honorverse Companion
Jayne’s Intelligence Review
-- JIR1 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 1 -- The Royal Manticoran Navy
-- JIR2 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 2 -- The Havenite Republican Navy
-- JIR3 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 3 -- The Silesian Confederate Navy
Ship Book
-- SB1 -- Ship Book 1: The Havenite Sector
-- SB2 -- Ship Book 2: The Silesian Confederacy
-- SB3 -- Ship Book 3: The Short Victorious War

I have all of the Honor Harrington novels and have re-read most of them several times. I doubt that I will ever take this one off the shelf again. None of the action you would expect from an action series. If critics are going to compare this series to the Hornblower saga they they should go back and read one or two of them. C. S. Forester, even in his off days, never failed to keep a story exciting. Ashes of Victory was long, tedious and boring.

I have read and reread Ashes of Victory #9 of the Honor Harrington series and is not the same boring plot that you get from the plup books (Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. etc.) this looks like a set up for last half of the series. Some will like this book and some will not.

While lacking in the battle action of former Honor novels it sets a great stage for the new Honor to expand her battle field more extensively into politics. It wrapped up many loose ends except I wanted more on Honor/White Haven. Still an excellent read.

I LOVED ASHES OF VICTORY. I HOPE THAT THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE SERIES. TIED UP A LOT OF LOOSE ENDS. STILL WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE MANTICORAN ALLIANCE FIGHT A BIGGER FOE. MAYBE THE LEAGUE WORLDS. MAYBE HONOR WILL BE A DIPOLOMAT. WHO KNOWS. JUST DON'T END THE SERIES MR WEBBER

Looking over the reviews for this book, there seems to be a lot of die-hard fans who are as disappointed as I am. Judging by the voting on the reviews ('did you find this review helpful') people who disliked the book are in the minority, yet the criticisms voiced are, I think, valid. Major events are thrown away, with only passing references. Frankly boring plotlines are given page after page of numbing detail and I felt that this book desperately needed a firm editorial hand. It was too long, certainly, and with judicious cutting the pacing problems inherent to the book could have been dealt with - to a degree. I have enjoyed the series up to this point, and it is this enjoyment that will keep me reading. Let's hope that the next instalment is a great deal better than this lacklustre effort.

“Ashes of Victory” **9

Stereotype / Stock character: Mary Sue: author character, author surrogate, self-insertion

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington returns in triumph. The escaped prisoners did everything for Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington and nothing for themselves. She has infinite charisma and instantly gains the loyalty of everybody. According to Hamish Alexander-Harrington she can convince everybody to do everything, regardless of the risk of death. Lester Tourville agrees with this statement in “War of Honor”. Only evil people refuse to obey her orders.

Nobody questions or debates the legality of the military tribunals Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington ordered on Hades in “Echoes of Honor”. Not even her one-dimensional stereotype/stock character enemies consider using the military tribunals as a way to discredit her. Nobody brings up the question of Manticorian war crimes and/or Victor’s justice. In real life, the Nuremberg Trials are still being debated about their legality.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington does not flinch when Benjamin Bernard Jason Mayhew shows joy at Cordelia Ransom’s death. She does not censure Judah Yanakov for his “no mercy” order at the Second Battle of Basilisk.

Horace Harkness is awarded the Parliamentary Medal of Valor, promoted to Chief Warrant Officer, and given a knighthood because of his false defection in “In Enemy Hands”. In reality, those who even pretend to commit treason are viewed with suspicion since there is a “reasonable doubt” that they were willing to commit genuine treason and their display of final loyalty was because they realized the reality of the enemy’s ideology. Harkness is never shown facing the consequences for his continued hacking of the Manticorian computer systems. He is assigned as the senior LAC flight engineer for HMS Werewolf, even though the position requires a Lieutenant Commander. Tom Clancy and the storylines of “Babylon 5” and “Man in a Suitcase” showed the reality of how the concept of “guilt by suspicion” operates.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s Bay House on Manticore (not Harrington House on Grayson) serves as the Harrington Steading Embassy. Real-life administrative divisions and/or political divisions do not have individual embassies. Having an embassy is the privilege of the country/nation/nation state/sovereign state.
-- Champagne-Ardenne (France)
-- Florida (United States of America)
-- Free State of Bavaria (Germany)
-- North Holland (Netherlands)
-- Wales (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (British Isles, Great Britain))
-- Yukon (Canada)

The Manticorian espionage/intelligence services (Criminal Investigation Division, Office of Naval Intelligence, Security Ministry, Special Intelligence Service) are written as amoral/immoral people who view common decency and humane actions as obstructing the war effort. Tom Clancy has always maintained a balanced and real life view of spies.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington uses her treecat’s empathy and telepathy constantly. She never considers the issue of privacy.

Weber writes that Royal Manticoran Naval Academy (Saganami Island Academy) midshipman (cadet, officer cadet, officer candidate) avoid their flag officer instructors; however they fanatically compete to get Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s dinner invitations.

Despite being in Manticore, Abigail Hearns uses the Grayson loyal toast at a military dinner. In real life, do British officers use Great Britain’s loyal toast at ceremonies that do not take place on territory controlled by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (British Isles, Great Britain)?

The Graysons are written as practicing honorable vengeance. Abigail Hearns, a Grayson midshipman (cadet, officer cadet, officer candidate), entered the navy solely to avenge Honor’s false-death. In “The Shadow of Saganami” she gains a Manticorian bodyguard, Mateo Gutierrez; due to her Grayson father’s, Aaron Hearns, political influence.

Rachel Mayhew, daughter of Benjamin Bernard Jason Mayhew, decides to join the Grayson Space Navy, and follow the example of Abigail Hearns; who was inspired by Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington.

The Grayson Space Navy views Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s judgment as all knowing. Therefore, if she gives a paranoid statement, such as the Operation Hassan assassination missile launch, then it is automatically believed while doubt and skepticism would have been cast if it had been Hamish Alexander-Harrington or Thomas Caparelli.

Manticore officials constantly state the need to please and appease the Protectorate of Grayson over all their other allies who have been only moderately mentioned. The Graysons are written as the only allies who matter to Manticore. Furthermore, the other allies have been portrayed as weak, worthless, incompetent, and selfish. The Graysons are constantly written as heroic and noble. Aristides Trikoupis was a captain (junior grade) in the Royal Manticoran Navy; but after he transferred to the Grayson Space Navy he was promoted to rear admiral.

Grayson has been stated to be Haven’s bad luck area. However, a factual review says differently.
-- First Battle of Endicott: Manticoran victory
-- Battle of Blackbird: Grayson/Manticoran victory: Grayson would have lost without the Manticoran warships
-- First Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Masadan victory
-- Second Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Manticoran victory
-- Third Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Manticoran victory
-- Fourth Battle of Yeltsin’s Star: Grayson victory: Grayson would have lost if Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington (Manticoran) had not been in command

Wars involving the Protectorate of Grayson
-- Grayson Civil War
-- First Grayson-Masadan War
-- Second Grayson-Masadan War
-- First Havenite-Manticoran War
-- Second Havenite-Manticoran War

Manticoran Alliance
-- Andermani Empire (Anderman Empire)
-- Caliphate of Zanzibar
-- Casca System
-- Idaho System
-- Minette System
-- Poicters System
-- Princedom of Alizon
-- Protectorate of Grayson
-- Republic of Candor
-- Republic of Erewhon
-- Republic of Sidemore
-- Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore)
-- Yorik System

The Manticoran Alliance San Martin (Trevor’s Star System) Reconstruction Commission provides transport for any San Martin (Trevor’s Star System) citizen who was a: collaborator, fellow traveler, sympathizer; with the Havenite occupation. This is unrealistic from 2 perspectives. First; the people who collaborated, thereby committing treason, escape a trial. Second; in the aftermath of World War 2, thousands of French citizens were executed or imprisoned for collaborating with Nazi Germany.
-- 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)
-- Dégradation nationale
-- Épuration légale
-- Épuration sauvage
-- Indignité nationale
-- Legion Imperiale
-- Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism
-- Liberation of Paris
-- Milice française (French Militia)
-- Révolution nationale
-- Vichy France (Vichy Regime, Vichy Government)
-- Zone libre

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s steward (adjutant, aide-de-camp, batman, butler), James MacGuiness, is allowed to view Top Secret information despite the fact that he is a civilian and lost his security clearance after he resigned from the navy. Nobody in the Manticorian espionage/intelligence services (Criminal Investigation Division, Office of Naval Intelligence, Security Ministry, Special Intelligence Service) insists that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington follow the Manticoran Articles of War. Like the previous Grayson example in “Field of Dishonor”, nobody objects because he is the steward (adjutant, aide-de-camp, batman, butler) to Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington.

Adelina Arif should have refused Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s offer and not developed the treecat sign language. It is tiresome to constantly read that everybody wants to work with Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington and aid her in achieving her objectives. Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington needs to encounter people who force her to compromise or retreat from enforcing her high-handed ideals.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington alone redeems Andrea Jaruwalski’s career. In addition, when Andrea Jaruwalski slightly stutters in a sentence Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington ignores it; despite the fact that stumbling in a sentence is not insubordination or “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman”.

While it is required to sacrifice yourself in a symbolic and worthless attack for “the honor of the ally/ruler/country/nation/nation state/sovereign state”; you are not supposed to sacrifice yourself for “the honor of the flag”. A nation state’s flag is a representation of the ally/ruler/country/nation/nation state/sovereign state.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington uses the “strength of her name” to get the latest model of an inertial compensator for her courier (cutter, dispatch boat, pinnace, shuttle), the Jamie Candless. The Jamie Candless (Operation Hassan) is designed and built by Samuel Silverman & Sons; who also built the royal yachts (HMS Duke of Cromarty, HMS King Roger I, HMS Queen Adrienne, HMS Queen Elizabeth I) for the House of Winton. Weber writes that the inertial compensator would not have been given to someone else. If another person had gotten the inertial compensator, then that person would have been written as having abused his or her authority. The buying of the inertial compensator is the only time during the entire novel that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington takes advantage of her privileges. The rest of the novel constantly reminds the reader that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington would never do anything amoral/immoral; such as using a privilege.

After Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington is made a duchess, she comments on the number of nobles (nobility) who were pleased with the appointment. These are the same nobles (nobility) that vengefully exiled her in “Field of Dishonor”.

When being promoted, Thomas Caparelli states that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington deserves seniority in any combat situation. The sole person to disagree with her in “Echoes of Honor”; Harold Styles, was allowed to resign instead of being charged with insubordination and cowardice. While the insubordination charge was valid, the cowardice charge was obviously filed because Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s ego was hurt.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington, unrealistically and arrogantly, threatens to resign if forced to accept the Parliamentary Medal of Valor and/or if the Medusa class (Honor Harrington class) superdreadnought pod-layer (podnought) uses her name.

Devon Harrington, Earldom of Harrington, is given part of the Unicorn asteroid Belt Crown Reserve. The Duchy of Harrington (Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington), located on the planet Gryphon, is created using the Westmount Crown Reserve.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington expresses extreme regret when major characters are killed during Operation Hassan and blames herself for the deaths. However, no other good person blames her for the deaths. This is seen again in “A Rising Thunder”. After the Second Battle of Manticore, Honor blames herself for the battle since she believes Massimo Filareta was offered a lose-lose scenario and decided to fight to the death. Alfredo Yu is the person who realizes that the missile launch was uncoordinated and states that Mesa’s (Mesa System, Mesa Terminus) nanotech was responsible.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington has been given too much respect and glory. She is Manticore’s only first rate hero/heroine. Hamish Alexander-Harrington and the other admirals/captains are written as: second rate, third rate, fourth rate, fifth rate, sixth rate (rating system of the Royal Navy); officers.

The use of “moral courage” has been overused.

The treecats have been given too many privileges and exceptions, however they are not held responsible for their actions. Eventually Weber will write that the treecat’s abilities of empathy and telepathy are used for loyalty tests of everybody. This type of loyalty test is already used by the royal guard of the Kingdom of Torch (Congo, Elysium, Verdant Vista), Lara’s Own Regiment. In the Honorverse, privacy is irrelevant and the concept of trust is obsolete. Weber has forgotten what happened in the United States of America:
-- Communist Control Act of 1954
-- Communist registration act
-- Executive Order 9835 (Loyalty Order)
-- First Red Scare
-- House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA) (HUAC)
-- Joseph Raymond McCarthy
-- Loyalty Review Board
-- McCarran Internal Security Act (Internal Security Act, McCarran Act, Subversive Activities Control Act)
-- McCarthyism
-- Second Red Scare
-- States Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations
-- Subversive Activities Control Board

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s mother, Allison Benton-Ramirez y Chou Harrington, once again gets her own way in everything and can ignore the laws/customs of the Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore) and the Protectorate of Grayson.

The character of Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s mother, Allison Benton-Ramirez y Chou Harrington, is long overdue to make a mistake that results in exile and dishonor from all of society. She returns only after having completely changed her ways; she no longer teases everybody.

Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton fails to control her temper. Weber needs to write a storyline where Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton loses her temper too often and leads the Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore) to civil war while also dishonoring the House of Winton.

Allen Summervale states that Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton will eventually get everything she wants. This is a characteristic of a dictatorship (autocracy, authoritarianism, totalitarianism), not a democracy.

Weber needs to write that genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) is not evil. The ethics of genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) have always been written in good-and-evil terms. Genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) has always been written as evil regardless of use. “Andromeda” had a balanced view of genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology).

Weber has written that technology is only evil if it is misused. He has never written about the evils of cybernetic (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) surgery. Cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) have been written as being irrelevant to a person’s morality. Weber should write that cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) are seen as dehumanizing and Sharpton is reviled for its heavy use of cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics). In the “Star Wars” universe, cyborgs were viewed with distrust and fear since they were part machine and had been dehumanized.

The Beowulf Life Sciences Code outlaws any serious genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology), even for the colonization of heavy gravity (gravitation) planets. Even though the planets in San Martin (Trevor’s Star System) and the Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore) were colonized by modified colonists, it is now outlawed by known space. Modifying colonists for different environments is not the equivalent of the genetic slavery promoted by Mesa (Mesa System, Mesa Terminus).

Everything is written in “black-and-white” morality, there are no “shades of gray/grey” morality.

The things that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington can do without failure:
-- alternative dispute resolution
-- appropriate dispute resolution
-- arbitration
-- bravery
-- character judgment
-- common decency
-- conciliation
-- courage
-- diplomacy
-- dispute resolution
-- duels (Dreyfus Protocol, Ellington Protocol)
-- emotional control
-- ethical behavior
-- external dispute resolution
-- facilitation
-- gliding (glider)
-- honor
-- integrity
-- leadership
-- logistics
-- marksman (designated marksman, scout sniper, sharpshooter (Scharfschütze), sniper)
-- martial arts (hybrid martial arts, mixed martial arts)
-- mediation
-- moral behavior
-- negotiation
-- non biased actions
-- politics
-- strategy
-- swordsmanship (Daishō, fencing)
-- tactics

Honor Harrington
-- HH1 -- On Basilisk Station
-- HH2 -- The Honor of the Queen
-- HH3 -- The Short Victorious War
-- HH4 -- Field of Dishonor
-- HH5 -- Flag in Exile
-- HH6 -- Honor Among Enemies
-- HH7 -- In Enemy Hands
-- HH8 -- Echoes of Honor
-- HH9 -- Ashes of Victory
-- HH10 -- War of Honor
-- HH11 -- At All Costs
-- HH12 -- Mission of Honor
-- HH13 -- A Rising Thunder
-- HH14 -- Shadow of Freedom
Anthologies
-- HHA1 -- More Than Honor
-- HHA2 -- Worlds of Honor
-- HHA3 -- Changer of Worlds
-- HHA4 -- The Service of the Sword
-- HHA5 -- In Fire Forged
-- HHA6 -- Beginnings
Crown of Slaves
-- CS0 -- From the Highlands (Changer of Worlds)
-- CS0 -- Fanatic (The Service of the Sword)
-- CS1 -- Crown of Slaves
-- CS2 -- Torch of Freedom
-- CS3 -- Cauldron of Ghosts
Saganami Island
-- SI1 -- The Shadow of Saganami
-- SI2 -- Storm from the Shadows
-- SI3 -- Shadow of Freedom
Star Kingdom
-- SK1 -- A Beautiful Friendship
-- SK2 -- Fire Season
-- SK3 -- Treecat Wars
Manticore Ascendant
-- MA1 -- A Call to Duty
-- MA2 -- A Call to Arms
-- MA3 -- A Call to Vengeance
Book Companion
-- HOS -- House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion
-- HOSH -- House of Shadows: The Honorverse Companion
-- HOL -- House of Lies: The Honorverse Companion
Jayne’s Intelligence Review
-- JIR1 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 1 -- The Royal Manticoran Navy
-- JIR2 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 2 -- The Havenite Republican Navy
-- JIR3 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 3 -- The Silesian Confederate Navy
Ship Book
-- SB1 -- Ship Book 1: The Havenite Sector
-- SB2 -- Ship Book 2: The Silesian Confederacy
-- SB3 -- Ship Book 3: The Short Victorious War

I have all of the Honor Harrington novels and have re-read most of them several times. I doubt that I will ever take this one off the shelf again. None of the action you would expect from an action series. If critics are going to compare this series to the Hornblower saga they they should go back and read one or two of them. C. S. Forester, even in his off days, never failed to keep a story exciting. Ashes of Victory was long, tedious and boring.

I have read and reread Ashes of Victory #9 of the Honor Harrington series and is not the same boring plot that you get from the plup books (Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. etc.) this looks like a set up for last half of the series. Some will like this book and some will not.

While lacking in the battle action of former Honor novels it sets a great stage for the new Honor to expand her battle field more extensively into politics. It wrapped up many loose ends except I wanted more on Honor/White Haven. Still an excellent read.

I LOVED ASHES OF VICTORY. I HOPE THAT THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE SERIES. TIED UP A LOT OF LOOSE ENDS. STILL WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE MANTICORAN ALLIANCE FIGHT A BIGGER FOE. MAYBE THE LEAGUE WORLDS. MAYBE HONOR WILL BE A DIPOLOMAT. WHO KNOWS. JUST DON'T END THE SERIES MR WEBBER

I have to agree with Adam Bridge that Ashes is very disappointing. Only die-hard fans of the series are going to love this book; newbies will be thrown by the lack of a protagonist (or even a clear story!) and the huge amount of exposition setting up future books. HH is supposed to be space opera -- this is soap opera!