Customer Reviews

Ashes of Victory (Honor Harrington #9)

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

In the latest saga of Honor Harrington the story focuses more on Honor Universe as a whole than it does with a single planet or star system. This book is a cant miss if your a fan of the Honor Harrington Series. Ashes takes over where Echoes of Honor ended. Going over the responses of the Peeps to Honors return. Honors recuperation and what everyone is up to on Grayson and in the Star Kingdom. Just as you think everything is settled Weber thows another curve into the mix. It reminds of something a friend told me about sequals "To keep readers hooked answer most of the questions from the last book and then throw in even more new ones at the end." Weber does that. While the ending of this book is not a cliffhanger your still left with wanting more.

The two small dissapointments I had in this book were

1)I would have liked to see more of Honors teaching(yes she teaches).

2)More about what was happening with Nimitz communication to others. And the affects of their solution on other 'cats (I wont give it away)

One Big Dissapointment, I have to wait at least another year for the sequel.

As a big fan of science fiction I can tell you this book and the series are some of the best out there. I highly reccomend this book.

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.

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 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.

It's not fair to give plot details away, as all too many reviewers have done, so I won't.

Is this book worth buying in hardback? Yes. Weber's style, plotting and characterization have improved markedly -- I went back and re-read Basilisk Station just to check that impression, and yep, lots of improvement. We don't see as much of Honor as I might have liked, and in his concentration on showing us the politics and social forces and intrigue of the universe he's building, he scanted a couple things I would have liked to see. His Hornblower and Nelson references are getting just a little thick on the ground: "Now some say Nelson had one eye/while others say he had one arm/But you'd have to ask Lady Hamilton/if the rest of his features suffered harm!" Ahem.

On the other hand, he followed up nicely on a couple points: two books ago, Sir Thomas Caparelli noted that Harrington taught well. It was good of Weber to follow that up, and I gripe that I would have liked to see more of it displayed.

A serious gripe is that I think the treecat business is getting a little too cute. The latest touches aren't thrilling me.

Weber is doing nicely with his French Revolution and Stalinist purge elements. I like his unflinching willingness to kill off important characters (although I wish he wouldn't do it off-stage!) in service to the plot.

Ashes of Victory expands the universe, and, while I'm sorry to see the focus fading from Honor, I respect his effort. Ursula K. LeGuin remarked in an essay that fiction, even (and perhaps especially) science fiction, is not prescriptive, but descriptive. If Weber's nerve holds, and his confidence in his imagination doesn't get inflated, he's got an interesting premise to work with.

I say go for it! Expand this universe, with Honor just one more viewpoint character, and I'll be happy.