War of Honor

Quality over quantity, apparently Weber's publisher and himself think that by overinflating what should've been a 300 page story to 1200 almost is gonna make readers wanna buy the other books and read them. Thank you, but no thanks. I've force myself to read this one because, well I paid for it, and I got disappointed. No more Mrs. Honor Mary Sueington for me, I've had enough for a lifetime.

The only thing stopping this great story from being fantastic is the amount of exposition Weber gives to set background details and scene setups. Ideally this book could be half as long and just as interesting. Exposition allows us to see the tapestry of the Honorverse without having to guess at it. As well, the interweaving of characters from other side-series allows for inclusion of the side stories to interlink with Honor's overall tale. The verse is now bigger than Honor, than she can tell in her own story. But it does drag at the narrative and makes for a more time consuming read. One thing for sure, Weber knows how to commit characters to their duties, and the sense of moral high ground is never far away. In this book we are introduced to the Solarian League which will also give us a peek at the Mesan Alignment, two more entities that will bedevil our heroes in tales to come as the relationship between Manticore and Haven changes from old foes to something else.

Lots and lots of politics. And more politics. And some soap opera-like romance. And more politics. And sedition within the ranks of the primary adversary. At the end there is finally a big battle such as we've come to expect in this series. And so we prepare for more interstellar conflict as the series continues.