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The Short Victorious War | Rating | |
| B | |||
| David Weber | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Honor Harrington | Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Royal Manticoran Navy, Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Havenite Republican Navy, On Basilisk Station, The Honor of the Queen, The Short Victorious War, Field of Dishonor, Flag in Exile, Honor Among Enemies, In Enemy Hands, Echoes of Honor, Ashes of Victory, War of Honor, At All Costs, More Than Honor, Worlds of Honor, Changer of Worlds, The Service of the Sword, Crown of Slaves, The Shadow of Saganami | ||
Well, this is it. The war between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the People's Republic of Haven has begun at last. Haven hopes it to be another quick war that will distract the mob's unrest away from the terrible economic situation. And as the quotes at the beginning of the book state, that is their greatest mistake. Though attacking a system with Honor Harrington defending it comes a close second.
While previous books are not, strictly, necessary reading before this novel, I highly, highly recommend you do so. Old rivals come back to haunt Honor, and there is frequent reference to the events that happened in those stories. It's enough that someone starting here will probably want to go back and read them anyway, just to get the full story, so you you might as well read them in order. Still, Weber is careful to recap events enough that you can do without it.
The battles in the book are done in Weber's usual superb manner. Or rather, the battle. For while there is some fighting elsewhere in the book, by and large it is skimmed over; only the climactic battle at the book's end is described in real detail.
And that, I feel, is the story's major problem. Most of the pages are filled with manuevering - be it political manuevers or shifting starships around. It's all setup. Good setup, mind, but only setup nevertheless. An impatient reader might well find himself wishing Haven would just got on with it, already.
This is the first book that ends with clearly open plot threads. It's no cliffhanger, but the story is obviously not over. I rather liked that, for it allows Weber to broaden the tale's scope. If you've read the previous two books, you will probably like this one. I'm quite certain you won't dislike it!
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