Books - Honorverse

With the defenses of the Southern Appalachians sundered, the only thing standing between the ravening Posleen hordes and the soft interior of the Cumberland Plateau are the veterans of 555th Mobile Infantry. Dropped into Rabun Pass, with a couple of million Posleen behind them and fourteen million to the front, the only question is which will run out first: power, bullets or bodies. But they have a hole card: far to the north the shattered SheVa Nine is undergoing a facelift. Rising from its smoking ashes is a new weapon of war, armed with the most advanced weaponry Terra has ever produced, capable of facing both the Posleen hordes and their redoubtable space-cruisers. Capable of dealing out hell as only SheVa Nine can. If Mike O'Neal and the other members of the 555th are going to survive, it will come down to how much Posleen butt Bun-bun can kick. Prepare to eat antimatter, Posleen-boy.

The Charisian Empire, born in war, has always known it must fight for its very survival. What most of its subjects don't know even now, however, is how much more it's fighting for. Emperor Cayleb, Empress Sharleyan, Merlin Athrawes, and their innermost circle of most trusted advisers do know. And because they do, they know the penalty if they lose will be far worse than their own deaths and the destruction of all they know and love.For five years, Charis has survived all the Church of God Awaiting and the corrupt men who control it have thrown at the island empire. The price has been high and paid in blood. Despite its chain of hard-fought naval victories, Charis is still on the defensive. It can hold its own at sea, but if it is to survive, it must defeat the Church upon its own ground. Yet how does it invade the mainland and take the war to a foe whose population outnumbers its own fifteen to one? How does it prevent that massive opponent from rebuilding its fleets and attacking yet again?Charis has no answer to those questions, but needs to find one… quickly. The Inquisition's brutal torture and hideous executions are claiming more and more innocent lives. Its agents are fomenting rebellion against the only mainland realms sympathetic to Charis. Religious terrorists have been dispatched to wreak havoc against the Empire's subjects. Assassins stalk the Emperor and Empress, their allies and advisers, and an innocent young boy, not yet eleven years old, whose father has already been murdered. And Merlin Athrawes, the cybernetic avatar of a young woman a thousand years dead, has finally learned what sleeps beneath the far-off Temple in the Church of God Awaiting's city of Zion.The men and women fighting for human freedom and tolerance have built a foundation for their struggle in the Empire of Charis with their own blood, but will that foundation be firm enough to survive?

If you're a fan of the first two books you may or may not like this one. For all intents and purposes the Dahak series ended with the previous novel. Don't get me wrong, all your favorite characters are all here in this installment and they do have their own little story, but the book isn't really about them anymore. It's about their teenage kids who by way of some diabolical plot end up being lost in space with no means to communicate or get home on their small ship. They do however land on an uncharted 4th empire world, which has descended into a pre-industrial theocratic society with little to no technology, except for an existing computer which can let them send a message home. Unfortunately this computer is guarded fiercely since it has great religious significance and it's defensive weapons may still be intact to protect it. The kids are discovered by a village who have been long time rivals of the church and see them as "Angels" after witnessing what they can do. The governing power of the Church receives word of what's happening and sends an army to put down their long time enemy since they believe they've sided with demons. The kids believing they have caused all this feel guilty and decide to teach the villagers how to defend themselves and improve on their primitive flintlock weapons to beat off "mother church." When the armies of god are defeated, they send even more armies against them, and they defeat more enemies and do this again and again until they finally reach the HQ of the church. There's a huge plot hole which I won't bother to give away, but needless to say this story takes up 3/4 of the book and doesn't even end properly, although it was adequate. If nothing else you won't be bored reading this book, but it is a huge departure from the first two books in the series. Weber went from hardcore space opera to I don't know what. I would have much preferred it that he had a proper sequel to end out the trilogy and then somehow used this story for a fourth book.

\ A Bad Neighborhood\ "Always Faithful." That was the IMC motto, and the Marines of Bravo Company, Bronze Battalion, of the Empress' Own Regiment, lived by it...even if they did occasionally wonder why they bothered. After all, Prince Roger MacClintock, Tertiary Heir to the Throne of Man, was a real piece of work. A spoiled rotten, arrogant, whiny, terminally handsome, thoroughly useless young pain in the butt. But that was before the Royal Brat and his body guards were marooned on Marduk by an assassination attempt. Before they found themselves facing 120° heat in jungles where it rained five or six hours a day...during the dry season. Before they had to march half way around the entire planet, through damnbeasts, Capetoads, killerpillars, and atul-grak. Before they encountered treacherous local potentates, barbarian migrations, and an ocean full of sea serpents that could swallow a topsail schooner whole. Under the right circumstances, even the most spoiled brat can grow up fast, and it turns out that under his petulant, spoiled exterior, Prince Roger is a true MacClintock, a scion of the warrior dynasty which created the Empire of Man a thousand years before. The Marines assigned to guard him have discovered a new belief in him — and in their motto — and they're determined that they will get him off of Marduk aIive. Of course, the planet has other ideas...

Crikey...talk about overcoming steep odds with gusto, verve and quality execution, Mr. Ringo somehow succeeded in making me “really like this” book despite its having some serious obstacles holding back its rating potential:First: Bean books, without doubt, have the dumbest, most "short bus" looking covers of any publishing company I have ever read. Just picking one up makes you feel very duuuuuuh. They are so bad you have to treat them like porn and wrap them in brown shelf-paper to read them in public (thank you e-books and my iPad for the nice camouflage). Second: Military SF is not generally my bag...baby... and so it has to be really interesting to keep my attention. I hate stories that are nothing more than an endless serious of battle sequences fought by idiotic meatheads against evil idiotic meatheads. Third: A 750 page Military SF story…are you kidding me? This could have been more painful than a sandpaper loofer on a third degree burn. However, despite the above, Gust Front succeeds very well and turns out to be among the best examples of military SF I have yet come across. I thoroughly enjoyed it. BACKSTORY:This is second installment of [???] in the Posleen War series (aka The Legend of the Aldenata). In short, a Galactic Federation of pleasant seeming, but ulterior motive-hiding, pacifist aliens recruit the human race to be their cannon fodder soldiers in a war against an aggressive race known as the Posleen. In exchange for humanity’s help, the aliens provide us with advanced technology (rejuvenation serums, battle armor, artificial intelligence devices, etc.). Since the Posleen are on their way to Earth anyway, we have little choice but to accept the aliens help and agree to fight for them. Rather than do a full repeat on both the Galactic Federation and the Posleen, I will now pimp out my previous review for book one which you can check out at right now, go read it right now your leisure: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... PLOT SUMMARY:Book 2 begins with the Posleen advancing towards Earth with an ETA of about 2 years. The nations of Earth have, for the most part, put away their nationalistic pissing contests and childish flag waving in favor of staying alive and are cooperating in a global mobilization and military preparedness campaign. Meanwhile, select divisions of battle-armored soldiers have begun engaging the Posleen in hopes of giving Earth more time to prepare for the inevitable invasion. It is all very 300-like and quite well done. SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS BOOK:In deciding whether this book is right for you (assuming you have gotten by the cover, the military SF sub-genre and the 750 pages), here are a few elements to consider:1. This book is laid out with a very “epic” feel to it and the scope of the story is vast. This is one of the elements that sold me on the book as I would much rather read about the planning and the background than the actual battles which I generally find chaotic and hard to follow. Thus, a big bonus for me was that almost two-thirds of the 750 pages are taken up preparing for the Posleen’s arrival on Earth. With the panic and breakdown of society that occurs as a result, and the hoarding of food and equipment, there is a certain post-apocalyptic/survivalist vibe to story which adds a nice element to the plot. 2. This book is gung ho. Really gung ho. As GUNG HO as gung ho gets. The military, especially the sergeants and grunts, are definitely the heroes, and there is a very eye for an eye tone to the story. Killing the bad guys is the mission and there shall be no further discussion about that. Peace will be achieved when the last Posleen is a smoking corpse over which we roast marshmallows and drink whiskey. This is Patton meets Rambo meets Inglourious Basterds meets Independence Day meets Aliens meets some other movies that I can’t think of right now. For example, when asked how best to attack the Posleen, one character responds, “nuke em till they glow and then shoot 'em in the dark.”You get the idea. 3. While not burdened (or enhanced depending on your viewpoint) with the heavy techno-detail of your typical Tom Clancy novel, there is a significant amount of time devoted to strategy and tactics to be employed against the invading aliens. As I mentioned in 1 above, this was some of the most interesting parts of the story. However, if you could care less about hearing the various responsibilities of the global fighting force and how they undertake to prepare for the Posleen, you may find this a bit of a plod. 4. There is significant time spent getting to know a fairly large group of characters (mostly soldiers) as they carry out their little piece of the puzzle. While I would not say deep, emotional character development is one of this story’s strong suits, we do get to enough to at least be able to cheer for them. THOUGHTS:This is the second volume is a large, epic story-line and I thought Ringo does a great job of keeping his story interesting while really doing little more than “stage setting” for future novels. The last 150-200 pages move extremely quickly as the opening salvos of the invasion begin and the battle scenes are very well done without becoming overly bogged down in minutia. I also thought the writing was effective and struck the right balance of macho and rah rah without falling into groan-inducing: \ Mueller paused, his face hard as he remembered the results of following incompetent orders. The general whose bright idea it had been had never even commented, not even obliquely apologized. Just handed out the medals, tapped them on the shoulders and went on to his next star.\ …Ringo peppered the narrative with a lot of slick phrases like “went on to his next star” and that was something that added to my enjoyment of the tale. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised. The writing was engaging…The enemies are ruthless but interesting…The good guys are tough and intelligent…The federation races are well-drawn and compelling in their hidden nefariousness…The technology is fascinating and complements to plot…andThe scope of the overall storyline is epic and a lot of fun. For someone who needs something extra to become engaged in military SF, I thought Ringo did exactly what he needed to do. He also won me over as a fan of this series and I look forward to continuing it the next time I am up for some well done, gung ho action. 4.0 stars. Highly Recommended.

For eight bloody years, the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its allies have taken the war to the vastly more powerful People's Republic of Haven, and Commodore Honor Harrington has been in the forefront of that war.But now Honor has fallen, captured by the Peep Navy, turned over to the forces of State Security ... and executed on the interstellar network's nightly news.The Manticoran Alliance is stunned and infuriated by Honor's death and grimly resolved to avenge it. Yet their military is over-extended and the People's Republic is poised to take (he offensive once more, this time with a new strategy, new weapons, a new command team, and a whole new determination to win. The war is about to enter a phase of unprecedented ferocity . . . and the Alliance is on the short end of the stick.But even as powerful Peep fleets hurtle towards their objectives, neither they nor the Alliance are aware of events occurring on a distant, isolated, inescapable prison planet called Hell. For what no one knows, not even State Security, is that Honor Harrington is not dead. She and a handful of her people are trapped on Hell, and determined to disprove the Peep boast that no one can ever escape it. Honor Harrington is going home, and taking her people with her... even if she has to conquer Hell to do it.

The People's Republic of Haven made a tiny mistake when it announced the execution of Honor Harrington. It seemed safe enough. After all, they knew she was already dead. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Now Honor has escaped from the prison planet called Hell and returned to the Manticoran Alliance with a few friends. Almost half a million of them, to be precise including some who know what really happened when the Committee of Public Safety seized power in the PRH. Honor's return from the dead comes at a critical time, providing a huge, much-needed lift for the Allies' morale, for the war is rapidly entering a decisive phase. Both sides believe that victory lies within their grasp at last, but dangers no one could foresee await them both. New weapons, new strategies, new tactics, spies, diplomacy, and assassination all are coming into deadly focus, and Honor Harrington, the woman the newsies call "the Salamander," once more finds herself at the heart of them all. But this time, the furnace may be too furious for even a salamander to survive.

Prince Roger MacClintock was an heir to the galaxy's Throne of Man-and a self-obsessed spoiled young brat . . . until he and the Royal Marines sent to protect him were stranded on Marduk with only their feet to get them half way around the entire planet. So far, they've traversed a continent, crossed a sea full of ship-eating monsters, taken over an enemy spaceport, and hijacked a starship. But they're not home-free yet, because home is no longer free. In Roger's absence, a palace coup by enemies of the MacClintock family has seized control of the Empire. His mother the Empress is a captive in the palace and even in her own body, drugged so that her will is not her own. Roger's bother, the heir to the throne, is dead. And Roger himself has been branded an outlaw and traitor. Roger and his faithful band of human marines and native alien warriors have beaten the barbarian planet Marduk. Now they must re-conquer an interstellar empire. But they aren't about to give up, and with the help of those on the throne planet who are still loyal to the Empress they will infiltrate (under cover of a restaurant specializing in exotic Mardukan dishes, no less), they will make anyone who gets in their way (such as local mobsters who make the mistake of kidnapping Roger's fiancé) very sorry that they did, and they will not rest until the rightful ruler has been restored. Once again, a lot of power-hungry people are going to learn a hard lesson: You do not, ever, mess with a MacClintock!

Imperial Intelligence couldn't find them, the Imperial Fleet couldn't catch them, and local defenses couldn't stop them. It seemed the planet-wrecking pirates were invincible. But they made a big mistake when they raided ex-commando leader Alicia DeVries' quiet home work, tortured and murdered her family, and then left her for dead. Alicia decided to turn "pirate" herself, and stole a cutting-edge AI ship from the Empire to start her vendetta. Her fellow veterans think she's gone crazy, the Imperial Fleet has shoot-on-sight orders. And of course the pirates want her dead, too. But Alicia DeVries has two allies nobody knows about, allies as implacable as she is: a self-aware computer, and a creature from the mists of Old Earth's most ancient legends. And this trio of furies won't rest until vengeance is served.In Fury Born is a greatly expanded new version of David Weber's popular novel Path of the Fury, which has gone through six large printings in its original mass market edition. David Weber has added considerable new material, revealing the earlier life of Alicia DeVries before she embarked on her mission of vengeance, and illuminating the universe of the original story. The result is a novel with almost twice the wordage of the original, and a must-buy for all David Weber fans.

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.

Modder! this book is pocking awesome! --- that's Pinopan for "My goodness, this is indeed an awesome book!" If you're looking for sci-fi with intricate political intrigue and underlying subtext of mankind's search for meaning, you're not very likely to find it on planet Marduk where Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang MacClintock Heir Tertiary to the Empire of Man (my fingers cramped typing this) crash-lands with his royal bodyguard The Empress's Own Bravo Company -- but stick with Roger and his space marines and you'll discover never-before-seen creative methods for killing hostile alien species...and how to cook them Prince Roger is an absolute delight. He's so adorable I want to grab him by the powered armor and slap some sense into his pretty blonde head. I also love other eccentric characters. No unit of space marines will be complete without a swearing pocking Pinopan! specifically one that goes by the name Poertena

Honor Harrington - już jako pełnoprawny oficer Królewskiej Marynarki i dowódca eskadry - wypełniając rozkaz, wpada w zasadzkę urządzoną przez wyjątkowo uzdolnionego admirała. Ma dwa wyjścia: stoczyć bitwę, w której straci okręt i załogę, albo poddać jednostkę i uratować ludzi. Wybiera to drugie, na honorowych warunkach. Okazuje się jednak, że w Ludowej Republice Haven politycy mają więcej do powiedzenia od admirałów. Honor ląduje na pokładzie okrętu Urzędu Bezpieczeństwa, którego celem jest więzienna planeta Piekło, gdzie ma się odbyć jej egzekucja. Przyszłość rysuje się w czarnych barwach, ale Honor Harrington nigdy nie traci nadziei.

KNOW THY ENEMYFor Captain Honor Harrington, it's sometimes hard to know who the enemy really is. Despite political foes, professional jealousies, and the scandal which drove her into exile, she's been offered a chance to reclaim her career as an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. But there's a catch. She must assume command of a ''squadron'' of jury-rigged armed merchantmen with crew drawn from the dregs of her service and somehow stop the pirates who have taken advantage of the Havenite War to plunder the Star Kingdom's commerce.That would be hard enough, but some of the ''pirates'' aren't exactly what they seem . . . and neither are some of her ''friends,'' For Honor has been carefully chosen for her mission—by two implacable and powerful enemies.The way they see it, either she stops the raiders or the raiders kill her . . . and either way, they win.

Lt. Daniel Leary of the Republic of Cinnabar Navy (RCN) commands the corvette Princess Cecile (aka " the sissy") and he and his crew are flush with the rewards of defeating a enemy battleship despite the overwhelming odds against them. His friend, Signals Officer Adele Mundy, has the latest in spy apparatus and the skills to prowl the most tightly guarded database. Now, all they lack are enemies, and fate is about to supply that need in abundance. Lt. Leary is assigned to be part of a task force sent to a neighboring star system to quell the start of a revolt in the making. A hostage uses the Princess Cecile to regain his freedom and his throne; an ally plots with enemies of Cinnabar, knowing the plan can only be safeguarded by destroying the Princess Cecile; a pirate chief joins in a cutthroat battle with a rival, and the Princess Cecile is a pawn. Daniel, Adele, and their crack crew must battle bureaucrats and traitors, the winds of a barren desert, and the strains of a voyage never before attempted. If they succeed at every stage, their reward will be the chance to fight another enemy: one which can blow them and a hundred ships like theirs to vapor.

Book three in the nationally best-selling Manticore Ascendant series, a prequel series to David Weber's multiple New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series. Sequel to A Call to Duty and A Call to Arms.After the disastrous attack on the Manticoran home system by forces unknown, the Royal Manticoran Navy stands on the brink of collapse. A shadowy enemy with the resources to hurl warships across hundreds of light years seeks to conquer the Star Kingdom for reasons unknown, while forces from within Manticore’s own government seek to discredit and weaken the Navy for reasons very much known: their own political gain. It’s up to officers like Travis Long and Lisa Donnelly to defend the Star Kingdom and the Royal Manticoran Navy from these threats, but the challenge is greater than any they have faced before. Weakened but not defeated, the mercenary forces and their mysterious employer could return at any time, and the anti-Navy faction within Parliament is growing. The situation becomes even more dire when fresh tragedy strikes the Star Kingdom. While the House of Winton faces their enemies at home, Travis, Lisa, and the other officers of the Royal Manticoran Navy must reunite with old friends and join new allies to hunt down and eliminate the forces arrayed against them in a galaxy-spanning conspiracy. Manticore has learned that the universe is not a safe place, but the Star Kingdom’s enemies are about to learn it's dangerous to mess the Manticore!

WELCOME AGAIN TO THE MANY WORLDS OF HONORLady Dame Honor Harrington—starship captain, admiral, Steadholder, and Duchess—has spent decades defending the Star Kingdom of Manticore against all comers. Along the way, she has become the legend known as "the Salamander" from her habit of always being where the fire is hottest . . . and also a national bestseller (Ashes of Victory: #7, The Wall Street Journal).But it's a big universe, and Honor's actions affect a lot of lives, not all of them human. And their actions affect her—a lesson "Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington" learns years before rising to command rank when a desperate battle against "pirates" who aren't quite what they seem begins her brilliant career.Closer to home, in "Changer of Worlds," a secret that the alien treecats have kept from their human friends for hundreds of years is about to come out . . . and completely change the relationship between the two species forever.Meanwhile, Eric Flint weighs in with "From the Highlands." Honor can't be everywhere, so when the People's Republic of Haven tries to stage a political assassination on Earth, Anton Zilwicki—husband of one of the Star Kingdom's most revered military martyrs, and father of a young woman who is clearly a chip off the old block—steps into the breach . . . and takes the opportunity to settle some old scores along the way.And finally, Esther McQueen and Oscar Saint-Just square off for their final confrontation in Noveau Paris in "Nightfall."

The Mesan Alignment is revealed, and, for Honor Harrington and the Manticoran Star Kingdom, this means war!\ Unintended Consequences\ Sometimes things don’t work out exactly as planned. The Mesan Alignment has a plan—one it’s been working on for centuries. A plan to remake the galaxy and genetically improve the human race—its way.Until recently, things have gone pretty much as scheduled, but then the Alignment hit a minor bump in the road called the Star Empire of Manticore. So the Alignment engineered a war between the Solarian League, the biggest and most formidable interstellar power in human history. To help push things along, the Alignment launched a devastating sneak attack which destroyed the Royal Manticoran Navy’s industrial infrastructure. And in order to undercut Manticore’s galaxy-wide reputation as a star nation of its word, it launched Operation Janus—a false-flag covert operation to encourage rebellions it knows will fail by promising Manticoran support. The twin purposes are to harden Solarian determination to destroy the Star Empire once and for all, and to devastate the Star Empire’s reputation with the rest of the galaxy.But even the best laid plans can have unintended consequences, and one of those consequences in this case may just be a new dawn of freedom for oppressed star nations everywhere.

4.5 stars. The Dahak trilogy, which includes Mutineers' Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance and Heirs of Empire is superb military space opera. I believe it belongs on the "must read" list of all fans of the genre. One thing I found that set this apart from typical "military" based science fiction is the development of the main characters and the focus on their relationships and how much they respect and care for each other. I especially liked the growth of the relationship between Colin McIntyre (the main character) and Dahak (the sentient spaceship he commands). Therefore, don't let the military tag turn you off if you don't typically read that sub-genre as this is high quality science fiction. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!