Rating: 
Summary: UGH!!!
Review: I got this book for free... and I want my money back. It was my introduction to the series, and I got about 40% through it before purposefully leaving it on a bus.Though apparently capable at crafting a decent story and characters, Weber has earned from me a royal title: The King of Exposition. So much of the story was told not through action, but dialogue, either internal or verbal, that I found myself treasuring any moment where anyone just moved their bodies and actually did something instead of talking/thinking the story to death. There's an old rule of writing... "Show, don't tell." A truly original author, with style flowing from his fingertips, can generally break any rule, but while Weber seems to have a solid artistry in the realm of plot and characters, his artistry in the realm of style is pedestrian, which makes his sin of excessive exposition hard to forgive. I like sci-fi, I like detailed military fiction like Tom Clancy, and I thought this would be a cool melding of the genres. I was sooo wrong. It brought to mind the too-long passages in the Thomas Covenant novels by Stephen R. Donaldson, where Donaldson would let his character spend pages wallowing in self-pity. But at least those were merely occasional annoyances, small bits compared to the action that drove the story forward. Weber's fault was that the action driving the story forward was interspersed as small bits among long expository segments that left me annoyed and itching for someone to even grab a glass of water in a forceful manner. I read a lot, both in quantity and variety, from science fiction and fantasy to horror to literary fiction, and even the occasional bit of non-fiction. Of the many novels I've read in recent memory, many of them gambles upon writers I'd never read before, this is the worst of the batch. This is the worst published novel I have read or attempted to read in years. I understand that Weber has his fans, and Honor Harrington is a character who is easy to like, but if you're new to him, I would have to recommend staying away, or at least starting with a different book, because his writing style (not the story or characters - which weren't bad when they actually *moved*) is, IMO, just plain awful.
Rating: 
Summary: Likeable but too fragmented
Review: After having read all the previous books in the Honor Harrington series I was looking forward to this new book. I liked the parts about Honor and the way Nimitz and the other treecats are evolving into "persons" to people other than their bond mates. What I did not care for at all were the large parts of the book that had nothing to do with Honor. I would rather have read more about Honor's family and friends. I was also wondering if the recuperation period might not have been a good idea for Honor to mother a child of her own... After all that would avoid the dilemma the Graysons had faced on her death at the time of her real death.
Rating:
Summary: AOV, worst military SF novel I have ever read.
Review: This book was horrible. I would never have believed that Weber wrote it if his name wasn't on the book. In the space of one book the war has gone from a NATO/Warsaw Pact technological balance to a British/Zulu one. And unlike the Zulus in Zulu Dawn the villians of this peace the PRH don't have the numbers to make it into range and do some damage. A very large part of military science fiction is a belief that the villians actually have a chance to win. That doesn't exist here. All that Weber did in the previous couple of books to build up and make his adversaries credible he destroys here. He can do so much better than this! I have never before been so disappointed by a book!
Rating: 
Summary: Victory Turns to Ashes
Review: Having disseminated to the news services a video of their execution (by hanging) of Honor Harrington, the Peeps are mightily embarassed when she returns after razing Hell, their inescapable prison planet, bringing with her hundreds of thousands of prisoners she has liberated, including Amos Parnell, who is able to tell the truth about who murdered President Harris. In fact, Rob S. Pierre and Oscar St. Just never do live it down. White Haven clobbers the peeps with his new, improved toys, but Oscar's final bit of mischief robs him of his final victory. Oscar tried to have Queen Elizabeth III and Benjamin Mayhew assassinated, but Honor interferes, stopping one of the missles, but she can't stop the other one from destroying the ship the Queen was supposed to be in, but wasn't. But Cromarty was in that ship, and this results in a lot of trouble. Too many loose ends are tied up; is this the final episode? I earnestly hope not, because this series is just too much fun to have it end here. But there is hope; there are still a few loose ends. What will the new government of Haven be like? And What will be the undoing of the new, bad government of Manticore? This is the longest Honor Harrington novel yet, and there is much more in it than I have mentioned above. Get it and read it; you'll be glad you did. This is a series I would enjoy reading again, if I can ever get caught up on the other books waiting to be read. Every book in the series is great fun.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough Honor! But still a fine read.
Review: Focus is not on Honor but several characters and plotlines within her universe. Not the least of which are the Peeps. This is a good "bridge" story for future books. Two interesting, vivid segments: Honor's thoughts while preparing to teach a classroom of eager young students and Queen Elizabeth eruption of temper with a group of opposition politicos. You can almost "see" Sigourney Weaver in the former and Angela Basset in the latter. Pity Hollywood cannot appreciate the potential of this series! It would take a young Spielberg/Lucas/Scorese hybird to pull this off! There's enough action to please most fans, but the real elegance here is behind-the-scenes skrullduggery. All in all I say, "disconnect the phone, forget the remote and log off the 'net", Lady Harrington is in the Building!
Rating: 
Summary: Dining on Ashes
Review: Looking over the reviews for this book, there seems to be a lot of die-hard fans who are as disappointed as I am. Judging by the voting on the reviews ('did you find this review helpful') people who disliked the book are in the minority, yet the criticisms voiced are, I think, valid. Major events are thrown away, with only passing references. Frankly boring plotlines are given page after page of numbing detail and I felt that this book desperately needed a firm editorial hand. It was too long, certainly, and with judicious cutting the pacing problems inherent to the book could have been dealt with - to a degree. I have enjoyed the series up to this point, and it is this enjoyment that will keep me reading. Let's hope that the next instalment is a great deal better than this lacklustre effort.
Rating:
Summary: Where to from here, Honor?
Review: Well, well, well. Honor finds out that coming back from the dead can cause problems. This is a great read, but I can see where people new to the series might find it a tough go. However, the overall sense I get from this is of a hiatus, while Honor, her family and friends and her professional peers try to figure out what's next. And, of course, there is a pause on the political/military front. The next full-length book in the series could go almost anywhere, and there is little to allow us to predict the next moves of any of the parties, be they Grayson, the Star Kingdom, the Peeps - hell, for all I know, the Andermani Empire could throw in on the side of the Peeps! Wouldn't that cause a stir? On the up-front-and-personal side, we are already seeing the effects of high rank on Honor - the chances are less and less that she will go on death rides, and certainly not as commanding officer of one of HM Ships. Unless, of course, she does something that so completely pisses off Her Maesty/The Government/Their Lordships of Admiralty that she's busted back to the rank of Captain; the only problem is here that an officer who's busted from flag rank is usually NOT considered ideal command material, Captain Kirk's example to the contrary. So, Mr. Weber, what evil and devious machinations roil in your brain now? I feel certain that Honor will not retire to the life of a country Duchess; but how she is to continue serving her Queen and Kingdom and be afforded opportunities to display her excellence as a tactician are beyond me. Over to you, sir.
Rating:
Summary: Don't start here- but Weber grabs attention with sweep
Review: This is a finely tuned tale. Plenty of things have been thrown in the stew. For those coming to the Series, don't start here--- it will only knock you over with thousands of points you can't appreciate. This series is worth every minute that Weber spends on it. So go back to the beginning and start there. Little can be added that other reviewers haven't said. This book is quite a good bit of its own and the next should be formidable in action and pace. This series is a classic. No other space epic out there right now can compare for character and story. And the ending is a topical comment on politics, timing, and the illusion of control of the large issues in the war. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: My wish for the new year...
Review: If you want a detailed account of the book - look to all those kind people who provided them. I would like to share my on going pleasure with this set of breathtaking books by saying the simple fact that resonate with every HH fan: Can we please have a book every month for the rest of our life...? A universe to dive into and have the adrenaline rush with all hands on board and all readers on earth...? PLEASE...!
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Addition
Review: I have really have enjoyed all of the HH series. This book is a significant addition in understanding Honor's world, yet there is not all that much action in the plot. The one thing that constantly amazes me about this series is its reference to the French Revolution, with the Republic of Havan as a reprentation of the First Republic of France and Manicore represents Great Britain. Weber is does not try to hide these references, yet so often I find that other people often do not make this connection. I can't wait to see how Weber will continue this connection in the next several books. I stongly reccomend the series, but a new reader should definately start at the beginning of the series to get the most out of these books.
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