Crown of Slaves (Honorverse) [Mass Market Paperback]

David Weber (Author), Eric Flint (Author)

Book Description

Series: Honorverse | Publication Date: March 29, 2005

Beginning a new blockbuster series set in the "Honorverse"-the universe of Honor Harrington. The Star Kingdom's ally Erewhon is growing increasingly restive in the alliance because the new High Ridge regime ignores its needs. Add to that the longstanding problem of a slave labor planet controlled by hostile Mesans in Erewhon's stellar back yard, a problem which High Ridge also ignores. Finally, the recent assassination of the Solarian League's most prominent voice of public conscience indicates the growing danger of political instability in the Solarian League - which is also close to Erewhon. In desperation, Queen Elizabeth tries to defuse the situation by sending a private mission to Erewhon led by Captain Zilwicki, accompanied by one of her nieces. When they arrive on Erewhon, however, Manticore's most capable agent and one of its princesses find themselves in a mess. Not only do they encounter one of the Republic of Haven's most capable agents - Victor Cachat - but they also discover that the Solarian League's military delegation seems up to its neck in skullduggery. And, just to put the icing on the cake, the radical freed slave organization, the Audubon Ballroom, is also on the scene - led by its most notorious killer, Jeremy X.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Weber's Honor Harrington series know that one of its more intriguing aspects is the "Honorverse," the historical, political and astrophysical foundation upon which he builds his plots. They will be delighted with this offshoot in which he and coauthor Flint (1633) develop several situations and characters from other stories. Due to the incompetence of Queen Elizabeth's current government, the alliance between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and Erewhon is on the verge of dissolution, so the queen sends her niece, Ruth, as a representative to a state funeral to patch things up. When a band of terrorists attack Ruth, Havenite agent Victor Cachat seizes the opportunity to forge new bonds between the Erewhonese and his own star nation. At the same time, Cachat liberates an interstellar slave ship and, in a Machiavellian scheme, puts together an alliance that includes Manticorans, Havenites, Erewhonese and units of the Solarian League Navy to liberate a slave planet and form a new star nation dedicated to the extirpation of slavery. Despite the authors' opposing political views, they have managed, in a rare and impressive display of bipartisanism, to blend Edmund Burke and Carlos Marighella into an intriguing synthesis that should appeal to readers of both persuasions. This outstanding effort transcends the label "space opera" and truly is a novel of ideas.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Judith, leader of the Masadan women's escape, and Havenite superspy Victor Cachat reappear some 20 years after the events of The Service of the Sword [BKL Ap 15 02]. Ruth, the queen of Manticore's niece and Judith's daughter by Prince Michael, is on a diplomatic mission to the planet Erewhon with Berry, spymaster Anton Zilwicki's adopted daughter, who, when it is deemed advantageous, acts as Ruth's double. Unfortunately, everybody else they meet is engaged in games of deception, too, some of them quite lethal and all of which altogether involve quite a regiment of thugs, terrorists, and freedom fighters. The ensuing action, powered by Weber and Flint's hallmark breathless pacing and larger-than-life characters (literally, in the case of Solarian League marine lieutenant Thandi Palane), fills the book very nicely. In the end, a major body blow has been made to the interstellar slave rings, Berry Zilwicki has a new career, and the Solarian League and Erewhon have emerged as real players in the Honorverse (i.e., the space Weber's multi-storied Honor Harrington haunts). Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Baen (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743498992
• ISBN-13: 978-0743498999
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Weber, David

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was a doubter, September 9, 2003

By 

Rusir-10 (Gaithersburg, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crown Of Slaves (Hardcover)

Okay, admitting my bias - I really enjoy the Honor Harrington series and eagerly purchased each new volume as it comes out. I recognize that the most recent installments are a little slower and that overall the books tend to follow similar patterns, but even when you've been on the roller coaster before, it sure is fun each time you ride it.

So back to this book, as it indicates on the dust jacket and cover this is a new series in the Honor Universe and make no mistake with the exception of a 7 to 8 page cameo with Honor she is not in this book at all. My first inclination was to pass this book over and you may think the same thing, but that would be a real mistake.

Many of the characters that have been introduced in the 4 volumes of short stories are featured in this current story. Anton Zwilicki and his adopted daughter Barry are main characters as is Princess Ruth. Victor who has been featured in two short stories also plays a central role. If you read the 4 books of short stories, you already know that these are interesting and fun characters in their own right with unique strengths and weaknesses.

I liked this book first because of the aforementioned characters. They were great. You cared about them and rooted them on as the story progressed. You could also see them develop and change during the course of the story (okay, so some of the development was pretty predictable and telegraphed).

Second, the story presents a little different view of Manticore and Haven. Many of the characters from Manticore are still stand up people, but Manticore is not painted as the perfect Kingdom as it has in past books (with the exception of the final Honor book). Likewise Haven is not portrayed as the source of all evil. Its more realistic when the People's Republic and Star Kingdom are presented less black and white.

Finally, we get to see the Solarian league and we get the strong hint that they will be figuring strongly in the subsequent books in this series.

I'm not a big believer in giving a synopsis of the novel in a review, but I will say that the story takes place on Erewhon and involves much more cloak and dagger action as opposed to the large scale ship battles featured in many of Honor's books.

Lots of other story lines and loose ends are left open for future novels so I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty more of these characters.

In summation, there's very little Honor, but the writing is just as good, the characters are just as enjoyable, and its just as much a pleasure to read.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Harrington Universe without the hardware., September 30, 2003

By 

M. Allegra (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crown Of Slaves (Hardcover)

This novel, set in the Honor Harrington universe, is a winner! More intrigue than space opera, this is not a book for the techno-lovers who eat up Weber's 10 page descriptions of ships and weapons. This collaboration of Flint and Webber gets on with the real business of a novel, the story...which is ultimately about people not machinery. I heard more of Flint's voice in the dialogue than I did Weber - which I feel is all to the good but I think the story line and some character development is more Weber than Flint. Whatever! It's a good book, with a great plot, characters and dialogue. The Victor Cachet character lives and breathes as only Honor has in previous books. I am giving this book four stars and not five for two reasons. The question of governing a new world has an unlikely solution - the authors try for justification but I couldn't buy it. Secondly, the back story can only be found in a number of short stories from different volumes of short stories set in the HH universe. Unlike the HH novels, I don't have all the short stories and I felt I was missing something. I will say that I gulped down this one so quickly that I was forced to re-read it immediately just to do it justice. I don't do this very often. I am really looking forward to the sequel(s).

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Really Special Operation, October 14, 2003

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crown Of Slaves (Hardcover)

Crown of Slaves (2003) is the first novel in a new series set in the Honor Harrington universe. This novel is a sequel to From the Highlands in Changer of Worlds, in which Helen Zilwicki is kidnapped in Chicago by Scrags -- genetic supermen -- in the employ of Manpower, but Captain Anton Zilwicki of the Royal Manticoran Navy, gets her back with help from Victor Cachat of Haven State Security, Colonel Kevin Usher of the Haven Marines, and Jeremy X of the Audubon Ballroom. Helen also brings out two local youngster, Lars and Berry, who have helped her escape from her captors and Anton adopts them after returning home.

In this novel, many years later, Hieronymus Stein, head of the Renaissance Association, has been assassinated and rumors link Manpower to the incident. Queen Elizabeth of Manticore decides to send Princess Ruth Winton, adopted daughter of her brother, Michael, to Erewhon to attend the memorial gathering in an unofficial way. The Queen requests that Anton Zilwicki and Berry accompany her. Since Ruth has ambitions to be the family spymaster, Anton also agrees to teach her tradecraft during the trip.

As a subterfuge to increase Ruth's safety, she and Berry undergo nanotech surgery to trade identities. For additional security, Anton and the girls travel to Erewhon on the Pottawatomie Creek, an armed frigate, which is crewed mostly by Audubon Ballroom "terrorists" being trained by Anton in naval tactics and shiphandling.

Haven also sends unofficial observers to the gathering, Kevin Usher's wife Virginia and Victor Cachat, posing as an unfaithful wife and her boy-toy. They have instructions to encourage Erewhon to change their allegiance from Manticore to Haven. While at the reception, Naomi Imbesi attempts to seduce Victor on orders from her uncle, Walter Imbesi, currently leader of the opposition in Erewhon, and of course Ginny Usher helps cover the rendezvous.

The Solar League Navy also has a delegation attending the gathering. Captain Luiz Rozsak is leading a black operation on Erewhon against his nominal superior, Ingemar Cassetti. They are also tracking a group of Masadan and Scrag terrorists employed by Manpower. The SLN has its own unit of Scrag women commanded by Marine Lieutenant Thandi Palane; these "Amazons" have a grudge against the Manpower Scrags, many of whom are former boyfriends.

When the Masadans and their Scrag converts attempt to kidnap Princess Ruth, they fall in a trap set by Victor Cachat and trigger a joint operation by Erewhonese, Havenites, Manticorans, Solar Leaguers, and the Audubon Ballroom against Manpower. Berry gets to play princess for a little longer while the real princess is conniving with the spooks and troops. However, Professor W.E.B. Du Havel has conceived of another role for Berry.

This novel is tour de force of major proportions, an almost pure wish fulfillment fantasy, a chain of events that could only happen in an illogical and chaotic universe. Well, stranger things have happened, but it is hard to think of anything as convoluted and one-sided as this caper. Pity the poor Masadan/Scrag terrorists, not to mention the Manpower slavers, for they are steamrollered. Great fun! Totally ridiculous, but also totally enjoyable!

Highly recommended for Weber and Flint fans and anyone else who enjoys special ops, political intrigue, and justice served in huge helpings.

-Arthur W. Jordin