This time, we dive right into the final book in the Saganami Island series: Shadow of Victory.

This chunky novel weighs in at 756 pages and hit the streets in November 2016. The story covers a date range from February 1921 PD through October 1022 PD. For those tracking dates, you’ll realize this is one of those times when David covers events we’ve already seen, but from a different perspective. There’s also some new info in here, too.

The major things that happen reflect the continuing exposure of, or for some, the revelation of, the Mesan Alignment. These include the sneak attack on Manticore itself, destroying a significant segment of their economy and military infrastructure. We also see Operation Janus, the Alignment’s effort to discredit Manticore by making false promises of military support to oppressed segments of other start nations if they decide to rebel. Then there’s the horrific Operation Houdini. These plans are diabolical, especially when taken together. The false promises might embolden revolutions, causing the division and downfall of many when Manticore never shows up with the “promised” support. It would also drain resources from the governments experiencing those revolutions. Additionally, when Manticore appears to renege on promised support (that they never made), it paints them in a light that they can’t be trusted to keep their word internationally. Finally, in the context of the hostilities between Manticore and the Solarian League (actually provoked by the Alignment!), Manticore looks like they’re acting consistent with the propaganda that paints them as improperly seeking to expand their empire by force, employing their military to engage the Solarians directly and indirectly. There’s certainly a lot going on here.

We’ll warn you now: your hosts didn’t particularly enjoy this book. Tune in to find out why and let us know if you agree or not. We rated Shadow of Victory with a 2.5, a 2 and a 3 (out of 5), for an overall rating of 2.5.

As always, thank you for listening. Special thanks to those of you who take the time to like and follow us on social media, share this podcast with others, and to even comment on our posts.

Next time, we’re excited to discuss A Call to Vengeance, book three in the Manticore Ascendant story arc. That’s right: we’re going to see what happens next with Travis Long, Lisa Donnelly and others as the young Royal Manticoran Navy continues to struggle against emerging mercenary threats to the Star Kingdom while the government struggles with how well to fund the Navy in light of possibly decreasing funds for the navy while increasing funds for the Manticoran Patrol and Rescue Service. Yes, we’re about to enjoy some more great storytelling from the dynamic trio of David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Tom Pope! As always, be sure to grab your copy, invite a friend, and join us again next time.

As promised, in this episode we discuss the second novel in the Manticore Ascendant series: A Call to Arms. Written by David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Tom Pope, the story of Travis Long continues after he’s completed his training to become a commissioned officer. We join him back in the fleet with a few years of commissioned time under his belt and wearing the bars of an ensign.

In many ways Travis has grown and matured through the passage of time, the challenges of training, and more years under his belt as an officer. Even so, we can still see the core of his ethical framework visible through the way he wrestles with the problems that life presents to him in naval service. We also see his giftedness continue as someone who can think outside of his own personal boundaries. While we’ve seen this result in some very positive ideas that allowed his ships (current and past) to successfully navigate some pretty difficult situations, thankfully he hasn’t become the one-man silver bullet that seems to be the magical solution to horrible problems. In this regard, we were happy that the authors kept the story believable. As this book ends, we found ourselves looking forward to the next book in this series.

Our ratings for A Call to Arms were a 5, 5 and 4.5 (out of 5), for an overall rating of 4.8.

As always, thank you for taking this journey with us, listening, liking and commenting on the episodes, and sharing this podcast with others. Don’t forget, it’s never too late to comment on previous episodes either. We love your feedback and thoughts. Like the three of us, every one of you is a part of the crew!

Next time we’re stepping away from the Manticore Ascendant series and returning to the Saganami Island series to read and discuss Shadow of Victory. If you’ve been missing seeing the dark and sinister ways of the Mesan Alignment—they’re back! As always, be sure to 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!

Lately there are times it seems we’re getting close to the end of our adventure through the Honorverse and then a little reminder like this happens: we’re discussing the first book in another four-book story arc! In this episode we’re talking about A Call to Duty, kicking off the Manticore Ascendant series. This novel was authored by David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope.

You’ll remember a while back we read a story by Timothy Zahn that took place early in the life of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, revolving around an interesting character named Travis Long. In this series of books we finally get to read the rest of Travis’ story, beginning right here. We also get a very interesting glimpse into the early and formative years of the RMN—essentially watching Travis and the Navy grow up together.

Travis’ military life begins, almost in desperation as a group of his friends use him as an unknowing wheel man while committing a crime. Travis realizes too late that he’s going to be guilty by association and takes refuge in an RMN recruiting office. The recruiter sees goodness and promise in Travis, revealed by his conscience, and signs him up for an enlistment. As we follow him through training and his initial time in the operational fleet, his story reveals a lot about Travis’ ethical code, which is both a strength and a potential weakness in terms of his service. The Navy causes Travis to realize and then begin to deal with the fact that while there may be moral absolutes and certain black and white issues, much of the world operates in a very gray space where problems are more complicated than he expected. While he’s still immature, certain leaders in his chain of command realize he shows potential to become a commissioned officer and is selected to become a “Mustang”.

Your hosts rated A Call to Duty with a 5, 5 and another 5 (out of 5), for an overall rating of 5 from your hosts.

Once again, thank you for listening and to those of you who take the time to like and follow us on social media, share this podcast with others, and to even comment on our posts.

Next, we’re picking up the next book in this anthology set called A Call to Arms, where we get to see what happens next with Mr. Long. Without interruption, we get to continue to enjoy the masterful storytelling of David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Tom Pope. As always, be sure to 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!