Teaser

The Solarian League has been defeated, and the Star Kingdom of Manticore has survived with its independence intact. But not all wars are fought in the open, and a conspiracy in the shadows is prepared to deal one final blow . . .

Review

David Weber’s Honor Harrington series was the first major readthrough I committed to upon starting this blog. I even made an index to keep track of all the reviews I was writing. The Honor Harrington series started with On Basilisk Station way back in the nineties. Thirty years later, and Weber is still writing stories set in what has become known as the Honorverse. If you count multi-author anthologies, there’s been a book every year. That is an incredible achievement. And yet, at some point along the way, I can’t help but feel Weber has lost control of his story. The first few stories in the Honor Harrington series were fairly self-contained examples of military science fiction, heavily influenced by the Napoleonic Wars, and with great action and a strong core cast of characters. This continued for ten whole novels, with the world growing larger, and the cast expanding exponentially. And then something very strange happened. The universe outgrew Honor Harrington.

The original Honor Harrington series continued for another four novels, and now appears roughly complete. But alongside those four novels came two spin-off series. Both purported to be part of the Honor Harrington series, but formed distinct sagas of their own. Shadow of Saganami and its sequels crossed over heavily with the original books, even going so far as to feature massive sections of repeated narrative. Also written by Weber, this series often felt like it had been cut out of Honor’s own novels in the editing process. At the same time, the books now became absolutely enormous. More than one tops a thousand pages. Then there is the Crown of Slaves saga, of which To End in Fire is the fourth (and likely final act). bringing in famed author Eric Flint to join him at the pen, Weber branched off further than the main story to tell of conspiracies and revolutions. The Honorverse as a whole shifts in these books from military SF to space opera. Sometimes to good effect, but at the expense of what made the series stand out at the beginning.

To End in Fire, then, brings an ending to one chapter of the Honorverse, and it is an incredibly messy ending. It has been three years since my last David weber novel, but even with a forgiving hat on, To End in Fire is an overstuffed ad drawn-out novel. Coming on the tail of Uncompromising Honor, To End in Fire has the feel of an epilogue to the main story. But that story is so vast that no single book, even a mammoth one like this could wrap up every ending. There are no labelled chapters, which doesn’t help, with scenes broken up by chronology and location. On a chronological note, this book covers the space of a year, and the latter half of that year feels more rushed than the first. Yet in both we are shown innumerable briefings and boardroom conferences. This book has so much talking I can’t help but feel it would work better as a TV drama or stage play. There is a constant bombardment of names, both personal and organisational. Far too many to keep track of. Weber’s love of bureaucracy and administrative procedure is on full display, but that doesn’t always translate to interested reading. Some of the Tuckerisms also pulled me out. Admiral Correia is an affectionate nod to a fellow writer, but Director Charles E. Gannon took me right out, when I plan to read that man’s books if I come across them. And then, at some point around the final third, To End in Fire suddenly becomes an Honor Harrington novel again. Honor arrives and leads a fleet into battle. It’s easily the best part of the novel, and yet feels completely undeserved. After spending so long building up new characters, Weber discards them in favour of an old favourite.

Given recent conversations with fellow readers, I can’t help but compare the Honorverse to Marko Kloos Frontlines. Both series take a straightforward story and stretch it across more books than you’d think necessary. But while the latter stays with its roots and risks becoming repetitive, the Honorverse allows itself to grow into a complicated mess. There is a world in which Weber’s novels are equally slim and action-oriented, and while I’m not saying that’s a better world, it’s certainly one I wouldn’t mind living in. Just for a week or two. Because there’s simply nothing about these books to justify their length, either individually or as a series.

There are high points in To End in Fire, but they are scattered to thinly through an otherwise low-lying swamp. At this stage, I don’t think I would continue Honor’s saga, as this is as close to a satisfying ending as I think we’re going to get. However, I’m not yet willing to write off the Honorverse entirely. The last remaining series, the prequel Manticore Ascendant, shows no signs of the bloat that has otherwise taken over, and with Timothy Zahn as a cowriter, I still have faith that there are good stories to be told in the Honorverse. It just needs to learn from its mistakes.

Book Stats

• The Crown of Slaves Saga (#4)
• Published by Baen
• First published in 2021
• Space Opera
• 951 pages