Mission of Honor brings us back to the main series/sequence, as we look at the twelfth novel in that line of the Honorverse story. The events in this ~600-page gem occur between late 1921 through the middle of 1922 PD. Having developed the breadth and depth of some significant events in the overall storyline, David moves away from the technique he’s used across several previous books to layer and unfold important - and different - perspectives of key events.

Events continue to spiral in a manner quickly approaching out of control and absolutely not to the benefit of the Star Empire of Manticore. The Solarian League has essentially declared war on Manticore through a direct attack on RMN assets. Then they spun the events to convince themselves that they were the victims rather than the perpetrators. Now they confront Admiral Henke’s fleet and demand Henke surrender herself into their custody.

However, all hope isn’t lost. Henke’s 10th Fleet soundly defeats the challenging Solarian force. Meanwhile Honor is on a diplomatic mission — a Mission of Honor — to establish terms of peace with Haven. During this series of diplomatic meetings, Operation Oyster Bay executes, with the attacker’s identity remaining unknown. The attack causes the near total loss of orbital industrial facilities in the Manticoran home system. As a result, debris falls onto the planets below causing extensive damage and loss of life.

Back on Haven, Honor is meeting directly with President Pritchart and key cabinet members. While talks begin in a cool but correct manner, Honor and Pritchart’s relationship warms and respect grows between them as time passes. Between the two of them, they put several new pieces of the puzzle together which builds Manticore and Haven’s understanding of the Mesan Alignment’s secretive actions and intentions. Unfortunately, diplomatic talks are suspended due to Oyster Bay and Honor is recalled to Manticore. Even so, the diplomatic negotiations aren’t over, as we see by the end of the book.

This entire novel was non-stop excitement!

We rated “Mission of Honor” with a 5, a 5 and another 5 (out of 5), for an overall rating of another perfect 5 from your hosts.

We always say it (because it’s true!) we truly appreciate the support of everyone who takes the time to wander through the Honorverse with us. Special thanks for those of you who like and/or comment on our posts, and even reach out and send us a note.

Next up: a surprise prize! While we told you in the episode we’re discussing the anthology In Fire Forged next, circumstances let us sit down once again with David Weber for a second interview. Get ready to learn a lot more about this amazing world we’re moving through, featuring quite a few questions provided by you, our friends and listeners taking this journey with us.

Don’t worry though, we’ll pick up and discuss the fifth anthology in the Worlds of Honor set entitled In Fire Forged after the interview. If you enjoyed Mission of Honor, catch your breath and get ready for a lot more action! As always, please grab your copy, invite a friend, and join us again next time!

You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at honorverse@tpenetwork.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Now, let’s be about it!

As promised, here we are, back in the Crown of Slaves series talking about “Torch of Freedom”, another essential book assisting us in our passage through the Honorverse. This is the second of the novels that comprise the Crown of Slaves series or set of books within the Honorverse. As with the others in this set, Eric Flint was David Weber’s co-author. The influence of his writing style and perspectives absolutely help us delve into some of the ugly issues associated with the genetic slavery storyline.

This is another in what we’ll call the “stacked” novels, in that we are still looking at events that occurred around 1921 PD. It’s actually the last one we’ll see as David completes his build-out of this significant turning point in the overarching Honorverse storyline. The layers of events we see added here now span from 1919 through 1922 PD, but they address events we’re familiar with, now from the perspective of the still-new star kingdom of Torch and the associated Mayan sector. A healthy amount of the story leans on the activities of Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat as they continue to investigate mysterious murder attempts on multiple people including Honor Harrington, Queen Barry and others. It’s not exclusively Anton and Victor’s story, but quite a bit of what happens in the novel revolves around this investigative work they’re involved in. We also have a heavy dose of the activities of the Mesan Alignment, and fuller attention is paid to the Detweilers. We may have learned more about the Alignment in this novel than in any other so far. Related, there are quite a few moral issues that come to the surface, or certainly come near the surface, that were previously only foreshadowed. Most of them are directly associated with the connection between the Alignment and the genetic slave trade, but it’s not all about that. We definitely get a lot more of the lives and intentions of Berry, Ruth, the broader leadership of Torch and how they’re doing in finding their place in the greater universe that we call the Honorverse.

Note this book is a bit of a slower read in that there’s so much going on. You’ll see less combat action and a lot more of the weaving together of multiple storylines as this book (along with the several that preceded it) are turning us in a new direction related to the overarching storyline.

We rated “Torch of Freedom” with a 3, a 3 and a 4 (out of 5), for an overall rating of a 3.33.

As always, thank you for listening and big thanks to those of you who also take the time to like and follow us on social media, to comment on our posts or even reach out through a longer note.

Next time on the Honorverse Today podcast, we’re diving back into the “main sequence” to discuss “Mission of Honor”, the twelfth book in that set. Get ready! We’re back with Admiral Honor Alexander-Harrington as she finds herself serving as a diplomat as Queen’s Elizabeth’s direct representative and plenipotentiary during significant face-to-face negotiations with the President Pritchart and other senior government officials of Haven. You’re not going to want to miss reading and discussing this one. Grab your copy, invite a friend, and join us again next time!

You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at honorverse@tpenetwork.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Now, let’s be about it!

Swinging back to the Saganami Island series, in this episode we discuss the second book entitled “Storm from the Shadows”.

Similar to the previous novel, this is another of several that cover certain key events in the 1921 PD timeframe, but from a different perspective. This time a lot of what we see is through Admiral Michele Henke’s eyes.

We made this point in the podcast and want to re-enforce it here: this isn’t just a repeat of what we the readers already know. Yes, certain key events are covered again, but we’re seeing those events differently as David Weber uses this technique to bring more richness or fullness to the story.

And that’s not all this book brings us; there’s new material too, so don’t skip this one as David takes us down an important parallel path within the story. Please consider it essential reading in the context of the greater story arc.

Perhaps most important, as anticipated we get to learn more about the emerging threat of Mesa, or more specifically of a body—a very quiet, or in some cases secret governing body—called the Mesan Alignment. This is the third political entity we talked about in the previous episode. The Alignment isn’t just a disruption to business as usual. Rather, we’re learning just how powerful and manipulative they are as they’ve secretly and effectively orchestrated various events and outright hostility between Manticore and Haven. It also appears that this manipulation isn’t the whole story, so strap in and hang on to your hats as we start to see just how an already ugly situation might get even uglier. Much uglier.

We rated “Storm from the Shadows” with a 5, a 5 and another 5 (out of 5), for an overall rating of a 5 from your hosts.

Friends, we always appreciate your encouragement as we make this adventure through the Honorverse together.

Once again, thank you for listening and big thanks to those of you who also take the time to like and follow us on social media, to comment on our posts even reach out through a longer note.

Next, we’re going to return to the Crown of Slaves series as we dive into the second book: “Torch of Freedom”, bringing our attention back to the planet of Torch and all the galactic maneuvering around this new star nation. As a reminder, this is the series that David Weber brought in co-author Eric Flint.

Grab your copy, invite a friend, and join us again next time!

You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at honorverse@tpenetwork.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Now, let’s be about it!