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55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent New Sci-Fi Series, October 26, 2004
This review is from: The Shadow of Saganami (Saganami Island) (Hardcover)
David Weber has a lot of fans particularly for his Honor Harrington series. There have been ten novels and three collections of stories in that series and books from it have landed on best-seller lists. He has expanded his Honorverse to include two new series. The first in the "Crown of Slaves" branch focuses on politics and war over the issue of genetic slavery. Shadow of Saganami focuses on another area of this universe and brings in a new cast.
The Hexapuma, a brand-new cruiser commanded by a hero of the last war is assigned to bring a new cluster of planets into the growing Manticoran Empire after a referendum in which the vast majority call for annexation. Weber is able to introduce an (almost) entirely new cast of characters. Much of the action is centered around a group of midshipmen on their first cruise but the action involves many of the ship's leaders as well as politicians and terrorists from several worlds.
There is very little doubt that Weber writes from a post 9/11 perspective. The terrorists are being helped by a wide assortment of groups ranging from out of control bureaucrats to businesses directly involved with slavery. Plots abound as different groups and individuals plot their own destinies.
The book is long and exciting. Imagine trying to read more than 700 pages at one sitting! Terekhov, the captain, is a marvelous character, haunted by his past and focused on preventing both terrorism and war. The supporting cast is also strong. Even the villains are, in most cases, three dimensional.
For long-time readers of Weber there is the pleasure of running into old friends like Ginger Lewis, Aubrey Wanderman, Helen Zilwicki and Abigail Hearns. There are new characters who are certain to become favorites as well.
The issues that arise in the book are relevant to today's world and put in the context of good space opera. Fans of Weber will love the book and those who read this as their first Weber experience are likely to go looking for all the other books.
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47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Weber at his best, November 3, 2004
This review is from: The Shadow of Saganami (Saganami Island) (Hardcover)
As Honor Harrington has progressed in her career, she has had to abandon the command of a starship, in order to take on squadron and then fleet command. While this is good for her, it's not as good for readers, because David Weber is at his best, I think, when he is telling the story of a single starship captain and what such a person and a dedicated crew can do when faced with a critical choice or puzzling-and-threatening situation.
In this book, Weber returns to the world of a single starship, in the service of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Honor Harrington appears briefly in the book, but it is not a book about her at all. Instead, it is about a new generation of officers, serving on a heavy cruiser. It's a great piece of standard Weber space opera: fun to read, and a bit overloaded with heavy exposition (I'd ding it half a star for the somewhat awkward expository passages if that were possible, but it's not).
At first, I thought the book would not hold my attention, but I was wrong. Once I sorted out who all the players were, this was a rollicking good read. It's not deep or particularly meaningful, but it is an excellent example of the kind of book it set out to be; the five stars are for the good story, the interesting characters, and the excellent fit between the plot and the writing (but as I mentioned above, I wish I could ding it half a star). Highly recommended to anyone who enjoyed the early Honor Harrington books.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Here come the Sollies, November 3, 2004
This review is from: The Shadow of Saganami (Saganami Island) (Hardcover)
After going to college with Dave and then later fixing his Osborne computer for him, I read a draft version of one of his Starfire books. It was excellent and I encouraged him to get it published. Later I got hooked on his Honor Harrington books. Where David excells is when he has a narrower focus and this is why I like his new Saganami Island Series, of which this is the first book. We meet students from Honor's teaching days on their middie cruise in the Talbot Cluster. Why this book re-earns a 5 star rating is because he shrinks down the multiple story lines that dragged War of Honor down to a 4. He also minimizes the repetition of details that dragged that book down as well. This is a nice tightly written book that brings more life to the Honorverse, and looks at other forms of corrupt government. The action is well told and the political points of view make great warnings to us in today's world.
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