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Summary: Desperately seeking editor...
Review: This book needed some serious editing, but it didn't get it. The first 80% was filled with endless meetings between various characters who either rehashed what happened in the previous books or rehashed the current political situation. This book could have easily been half its length without leaving anything out and would have been a much better read in the process.I'm sorry to say it, but Weber's writing has just deteriorated over the course of the series. The characters have all lost their distinctive voices, and even if they hadn't, 90% of the dialog has become exposition in disguise. It's clear that at this point, Weber is just grinding them out to order.
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Summary: War of Meetings
Review: I am starting to get the impression that Honor is slowly approaching that place fighter pilots don't ever want to be in: Low, Slow and out of Ideas. I got cornholed by folks for my review of David Weber's Ashes of Honor because I thought it was slow and spent too much time dealing with minor sidebars instead of Honor being Honor. This book only confirms what I had feared in the last book. The book was awful. I received this book for my birthday and as soon as I picked it up I got a bad feeling about this. After reading through it three months later, my instincts were proven right. Normally, I can finish one of his books off in one night, but this one was an epic struggle to go through this one. Most of the reviewers are dead bang on about its characterization weaknesses so I won't dwell too much on that. First of all, it spent so much time in discussions and meetings. This is what I do my damndest to avoid as much as possible at work so why would I want to spend my time reading about them? As I said before and I am now pleading. David, please stop beating us over the head with the obvious. She's pretty, she's smart, she loves her Treecat and she's very humble. Enough. After ten books this is starting to come across as really needy and annoying. Finally, I think David Weber is a good author as long as he can keep everything short and to the point. He's fallen into what I call Tom Clancy disease. It appears that he is so wrapped up into the world that he created and feels every minor twist is of absolute importance. This is why we end up with 900-1100 page painful to read monsters instead of a good flowing book of 500-600 pages. Please get back to the descriptive, yet compact style that made Honor Harrington so good in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn.......the end of the road for me.
Review: This will probably be my last purchase in the Honor Harrington soap opera for me. Lets see....
300 pages to rehash what has happened before
500 pages of boring political maneuvering
100 pages with some minimal action in it I guess that I am just not interested in page after page after page of the inner mental anguish of Weber's characters. Sheesh, give it a rest.
Rating: 
Summary: I like the Politics, its the tactics I miss
Review: This book has the flaws that several other reviewers not - the amazing ability to alter correspondence with no consequence, etc. - but the one that cuts to the quick is this seems to be the first time we see Sharon Foraker beating Honor at tactics. The Peeps use the "triple ripple" to wipe out the LACs at Grendelsbane but Honor can't defeat defensive systems of Lester Tourville based partly on LACs. We are told that the missles won't target them but the Peeps worked. It seems that something is missing here. The book points out a number of the potential bad turns the series is faced with. Reading it helped me see what I hope for from future books and what I dread might happen instead. First, I hope we avoid the "godess" complex that sometimes gets strong women in series. The Clan of the Cave Bear went there - if it was good Ayla discovers it. Hnoor is getting there. I think that the Crown of Slaves outgrowth will help the series immensely. Next, let Honor get her own life. I understand White Haven creates interesting ethical questions and explores the treecats better but even Victor gets his own girl. Pursuing the contexts of love and life in a society isn't really what this series is about. I think most readers would prefer Honor to find a different path than this one - the political overtones were interesting until the High Ridge Government collapses (one of the more interesting set of scenes in this book) but now that value is diminished. Exploring the outrage of Grayson if this happens is, at best, of no interest. Still, I love his books and this one is a great lead in to a numbre of very interesting explorations. Buy it to have the background but hope the path chosen from here returns to the politico/military realm and not the the psycho/social.
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Summary: ACTION!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Action. Action! Action!! Action!!! I don't want to think. I just wants ACTION!
Rating: 
Summary: Not the strongest entry in this great series
Review: I agree with the comments about the pacing and length of this book. Compared to the other novels, this one was light on action and long on political intrigue and maneuvering. I'm sure there are parallels to be drawn with our own political systems but I'd really rather have more sci-fi in my sci-fi. Weber is an astute observer and history buff and that shows in each of these books (i.e. Rob S Pierre, sounds a bit like Robespierre of the Committee for Public Safety during the French Revolution). He's also great at writing taut action sequences and there were too few in this book. Hopefully, between the Sollies, the reformed Peeps and maybe even the Andermani, there will be more than enough action in the next book(s). One fantastic idea Weber had was including all the books, and others, on a CD with the hardcover. They're also available online and we'll have to see if his free-market experiment pays off or if pirates will hurt his profits. In this case, you'd hardly buy #10 without reading, and presumably owning, the previous 9 books. Maybe other publishers will follow suit and set an example for 21st century merchandising for the recording and movie industry. Overall, I'm tempted to raise my rating by a star just for the convenience of having all of these books on my PC and PDA, but I just can't do it. The book wasn't boring but it did get to be a bit tedious a time or two with the in-fighting and come on, a single man has set two star empires against each other by tampering with their mail? One would think there'd be some sort of encryption and verification in use by this era.
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Summary: The best Honor recently....
Review: Following up on the soporific "Echoes of Honor," this book shows Honor back in action, and also has entertaining and detailed looks at political intrigue and military strategy. The world of Real Politik according to Weber is deliciously sinful and it is voyeuristic fun to sneak a peek. As is typical, Weber's ending is fairly abrupt. He'll spend chapters on the details, nuts and bolts of a variety of things, major to minor, but when it comes time for that ultimate battle, he wraps things up in a few pages and moves along. There are pros and cons to this.....and in this book it's partly a device to set the stage for the next sequel. It's good to see Weber on track with this series again. In fact, this is one of the strongest books in it.
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Summary: a treatis on political science only
Review: I have read and loved every single previous Honor book, but this one truly defeated me. I found very little of the action usually found with Honor, and waaaay too much talk, talk, hundreds of pages, on politics, by Mantie, Peep, Andies, etc. This book could have been halved from its 929 pages. I found the book very boring, as Honor played a somewhat small role, compared to the Star Kingdom's political "leaders". I did find similarities to the current Bush regime in the USA, politically speaking. This book reminds me a lot of how the legendary Heinlein's books in later years became more and more wordy philosophy, and less and less of the actual story. Stop the hundred's pages of talk and get on with the story, for Pete's sake!!
Rating:
Summary: Long tough read that picks up too briefly at the end
Review: One has to ask, "Do people really sit around and talk this way?!?" Heroes and villains alike converse with long, excruciatingly well crafted paragraphs even speeches that go on for several paragraphs. In a few cases Weber has a character pause for a second before answering a question - and during that second "thinks" for about 2 pages over all the various and nuances ramifications of the situation. Is everyone a combination of a supercomputer, a policy wonk, a political science Ph.D., a military veteran, and a Shakespearian actor? A loooooong tough read that only really picks up at the very end - and that end is handled perhaps too quickly. Much of the book is a case study in how persons who care a bit too much about their own political or ideological agendas can use their power and position and with much manipulation utterly ruin the lives of millions if not billions. Moral cowardice and deliberate intellectual blindness are on display here. As well as the powerlessness of those who know what is the right thing to do - but end up victims to the plotting of others. Carson is right - one cannot help but see parallels to current geopolitical situations. I voted for Bush - I admit it - but wonder how much Weber has the "War on Terrorism" in the back of his mind as he writers... How intelligence services can be compromised by a fatal desire to give the "right answers" to political masters... How crucial it is to maintain good relationships with allied nations... And how dangerous it is to pi** them off through arrogance and high-handedness... How dangerous also it is to spread one's military forces too thin... Especially after they have been "downsized" on the assumption that technological superiority will always win the day... The resolution of the book is frustrating and all too brief. We slog through 800-900 pages on the buildup to conflict... some quick battle scenes... we learn what idiots the Manticoran Government leaders are - how *did* they ever get into power? ... and then suddenly at the end the Queen just might be turning into one. I found it very difficult to believe that Haven and Manticore could not figure out the problems with their "peace negoations". Or that all those brilliant people like Harrington and co could not begin to see through Giancolo's manipulations. They can find hidden battle fleets but not apparently deduce that someone is messing with the mail. Somehow not as enjoyable or satisfying as other Honorverse novels.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the others!
Review: I have read all of the other Honor Harrington novels, and liked them so much that I named one of my vehicles "Honor" (and after I wrecked it, I bought another Tacoma and named it "Honor II" lol ). Anyhow, this book is long, and it took an uncharacteristically long time for me to get "hooked" into Weber's story. This is very much a political exploration for Mr Weber; he leaves his traditional action sequences to the last third of the book. Once you reach the action, though, it makes the first 700 pages of political and cultural discussion worth it. I definitely see at least 2 more Honor Harrington books headed our way :)
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