Book Review: Honor Harrington: Field of Dishonor SPOILERS!

Published in October 1994 by Baen Books, author David Weber returns to his ever-popular military science fiction universe in the Honor Harrington series and weaves a tale of politics, honor, and intrigue in Field of Dishonor. Synopsis: Honor betrayed. The People's Republic of Haven's sneak attack on the Kingdom of Manticore has failed. The Peeps are in disarray, their leaders fighting for power in a bloody revolution, and the Royal Manticoran Navy stands victorious. But Manticore has domestic problems of their own, and success can be more treacherous than defeat for Honor Harrington. Now, trapped at the core of a political crisis she never sought, betrayed by an old and vicious enemy she'd thought vanquished forever, she stands alone. She must fight for justice on a battlefield she never trained for in a private war that offers just two choices: death...or a "victory" that can end only in dishonor and the loss of all she loves.

The novel opens with the Manticoran Judge Advocate General Board reviewing the final moments of the Battle of Hancock Station and arrives at the decision that Pavel Young needs to be tried in a court-martial. Baron High Ridge demands answers for this from Admiral of the Green Hamish Alexander (a.k.a. White Haven) and Duke Cromarty, who refuses to change their positions, so High Ridge threatens to have the Conservative Association oppose the war with Haven. On HMS Nike, Honor delivers Young to Manticore for his trial. It's overseen by Adml. White Haven, Capt Thor Simengaard, Commodore Lemaitre, Adml. Thedosia Kuzak, Adml. Sonja Hemphill, and RAdml. Rexford Jurgens. Pavel's father, Lord Dimitri Young--the current Earl of North Hollow--works hard to try and free his son of "injustice." Young is declared guilty of violating Articles 23 and 26 of the Articles of War, exposing units of the task force to severe damage, and casualties, but is dismissed of the two things that would've had him in front of a firing squad: the 4th and 5th charges as Hamish and company are unable to reach a verdict. In short, Pavel Young is stripped of all "rank, rights, privileges, and prerogatives as a Captain in the Royal Manticoran Navy and dishonorably dismissed from the Service as unfit to wear the Queen's uniform, judgement to be executed in three days."*

At this announcement, Dimitri dies of a heart attack and High Ridge petitions to get Pavel Young instated as the current Earl North Hollow, giving him a seat on the Lords, something Honor is uneasy with. Repairs on the Nike are ongoing and Honor is assigned to Task Force Four under command of Adml. Hamish Alexander and he has her go to oversee her Steading on Grayson. After a few weeks, Honor learns that her lover, Paul Tankersley, was killed by the assassin and former member of the Manticoran Marines Denver Summervale. Summervale killed Paul on Young's command as revenge against Harrington. Honor returns to Manticore and challenges Summervale to a duel--something that Summervale always wins in--and kills him. She badgers the Lords into giving her her seat--something long overdue since The Honor of the Queen--and challenges Young to a duel. White Haven orders Honor not to follow through--which is an illegal order and they both know it--but Honor does go through with it. She kills Young after he cowardly disobeys the dueling rules and wounds Honor. In response, Honor is exiled from Manticore, at least until the current political anger is gone. In the end, Honor leaves for Grayson, intending to stay there during her exile.

All in all, a great read and, though somewhat heavy in politics, is a rather satisfying conclusion to the Honor-Pavel tension. It seemed as though Weber knew that if he kept Pavel alive for any more books, the readers would've left the series because the tension would've gotten old.

*page 119 of the mass market paperback version

Book Review: Honor Harrington: The Short Victorious War SPOILERS!

In 1994, David Weber finally opened the Havenite/Manticoran War in The Short Victorious War and reintroduced a villain from On Basilisk Station to antagonize Honor. Synopsis: The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent. But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power: another short, victorious war to unite the people and fill the treasury once more. It's a card they've played often in the last half-century, always successfully, and all that stands in their way is the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its threadbare allies. Enemies who in the past have always backed down. Only this time the Peeps face something different. This time they're up against Captain Honor Harrington and a Royal Manticoran Navy that's prepared to give them a war that's far from short... and anything by victorious.

The novel opens with Havenite Hereditary President Sidney Harris telling his cabinet that what Haven needs is a short, victorious war to help build up its treasury. His cabinet agrees. Captain Dame Honor Harrington receives a letter from Manticore, telling her that she'll be in charge of HMS Nike and will be sent to Hancock Station on Adml. Hamish Alexander (White Haven) and the First Space Lord of the Manticoran Admiralty Webster's orders. Honor's exec, Michelle "Mike" Henke, is a friend from Honor's academy days and a relative of the Queen of Manticore. VAdml. of the Green Sir Yancey Parks is less than pleased with Honor being assigned to his area and shows this by refusing to allow Honor to sit in on staff meetings. This displeases Honor's C.O., RAdml. Mark Sarnow, to no end. Yancey has it out for her because of the way she treated Reginald Houseman and her "stunts" at Basilisk Station and Grayson. Honor meets and starts to fall in love with Paul Tankersley, a former member of Pavel Young's command in On Basilisk Station, and he helps fix the engine the breaks after she arrives at Hancock Station.

After Sarnow has it out with Yancey for his exclusion of Honor, she is allowed to attend meetings. Soon afterward, the arrival of the Havenite Navy has Yancey in a panic. He leaves for Seaford Nine with most of the ships, leaving Sarnow to defend Hancock Station with the task force under his command. Battles rage as the Havenites, led by Captain Thomas Theisman, attack Manticoran allied systems, except for Hancock Station. HMS Warlock, still under the command of Captain Pavel Young, arrives at Hancock Station. During his time there, Young meets Commodore Van Slyke and Arthur Houseman, and both Young and Houseman poison Van Slyke against Honor. In Nouveau Paris, the capital of the People's Republic of Haven, Robert Pierce meets with Oscar Saint-Just and Cordelia Ransom to discuss a coup. Back at Seaford Nine, Yancey realizes that the Havenites suckered him into leaving Hancock nearly undefended. He recalls his ships and leaves for Hancock, hoping he's not too late.

At Hancock, the word is out about the Peep invasion. Under Sarnow's orders, the fleet leads the Havenites (Peeps) on a chase through the system. Commodore Van Slyke is killed during the battle and after a missile impacts with Nike, RAdml. Sarnow is rendered unconscious. Honor, knowing the next in command is on a ship with no working comms system thanks to the battle, can't hand the tactical command off. Young shows his true colors and panics, ordering the task force to break up without authorization. Honor orders the ships back into formation, but Young keeps fleeing the battle, which leads to the destruction of two more ships. He refuses to obey Honor's repeated orders to return to formation. The Manticoran ships pass the timed marker and Honor springs Sarnow's trap, detonating the mines, ripping the Havenite ships to pieces along with Yancey's returning fleet. Back on Nouveau Paris, Pierce, Saint-Just, and Ransom pull off their coup and kill Sidney Harris. At Hancock Station, Yancey removes Young from command and writes orders for him to be tried under court-martial after a captain's board renders him guilty. In light of that, Yancey places Young under arrest and transports him back to Manticore to face the court-martial; Yancey asks Honor to take Young home as well as Paul Tankersley since Paul is now a high ranking officer and exceeds the junior status to remain on Hancock Station.

All in all, a great, short, fast-paced novel that shows the scope of the war with all the various fronts, a break from Weber's previous two novels where the entire book stays with Honor and the current planet/station she's at. Great read, fantastic characterizations, explosive prose.

Book Review: The Ephemera Series Book One: Sebastian SPOILERS!

In February 2006, acclaimed fantasy author Anne Bishop created the world of Ephemera and embarked on a journey about love, magic, corruption, and something evil called The Eater of the World. Synopsis: "Let your heart travel lightly. Because what you bring with you becomes part of the landscape." Long ago, to stop the onslaught of the Eater of the World, Ephemera was split into a dizzying number of strange and magical lands connected only by bridges that may take you where you truly belong, rather than where you intended to go. Now, with the Eater contained and virtually forgotten, the shifting worlds of Ephemera have been kept stable by the magic of the Landscapers. In one such land, where night reigns and demons dwell, the half-incubus Sebastian revels in dark delights. But in dreams she calls to him: a woman who wants only to be safe and loved--a woman he hungers for while knowing he may destroy her. But a more devastating destiny awaits Sebastian, for in the quiet gardens of the Landscapers' School, evil is stirring. The prison of the Eater of the World has weakened--and Sebastian's realm may be the first to fall....

The novel opens with the half-incubus Teaser telling Sebastian that "we found another one." Three weeks earlier, a Landscaper apprentice named Nigelle, in anger for not being promoted to Level One Landscaper, breaks into a deadly garden that contains a lone wall. She throws a brick against it and a crack forms, letting the Eater free. It (and the Eater is always referred to as It when we're in It's POV) kills one of the Landscaper teachers, Lukene when she attempts to mentally figure out why Glorianna Belladona, a former student who has been declared a rogue and rules her own lands for she can rearrange Ephemera by appealing to the world, is as powerful as she is and why the Landscapers and Wizards couldn't contain her in a small world to let her die. In another part of Ephemera, Lynnea is being treated horribly by her adoptive family and wishes she were with someone who loved her and cared for her. In the Den in Iniquity, Sebastian, Teaser, and a couple others try and figure out what could kill a woman and leave only bones and rags; Teaser fears it is Glorianna who is doing this but Sebastian knows that this kind of perverse evil isn't in his cousin. Sebastian leaves for the Wizard City and demands to talk to his Wizard father--who loves to berate him, among other things--and tells him that he fears that the Eater of the World is free, but his father dismisses the claim and fears, especially when Sebastian easily passes through a Wizard trap, that the Wizard side of his half-incubus son is waking up and that he'll be a threat.

It tries taking over the world, but Glorianna cleanses the Den of it's kind of evil and Lynnea runs away from her adoptive family because Sebastian told her in her dreams--where incubi and succubi provide pleasure for women or men--to come to him. She does and Sebastian feels that she doesn't fit into the Den, but nevertheless orders all the demons in the Den to leave her alone. The following day, he takes her to the Landscapers' School and finds the place full of dead bodies. It sent its pets to kill the Landscapers so It could be free to do what It wants. Sebastian and Lynnea use one of Glorianna's rocks that she left behind to teleport out and they run into Nadia, Sebastian's grandmother. When he returns to the Den, and after telling his cousin Lee--a Bridge--about the school, Glorianna and him talk, especially about Lynnea. Sebastian helps her settle in and eventually, she starts working in the tavern owned by Philo while Sebastian comes to terms with his growing Wizard powers, which fully manifest themselves when two pure incubi and succubi try and force the Den and Sebastian to bow to their will. Sebastian declares himself the Den's Justice Maker and kills them.

Fearing rumors of Sebastian and Glorianna, It demands its old followers, the Dark Ones, find a way to kill Glorianna and Sebastian. The Dark Ones use Koltak, Sebastians father, to do this. Koltak lures his son out of the Den and the Dark Ones leave a note for Glorianna to come and perform Heart's Justice on Sebastian, but it's a ruse to lure her out so they can kill her. Glorianna takes Lynnea and Lee with her and performs Heart's Justice, hoping that Lynnea will follow her heart and rescue the beaten Sebastian--who believes he is of no worth to himself or the citizens of the Den of Iniquity--because if Heart's Justice takes him to the Dark Place where Glorianna's sending the Dark One, he'll never come back. Lynnea holds onto Sebastian and the two of them end up outside a cottage near Nadia while a few of the Dark Ones are banished to It's lands. The others are revealed to be pure incubi. They throw a remorseful Koltak in with a savage succubus as a reward for helping them see who Belladonna is and the succubus promptly uses him for sex until he dies, or rather implies that he dies; it could go either way. In the end, It retreats to a distant land filled with slight dark emotions and urges them to darker ones.

All in all, a great opening novel to a so-far great story. Can't wait to see where it all goes in Belladonna, the second novel in the Ephemera series. Great characters, wonderful prose, and a fantastic story that'll have you on the edge of your seat for the entire ride. If you don't mind some bouts of erotic romance, that is. 

Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: Ethan of Athos SPOILERS!

Fasten your seat belts for this breakneck pacing that entraps one poor doctor against a certifiable maniac who happens to find Miles attractive. Yeah, that's right. It's Ethan of Athos. Synopsis: Dr. Ethan Urquhart, chief biologist from the all-male world of Athos, must travel to other planets in search of new genetic material, as their current supply of ovarian tissue is no longer viable.
Ethan encounters what to him is practically an alien species--women!--and also finds himself hunted by Cetagandan ghem lords and helped out by Miles' Dendarii officer Elli Quinn.

The novel opens with Dr. Ethan Urquhart helping to birth a child from a uterine replicator. A shipment of new ovaries arrives on Athos, but they're not the ovaries the geneticists of Athos are looking for; they're just animal parts and garbage. The Population Council sends Ethan to Kline Station to figure out what went wrong. He meets Commander Elli Quinn who puts a tracer on Etham that gets him noticed by Cetagandan ghem-Colonel Luyst Millisor and his men (Captain Rau, Sergeant Okita, and Setti). They capture Ethan and interrogate him for seven hours before deciding that he knows nothing. Okita is tasked with making Ethan's death look like an accident, but Quinn puts and end to that by killing Okita and taking Ethan back to her safehouse, much to Ethan's annoyance. She's on Kline Station after accepting a contract from Bharaputra Labratories (via the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet and on the orders of Admiral Miles Naismith with whom Elli Quinn is suggested to find Miles quite attractive) to kill Millisor and Okita. After spending days cooped up with a female and talking, Ethan figures out that the shipment switch must've happened before it reached Kline Station. They also meet Helda, a pissed off woman angry at her gay son for fleeing to the all-male planet Athos and hates Athosians with a passion. When tempers flare, Ethan leaves Quinn and returns to his place on Kline Station and meets the young man who is also a telepath and whom one ghem-Colonel Millisor is trying to get his hands on, Terrence Cee.

It turns out that Terrence Cee was shipping his dead telepathic sister to Athos in pieces so that the Athosians could use her DNA to recreate her, though cloning is forbidden on Athos. Ethan is disgusted by this news. After Ethan, Cee, and Quinn devise a plan to smoke Millisor and his gang out and after Quinn's cousin, Teki, is kidnapped and tortured by Millisor and Rau, Ethan and Quinn get Helda and two Kline Station security men to arrest Millisor and Rau (Setti is suspiciously missing). It's then that Ethan figures out that it was Helda who switched the ovaries and burned them in an effort to force her son off Athos and marry a woman and as a bonus, kill off the all-male Athosians. Talk about you're psychotic, purely right-wing Republican hell bent on killing homosexuals. Geez, this lady could use some time in the nuthouse. Helda, thankfully, is imprisoned permanently and Ethan is free to go after answering a few questions. Ethan is about to leave Kline Station when he gets a call from Cee, summoning him to a docking area. Before he arrives, Ethan runs into a stranger who gives Ethan a message capsule for Millisore. At the docking area, Ethan finds Cee held at gunpoint by Millisore and Quinn being held by Setti--Setti, dressed as a Kline Station guard, took Millisor and Rau out of the prison and helped them set this up. Ethan and Quinn activate the devise and watch it kill Millisor and his allies. Turns out that the mystery guy was a member of the House Bharaputra and didn't believe Quinn was moving fast enough. After pardons are paid, Quinn goes back to the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet and Ethan with Cee go to Athos. Ethan has what is left of the ovaries via Teki and some new ones donated by Quinn.

All in all, a great paced story with some new insights into Jackson's Whole, genetics, the uterine replicators, and "growing" babies from known male DNA and donated female ovaries. It casts a rather ugly light on how human kind would advance with such a technology, going so far as to program children with telepathic abilities and letting them loose in society without rules.

Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: Cetaganda SPOLIERS!

Heavy Cetagandan politics await the reader within. It is wise to have a couple of stress balls nearby so that one doesn't rip up the couch as I did when reading this political thriller that looks short and yet seems to take forever to get anywhere. Synopsis: Miles Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan are sent on a diplomatic mission to the court of the Cetagandan Empire, Barrayar's former enemy. This sophisticated, genetically advanced but in many ways alien society both fascinates and repels, and when the Cetagandan Empress and her attendant die suddenly, Miles and Ivan find themselves embroiled in intrigues that are hard to fathom. Ivan's romances and Miles' infatuation with a noble Cetagandan lady further complicate matters in this novel by four-time Hugo Award winner Lois McMaster Bujold.

And the synopsis and my review pretty much say the same thing. Nothing much happens and that hits the reader on the head, but the political intrigue is quite under par if one has read David Weber's Honor Harrington series where political intrigue takes stage around book five and up.

Anyway, it starts off, near enough at the beginning and something of a rarety for Bujold, with Miles and his cousin Ivan Vorpatil arriving at Cetaganda to attend a funeral of the late haut Empress dowager when they run into a ba--genetically engineered sexless slave--and attain a rod. Miles suggests they keep it much to Ivan's annoyance. Vorob'yev--a Barrayan ambassador to Cetaganda--ushers Miles and Ivan to a function/party-thing where Miles becomes ill after staring at a multicolored object (I can't quite remember what it is at this exact moment). During a second function, Ba Lura--a slave of the late Empress--shows Miles to haut Rian Degtiar who demands that Miles return the rod he stole. Miles being Miles, says he left it at the Barrayan embassy (which he did, but Rian doesn't seem to believe him until he starts taking an interest into how Barrayar could be set up to look like it stole the rod). The funeral interrupts them and they part ways with Rian promising to send for Miles again. During the funeral, Miles witnesses Ba Lura kill itself--or so he thinks. A few days go by, one ending with Ivan being poisoned and can't "perform" well for two attractive Cetagandan women, before Miles and Rian meet again.

This time, Miles gives her the rod and she identifies it as a copy of the Great Key of the Star Creche that unlocks the haut genetic bank(s) and Miles promises to help her solve the mystery of where the real Key is and who killed Ba Lura, since Miles is beginning to doubt that Ba Lura's suicide was as simple as it looked. Over the course of nine days, Miles and Rian manage to piece together that Ba Lura was persuaded by Ilsun Keyt, ghem-General Naru, haut Nadina and haut Vio d'Chilian to give them the real key for the Empress' project (which takes away the power that the Star Creche has in deciding who's DNA gets paired with who's) and gives Ba Lura a copy to drop off with the arriving Barrayan ambassadors (Miles and Ivan) so Keyt can urge the Cetagandans to declare war on Barrayar again, something neither Miles nor the Emperor of Cetaganda want.

After Vio tries to kidnap Ivan believing he's the brain behind the whole thing--something that irks Miles to no end--Miles, Rian and a few other trusted haut women corner Vio and take her down. Miles, with haut Pel, decide to board Keyt's ship and retrieve the real Key and rescue Nadina (who has been held captive since a meeting between the haut women to hand over all their genetic material banks to recreate a new Key). After retrieving the real Key and Nadina, Keyt and Naru corner them but the arrival of ghem-Colonel Benin (who has been following Miles since Miles showed interest in Ba Lura's death and is tasked with finding the murderer) shows up with Ivan and a few Cetagandan guards. They arrest Keyt and Naru and Benin takes Miles, Pel, and Nadina to meet the Emperor haut Fletchir Giaja who demands answers. 

Rian and Miles tell all and, in a meeting between Giaja and the haut woman which Miles gets to sit in on, learns that Naru will be executed while Keyt and Vio are to be offered retirement (Keyt)/become a sexless slave (Vio) or suicide. Ghem-General Benin, recently promoted, escorts Miles back to the Barrayan embassy, then takes him the following morning to Giaja. Giaja awards Miles the Cetagandan Order of Merit and orders Miles to accompany him to a ceremony where Giaja will choose the next haut Empress. It is then that Rian (who has been secretly starting to love Miles and Miles is showing interest in her) gives Miles her bracelet for Miles to remember her by as it is the only thing she truly owns. Giaja appoints Rian as the Empress and they become married--which is it's own awkward thing on Cetaganda for neither partner actually has sex with the other, just the same haut-genetic breeding the rest get. As Miles and Ivan leave Cetaganda, Miles points out that he and Giaja aren't done with each other yet.

All in all, a good political thriller in the Vorkosigan saga that details (quite excruciatingly at times) the Cetagandan politics and all their traps and snares. Nevertheless, a decent, if somewhat heavy politicking at times, addition to the series. 

Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: The Vor Game SPOILERS!

There's not much to say about this novel other than how horribly predictable the main plot line is throughout the entire story. Synopsis: The Prince and the Mercenary. Together, they can get into a lot of trouble. Trouble only the combined forces of the Free Dendarii Mercenaries can get them out of. At least, that's what they're hoping... In this latest adventure with the galaxy's craftiest mercenary leader Miles, starts out by so shaking up the High Command on his homeplanet of Barrayar that he is sent to the other side of the galaxy--where who should he run into but his old pals the Free Dendarii Mercenaries. And a good thing too, because it turns out that Miles' childhood chum, that's Emperor Gregor to you, has been the victim of foul pay and only Miles--with a little Dendarii muscle--can save him. This is very important to Miles; because if Gregor dies, the only person who could become the new emperor is Miles himself--and that he regards as a fate worse than death.

And with the synopsis on the back of the fifth printing done, and now reading it, it sounds like either Lois McMaster Bujold or the publishing company just loves to insult the readers and fans. I mean, reading that, it sounds like someone's talking down to the fans and readers like they're no more than children. It's just this sort of thing that makes me want to stop reading the series. Books that have this are usually written by authors and quite a few do this--Troy Denning, Chirstie Golden, Drew Karpyshyn--and it just irritates me beyond reason.

The novel opens with Miles, having graduated Barrayan Military Academy, receiving orders to be assigned to the back-end of Barrayar: a nightmarish place called Kyril Island because Mjr. Cecil knows Miles loves to treat his superiors like cattle. If Miles can follow orders for the next six months, he'll be given a post on the Prince Serg--the newest, fastest, deadliest Barrayan spaceship, and yes, that does mean it'll rape any and all battlefields. Miles fails while at Kyril Island, performing "mutiny" according to Cmdr. Metzov. Imperial Security arrives and takes Miles away. After interrogating him and finding out about ImpSec's security/firewall weakness, Count Aral Vorkosigan and ImpSec chief Simon Illyan remove Metzov from rank and power when he attempted to have new recruits kill technicians--referred to as greekies. Illyan and Aral quietly exile Miles to ImpSec as an intel agent. During a visit to ImpSec HQ, Miles pleads with Emperor Gregor for Gregor to get married and have kids because Miles' would rather run away from Barrayar than rule it should Gregor die. Gregor appears slightly interested in the running away aspect. Eventually, Illyan assigns Miles to Captain Ungari with the hope that Miles can find out what the Oseran Mercenaries--formerly the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet--is up to without reactivating Miles' persona of Admiral Naismith.

Needless to say, Miles runs in with them, which Ky Tung thinks means that a revolution is coming to the fleet and which Admiral Oser thinks is a curse. Ungari flees on a secret assignment, trusting in optimism that Miles would follow orders and go back to Barrayar; Ungari is looking for Emperor Gregor, who has disappeared mysteriously. Miles gets arrested and finds Gregor under the guise of a technician. It turns out that Gregor took Miles' words of running away a bit too seriously. After getting caught by the pirate leader Cavilo and former Barrayan Commander Metzov, Miles believes Gregor is falling in love with Cavilo (something that is apparently obvious that it is not at all going on, but maybe that was me) and eventually leaves Gregor behind to retake the Oseran Mercenaries and "remove" them  from Vervain since Cavilo has a deal with Cetaganda to help the Cetagandan Empire invade Vervain. Miles' succeeds and during a battle with Cavilo's men and the Cetagandan Imperial Navy over the planet Vervain, Oser and Metzov end up dead and Cavilo escapes, threatening to exact revenge on Miles. Gregor takes over the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, as well as the Prince Serg led by Admiral Aral Vorkosigan, and defeats the Cetagandans--they retreat back to the Cetagandan Empire. Vervain heralds Gregor as a hero while the Cetagandan Emperor executes the survivors of the navy battle for an unauthorized battle/invasion. Miles will be kept on as a liaison officer to the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet and is promoted to ImpSec lieutenant.

Needless to say, the main plot of the novel is predictable in every way since the synopsis on the back gives most of it away, but the subplots are worth it. I won't tell you what they are, but trust me, the subplots are worth reading. Just remember to pay attention to every last word Bujold writes as she always drags some minor detail that every sane person overlooks and brings it back kicking and screaming later on in the novel.

Book Review: The Hallowed Hunt SPOILERS!

In 2005, Lois McMaster Bujold returned to her speculative fiction world in the Chalion Trilogy to write the conclusion that ignores the other two entries and adds a slightly new taste to a stale plot. Synopsis: Prince Boleso is dead--slain by a nobelwoman he had intended to defile*. Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff has been dispatched to the remote castle of the late, exiled, half-mad royal to transport the body to its burial place and the accused killer, the Lady Ijada, to judgement. Ingrey's mission is an ugly and delicate one, for the imminent death of the old Hallow King has placed the crown in play, and the murder of his youngest son threatens to further roil already treacherous political waters. But there is more here than a prince's degenerate lusts and the fatal retribution it engendered. Boleso's dark act, though unfinished, inadvertently bestowed an unwanted mystical "gift" upon proud, brave Ijada that must ultimately mean her doom--a curse similar to one with which Ingrey himself has been burdened since boyhood. A forbidden spirit now inhabits the soul of Ijada, giving her senses she never wished for and an obligation no one sane would desire. At once psychically linked to the remarkable lady and repelled by what she carries within, Ingrey fears the havoc his own inner beast could wreak while on their journey, as he fights a powerful growing attraction...and an equally powerful compulsion to kill. The road they travel together is beset with dangers--and though duty-bound to deliver Ijada to an almost certain execution, Ingrey soon realizes that she is the only one he dares trust. For a malevolent enemy with designs on a troubled kingdom holds Ingrey in his sway--and without Ijada's aid and love, the haunted lord will never be able to break free and realize the great and terrible destiny bestowed upon him by the gods, the damned, and the dead.

And there's no longer any reason for me to review this book. I mean she just tells you what happens in the synopsis on the cover--okay, well, I'm looking at the hardcover edition. It may be something different on the paperback edition. Anyway...

The novel starts just like above. Boleso is dead. Ingery must return his body and Ijada to Easthome. Both Ingrey and Ijada have animal spirits trapped in them--Ingrey's from childhood, Ijada's from Boleso and a mystery sorcerer from Ingrey's past. Along the travel back, Ingrey feels compelled to kill Ijada and each time manages to save her from his possessed body. Ijada notes a second presence in Ingrey (yeah, that's gonna get annoying after a while; the in Ingrey, I mean) and has him stop along the path to find her friend Hallana who is a member of the Bastards Order who has a demon living inside her. Hallana tries to break it and succeeds much to the cost of freeing the trapped wolf-spirit in Ingrey. Well, not free from the body, more like free from the chains Ingrey and others placed upon it since childhood. They learn that there is something calling the two of them and in a dream Ijada notes that it has something to do with her lands and dead people that were once known as Wealding sorcerers and soldiers. Ingrey's comrade, Wencel, points out how dumb and stupid this seems (much like the rest of us).

Once at Easthome, Ingrey talks to Sealmaster Hetwar and Prince Biast of his events and they agree to postpone Ijada's execution until after the funeral. During that funeral, Ingrey and Ijada fall asleep and meet the Son of Autumn who commands Ingrey to free Boleso's animal spirits from Boleso so he can take him, which Ingrey does, though he believes that Boleso doesn't deserve it. After the funeral, Ijada and Ingrey tell Lewko--a member of the Bastards Order--about the dream/vision thing. The three find out that a servant, Cumril, is the sorcerer who placed the animal spirits in Ingrey and Ijada. They interrogate him and learn that Wencel is behind the whole damn thing. Ingrey confronts Wencel and learns that the spirit of Audary inhabits Wencel and has eradicated Wencel and survived like this for the last few centuries, passed from Father to Son down the ages. Ingrey reports this to Biast, Hetwar, and Lewko; they reach an agreement that Ingrey will play the role of bodyguard to Biast's sister, Fara, in case Wencel tries to kill her. Wencel, in paranoid delusion, kidnaps Fara and Ingrey and takes them to Ijada's land, Bloodfield. Fara is forced to kill Wencel and Audary tries to take over Ingrey but fails when Ijada shows up and helps Fara and Ingrey break the banner carrier's flagpole. Audary dies along with Wencel and Ingrey releases the trapped spirits one by one, using Lewkow for the Bastard, Biast for the Son, and three others for the Mother, Daughter, and Father. At the end, Ijada is pardoned by Biast now that the threat is over. She marries Ingrey off screen and together they train under Lewkow.

All in all, a piss-poor finale for a novel trilogy. Too much time was spent getting to Easthome and on long inane conversations that do nothing for the overall story. I don't recommend this novel for any readers of the Fantasy genre. Bujold just fails to captivate and hold one's interest.

Book Review: Honor Harrington: The Honor of the Queen SPOILERS!

In June 1993, David Weber produced his second novel in the Honor Harrington series: The Honor of the Queen. At a total of 422 (mass market paperback), this novel does not disappoint. Synopsis: Right Woman, Wrong Place. It's hard to give peace a chance when the other side regards war as the necessary prelude to conquest, and a sneak attack as the best means to that end. That's why the Kingdom of Manticore needs allies against the so-called "Republic" of haven--and the planet Grayson is just the right strategic place to make a very good ally indeed. But Her Majesty's Foreign Office had overlooked a "minor cultural difference" when they chose Honor Harrington to carry the flag: women on the planet Grayson are without rank or rights; Honor's very presence is an intolerable affront to every male on the planet. At first, Honor doesn't take it personally; where she comes from gender discrimination is barely a historical memory, right up there in significance with fear of the left-handed. But in time such treatment as she receives from the Graysonites does become wearing, and Honor would withdraw if she could--but then Grayson's fratricidal sister planet attacks without warning and she must stay and prevail, not just for Honor's honor, but for her sovereign's, for--The Honor of the Queen.

The novel starts off with Captain Honor Harrington at a party--something she dislikes as much as politics--when her former academy instructor, Admiral Raoul Courvosier, tells her about a diplomatic mission to the chauvinistic, male-dominated world of Grayson in the Yeltsin System where the Church of Humanity Unchained is the law and religious zealots appear to run the place while the women are property and have no vote within the Graysonite system. Grayson has problems with its fratricidal sister planet, Masada, in the Endicott System, problems that the Havenites are exploiting, trying to get Masada on their side--though they'd rather have Grayson. Reginald Houseman, a smug and cowardly politician who hates the military, is Courvosiers aide. Honor's role is to escort supplies past Grayson after a few days in the system. Houseman wants to screw the military mission and force Grayson and Masada to put aside their "silly religious difference" and trade with each other instead of fight, something that Honor points out is illogical with the animosity between the two planets. Matthew Simmons of Masada tells Havenite Captain Alfredo Yu about the Manticoran delegates arriving. In Yeltsin, High Admiral Bernard Yanakov greets Courvosier with respect and is repulsed by Honor being a woman in uniform. The Havenites try and exploit this for all its worth. Yanakov lets Benjamin Mayhew IX, Planetary Protector of Grayson, know how the direct view of Honor is blowing downwind.

Negotiations begin and, except for Houseman trying to raise his topic once to no avail, things seem to be going smoothly until the Masadans and their Havenite allies launch a surprise attack from Blackbird and destroy the ships Courvosier and Yanakov are on, killing them. Honor returns from her escort duties and learns of Courvosier's death, something that shocks Honor considering that Courvosier was like a second father to her. Houseman threatens Honor when she refuses to abandon Grayson and slaps him once (Houseman, for the rest of the series, continues to bitch about this). Honor demands to meet with Benjamin, something that doesn't sit well with his cabinet. Benjamin agrees and during their talks, a group of assassins working for someone called "Maccabeus" attempt to assassinate Benjamin and frame the Manticorans. Thanks to an early warning from her telepathic treecat Nimitz, Honor defeats them and ends up with a dead eye and broken face, things that will be fully repaired once she returns to Manticore. Grayson witnesses the events on the news and throws its support behind Manticore. It turns out hat Jared Mayhew, a cousin of Benajmin's, was Maccabeus and behind the whole coup attempt and has since been dealt with.

Admiral Matthews (Grayson) and Honor attack Blackbird and penetrate its defenses. During the roundup of Masadans, Honor, Lieutenant Scotty Tremaine, and Petty Officer Horace Harkness find survivors from the attack that killed Yanakov and Courvosier; the female survivors were all raped and tortured and some even dead. In anger, Honor tries to kill the Masadan base commander but Scotty manages to stop her, saying that Benjamin and therefore Grayson will handle the punishment. Alfredo Yu and a young officer named Thomas Theisman surrender and tell Honor that, though they knew things were bad, they didn't realize things were this bad. Simmons, meanwhile, has stolen a Havenite ship and imprisons the Havenites while taking the ship into battle. Honor faces off against him in space and destroys his ship while Admiral Hamish Alexander, White Haven, of Manticore arrives to help subdue Masada personally and Grayson signs the alliance with the Star Empire of Manticore. As a reward, Benjamin makes Honor a Steadholder of the new city called Harrington Steading and awards her the Star of Grayson. To match this, Manticore makes Honor a Countess, though it's significantly below the rank of Steadholder.

All in all, a great novel in the Honor Harrington series. Full of wonderful characterizations and prose and world building, it drives home the point that David Weber knows excellent sci-fi military drama.

Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: The Warrior's Apprentice SPOILERS!

The third novel in the Vorkosigan saga, Lois McMaster Bujold continues the tale, but this time the series will follow Miles life from age 17 to whenever. Synopsis: First he had to conquer himself. After that, the universe would be easy. Discharged from the Barrayan Military Academy, Miles Vorkosigan chances on a jumpship with a rebellious pilot and arranges to take over the ship. Events escalate from there, and soon Miles is commander of a mercenary fleet and reinvents himself as Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Mercenary Army.

So the novel opens with Miles, now 17, failing the physical test to get into the Barrayan Service Academy. He returns home and tells his parents, Cordelia and Aral, about his failing and his grandfather dies because of old age. Miles, with Sgt. Bothari and Elena, heads to Beta Colony for relaxation. Upon arrival, Miles agrees to help a desperate pilot, Mayhew, out of trouble. They travel to Tau Verde IV, specifically the country of Felice, with Baz, a former Barrayan engineer, and Carl Daum, the guy who originally wanted Mayhew for the job of dropping cargo off and both Baz and Daum believe Miles leads a merc fleet calling itself the Dendarii Mercenary Army. Through sheer bluffing and luck,  Miles ends up taking over the entire mercenary groups working in Tau Verde space, something that seemed impossible for Miles and his mere crew to do. Most of the other mercenaries join the Dendarii Mercenaries but one, Ky Tung, holds honor above the whole thing and escapes. After a short amount of time and no payment received, Tung comes back and joins the group because Oser violated the contract Tung's former crew had signed. Bothari dies during the scheme by Elena's mother, who wanted revenge for Bothari being drugged and forced to rape her. Ivan Vorpatril, Miles' cousin, shows up with the news that the Council of Counts is screaming for Miles' blood for acquiring an army to defeat Gregor; Miles has no such thing planned and attests to this in front of the Council after leaving the Dendarii in the capable hands of Baz and Elena Jesek (Baz and Elena fall in love, something not seen in the entirety of the novel due to Bujold's horrible tendency to never leave Mile's Point Of View for any reason in the entire book). After presenting and boistering in the meeting, Miles uncovers a plot by Count Vordrozda to have Aral killed and take over the Regency posting and then the entire planet. Emperor Gregor, nearly the same age as Miles, and after hearing how Miles accidentally created the Dendarii Mercenary Army and took over a bunch of merc groups, pardons the whole thing, which ends with the Dendarii becoming an unofficial part of Barrayan Intelligence. Gregor pulls strings and gets Miles into the Barrayan Service.

All in all, a decent novel that's short and easy to read. Some good character arcs and decent prose. It's not the best Bujold can do, but then nothing can top Paladin of Souls in her Chalion Trilogy. 

Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: Cordelia's Honor SPOILERS!

Her first novel in the Vorkosigan saga, published that is, Lois McMaster bujold weaves a tale of speculation as to what happens to humans once we've conquered the stars. Synopsis: When Enemies Become More Than Friends--THEY WIN. In her first trial by fire, Cordelia Naismith captained a throwaway ship of the Betan Expeditionary Force on a mission to destroy an enemy armada. Discovering deception within deception, treachery withing treachery, she was forced into a separate peace with her chief opponent, Lord Aral Vorkosigan--he who was called "The Butcher of Komarr"--and would consequently become an outcast on her own planet and the Lady Vorkosigan on his. Sick of combat and betrayal, she was ready to settle down to a quiet life, interrupted only by the occasional ceremonial appearances required of the Lady Vorkosigan. But when the Emperor died, Aral became guardian of the infant heir to the imperial throne of Barrayar--and the target of high-tech assassins in a dynastic civil war that was reminiscent of Earth's Middle Ages, but fought with up-to-the minute biowar technology. Neither Aral nor Cordelia guessed the part that their cell-damaged unborn would play in Barrayar's bloody legacy. Publisher's Note: Cordelia's Honor is comprised of two parts: Shards of Honor and Barrayar. Together, they form a continuous story following the life of Cordelia Vorkosigan nee Naismith from the day she met her then-enemy Lord Aral Vorkosigan through the boyhood of her son Miles.

So the first part (Shards of Honor) starts out with Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Expeditionary Force and Captain Aral Vorkosigan heading through a jungle to reach Vorkosigan's men after the Barrayans attacked Cordelia's scientists. Along their journey, they get to know one another better and fined each others planets beliefs to be odd. Once there, they find that one of Aral's former acquaintances, Lt. Radnov, has staged a coup and ordered Aral's men to kill him on sight. Those that remain loyal to Aral don't and soon retake the General Vorkraft, the ship Aral and his men arrived on. Along the way back, the space crew of the Betan Survey team attempt a rescue on Cordelia, which almost succeeds with her teams help from Radnov, who is desperately trying to retake the ship which Cordelia and Aral manage to stop. Cordelia and her team get away but end up being caught again and Cordelia orders her crew to surrender which they grudgingly do. Vorrutyer drugs and tortures Sgt. Bothari enough and has him attempt to torture Cordelia, but Bothari instead kills Vorrutyer because Cordelia is Aral's woman--it should be noted that all these drugs and torture are what has caused Bothari to be insane; he's received enough of them over his lifetime and Aral has tried to make the problem go away for Bothari. Aral shows up ready to kill Vorrutyer but ends up hiding Cordelia and Bothari in his quarters. They stay there the entire time, even during the battle of Escobar (an event which is never shows because Bujold seems to dislike showing a sci-fi battle or maybe because she prefers to stay in one persons head for the entirety of a novel and that gets old real fast); it is here that Crown Prince Serg, a corrupted man and son of the Emperor of Barrayar, dies--apparently, Serg enjoyed raping women as much as Vorrutyer did. It's apparent that Serg's death, as well as Vorrutyer's, is what the Emperor wanted to happen. Cordelia is transported down to Escobar and after a few weeks, is released to go back to Beta Colony and everyone there thinks she's a hero for killing Vorrutyer despite her claims that she didn't do anything. After punching the president of Beta Colony, nearly drowning her psyche evaluator, and rants, Cordelia hijacks a freighter and heads to Barrayar and finds Aral shit-faced drunk with his father who loathes her. There is a subplot about the uterine replicators housing dozens of Barrayan babies that are eventually shipped off to Barrayar with Bothari claiming one of them as his own for penance of all his rape crimes.

In the second part (Barrayar), the novel continues the story of Cordelia through Cordelia's (and only her) POV. Cordelia is finding out that the life of Lady Vorkosigan isn't what she thought it'd be. After numerous attempts of Aral's life, one of which results in Cordelia and Aral's unborn child becoming accidentally poisoned and has to be birthed using the uterine replicators, the old Emperor dies, demanding that Aral become Regent of Barrayar until his grandson, Gregor, is old enough to take the throne. A coup ensues, led by Vidal Vordarian, attempt to seize the throne. He succeeds, taking the Princess Kareen captive as well. Cordelia takes young Gregor and hides in the countryside while Aral and his followers, including his father, attempt to rest control back. Cordelia, with Bothari, Droushnakovi, and a wounded Koudelka perform a raid to retrieve Lady Alys Vorpatril and make their way closer to the Emperor's Palace. After seeing Koudelka and Alys off safely, Bothari, Droushnakovi and Cordelia enter the palace and retrieve a uterine replicator with Miles inside and get captured by Vordarian's men. Cordelia hands Kareen Gregor's shoe and Kareen attempts to kill Vordarian. She fails and is killed by a guard while Bothari and Droushnakovi get Cordelia and a captured Vordarian to the chambers where he's keeping Miles as a hostage. After admitting he was behind the assassination attempts, Cordelia orders Bothari to kill Vordarian, which Bothari does by taking a sword and beheading Vordarian. Droushnakovi commandeers a groundcar and the four of them head back to base where Aral is glad to see Cordelia alive and unharmed along with Miles. She dumps a bag on the table in front of Aral and his staff and they see it's the head of Vordarian and they all suddenly become half-repulse, half-respectful of Cordelia, including Aral's father. In the end, the war is over and a few years later, Miles, age five, is negotiating with his grandfather for horse lessons.

All in all, a decent omnibus with a decent set of stories. They're not all bad, but dear me could I use a POV switch every now and then. I wanted to see the battle action in Shards of Honor and a lot more of it in Barrayar but what you get is what you get.

Book Review: Paladin of Souls SPOILERS!

Quite possibly the best novel written by Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls takes what was wrong with all her previous novels, including the boring sci-fi series The Vorkosigan saga, and turns it into gold. Here, her flaws are her strength. Synopsis: Three years have passed since the widowed Dowager Royina Ista found release from the curse of madness that kept her imprisoned in her family's castle of Valenda. Her newfound freedom is costly, bittersweet with memories, regrets, and guilty secrets--for she knows the truth of what brought her land to the brink of destruction. And now the road--escape--beckons.... A simple pilgrimage, perhaps. Quite fitting for the Dowager Royina of Chalion. Yet something else is free, too--something beyond deadly. To the north lies the vital border fortress of Porifors. Memories linger there as well, of wars and invasions and the mighty Golden General of Jokona. And someone, something, watches from across that border--humans, demons, gods. Ista thinks her little party of pilgrims wanders at will. But whose? When Ista's retinue is unexpectedly set upon not long into its travels, a mysterious ally appears--a warrior nobleman who fights like a berserker. The temporary safety of her enigmatic champion's castle cannot ease Ista's mounting dread, however, when she finds his dark secrets are entangled with hers in a net of the gods' own weaving. In her dreams the threads are already drawing her to unforeseen chances, fateful meetings, fearsome choices. What the inscrutable gods commanded of her in the past brought her land to the brink of devastation. Now, once again, they have chosen Ista as their instrument. And again, for good or ill, she must comply.

 The novel opens with Ista trying to run away from her mother's place in Valenda and she meets pilgrims, one of whom is a divine of the Bastard's Order, dy Cabon (who, for some reason, I keep remembering as dy Bacon). Ista's escorted back to Valenda by dy Ferrej and meets Ferda and Foix dy Gura, sent to Ista because Iselle, Bergon, and Cazaril heard she wants to go on a pilgrimage. Annaliss, a courier, stays with Ista on Ista's command as she's lonely for company. Chivar dy Cabon arrives to oversee the pilgrimage and Ista takes Annaliss as her lady-in-waiting and groom. After planning, the pilgrimage leaves the following morning. Along the pilgrimage, Ista tells dy Cabon about the (former) Curse of Chalion. Later, during a fight with an elemental-possessed bear, Foix kills it and, in turn, receives the elemental, which is an escaped demon; Foix now has said creature living in him. The Jokonans attack and Ista is captured then rescued by Arhys dy Lutez, March of Porifors, who, as it turns out, is already dead and cannot die--kind of like Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood. Arhys' jealous wife, Lady Cattilara, killed a demon-ridden woman trying to seduce Arhys and killed them both and took the demon into Cattilara to keep Arhys alive while sacrificing Arhys' half-brother, Ilvin, who was also present in the room during the murder and was wounded by Cattilara trying to stop her from performing said murder. It's all very straight forward in the novel but comes off as confusing and stupid when summed up like this. Don't worry, Ilvin's still alive, kinda... mostly just sleeps so the demon can use the life force to keep Arhys going, barely letting Ilvin eat to keep him alive because Cattilara is so damn demanding.

Ista tries to get Cattilara to let Ilvin go and let Arhys die, but even after the brothers agree, Cattilara refuses and tries to flee. Luckily, Ista, Annaliss and Foix capture her and, when Arhys "wakes up," hatches a plan to beat the Jokonan forces led by the son of the Golden General, Sordso, who, it turns out, is also possessed by demons. Yes, you read that right. Sordso's possessed by dozens of demons because his mother, Princess Joen, won't give up the former war. It turns out that Joen has been implanting demons in her family and servants and sorcerers/sorceress's to win the Golden General's war. Both the Bastard and the Father of Winter want Ista to free the men and demons; the Father want's Arhys to come home because, for some reason, he's been dead for the last three years and can't find his way up the path. Ista does after the first attempt fails when Arhys is butchered, his head placed on a spike, I recall. The demon in Cattilara is freed by Ista after it makes Cattilara attempt suicide. In a false surrender, Ista, with Foix and Ilvin, "devours" the demons and Joen's soul using the powers the Bastard gave her. As a result, Sordso, in an attempt to strike back at his mother, repeatedly stabs Joen's body even though she is dead, and so does everyone who was imprisoned by her. The entire curse is finally lifted and as an odd result, Foix's elemental merged with him and the two have become, for better or dementedly worse, one. Ilvin's neice inherits Porifors as he doesn't want it and marries Ista. They plan to travel the country side with the warriors fighting against the Jokonans, seeking more elementals and demons to send back to the Bastard. Annaliss and dy Cabon and Foix agree to go with them.

All in all, a great novel from Lois McMaster Bujold. She combines her knowledge of history and storytelling to create one heckuva novel. Great character arcs, great drama, great prose.

Book Review: Honor Harrington: On Basilisk Station SPOILERS!

First published in April 1993, David Weber put to use his knoweldge of military and history to form one of the most compelling series every. And it all started with Honor Harrington: On Basilisk Station. Synopsis: Honor in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her; Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station; The aborigines of the system's only habitual planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens; Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling; the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so called "Republic" of Haven is Up To Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system. But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They've made her mad.

The novel opens in a prologue with a meeting between Havenite president Haris talking to his cabinet about their shrinking economy amongst their cluster of planets. They decide that war is the way and with that will come more planets and, more importantly, money. On the Manticoran Space Station Hephaestus, Commander Honor Harrington and her treecat, Nimitz, board Honor's assigned HMS Fearless from it's former commanding officer, a Lieutenant Commander named Alistair McKeon, who's somewhat resentful for the fact that he didn't get command. They take Fearless out for the war games where the head of R&D, Admiral Sonja Hemphill, wants to test a new toy that ultimately prove useless after the initial surprise attack. When her side loses the game, and in anger, they ship Honor and her crew, plus Fearless to the most useless place in the Manticoran Empire, Basilisk Station. Once there, Honor's former rival and that man who raped her in the academy, Pavel Young, the son and heir to the current Earl North Hollow, commands that station and abadnons her when she arrives, claiming his ship is due for maintenance--which it does and his crew rebels against him when he returns to Hephaestus for plot related reasons.

Once there, Honor senses the anger and hatred for her that her crew has because they're been shipped--exiled--to Basilisk Station. She demands that her crew get over it and works them past their abilities to get Basilisk Station back to operational status as befits with the Queen's will. The Havenites, who have been bribing certain politicos in the Empire, want Basilisk for their war strategy. After refusing to accept bribes, backdown, or even see common sense, and months after having used her ships probes short-range probes to become more effective and long-range sensors and getting the Basilikan population of indigenous beings under some control, the Havenites launch their strategy via rebellious indigs who are drug dealers but are stopped when the Marine guard under Honor prevent them from fully staging the coup. Honor, meanwhile, fights dirty with the lone Havenite ship at the edge of the Basilisk system. Fearless becomes heavily damaged during the fight and the Havenite commander moves in for the kill but dies surprised when Honor uses Adml Hemphill's toy against them and destroys the Havenite ship. At the end, the Manticoran Navy arrives to stop the rest of the Havenites from encroaching on Basilisk and Honor and the crew of Fearless head back home.

All in all, a great start to one of the best science-fiction sagas out there and proves why David Weber is one of the best in military sci-fi. He knows his stuff and isn't afraid to show it. For those people who like Lois McMaster Bujold, you're really going to love David Weber's Honor Harrington series.