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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courts-martial, treachery and death!, October 22, 1998
David Weber's books just keep getting better and better! Here's the fourth book of the series, and Honor Harrington must fight on a different battlefield. Honor returns from Hancock Station (The Short Victorious War), transporting Captain Lord Pavel Young, who stands accused of cowardice in the face of the enemy. If found guilty, the sentence is death. However, through surprising twists and turns, someone else dies first. Honor takes a sabbatical for a while, as her command, HMS Nike, is in the slips for major overhaul and refitting following the pounding she received at the hands of the Peeps. She returns to Grayson to take up her duties as Steadholder. When her former executive officer stops by, she receives news that causes her to hot-foot it back to Manticore. What happens next is the tale of her courageous fight for justice in the face of political intrigue and compromise, and how that same compromise winds up treating her even more unfairly than any enemy action. Read it. Honor's legend keeps growing, and it is well justified. What keeps me reading, more than anything else, is that she continues to be a very real and sometimes vulnerable person, despite a record of achievement that is reaching mythic proportions. Did I say read it? No, absorb it, dwell in it. In an earlier review I said that, speaking as a sailor myself, Honor is the kind of CO I want to work for. I'll go farther - Honor's the kind of CO I'd kill for and die for. 'Nuff said.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And now for something totally different..., July 17, 2000
This review is from: Field of Dishonor (Honor Harrington Series, Book 4) (Hardcover)
While the previous three Honor novels are driven by battles and the PRH, Field of Dishonor is planted firmly in Manticore's political arena. The characters are the same, but the fighting takes on a different direction. This novel shows Honor finally growing up as a public person. Honor is thrown in the deep end of the shark tank when her long term adversry Pavel Young is court martialed. His smallness and obsession to destroy Honor move the book forward. In contrast, Honor's people stand in the gap for her, in order to level the playing field. Class warfare is in definite evidence here. This book, more than the previous ones has a strongly "British" flavor. At times, it is anachronistic, but somehow works. As part of the series, it's a "must read". Some men may find it to be too much of a "Chick" book. But, for all of us women who have screamed at the movie screen for the girl to kill the thug attacking her boyfriend, this book is a true validation of our full femininity. We can be powerful both professionally and physically. We can beat the ones that come after our loved ones. But we still bleed.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a dramatic final showdown, February 9, 2001
This review is from: Field of Dishonor (Honor Harrington Series, Book 4) (Hardcover)
If you have been reading the series up to this point (good idea), this will be a departure from the spaceship combat and naval operations focus we've had so far. To my mind, this is the book where Honor finally becomes a fully developed character: we see how she behaves when pushed to personal extremis. It is a story of transition for her; her naval career will never be the same. Readers cynical about politics and politicians will find themselves scowling a lot as the story unfolds; those who are not yet cynical will probably be nudged that direction. Honor's stolidly loyal Grayson armsmen, very important characters through the rest of the series, are first developed here. Strong drama, good characters, and a willingness to radically change the circumstances of the protagonist are all Weber strong points, and all are present. I can honestly say that none of the books so far has been the same as any other. Highly recommended.
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