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serinde4books's review
4.0
I would have liked this book to focus a bit more on Honor and not so much what was happening at home. But it was a daring escape, 100% of what I would expect from Honor.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
varmint3's review
3.0
This was a good story, but the writing could have been "tighter" - it wasn't a 700 page story... 150 or so pages of self-recrimination could have been cut...
disastrouspenguin's review
3.0
Maybe 3.5? This book was frustrating to me because only about a quarter of the book was spent on Honor or people in her company. The other three quarters was spent on other characters, supporting or peripheral, some carried through the series, some never to be seen again.
All told, this book does more to advance the story arc of the series (the war) rather than of Honor. As a result, there was too much time spent on technical descriptions, politics and political descriptions, and characters that I just didn't care that much about. At times it even felt like filler, inserted to bulk up the book. When the story was on Honor, it was great, but I skimmed a lot in this one - probably my least favorite in the series so far. Still, I'm looking forward to the conclusion.
All told, this book does more to advance the story arc of the series (the war) rather than of Honor. As a result, there was too much time spent on technical descriptions, politics and political descriptions, and characters that I just didn't care that much about. At times it even felt like filler, inserted to bulk up the book. When the story was on Honor, it was great, but I skimmed a lot in this one - probably my least favorite in the series so far. Still, I'm looking forward to the conclusion.
pjonsson's review
4.0
Not very surprisingly, I liked this one much much better than the previous one in the series. I almost couldn't wait for triumphant the end when Harrington finally appears back in Manticore space.
Having said that, I agree with some of the previous Goodreads reviewers that there was a bit of filler material, especially the happenings on Grayson, which was rather boring to read.
Having said that, I agree with some of the previous Goodreads reviewers that there was a bit of filler material, especially the happenings on Grayson, which was rather boring to read.
_meltea_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
travelgirlut's review
3.0
(2.5 stars rounded up)
"Um." Every main character says it at least once, and it's used over and over again. The way I read that in my mind makes the characters all sound stupid. Plus, none of these main characters has ever said "um" before in any of the previous books, so why now?? Weber seems to grab onto certain phrases and sayings and they show up over and over again, and to me they are really obvious. How are the editors not seeing this? Another one he likes to use is Honor hugging Nimitz to her breasts. Such a man thing to write. Why can't she just hug him to her chest? But I supposed he just likes writing breasts instead.
Also, everyone in this book seemed really distracted. You get the first line in some exciting sounding section of the story, and then the character of focus would go off on some multi-page reminiscing of times past, usually about things that had no direct value to the story. Then they would mentally shake themselves (again, phrasing that was used repeatedly in the book) and the story would continue. Weber needs to wake his characters up and just get on with the story!
I read this to find out about how Honor escapes from Hell, and if you were to pull those sections out you'd have a fairly decent short story. The rest is telling what's going on in the rest of the war in the meantime. I get why that part of the story is important to tell, but the ratio of Honor to everything else was really skewed. And the action parts seemed to get glossed over so we could get back to the politics and analyzing of the rest of the book.
I do enjoy the Honor Harrington books, and I will continue to read them. This book is not as bad as I'm making it sound. I just picked the things that were bothering me the most to point out. If you've enjoyed the series up to this point, definitely read this one too. I actually felt it was done a bit better than the last one in terms of action versus politics, so hopefully they will continue to improve as I move forward!
"Um." Every main character says it at least once, and it's used over and over again. The way I read that in my mind makes the characters all sound stupid. Plus, none of these main characters has ever said "um" before in any of the previous books, so why now?? Weber seems to grab onto certain phrases and sayings and they show up over and over again, and to me they are really obvious. How are the editors not seeing this? Another one he likes to use is Honor hugging Nimitz to her breasts. Such a man thing to write. Why can't she just hug him to her chest? But I supposed he just likes writing breasts instead.
Also, everyone in this book seemed really distracted. You get the first line in some exciting sounding section of the story, and then the character of focus would go off on some multi-page reminiscing of times past, usually about things that had no direct value to the story. Then they would mentally shake themselves (again, phrasing that was used repeatedly in the book) and the story would continue. Weber needs to wake his characters up and just get on with the story!
I read this to find out about how Honor escapes from Hell, and if you were to pull those sections out you'd have a fairly decent short story. The rest is telling what's going on in the rest of the war in the meantime. I get why that part of the story is important to tell, but the ratio of Honor to everything else was really skewed. And the action parts seemed to get glossed over so we could get back to the politics and analyzing of the rest of the book.
I do enjoy the Honor Harrington books, and I will continue to read them. This book is not as bad as I'm making it sound. I just picked the things that were bothering me the most to point out. If you've enjoyed the series up to this point, definitely read this one too. I actually felt it was done a bit better than the last one in terms of action versus politics, so hopefully they will continue to improve as I move forward!
katmarhan's review
3.0
Not my favorite in the series so far, I have to say. The storyline felt disjointed and I didn't feel like we got to know the new characters very well. Of course, some of them didn't last long, so I guess that's OK. I do like the way the young Clinkscales, so awkward when we met him, has matured. And the insights into White Haven's emotions were helpful to my understanding of the relationship between Honor and him.
Honor's "battle" near the end of the book was wonderfully amazing and a great vindication of her belief in the character and leadership of the force she had cobbled together.
Honor's "battle" near the end of the book was wonderfully amazing and a great vindication of her belief in the character and leadership of the force she had cobbled together.