Sequel to national bestsellers Crown of Slaves and Torch of Freedom, Cauldron of Ghosts is the return of Secret agent Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat in the Wages of Sin, the classic tie-in series set in David Weber's Honorverse.TOIL AND TROUBLE IN THE CAULDRON OF GHOSTSThe Mesan Alignment is a centuries-old cabal that seeks to impose its vision of a society dominated by genetic rank onto the human race. Now the conspiracy stands exposed by spies Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat — one an agent of Honor Harrington’s Star Kingdom of Manticore, the other a Havenite operative.The outing of the Alignment has turned the galaxy’s political framework topsy-turvy. Old coalitions have disintegrated. New alliances have been born.For starters, the long and hard-fought war between the Republic of Haven and the Star Empire of Manticore is not only over, but these bitter enemies have formed a new pact. Their common foe: the Mesan Alignment itself.But more information is needed to bring the Alignment out of the shadows. Now, defying the odds and relying on genetic wizardry themselves for a disguise, Zilwicki and Cachat return to Mesa — only to discover that even they have underestimated the Alignment’s ruthlessness and savagery.Soon they are on the run in Mesa’s underworld, not only hunted by the Alignment, but threatened by the exploding conflict on the planet between Mesa’s overlords and the brutalized slaves and descendants of slaves who have suffered under their rule for so long. But if Zilwicki and Cachat succeed in rooting out the ancient conspiracy, a great evil may be finally removed from the galaxy — and on a long-oppressed planet, freedom may finally dawn.About the Wages of Sin series:"Fans of Weber's Honor Harrington series … will be delighted with this offshoot in which he and coauthor Flint develop several situations and characters from other stories. ...This outstanding effort transcends the label 'space opera' and truly is a novel of ideas.” –Publishers Weekly

First let me congratulate David Weber. I don't know what his own religious convictions (if any) are but he's done something (for me) very welcome here. He's written a book about a civilization of religious fanatics without leaving the feeling that anyone who is religious or holds religious convictions is either crazy or dangerous. That's more rare than you might might realize if it doesn't effect you. I'm a Christian and in spite of the fact that it's hard to remember the last big Baptist bombing or Methodist terror attack it seems that every time religious fanatics come up in a book recently Christians come off looking pretty bad. I mean I can see why. With well known threatening figures out there like Billy Graham and Mother Teressa it's no wonder.Anyway, that aside, the book itself is good and for me comes just short of the 5 star rating...close, oh so close, but I think that I found the ones I have given 5 stars either more enjoyable or in some way more moving. Still if we had that half star we're always talking about, this would get 4.5. Honor back in action after the events of her Command at Basilisk Station. Confronting prejudice in a society where women are still chattel she gets to change attitudes of an entire civilization, or at least try to.In the line of duty this time Honor will face physical danger, bigotry, covert killers and worst of all...a cowardly bureaucrat. Horrors. If you've read other of my reviews you know that I like protagonists who are frankly good guys (of course "guy" is used in the generic sense here with no gender inferred) who understand honor (small h), honesty, duty, courage (saddling up anyway even when you're scared to death). Heroes and heroines who struggle not to compromise with evil who understand that the strong interpose themselves between danger and the weak. So I'm a sucker for Honor Harrington. So far so good. I am enjoying the series.(view spoiler)[Almost my favorite scene in this book (if not my favorite) was when Honor slapped the bureaucrat (and of course with her strength the "slap" floors and bloodies him). And I really think Weber might have considered letting Honor keep her eye patch instead of giving her a bionic eye in the next book. Oh well, to stereotypical I suppose. :) (hide spoiler)]

Honor Harrington in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens. Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling, the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called "Republic" of Haven is Up to Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system.But the people out to get her have made one mistake.They've made her mad!

The Direct Sequel to Crown of Slaves. Two New York Times Best-Selling Authors Again Join Forces in a New Novel in David Weber’s Honor Harrington Universe.     As the slavemasters of Mesa plot against the Star Empire of Manticore and the newly liberated slave planet of Torch, Anton Zilwicki and the notorious Havenite secret agent Victor Cachat set off on a dangerous mission to uncover the truth concerning a wave of mysterious assassinations that have been launched against Manticore and Torch. Most people are sure that the Republic of Haven is behind the assassinations, but Zilwicki and Cachat suspect others of being the guilty party.       Queen Berry of Torch was one of the targets of the unknown assassins. The former head of the Ballroom slave liberation organization, Jeremy X—now one of Torch's top officials, but still considered by many the most dangerous terrorist in the galaxy—calls in some past favors owed to him. In response, a security officer from Beowulf arrives in Torch to take charge of Queen Berry's security—a task made doubly difficult by the young monarch's resentment of bodyguards and the security officer's own growing attachment to her.       Meanwhile, powerful forces in the Solarian League are maneuvering against each other to gain the upper hand in what they all expect to be an explosive crisis that threatens the very existence of the League itself.

The Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven have been enemies for Honor Harrington's entire life, and she has paid a price for the victories she's achieved in that conflict. And now the unstoppable juggernaut of the mighty Solarian League is on a collision course with Manticore. The millions who have already died may have been only a foretaste of the billions of casualties just over the horizon, and Honor sees it coming.She's prepared to do anything, risk anything, to stop it, and she has a plan that may finally bring an end to the Havenite Wars and give even the Solarian League pause. But there are things not even Honor knows about. There are forces in play, hidden enemies in motion, all converging on the Star Kingdom of Manticore to crush the very life out of it, and Honor's worst nightmares fall short of the oncoming reality.But Manticore's enemies may not have thought of everything after all. Because if everything Honor Harrington loves is going down to destruction, it won't be going alone.

Lieutenant Travis Long of the Royal Manticoran Navy is the sort of person who likes an orderly universe. One where people follow the rules. Unfortunately he lives in the real universe. The good news is that Travis is one of those rare people who may like rules but has a talent for thinking outside them when everything starts coming apart. That talent has stood him—and the Star Kingdom—in good stead in the past, and it's one reason he's now a "mustang"—an ex-enlisted man who's been given a commission as a king's officer. The bad news is that two of the best ways of making enemies ever invented are insisting on enforcing the rules...and thinking outside them when other people don't. Travis learned that lesson the hard way as a young volunteer in basic training, and he knows that if he could just keep his head down, turn a blind eye to violations of the rules, and avoid stepping on senior officers' toes, he'd do just fine.But the one rule Travis Long absolutely can't break is the one that says an officer in the Royal Navy does his duty, whatever the consequences. At the moment,there are powerful forces in the young Star Kingdom of Manticore's Parliament that don't think they need him. For that matter they're pretty sure they don't need the Royal Manticoran Navy, either. After all, what does a sleepy little single-system star nation on the outer edge of the explored galaxy need with a navy? Unhappily for them, the edge of the explored galaxy can be a far more dangerous place than they think it is. They're about to find out why they need the navy…and how very, very fortunate they are that Travis Long is in it.

This is an anthology of three short stories and a host of technical information (non-story, but about the story universe). The first story is a precursor to one of the David Weber spin-off series about Stephanie Harrington, Honor semi-famous ancestor who was first to befriend a tree cat. I found the story wonderful and it was one of those rare tales that was something I could share with my daughter. Tree cats, an 11 year old girl, and a mystery over celery and an adventure on a wilderness world. What more could you ask for. The second story, by David Drake, another space opera veteran, was also wonderful, but different. Drake's style is very similar to Weber's and the story blends well with the Honor-verse. The third story is actually the untold story of a coup attempt in the Peoples Republic of Haven. The event is referenced with scant details in the long Honor Harrington Series and told in greater detail here. The stile is slightly different than Weber's, darker, smoother and highlights a wonderful thing about the Honor-verse that Weber (with collaboration from others) has created.Weber's "Honor-verse" has room for other great writers to share. The stories from others, like Drake, aren't outside the main story. Where he can, Weber includes their work and allows it to influence his. The reason I stopped reading the first book of the Crown of Slaves trilogy is because it is about a character started by David Drake in a short story in the third anthology. Rather than re-telling it, Weber simply referred to it. I became frustrated looking for the character and where they came from until I found a wiki-Weber-info website that tracked down the story. That highlights one of the few problems with the Honor-verse and all of the stories. I really, really like the way Weber has all of the story plots intertwined with his main Honor Harrington story. I like the spin offs and thse short stories are fabulous for sci-fi shorts. The problem is that they do not fit together seamlessly. The first book might fit in between Honor 8 and 9 of a trilogy and then overlap the next two honor books. The stories use the short stories as background info and setting, or even as fodder for characters but that's hard to track down and requires extra effort to keep straight. Still these are three excellent short stories. You do not have to read any other story to enjoy them. (More the other way around.) I recommend them to anyone who enjoys short sci-fi stories. (Especially the first one.)

Stephanie Harrington always expected to be a forest ranger on her homeworld of Meyerdahl . . . until her parents relocated to the frontier planet of Sphinx in the far distant Star Kingdom of Manticore. It should have been the perfect new home --- a virgin wilderness full of new species of every sort, just waiting to be discovered. But Sphinx is a far more dangerous place than ultra-civilized Meyerdahl, and Stephanie’s explorations come to a sudden halt when her parents lay down the law: no trips into the bush without adult supervision!Yet Stephanie is a young woman determined to make discoveries, and the biggest one of all awaits her: an intelligent alien species.The forest-dwelling treecats are small, cute, smart, and have a pronounced taste for celery. And they are also very, very deadly when they or their friends are threatened . . . as Stephanie discovers when she comes face-to-face with Sphinx's most lethal predator after a hang-gliding accident.But her discoveries are only beginning, for the treecats are also telepathic and able to bond with certain humans, and Stephanie’s find --- and her first-of-its kind bond with the treecat Climbs Quickly --- land both of them in a fresh torrent of danger. Galactic-sized wealth is at stake, and Stephanie and the treecats are squarely in the path of highly-placed enemies determined to make sure the planet Sphinx remains entirely in human hands, even if that means the extermination of another thinking species.Unfortunately for those enemies, the treecats have saved Stephanie Harrington’s life. She owes them . . . and Stephanie is a young woman who stands by her friends.Which means things are about to get very interesting on Sphinx.

New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and international bestselling phenomenon David Weber delivers book #18 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series. Honor Harrington’s Royal Manticoran Navy fights space battles alongside planetary rebels as its old rival, the corrupt Solarian League, begins to crumble.#18 in the multiply-bestselling Honor Harrington series.Wrong number? There are two sides to any quarrel . . . unless there are more. Michelle Henke, Queen Elizabeth of Manticore's first cousin, Honor Harrington's best friend, and the commanding officer of Manticore's Tenth Fleet, is just a bit surprised when a messenger arrives from the Mobius System to inform her that the Mobius Liberation Front is prepared to rise in rebellion against the hated regime President Svein Lombroso. She can understand why anyone would want to rebel against someone like Lombroso, but why tell her about it? After all, she has problems of her own, like the minor matter of a life-or-death war against the Solarian League. Michelle has just handed the "invincible" Solarian League Navy the most humiliating, one-sided defeat in its entire almost thousand-year history in defense of the people of the Star Empire's Talbott Quadrant. But the League is the most powerful star nation in the history of humanity. Its navy is going to be back – and this time with thousands of superdreadnoughts.  Yet she also knows scores of other star systems — some independent, some controlled by puppet regimes, and some simply conquered outright by the Solarian Office of Frontier Security — lie in the League's grip along its frontier with the Talbott Quadrant. As combat spreads from the initial confrontation, the entire frontier has begun to seethe with unrest, and Michelle sympathizes with the oppressed populations wanting only to be free of their hated masters.  And that puts her in something of a quandary when the messenger from Mobius arrives, because someone's obviously gotten a wrong number. According to him, the Mobians’ uprising has been carefully planned to coordinate with a powerful outside ally: the Star Empire of Manticore. Only Manticore — and Mike Henke — have never even heard of the Mobius Liberation Front. It's a set-up . . . and Michelle knows who's behind it. The shadowy Mesan Alignment has launched a bold move to destroy Manticore's reputation as the champion of freedom. And when the RMN doesn't arrive, when the MLF is brutally and bloodily crushed, no independent star system will ever trust Manticore again. Mike Henke knows she has no orders from her government to assist any rebellions or liberation movements, that she has only so many ships, which can be in only so many places at a time . . . and that she can't possibly justify diverting any of her limited, outnumbered strength to missions of liberation the Star Empire never signed on for.  She knows that . . . and she doesn't care. No one is going to send thousands of patriots to their deaths, trusting in Manticoran help that will never come.  Not on Mike Henke's watch.About Shadow of Freedom: “This entry is just as exciting as Weber’s initial offering. . . .The result is a fast-paced and action-packed story that follows [our characters] as they move from reaction to command of the situation. Weber builds Shadow of Freedom to an exciting and unexpected climax.”—Daily News of GalvestonAbout Mission of Honor, #13 in the Honor Harrington series:  “Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in this long-awaited Honor Harrington novel…Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.”–Publishers Weekly   “This latest Honor Harrington novel brings the saga to another crucial turning point…Readers may feel confident that they will be Honored many more times and enjoy it every time.”–Booklist About David Weber and the Honor Harrington series:  “. . .everything you could want in a heroine …. Excellent … plenty of action.”–Science Fiction Age  “Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!”–Anne McCaffrey  “Compelling combat combined with engaging characters for a great space opera adventure.”–Locus  “Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice . . .”–Publishers Weekly

What Price Victory?The War with the Republic of Haven has resumed...disastrously for the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Admiral Lady Dame Honor Harrington has been recalled from the Sidemore System to command Eighth Fleet. Everyone knows Eight Fleet is the Alliance's primary offensive command, but what most of the public doesn't know is that not only are the Star Kingdom and its Allies badly outnumbered by the Republic's new fleet, but that the odds are going to get steadily worse.Eighth Fleet's job is to somehow prevent those odds from crushing the Alliance before the Star Kingdom can regain its strategic balance. It's a job which won't be done chaply. Honor Harrington must meet her formidable responsibilities with inferior forces even as she copes with tumultous changes in her personal and public life.The alternative to victory is total defeat, yet this time the cost of victory will be agonizingly high.

The proles are revolting.The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent.But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power; another short, victorious war to unite the people and fill the treasury once more. It's a card they've played often in the last half-century, always successfully, and all that stands in their way is the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its threadbare allies.Only this time the Peeps face something different. This time they're up against Captain Honor Harrington and a Royal Manticoran Navy that's prepared to give them a war that's far from short...and anything but victorious.

HONOR BETRAYEDThe People's Republic of Haven's sneak attack on the Kingdom of Manticore has failed. The Peeps are in disarray, their leaders fighting for power in bloody revolution, and the Royal Manticoran Navy stands victorious.But Manticore has domestic problems of its own, and success can be more treacherous than defeat for Honor Harrington. Now, trapped at the core of a political crisis she never sought, betrayed by an old and vicious enemy she'd thought vanquished forever, she stands alone.She must fight for justice on a battlefield she never trained for in a private war that offers just two choices: death . . . or a ''victory'' that can end only in dishonor and the loss of all she loves.About David Weber and the Honor Harrington series: “. . .everything you could want in a heroine…. Excellent … plenty of action.”–Science Fiction Age “Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!”–Anne McCaffrey “Compelling combat combined with engaging characters for a great space opera adventure.”–Locus“Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice . . .”–Publishers WeeklyAbout Shadow of Freedom, #15 in the Honor Harrington series:“This entry is just as exciting as Weber’s initial offering. . . .The result is a fast-paced and action-packed story that follows [our characters] as they move from reaction to command of the situation. Weber builds Shadow of Freedom to an exciting and unexpected climax.”—Daily News of GalvestonAbout Mission of Honor, #13 in the Honor Harrington series: “Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in this long-awaited Honor Harrington novel … Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.”–Publishers Weekly “This latest Honor Harrington novel brings the saga to another crucial turning point … Readers may feel confident that they will be Honored many more times and enjoy it every time.”–Booklist Honor Harrington Main Series: On Basilisk StationThe Honor of the Queen The Short Victorious War\
  Field of Dishonor\
Flag in Exile Honor Among EnemiesIn Enemy Hands Echoes of Honor Ashes of Victory War of Honor The Shadow of Saganami At All Costs Storm from the Shadows Mission of Honor A Rising Thunder Shadow of Freedom

The Star Kingdom has a new generation of officers! And this elite group hand-picked and trained by Honor Harrington herself is going to be needed immediately, as their first assignment turns out to be more dangerous than anyone expected. What was supposed to be a quiet outpost, far from the blazing conflict between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the People's Republic of Haven has actually been targeted by an unholy alliance between the slaveholders of Manpower, the rival star kingdoms of Mesa and Monica, and the bureaucrats of the Solarian League. The alliance stands to benefit if the Havenites defeat Manticore, and are preparing for a surprise attack from the rear to divide Manticore's forces, which are already strained nearly to their limits. With their captain, the young Manticoran officers will risk their careers, if not their lives, on an unauthorized mission to expose and counter the threat to their Star Kingdom. Follow their journey as they show what they're made of as New York Times best-selling author David Weber begins a new series that will be a must for the hundreds of thousands of Honor Harrington fans.

NO ONE WANTED ANOTHER WAR  Thomas Theisman didn't. After risking his life and a fresh round of civil war to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety's reign of terror and restore the Republic of Haven's ancient Constitution, an interstellar war was the last thing he wanted.  Baron High Ridge didn't. The Prime Minister of Manticore was perfectly happy with the war he had. No one was shooting anyone else at the moment, and as long as he could spin out negotiations on the formal treaty of peace, his government could continue to milk all those "hostilities only" tax measures for their own partisan projects.  His Imperial Majesty Gustav didn't. Now that the fighting between the Star Kingdom and the Havenites had ended, the Andermani Emperor had his own plans for Silesia, and he was confident he could achieve them without a war of his own.  Protector Benjamin didn't. His people had made too deep a commitment to the Manticoran Alliance, in blood as well as treasure, for him to want to risk seeing it all thrown away.  And Honor Harrington certainly didn't. The "Salamander" had seen the inside of too many furnaces already, knew too much about how much war cost.  Unfortunately, what they wanted didn't matter....

Readers can't get enough of Honor Harrington and her world, and here David Weber is again, accompanied by some of the top science fiction writers in the field, with new adventures of the best starship commander in the galaxy, and explorations of previously uncharted corners of her universe. It's a party-and you're invited!The Service of the Sword, published in 2003, is the fourth anthology of stories set in the Honor Harrington universe or Honorverse. The stories in the anthologies serve to introduce characters, provide deeper more complete backstory and flesh out the universe, so claim the same canonical relevance as exposition in the main series. David Weber, author of the mainline Honor Harrington series, serves as editor for the anthologies, maintaining fidelity to the series canons.

Peril and strife strike on a double front for Honor Harrington and company. After a brutal attack on the Manticoran home system, Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom she serves battle back against a new, technologically powerful, and utterly nefarious enemy. And as if that weren't task enough, Honor must also face down a centuries-old nemesis in the crumbling, but still mighty, Solarian League.The war between the People's Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but grave danger looms -- for there is a plan well on its way to completion designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plan lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment.Task number one for Honor is to defend against another devastating Mesan strike -- a strike that may well spell the doom of the Star Kingdom in one fell blow. It is time to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom's wealth and power -- but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war.The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom. And once again, Honor Harrington is thrust into a desperate battle that she must win if she is to survive to take the fight to the real enemy of galactic freedom -- the insidious puppetmasters of war who lurk behind the Mesan Alignment!

PeeCee

Books in the Honor Harrington universe by David Weber

Books - Honorverse

book

Xander Snyder

Galaxy's Edge series by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole (NOT STAR WARS)

Fantasy

The Empire of Man series by David Weber and John Ringo

About Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chang McClintok heir tertiary to the Throne of Man. 

Books - The Empire of Man series by David Weber and John Ringo

1986-1989 Japanese anime television series

Anime

Adventure

Sci-Fi

Books, Movies, and Shows that fit the Military Science Fiction genre

American science fiction and military fiction author

Mil-SciFi

Troy Rising series by John Ringo

Live Free or Die

Books - Honorverse

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