Teaser

Still in disarray after a recent assault, the Star Kingdom of Manticore looks to its monarchy for stability. But the royals have suffered as much as their subjects, and their trials are far from over . . .

Review

One of the things I find a little bit strange about the Honorverse is how British it is. On the face of it, it couldn’t be more American. It’s Baen military SF, for crying out loud. That just about screams USA! But it’s also modelled heavily on the Napoleonic Wars, and Mantciore is a clear analogue for the United Kingdom. I’m willing to bet there’s a significant portion of Weber’s readership who don’t know that the House of Lords is an actual thing in this country. Couple that with a very important role for the monarchy, and we’re firmly in British territory.

Like almost quite literally everyone in my country (and really, do babies count as people?), I spent most of my life living under the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Second. In the original Honor Harrington novels, Manticore has an Elizabeth the Third. In this one, we spend a lot of time with the woman who eventually becomes Weber’s Queen Elizabeth II. That’s a slightly surreal concept for me to wrap my head around, to be honest, to see that name attributed with a wholly fictional character. I suppose I’d best get used to it, because this Elizabeth is here to stay.

A Call to Vengeance spends a fair bit of time with the royal family, and much to my surprise, these were the best chapters of the book. I’m a sucker for a good bit of politics, but the shakeup was also nice. Naturally, the Honorverse spends a lot of time dealing with battles and spaceships, but even with the best writing in the world, this can grow repetitive after a while. Weber has also spent a great deal of time on international politics. Yet while the monarchy has always been around, I can’t remember there being this much dedicated page space before now.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book does fall into some familiar pits. The opening investigation of the previous book’s climax is good, as military sf often has a habit of skipping over the aftermath of battle. However, this investigation is soon interrupted by a series of scenes that are essentially a repeat of the end of A Call to Arms. There’s no new development, only false action. It’s a wasted opportunity that only serves to extend the book. And that’s my second issue. A Call to Vengeance suffers from bloat. This may well be the effect of having multiple authors juggling multiple plot lines, but understandable does not equate to acceptable, and the book could have been improved with only the smallest of trims.

Even with these issues, however, A Call to Vengeance is still a decent book, and an important step in my renewed interest in the Honorverse.

Book Stats

• Manticore Ascendant (#3)
• Published by Baen
• First published in 2018
• Space Opera
• 651 pages