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54 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Weber back to his strengths, with help from Flint, November 18, 2009
This review is from: Torch of Freedom (Honorverse) (Hardcover)
For me, there's a real tension between Davids Weber's strengths as a storyteller and the current state of Honor Harrington's life. Weber's strengths are exploring a person's or small group's heroism as they plug away at their own part of a grand unfolding series of events. That's the rich and heady broth on which the original Honor books were built, and a mighty fine edifice they are. However, the more successful Honor is, as a Navy officer in a nation at war, success is going to promote her off the command deck of her own ship, and even (as it has now) off the squadron flag deck. As she's become more a fleet commander and politician, the series has (of necessity) wandered away from its storytelling roots to become something larger and more epic. Honor is still a character I adore, but her stories are not the kind of space opera I like best, which comes down to individual actions within a larger scheme of things.
Additionally, as the action has progressed, there are now a ridiculous number of characters and theaters of action, far too many to track in one linear series of novels. Weber (and his partner in crime, Eric Flint) have wisely diversified the series to take advantage of both the storytelling opportunities and to wrestle the beast into something resembling coherent novel-sized pieces.
The books of the Honorverse now seem to have three main streams. One, of course, is the story of Honor, which I will keep reading, only because that's where the grand unfolding of the galactic history occurs (and because I adore Honor -- did I mention that?). Another is the books like The Shadow of Saganami (The Saganami Island) which can (and do) focus on the antics of a single starship or a small squadron of them -- this is the space opera where Weber truly shines. And finally, there is the espionage-based series of books that started with Crown of Slaves (Honor Harrington) and is continued in this book.
The three threads form one glorious, galaxy-wide saga that I wouldn't miss for the world. This book is a worthy addition to this fictional enterprise, a great deal of fun to read, and an interesting progression in the story as a whole. I'm not sure it stands alone -- while it does repeat some action from other books, there are also references to things that are not wholly explained (such as "what Harrington did to Giscard at Lovat").
However, as a piece of the puzzle, it's an excellent book. Since it focuses on individuals for the most part (and task forces at the largest), the action is firmly where Weber excels. Flint's presence seems to keep the exposition of new technology to small enough chunks that they go down fairly easily. It's clear that both authors have a great fondness for their characters (although they are not at all afraid to kill off those same characters when the plot demands it). If motivations are sometimes described with a heavy hand, the book makes up for such awkwardness with the breakneck pace of the action, the way in which various threads are brought together, and the tantilizing hints of future problems that are clearly having their groundwork laid.
There are small things to like about this book, too, one of which is an extended joke about how even well-educated people miss historical references all the time. Another is the way in which the friendship between Zilwicki and Cachat is handled realistically. And Palane has two moments which are still sticking with me even after finishing the book. Finally, there are all kinds of new characters, some of whom will undoubtedly rise to prominence as this franchise works it way to its grand conclusion (if there ever really is one).
If you like the Honorverse, this is a must-read. Rollicking good fun that advances the larger plot in intriguing ways.
If you've never read anything in the Honorverse, don't start with this. Go start with On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington). If you like that, keep reading. You'll get here soon enough, and when you do, you'll enjoy this book a lot more than if you read it cold.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps the strongest line in the current HonorverseThe planet Torch has overthrown its slave-holders and now the slaves run the, July 28, 2010
This review is from: Torch of Freedom (Honorverse) (Hardcover)
The planet Torch has overthrown its slave-holders and now the slaves run the planet and are inviting slaves from all over the galaxy to join them. Manpower, the company responsible for genetic slavery is angry but the slaves don't mind that...they seek to destroy Manpower and the horrible institution of slavery itself. Still, their ambitions exceed their military power, even though their teenage queen, Berry, is of the Manticore royal family and super-spy Victor Cachat of Haven intends to do what he can to preserve the young republic.
Although Manpower is a problem, Haven's analysts are beginning to pick up hints of a bigger issue. No company, not even one as big and bureaucratic as Manpower, would make the kind of decisions, the long term investments, that Manpower is making. Ultimately, Cachat and Anton Zilwicki decide they have to go to Mesa, where Manpower is headquartered, and determine who is playing Manpower like a puppet. That, not the company, is the real enemy. 'Everyone' knows that Mesa's military is a joke, that it isn't really a government at all but a coalition of the mega-corporations who own the planet. Of course, what everyone knows just might be what Mesa wants them to believe.
Within the Solarian League, factions battle for power and the Governor of the Maya Sector is developing a secret fleet...supposedly to protect his portion of the frontier against piracy, but actually with larger goals in mind. Another secret fleet, that of the Haven government in exile, is also in training, preparing to serve their Manpower paymasters in exchange for the equipment and supplies they need to take the war back to Haven, to throw out the counter-revolutionaries and set the revolution back on track.
Then there are the cutsy story lines. Queen Berry can't get a date. A group of teens from an orbital amusement park get to play spy. A wormhole probe goes horribly wrong. Treecats save the day. We even have a cameo appearance by Honor Harrington.
There's a lot to like and dislike about this story. Let's start with the likes. First, authors David Weber and Eric Flint do a good job making most of the primary actors sympathetic in the context of their goals and motivation. I thought the sections dealing with the Haven Fleet in Exile were particularly well done. While we know that State Security was a thug organization (consider the initials, after all), Weber/Flint help us understand the survivors, fighting what they know to be a lost cause when they could have chosen simply to slip away. Second, Weber/Flint look at terroristic action as something complex. Yes, the Audubon Ballroom uses terror tactics. Is terror justified in cases where the enemy has vastly more power and is also responsible for billions of humans being born into slavery? It's not a question that Weber/Flint actually answer (perhaps its a question that can't be answered), but it's the kind of question that should be posed in speculative fiction.
On the downside, we have the Weber/Flint style choice of informing the readers of everything through long paragraphs of dialogue. Perhaps in the future, people will talk like this, endlessly lecturing one another. It's not a future I look forward to. Then there are a number of threads that are begun but not really taken up in the context of this six hundred page volume. Was the whole wormhole section simply there to remind us that Mesa has deep plans? Or will it go somewhere in another volume? Did we really need the teens from the orbital amusement park? Will we see them again, or were they thrown in to give young readers someone to identify with? Does Queen Berry have to be so icky-sweet? And can we ever again have space battles that don't read like statistical tables (nine zillion missiles were launched. Two zillion went off target. Interceptors took care of another x zillion. Point defenses nearly finished them off, leaving only y zillion to slam into the battle cruiser, blasting it into oblivion.) I'm prepared to believe that future space battles will be statistics exercises. I'd just as soon skip the math and let the gunnery teams handle that, however.
Despite the flaws, I found TORCH OF FREEDOM worth the read. In fact, the anti-slavery side of the Honor Universe is now, from my standpoint, by far the most interesting line out there.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comes with a CD full of Weber ebooks, November 19, 2009
This review is from: Torch of Freedom (Honorverse) (Hardcover)
Like many other Baen hardbacks, particularly other Weber novels, this comes with a CD full of ebooks. The books include all of the other Honor Harrington universe books (mainline, Saganami Island subseries, Manpower subseries, and anthologies) plus most (perhaps all) of his other Baen published books. Of course the Tor published Safehold series is not included. Still, there are about 40 books included in HTML, Word, Mobireader, Lit, EPUB, RTF, and LRF formats.
Nov 23 update: This novel, "Torch of Freedom," is not actually included on the disc as it was made before a suitable manuscript was available.
A nice bonus.
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