Rating: 
Summary: Ashes of Victory, Honor is as you find it.
Review: This book was very much in the same vein as Mr Webers previous Honor Harrington books. Yet it was different in that Mr. Weber took the time to supply his readers with information that so far we have only been able to guess at. Granted the usual space duel between Honor and the PEEPs didn't materialize as some have complained. What makes Mr. Weber such a great author is his ability to look at his own work and decide I don't need to send Honor out to battle when she's not fully recovered from her little sojourn on Hades. There are still some good space battles, but as some of the less astute among his readers have complained, they are not as detailed as when Honor is involved. Of course they won't be, Honor isn't involved so they are not the main focus of the plot. I'll give this book 5 stars for content and excitement...
Rating: 
Summary: Good the 1st time - EXCELLENT the 2nd time
Review: Once upon a time, there was a book with a young, inexperienced, phenomenally lucky female protagonist. Over the past few years we have read about this protagonist as she grows in experience in personal relationships, diplomacy, and war. We've seen her evolve from an emotionally constrained person into woman of considerable empathy. And we've come to know the people near & dear to her as well as her enemies and honorable opponents. And with this book David Weber poises his heroine to take the next step in her growth. This is the pivotal book in the series, the one that ties the old with the new. For that reason, he takes the focus off his heroine for the bulk of the book. We need the explanations, the whys & hows of the events that will change her life, and the motivations of the minor characters. There's a lot of information in "Ashes", so much so that I hurried through when I first purchased it. I had to get to the end and find out where we were going. Then I re-read it for the details. And they were awesome. Is it a fun, fast read like the other books in the series? NO. But it is a book that I will pick up again and again, because it contains a wealth of material. It is the future Honor's foundation.
Rating:
Summary: Not your average space opera
Review: This is not any easy book to read, and if you are looking for tons of action, brave Honor Harrington fearlessly leading her folks into the jaws of death, well - you won't find that here. You will find someone who has just survived a major life-changing experience, came back from hell, and is now going about a convalescence. At the same time she is also helping the rehab of Nimitz and Andrea Jarulwalski, just to name two. There's a lot more political stuff here, important for an Admiral to understand, and some good scenes with the Queen chewing the scenery. Mr. Weber is taking the series in a new direction, so don't try to compare this with C.S. Forester any more. Prepare yourselves for a whole new Honor Harrington series: the times, they are a-changin'.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great One by Weber
Review: I definitely want to add my vote for this wonderful book. Even though it was slow in some places, we can't always have space battles. I loved the further character development and new twists in the plot lines. Ashes will definitely be one that I read again many times as with the complete Honor Harrington series. My one hope is that David will not make us wait another year for the next book! Please GIVE US MORE HONOR!
Rating:
Summary: Tour de Force
Review: I gotta hand it to David; with this book he has taken Honor to a new level. The Manticore universe is tremendously detailed and the war between the Alliance and the People's Republic was clearly settling down to the sort of slogging match that made WWI such a horror. I won't give anything away but by the end of the book the momentum of every spectrum of the universe has changed. It is truly awe-inspiring to watch such a masterful performance and I eagerly await the next installment.Oh, and look for one line. "Oops." Read this book!
Rating:
Summary: New Honor book goes to a higher level!
Review: This is a very good and fun book to read. It continues the Saga of Honor Harrington and her world as she reaches new heights. While some of the reviews I've seen have wailed and moaned about the book being less action oriented then the beginning books had been. I don't agree fully. Yes, our hero does not appear in the fore front of the action this time around. But really, how many admirals (especially recovering from serious wounds) do you know actually are always in the thick of things? (Some people want a simple cookie cutter type plots. The same basic theme over and over, without the main character growing. Well, I'm glad Weber isn't one of those types of writers!) This book still has plenty of space fights and action to thrill those who need it. Wait till you read one chapter and the last word was "Opps!". But this book also takes our hero to a new level of having to deal with politics and their effects. And unfortunately into some action must fall some politics. I think a lot of what was shown in this book is necessary to help build an understanding of things to come in future Honor stories. And I'm sure Mr. Weber (once his wrist is healed) will have Honor in action again. So buy this book, it is well worth buying and reading (and later re-reading too)! Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointing, grueling read.
Review: I have all of the Honor Harrington novels and have re-read most of them several times. I doubt that I will ever take this one off the shelf again. None of the action you would expect from an action series. If critics are going to compare this series to the Hornblower saga they they should go back and read one or two of them. C. S. Forester, even in his off days, never failed to keep a story exciting. Ashes of Victory was long, tedious and boring.
Rating:
Summary: Take Me Back to Basilisk Station
Review: I know, I know - we can never go home again. I know that Honor is now in the senior, SENIOR ranks of the military and can't be at the helm of space battles any more. BUT...that doesn't excuse Weber from writing a boring, technojunk- filled, overlong book. David, are they paying you by the word? All of the Honor Harrington books have used the literary device of introducing characters and then following their individual stories. Weber has introduced soooo many characters that following them in every book gives us character "sound bites" not plot lines. Further, he skimped on the best stuff - like Rob Pierre's death, Honor's return and how she's going to handle her love for a married Admiral. The emotional upheaval dominates the first few chapters and then disappears. Boy, those two have first-class sublimation techniques! Finally, if Honor's mom gets any cuter, I give the population of Yeltsin's Star permission to shoot her....along with half the treecats! So there! Let's get back to good, old-fashioned story telling, please! Don't buy this weighty tome in hardbound. Wait for the paperback.
Rating: 
Summary: Hornblower parallels only go so far
Review: One problem with the Hornblower parallels: C.S. Forester died before he could depict Horatio Hornblower in the upper echelons of power. Saying that David Weber is justified in laying on subplots (most of them not involving Honor Harrington - has he considered spinning the whole Alice Truman/Scotty Tremaine subplot off to another writer? It was very distracting) because "this is how it is in government" is maknig excuses for a plot heavy, action thin approach. Patrick O'Brien, rest in peace, had Aubrey and Maturin entangled in government work from the get go, and he didn't feel compelled to give chapter after chapter of explanation of government plots. C.S. Forester was smart enough not to add subplots and characters - the emphasis stayed very definitely on *Hornblower*, not on the lives of his subordinates and boon companions. Weber unfortunately seems to be forgetting this. Finally, I do not for one minute believe that a government would immediately sue for a cease fire after the enemy had assassinated its prime minister and nearly taken out its queen. Something like this in World War II would have resulted in increased British opposition to the Germans (and would have probably caused anti-German riots in the United States if the Germans had killed Roosevelt). If anything, this would have increased the popularity of the war. Even a stereotyped Weberian "Liberal" would recognize *that*. Weber needs to drop some subplots and remember that he is supposed to be entertaining his readers, not giving them a political lecture about imaginary planets.
Rating:
Summary: Cardboard villains...
Review: ... (especially the Manticoran ones), far too much exposition, a character (Honor's mother) that seem to have walked in the series from one of Heinlein's worse late novels, and many episodes that seem far too contrieved (especially towards the end). If one were to compare the Honor Harrington books with the Miles Vorkosigan ones, it would be possible see that in the former, the series is getting repetitive and far too wordy, while in the latter the main character is growing with each book. A pity, because I used to like the first Honor books.
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