Ashes of Victory

Honor Harrington: 9

ISBN: 0-671-57854-5 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com

Another exciting adventure in this future naval series, this leisurly novel moves even more into politics, with exceedingly rare flashes of danger for its overly competent but still captivating heroine.

Reviewed by David on June 11, 2000 (rev. 1)

Genre: Science Fiction (Military, Naval Adventure, War)

Synopsis: Following up on the heels of Echoes of Honor, this book plunges into the events upon Honor's return from the harrowing expreriences on the Havenite prison planet. During her slow recovery from the injuries she sustained there, Honor receives a number of accolades, while doing her best to make her period of convalesence benefitial for both of her homes—Manticore and Haven. However, while both Honor and Manticore make progress in overcoming the injuries of defeat, the political poisons of war, both at home and abroad threaten to turn the elusive promise of victory into chaos.

Full Review: For the fans of this popular series (occasionally dubbed "Horatio Hornblower in Space") myself included, this is a long-anticipated, and very worthwhile continuation of an exciting and detailed, if not particularly deep, series. While scoring well above the average in entertainment, this novel is not without flaws.

First, the extended period of heaping rewards and hero worship in Honor, while generally amuzing, occasionally goes over-the-top in self indulgence. In fact, the book seems a bit too leisurly in several places, and would have been more tightly edited had it not been for the popularity of the series.

Honor's (and Nimitz's) medical rehabilitation is neither painless nor complete, in keeping with the previous history, and mitigates the appearance of indestructability on the part of the super-competent hero. Some of the genetic insights revealed in the book are downright interesting. However, due to the detailed description of the recovery period, Honor understandably takes little part in the battles during this book, which makes the broad but impersonal description of war less visceral.

The internal Allied politics are described as increasingly (although not unexpectedly) poisonous, which assists in prolonging the conflict (and the series).

Lest a wrong impression be conveyed, the book does have a number of exciting space battles, and a combat episode of great personal risk to Honor. The book, despite some flaws, retains the combination of sympathetic characters with the intricate and solid-seeming background of politics, technology, and tactics that proved so appealing in the previous volumes.

Overall: 7; Plot: 6.5; Characters: 6.5; Style: 6.5; World-building: 7; Originality: 6;

ISBN: 0-671-57854-5 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com