I've been very disappointed in Weber's last few novels. Weber has concentrated on things he is very bad at writing about (political intrigue, character development, romance) instead of the things he is good at writing about (swashbuckling action, mainly). He has also fallen farther and farther into his bad habit of telling us stuff instead of showing it to us.

But this time, the Weber story in the collection is surprisingly good. He takes a bunch of his stock characters (young female officer, less-talented but high-born young male officer, Marine non-com from San Martin, high-born and foppish captain) and deliberately plays slice and dice with the stereotypes. He actually tells a different story, for a change. Plus, there is only one three page long pointless lecture on star system political alliances.

Eric Flint also bends the stereotypes of State Sec in his story. I think the next Honor novel is actually going to be co-written by Weber and Flint.

The two John Ringo stories are played for humor, and are only nominally set in the Honorverse.

Timothy Zahn's story is unusual in that Weber apparently allowed him to write a backstory featuring the main Honorverse characters. Too bad they all stayed completely in their pre-established characters, because we learn nothing new about them.

The Jane Lindskold story is somewhat interesting for the Moses references, but otherwise reads like a journeyman attempt to "do a Weber story". I believe it will set up some characters for the next Honor novel.

All in all, probably the second best of the Worlds Of Honor books, and much better than the last two full Honor novels.

Promised Land by Jane Lindskold is the story of a Grayson girl who is captured by a Masadan privateer and incorporated into his family. Unfortunately for the Masadan, she can read and is computer literate.

With One Stone by Timothy Zahn recounts an incident where a Peep warship live tests a new weapon system on Manty merchanters, so ONI gathers information and Honor Harrington provides a warm reception with a little help from her friends.

A Ship Named Francis by John Ringo & Victor Mitchell tells about a madhouse of a ship where the odds and sods in the Grayson Navy are sent to keep them away from real sailors. There are real world precedents for this story, but none so surreal as the events herein.

Let's Go to Prague by John Ringo is a yarn about two Manty covert ops agents who decide to go for drinks on Prague, a Peep planet, and find plenty of fun and games there. Personally, I believe this story to be not totally fictitious; a goodly number of the covert ops types are adrenaline junkies, not quite sane by normal standards (somewhat like fighter pilots).

Fanatic by Eric Flint is the tale of a man who believes in his oath of office and confounds the normal run of hypocrites while purifying the Security service.

The Service of the Sword describes the middy cruise of the first Grayson Midshipwoman, the unexpected expenditure of munitions involved, and the example she sets for her successors.

Although I enjoyed the first story the most, this opinion is subject to change without notice. I believe that most of these stories will meet with your approval, for they are excellent reading by great writers. Enjoy.

Recommended for Honor Harrington fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of naval/marine life, combat and frolics in a SF setting.

The first story is Promised Land by Jane Lindskold. Judith was Grayson-born. As a child she was kidnapped when the merchant vessel she and her parents were traveling on was attacked by Masadan pirates. Judith's parents were killed, but her dying mother told Judith to never let the Masadans know she could read! Judith suffered much abuse as one of Ephraim's wives. However, an elite secret organization, made of females, plotted, planned, and got ready for the day of their salvation. They would get only one chance. They would all escape or be captured and executed as example to others.

**** If you love stories by David Weber then THIS author is one to watch! Very well done indeed. ****

The second story is With One Stone by Timothy Zahn. We zip back to the days when SHE was "Captain" Honor Harrington of the heavy cruiser HMS Fearless. Lieutenant (Senior Grade) Rafael "Rafe" Cardones was Honor's tac officer. These two are the main characters of this awesome story!

Someone in Silesia space had gotten hold of an advanced form of the grav lance. Since Rafe was the only RMN tac officer who's ever used a grav lance in combat, he was temporarily assigned to an elite group and a top secret ONI mission. Honor was on an escort mission but ordered to abandon the ships she escorted if she came across the pirate ship with the advanced grav lance and pursue it. The two missions, of course, would end up in one huge climatic battle.

***** Oh yes! Author Timothy Zahn did especially well on this story. It was great to read one of Honor's early battles. So well done I could have sworn Weber, himself, wrote it! *****

The third story is A Ship Named Francis by John Ringo & Victor Mitchell. Sick Berth Attendant Third Class Sean Tyler was beginning his second hitch with the Manticoran Navy. He thought transferring to the Grayson service and working with other Alliance forces was a good move in his career. He could never have imagined what Fate had in store for him.

The first day Tyler set foot on the Francis Mueller he knew the transfer had been a bad move. The entire ship was held together by sweat and prayer ... literally! Every day began with a prayer that always sounded more like an eulogy and by the end of the day at least one crew member had to be tranked due to stress. And those were the GOOD days!

***** This is an extremely short story, about twenty pages total. Out of this entire novel though, this is my FAVORITE! I laughed myself silly during the whole thing! Pure Sci-Fi bliss! *****

The fourth story is Let's Go To Prague by John Ringo. Major John Mullins and his partner, Major Charles Gonzalves decided to take some leave on Prague disguised as StateSec officers. A little blackmail later, they were vacationing among the enemy. When a Manti covert operation went bad, John and Charles was (unluckily) there to pick up the ball. Now they must get themselves, a defecting admiral, and a soiled dove off the planet - FAST! Hard to do when the entire planet was hunting you.

**** That is the gist of it. To tell more would ruin it for the reader. Suffice it to say that fans of author John Ringo will not be disappointed in this fast paced adventure. Terrific reading. ****

The fifth story is Fanatic by Eric Flint. Esther McQueen had failed her coup attempt in Nouveau Paris. StateSec is in chaos. Citizen Rear Admiral Genevieve Chin, Citizen Commodore Jean-Pierre Ogilve, and Yuri Radamacher (the People's Commissioner FOR Ogilve) are fretting over the fact that the People's Commissioner, Jamka, had gotten himself murdered - not that anyone cared since Jamka was an embarrassment in many ways. The problem now is that Oscar Saint-Just the head of Haven's State Security, is sending Citizen Captain Cachat to their sector of La Martine to investigate the murder and execute all who are guilty of anything!

**** In a sentence, Cachat is to persuade the personnel to admit any crimes and kill the ones guilty of the major crimes. Cachat has a license to kill and really is the fanatic people claim him to be! The story is riddled with a few twists as well. The readers are kept guessing and the ending is unexpected. An interesting glimpse into the Peeps' military. ****

The last story is The Service Of The Sword by David Weber. Midshipwoman Abigail Hearns was in an awkward position. She was not only a steadholder's daughter, but also the very first midshipwoman in the Grayson Space Navy. In fact, Abigail was the first Grayson-born woman EVER sworn into the service of the Sword. During her training on Saganami Island, people considered her to be Lady Honor Harrington's protégée.

Abigail became part of Snotty Row upon a Manti heavy cruiser called Gauntlet. The ship was ordered to investigate the disappearance of ships, possible space pirates, in the Tiberian System. It was an independent system that had few inhabitants and those few were not advanced tech-wise. They lived simply and preferred little or no contact with Outsiders. Abigail would face much friction in her new post and some hoped she would fail. However, Abigail was about to prove to everyone just how Harrington-like she was!

***** This one reminded me of Honor's first mission. Abigail thinks differently just like Honor does. Any fan of Weber's Honor Harrington series will be fascinated with this tale! Another winner by Weber!

The stories in this volume range from non-stories like S. M. Stirling's "Three Walls", which is a fairly dull run-of-the-action description of a battle, turned into a story only by a throwaway moment at the end which warns of what is to come in the final story.

There's also "A Clear Signal", which doesn't really feel as if it fully belongs in this book, since the political circumstances described don't match anything else, nor do the Romans even get mention. It's not a bad story, but it really belongs elsewhere.

Drake himself contributes "Lambs to the Slaughter", which I'd call the sprightliest tale in the book, being how one underofficer, known to all and sundry as "Froggie", manages to outwit both his masters and his enemies. I laughed like hell at the ending of this one, and Drake doesn't usually do that for me.

David Weber contributes "Sir George and the Dragon," which serves both as solid entertainment and as a reminder that humans are dangerous, whether they be Romans or English, and a tribute to what has probably been the finest weapon of battle ever created, the English Longbow.

Finally, Eric Flint's "Carthago Delenda Est" is the treasure of this volume, and it was worth getting this volume for this story alone, even without Weber and Drake's work. I don't want to spoil it, but read the other stories first, then read "Carthago." The beauty of this one is that you have to read the story to understand both why and how it ends, and in my case, it took me a few seconds to puzzle it out, but the reward for doing so was to know true joy.

Well worth the time invested.

Fortunately, they learned, and their subsequent works (both solo in their own worlds and in tandem for this universe) have continually improved.

One reviewer noted that this was a retelling of the American Revolution in a science fiction context. True. The authors are both Americans, and they do have both a lot of love for their country and a great deal of respect for those who serve their flag (whatever flag that may be). My suggestion for those who may be offended by such sentiments is to go read something else.

"Crusade" is a space opera, with a handful of interesting characters, that are nonetheless one or two-dimensional at best. Fans of Weber's Honor Harrington series will see his hand at the orchestration and description of the space battles, as well as some of the personal clashes and resolutions (one in which a naval officer faces down the local government and industrial lobbyists by quoting case law comes to mind). However, the lack of compelling characters makes it overall a book inferior to the HH series.

On the other hand, as pure space opera this is a remarkably good and entertaining read. After their Orion allies are attacked by mysterious ships, humanity (in the form of the Terran Federation) must meet the challenge and defend their honor, or risk a new war with the Orion Khanate. From then on, the book will spend most of its time either describing fleet actions or preparations and consequences thereof, with a few passages given over to character interaction (but, alas, never character developement). In the grand tradition of the Doc Smith space operas, in which characters are flat and almost secondary to the action, with one larger than life character orchestrating it all (in this case, two: a former president and a naval admiral), the book has no apologies to make and is an excellent specimen. If that is all you are looking for you will be happy with your purchase and entertained throughout. If you are looking for a bit more character, however, you will probably be disappointed.

An Orion squadron in the Lorelei system is puzzled when an unknown fleet is discovered coming out of Charon's Ferry, the sixth warp point, since no ship had ever returned from there. Also, the bogies are using a very old Terran Federation Navy code in their transmissions. The squadron commander speculates that these ships could be remnants of TFN forces that had fled the Orions 90 years before during the Second Interstellar War. When the bogies identify themselves as TFN and refuse to believe that the Orions are allies, the TFN onboard liaison contacts them and explains the Treaty of Valkha. The bogies agree to parlay and, as the main party stands down, the vanguard comes to the Orions. Shortly thereafter, however, the bogies attack with missiles at minimum range and then with X-ray lasers. The Orions release their Omega drones and fight back, but three ships are soon lost. The Orion flagship is then boarded, but self-destructs before being captured.

After studying the available information, the Khanate of Orion decides that the invaders are Terrans. The Strategy Board wants to attack the Federation, but the Khan agrees with the squadron commander's idea of lost TFN forces escaping through Charon's Ferry. He tells the Federation Ambassador that Orion will not attack the Federation or the unknowns, but that the Federation must exact suitable vengeance upon their errant fellows. The Federation agrees and the politicians send a Peace Fleet to Lorelei upon invitation by the unknowns. Under secret orders, the TFN is subordinated to the diplomatic corps with disastrous results as the bogies repeat their underhanded tactics.

This story has many similarities to historical conflicts. The genocidial destruction of the Rigellian Protectorate in the Third Interstellar War parallels the actions of Rome in the Third Punic War. The actions of the Thebans reflect the fanatical behavior of both sides in the long conflict between Christianity and Islam, particularly in the Eastern Roman Empire and in Spain.

This novel is recommended for all Weber & White fans and anyone who likes spatial warfare with a background of political intrigue.

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 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.

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.

Reading about these wonderful characters again is a real treat.

Reading about Honor Harrington Super Woman, is getting to be a real pain.

In the beginning of this book, we see the Royal Manticoran Navy gearing up for a major offensive against the PRH. We get an inside look into further "Peep" politics, and future RMN weapons.

We also get a page after page of dialogue and character insights about Honor Harrington. From these insights we learn this about Honor Harrington. Since Basilisk Station Honor is the second highest ranking officer in the Grayson Navy (second most powerful fleet in the Manticoran Alliance). She is the most important political figure on Grayson. She is also a brilliant tactical officer (then again we already knew that), and something of a genius with strategic warfare since in Flag in Exile, after surviving a pinance crash and people trying to kill her she then has a sword fight with a master of the blade (and wins of course). After all that she then commands a small yet powerful fleet of Grayson ships to defeat a PRH fleet almost three times it's size. She does this with 1 hour of sleep mind you. Honor is the greatest martial artist in the RMN, and possibly the strongest and tallest human to ever exit. Then there is here knowledge about treecats, she apparently knows more about these creatures than any other person in the galaxy. And to top it all off she is quite beautiful (though she thinks she is ugly).

That in a nutshell is Honor Harrington. She is hot, she is tough, she can do everything anyone else can, only 4 times better. And everyone loves her for it because she is "modest".

Webster continues to write with that style for adventure, and while I rather liked Harrington in the outset, she is becomming a real trial to read. The woman can basically do anything to perfection and it's getting pretty darn annoying. Anytime someone mentions Harrington in the book, they go into almost a paragraph about how awesome she is. I have no real problem with that, but tone it down. I don't need to have every character in the universe go on and on about how great she is.

What is probably worst, is that she will often talk about how great she is. But will do so in a modest way and never out loud.

It's tiresome. I would love for nothing else than for another RMN female captain come up and kick the ...out of her then toss that damn 'cat Nimitz out of an airlock.

I don't mind her being good at being a captain, or being able to fight. But when she is beating the ... out of Marines, out thinking admirals, enough is enough.

This book is more of the same, with the exception of the cliffhanger ending.

Aside from Honor, the book is great. Good plot, and great action. And if you love Chief Harkness, you will love this book.

See, Weber, what makes the Hornblower books classics is that he was not a superman, unlike Superwoman Harrington in your later ones. And what is this fascination with her "contralto" voice and great looks (obvious to everyone else but her)?

And lets lay off the too obvious symbolism: for crying out loud, State Security. The 'good' naval regulars and the evil but incredibly stupid SS goons? We can't figure out for ourselves what is going on? Who the bad guys are? Stupid attempts to be clever are yet one more indicator of bad writing and a mediocre talent.

BTW, to those readers who think that the Peeps are supposed to be Nazi Germany, they aren't. In spite of the "SS" stupidities, the Peeps are the Soviets (with a bit of French 'Revolutionary Terror' thrown in) not the Nazis. The political commisars (although the Nazis also used them, they were nowhere as important as in the old Soviet system), the SS goons behavior, the overly regimented tactical doctrines, the low technological competence levels of Peep/SS troops, etc. Weber was just smart enough to come up with "State Security" to show to less intelligent readers who the bad guys are but obviously couldn't come up with something for KGB or NKVD.

I still buy the books--used--since they are better than most of the junk out there but Forester (or even Pournelle) he aint.

I'm glad to see the contrast between the Peep 'regular Navy' officers, and the State Security thugs. It seems obvious that StateSec's goons are cast in the same spiritual mould as Hitler's SS (even the initials...) I grant that the purpose and political requirements of StateSec do not require naval expertise of the highest calibre, but I found their personnel to be just a little too 'dumb Imperial stormtrooper'-like for my taste. On the other hand, they *were* up against Chief Harkness, a personage whom even the RMN, not to mention the Marines, has had trouble dealing with on occasion.

My biggest single complaint is that this book, much like Lucas's "Empire Strikes Back" sort of leaves you hanging at the end. The general feeling I got was "So our heroes are OK for the moment, but..." Nevertheless, an excellent read, and I'm waiting with bated breath for the eight volume to come out. Keep writing, Mr. Weber!

1632 was a stand-alone, but when it proved popular, Eric Flint did the smart thing and, with David Weber (no mean series writer himself), used this to A: tell a solid, interesting story and B: lay a lot of the groundwork for future books, short stories and a whole "1632verse" alternate history.

Fine by me. This book isn't as fast-paced as 1632, since it's a "foundation stone" type novel, but it gives a lot of the "surround", political background, TONS of new villainy, and the feel of the massively confused game of "musical chairs played with a death penalty" that is pretty much a hallmark of human history wherever and whenever.

The necessary downside in the writing is more exposition, slower pace, and less character development. The upside is that we end up with, waiting in the wings, the Dutch insurrection, the Scottish revolt, Cromwell's Revenge, "1634: The Baltic War"(next book), The French and Indian War, and my personal favorite, "The Spanish Inquisition doesn't know WHAT to expect."

All told, this book was a solid investment of my money and even more, my precious time. I trust Eric Flint and David Weber, and even if we do spend a fair amount of time in this book watching them stuff dynamite into a lot of holes in the rock, I am certain that, sooner or later, we will get our reward: an earth-shattering "KABOOM!" The added benefit from this book is, we'll know WHY the rubble is bouncing.

It should be mentioned, with pride, that this book was also written with the assistance of the readers of 1632, and there are more books in the works.

David Drake didn't bother to read any of the HH stories before mailing his garbage in. Read any WW1 'white man's burden' story instead, you'll feel better. (Drake's idea of making the Manties look good is to insult them less than his other characters.) He offers an excuse at the end: Parts of the story actually happened in Egypt long ago. I guess this makes it God's fault?

S.M. Stirling did read the books, an excellent emulation. He manages to make the PRH leadership into worthwhile people, with courage, strenght and problems.. After all, Honor needs 'great' enemies to overcome..

The last part is by Weber again, and is a condensed history. Some rehash of the HH appendixes, but much is new: How the Solarian league and Haven came to be.

For the *fans* of the series, on the other hand, there are three reasons to buy this book.

First, the first tale, A Beautiful Friendship, tells the story of the first contact between human and treecats, a six-legged arboreal telepath sentient being alien being with some very feline features. Insights into treecat's culture and abilities, the story of the first adoption, and why do 'cats like celery so much, all of that you'll find here. It also shows that some of Honor's ancestors could give her a good run for her money. :-)

Second, the third tale, tell us of some events that happen at the beginning of In Enemy hands, on the side of The People's Republic of Haven, which are only refered to in that book, never described. Insight into Haven's leadership minds.

Third, the last section of the book, is a pretty deep background on the physics of space travel in HH universe, how the universe was colonized, history, geography and politics of the Kingdom of Manticore, history and some politics of the Solarian League and the People's Republic of Haven and comments on the military capabilities of Peeps and Manties at the beginning of the conflict. It covers nothing of what happens after the beginning of the series, nothing about treecats and nothing about Silesian Confederacy or the Andermani Empire. Moreover, all the really important notes are already in the series. Still, for those who just MUST know everything there is to know about the series, it has interesting details.

David Drake's story is a disppointment, though. While the story has a few remarks to link it to HH universe, you would just have to change a few names and one would NEVER find any relation between this story and that universe. I suppose the story might be good, but this is just not Honor Harrington universe.

This paperback contains three short stories, only one of which is written by David Weber. This book DOES NOT continue the current storyline with Honor Harrington, as in the other Honor books. Instead, the stories in this book are set in the Honor universe, but do not contain any details about Honor herself.

I especially enjoyed the first story, by Weber, which detailed the story of the first partnership between Treecat and Human, as hinted at by Honor in a previous book. While more of a "light" read than his other stories, I found it completely enjoyable. You learn quite a bit more about Treecats, since the story is told partially from their point of view.

The other two stories were good as well, and expanded our knowledge of the HH Universe, but I didn't think they were quite as exciting as some of Mr. Weber's work. However, the stories are enjoyable, and point out the fact that there is plenty of room for other tales besides those of Honor Harrington.

The last section is quite a treat, at least if you are a person who loves detailed pseudo-histories of fictional universes. Mr. Weber has taken the time to share some of his detailed notes with us, in the form of historical accountings and explanations of everything from how the Kingdom of Manticore was founded (complete with working details of the Manticore Government), to technology and space travel. If you enjoyed his other technical discussions in previous books, you will want to get this book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, it helped ease the yearning for the next book in the Honor series, and helped expand my understanding and enjoyment of the series. A good book and a good read.

Something interesting to note: In "Insurrection," a battlegroup of about 8 Monitors and 10 SDs is desrcibed as being bigger than any group to fight in a single battle in IW4 - which is the war being discussed in this book if I am not mistaken...of course, far larger fleets are involved in individual battles in this war...I wonder if the authors didn't read "Insurrection" prior to writing "IDG" and "TSO"...

I would appreciate a book concerning itself with the Orion - Human relationship (or any of the other allies actually).

Worth buying? Of course...now if we can just get a book that takes place after "Insurrection"...