Shadow of Freedom (18) (Honor Harrington)

False advertising. At the time I ordered this book from Amazon, the cover banner displayed under David Weber's name designates this as an Honor Harrington novel. The book I received today has a different banner, indicating it's an Honorverse novel, and it is an Honorverse novel. This has nothing to do with the quality of Mr. Weber's writing, but with the cynical advertising cheat perpetrated either by Mr. Weber, Baen, or Amazon. I don't want to take away from Mr. Weber's profits, but I feel compelled to show my disgust at this kind of publishing chicanery.

Shadow of Freedom(Honor Harrington series #14) by David Weber

This is the 14th installment (And by some indicators its book 18) on my list but in all truth this is not an Honor Harrington novel. This is a Vice Admiral Gold Peak Michelle Henke novel. And why not, it's about time she got her own novel.

The odd thing is the cover in amazon says A New Honor Harrington Novel and my copy says A New Honorverse Novel. I think mine is the mass market edition But I'm not sure and its a 6 by 9 paper back.

I enjoyed this book and 'David Weber' gives us a new side to the novels by starting out with some rebel forces on some Solarian Protectorates. There are a handful of new characters being introduced who are pretty interesting and some more political intrigue. Just when you though you had a handle of all the things going on in the Honorverse David throws another wrench in the works.

Manticore is being misrepresented as supporting the rebels and the people doing the job are so far delivering the goods, but will that remain the standard and what will happen to Manticore's credibility with these people when everything goes south.

One thing right away that I have a big quibble about is that chapter six in this book is verbatim the same chapter as chapter four of the previous book. Yes that ties things in nicely and even tells you that we are back in time a bit and all; but really: the same pages from one book dropped into the next.

The story with Anton Zilwiki and Victor Cachat and Yana and their escape from disaster has spanned the last three books so it's no surprise it shows up here. So now that we have established the time line of this story we should be mindful that this is the sixth chapter. And the one chapter before when Michelle shows up is a bit ambiguous toward identifying the timeline.

This book can actually stand alone which might reinforce the notion of recycling chapters. I think if someone wanted to jump into the series currently without reading all the rest this might be a great point to do that. Honor Harrington only has honorable mentions so it's pretty much a Gold Peak novel.

Michelle is coming into her own as a strategist and the hardware seems a quite a bit better than what Honor started with; a long time back. The one problem is that this makes the battles with the Manticoran Navy quite one sided most of the way through the book.

The style of writing in this book is quite different and somewhat subdued compared to the previous and if I were inclined to conspiracy theories I'd suggest that David might have only had part of a hand in the creation of this story.

Still with about half the number of pages that previous recent novels have had this is a good standout novel on it's own and I think I could grow to like Michelle Henke as much as I do Honor.

Great Procedural and military and political suspense SSF for the Usual Fans.

J.L. Dobias

Quick turnaround, no problems.

Item was delivered on time and was as described.

Wasn't Honor Harrington supposed to be in a book about the Honorverse? Mr. Weber, with all the projects you have going, if you are out of ideas for this character at least have the decency to let your loyal readers know. This book reads like a primer on 18th century political policy making and does not even include any of the major characters from this series. Although they would probably not wish to be included in this snoozefest.

Everybody, but Honor seemed to be the issue. This book seems to be a setup for the next book. Each book should stand mostly on its own. They did early on, but lately it takes on a world/universe approach. Still a decent read.

normal harrington fare

After the first book I have been waiting, sometimes for months, for the next to come out. I find the story addicting in many ways, the people are filled in and unique, the science (fiction) given details to keep you believing, and the conflicts believable and able to draw your own emotions into them. The Honor universe rivals all other author/author combinations, I have joined and I started on Robert A. Heinlein so I've been about it for a long time.

“Shadow of Freedom”:

Where we are: Book 3 in the Sagami series

Which books precede: “A Rising Thunder” (main series), “Storm From the Shadows” (Saganami series), and Torch of Freedom (“Torch” series)

Which book follows: Main Series, TBA. Saganami Series, TBA “Cauldron of Ghosts” (Torch Series)

Note: This Review assumes you have read the previous books in the series, or at least the ones mentioned above. Here be spoilers if not.

The Review:
While Honor and the Queen are forging their deal with Prichart and the Haven Republic, Michelle Henke is being proactive out in the Talbott Cluster. She and the 10th Fleet clean out some corrupt governments on the Verge and also manage a hostage rescue. There is unrest everywhere as local forces are beginning to revolt against the corrupt Solarian rule. We meet some of our friends from the previous Talbott books, and make a few new ones. And can Verrocchio and Hongbo be turned? That remains to be seen.

One interesting ethical dilemma is raised here, and maybe it’s the heart of the matter: can one break a promise one has actually never made? And that alone would make this one of the best in the Honorverse series.

Mr. Weber can, I believe, be called syfy’s Trollope (although you may not wish to), and this is just another segment of this amazing tapestry that has evolved from military syfy to something far more grand—something that seems to put off some readers more than somewhat.

I am not among those.

the whole series is well worth the read.