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Honorverse: Manticore Ascendant #2
A Call to Arms
Lieutenant Travis Long of the Royal Manticoran Navy is the sort of person who likes an orderly universe. One where people follow the rules. Unfortunately he lives in the real universe. The good news is that Travis is one of those rare people who may like rules but has a talent for thinking outside them when everything starts coming apart. That talent has stood him—and the Star Kingdom—in good stead in the past, and it's one reason he's now a "mustang"—an ex-enlisted man who's been given a commission as a king's officer. The bad news is that two of the best ways of making enemies ever invented are insisting on enforcing the rules...and thinking outside them when other people don't. Travis learned that lesson the hard way as a young volunteer in basic training, and he knows that if he could just keep his head down, turn a blind eye to violations of the rules, and avoid stepping on senior officers' toes, he'd do just fine.
But the one rule Travis Long absolutely can't break is the one that says an officer in the Royal Navy does his duty, whatever the consequences. At the moment,there are powerful forces in the young Star Kingdom of Manticore's Parliament that don't think they need him. For that matter they're pretty sure they don't need the Royal Manticoran Navy, either. After all, what does a sleepy little single-system star nation on the outer edge of the explored galaxy need with a navy? Unhappily for them, the edge of the explored galaxy can be a far more dangerous place than they think it is. They're about to find out why they need the navy…and how very, very fortunate they are that Travis Long is in it.
But the one rule Travis Long absolutely can't break is the one that says an officer in the Royal Navy does his duty, whatever the consequences. At the moment,there are powerful forces in the young Star Kingdom of Manticore's Parliament that don't think they need him. For that matter they're pretty sure they don't need the Royal Manticoran Navy, either. After all, what does a sleepy little single-system star nation on the outer edge of the explored galaxy need with a navy? Unhappily for them, the edge of the explored galaxy can be a far more dangerous place than they think it is. They're about to find out why they need the navy…and how very, very fortunate they are that Travis Long is in it.
357 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 2015
151 people are currently reading
963 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
329 books4,561 followersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
April 29, 2025
This second book adds a lot of meat to the bones given in the first book. A good space opera with an involved, dramatic, and eminently readable climactic battle. Good secondary characters and progression on the main character's arc. Definitely benefits from reading the prior book first, not a stand-alone.
May 9, 2023
Very nice 2nd book in the prequel series. Great action and fast paced story. Very recommended
August 31, 2015
second Travis Long novel and the one containing the original novella published a while ago about the first Volsung invasion of Manticore, novella that comprises essentially the last 1/3 of the novel; comparable with the first one in many ways, though the Volsung battle is still quite exciting even on reread; looking forward to the next one which will finally advance the storyline here
February 19, 2018
Another really good installment in the "Honorverse"...
October 22, 2015
maybe 5 is a bit too high, but I can't help it, those manticorans got under my skin now, and, besides, who says that reviews have to be objective? That's what descriptions are for.
September 21, 2015
OK...I wanted to love this book since I really enjoyed the first book in this new series, but it suffers from Honor-versitis. What do I mean by that? Well, simply put -- too many characters doing too many things, attending too many staff meetings and dinner parties while the main baddies are super duper brilliant and amazing and can launch long-term multi-year complex plans that come together like clockwork, virtually undetected. And the main character, who we're told is the quite capable Lt. Travis Long barely makes an appearance in the first 160 pages of the book where he accomplishes only two things -- he babysits someone's dog and turns in an old friend for violating ship's regs. *Sigh*. Yes, once we finally get to the action it's great stuff - but along the way the pacing is too slow, it doesn't move along like the first book and moves at the pace of the long-winded later entries into the Honorverse. Please edit this book and eliminate all of the extraneous plot lines and staff meetings, give me some energy please!!!
November 28, 2015
A Call to Arms (Honorverse: Manticore Ascendant #2) by David Weber, Timothy Zahn, Thomas Pope – Travis Long was the main character in the first book in this series and once again we follow him into danger. This series is a prequel and backstory for the Honor Harrington series. I found parts of it a little slow and don’t think it would hold anyone’s interest unless they were a fan of the Honor Harrington series. For fans it is a interesting look at Manticore before it became a star power. The lead up to that is a the heart of the plot. Somethings are settled but much is left to be revealed.
June 27, 2019
This book has both many of the good parts and many of the deficits of its predecessor in the trilogy. It’s a fun, light read with thrilling action scenes and very clear good guys and bad guys. And I enjoyed getting to get a glimpse of the early years of manticore and spending time with a hero who is basically an ordinary guy. But there is not as much character development as I would like. Travis is a bit more experienced by the end of this book but not all that different from who he was at this trilogy’s beginning. And while we get a bit more development on some of the other characters none of them is as complex as I would perhaps like. Still, if you are in the market for something fun and not too heavy, this book doesn’t make a bad choice.
The writing is solid. Weber can be verbose at times but his co-rider seems to have rained him in a bit with this trilogy. And watching the debates as to the necessity and shape of the manticore in navy is fascinating in light of what comes later.
The writing is solid. Weber can be verbose at times but his co-rider seems to have rained him in a bit with this trilogy. And watching the debates as to the necessity and shape of the manticore in navy is fascinating in light of what comes later.
October 14, 2023
Väl värd att läsa om man gillar genren. En enkel intrig som tillåts användas så väl som möjligt, med den ångest och okunskap som kan förväntas av frånvaro av kommunikationsmedel. De flesta av oss vet att vi inte alltid förstår varandra, och att vi inte alltid ser effekterna av vad de som vill oss illa gör, innan det är för sent. Denna bok djupdyker i detta, på en galaktisk nivå. Helt klart läsvärt.
February 9, 2022
Second in the Manticore Ascendant military science fiction series (a prequel to the Honor Harrington series) and revolving around that stickler of a Royal Manticoran Navy Lieutenant Travis U. Long. It's been four years since
A Call to Duty
, 1.
I'm guessing Weber decided to expand upon Timothy Zahn's short story Beginnings: "A Call to Arms" . . .
My Take
It just goes to show that politicians are alike everywhere and when, allowing their own interests free rein, promoting their issues with lies.
It's obvious that A Call to Arms is a set-up to promote the Navy — versus all the anti-Navy politicians. The drama is increased with all the descriptions of how weak the Navy already is. As for the one-in-the-eye, Breakwater wants to transfer ships from the Navy, outfit them with weapons, and have his people trained to operate them only there's no room in the academy for his people nor enough people in the Navy to transfer over to train Breakwater's. Unless Breakwater gives in on funding.
Nor does it help that the Navy is enduring nepotism instead of promoting quality.
After reading Honor Harrington, it is weird to read about missiles being considered expensive and valuable, so much so that they need the cooperation of three officers to launch one.
Weber & company use a third person global subjective point-of-view from a number of perspectives, which gives us insight into a number of the characters' stories.
Poor Travis has an unhappy character arc that will hopefully expand his perspective. He does have his admirers, but they're all trying to get him to see the bigger picture. As for Ensign Locatelli, well, he's a welcome surprise.
Web & company get heavyhanded with going on about Manticore not being able to win. It does seem impossible, but geez, do they have to go on and on about it?
We'll see both sides of greed and a passion for one's country. And we'll learn how "travesty" became part of Travis' signature. Poor guy.
Yep, it's action-packed with characters from one extreme to the other. The text is heavy with science and engineering, but if you skim that part, you'll enjoy the story.
The Story
Lieutenant Travis Long of the Royal Manticoran Navy is the sort of person who likes an orderly universe with officers who do their duty. The good news is that Travis is one of those rare people who has a talent for thinking outside them when everything starts coming apart. The bad news is that two of the best ways of making enemies ever invented are insisting on enforcing the rules...and thinking outside them when other people don't.
But there are powerful forces in the young Star Kingdom of Manticore's Parliament that don't think they need the Royal Manticoran Navy. After all, what does a sleepy little single-system star nation on the outer edge of the explored galaxy need with a navy?
Unhappily for them, the edge of the explored galaxy can be a far more dangerous place than they think it is. They're about to find out why they need the navy…and how very, very fortunate they are that Travis Long is in it.
The Characters
The Kingdom of Manticore is . . .
. . . composed of three planets and is ruled by King Michael; Mary is his wife. His son, Capt Edward Winton, is the crown prince and in command of Sphinx . Edward is married to Cynthia and they have a son, Richard, who will be an ensign aboard Hercules, and a daughter, Sophie. Elizabeth is Edward's half-sister who married widower Carmichael de Quieroz, Baron New Madrid, and she will be raising Carmichael's three children. King Roger and Roger's daughter, Queen Elizabeth, had died in office. Thorson is Manticore's single moon.
The Royal Manticoran Navy
First Lord of the Admiralty Cazenestro has promoted out-system trips. Admiral Carlton Locatelli has an officious nephew whom he protects. Admiral Anastasiya Dembinski is in charge of BuPers (Bureau of Personnel). Lt Cmdr George Sukowski is one of hers.
Navy forces are split into three groups: Green Task Force One, commanded by Locatelli, and Two in the Manticore-A system and Red Force, commanded by Admiral Jacobson, at Manticore-B.
Lieutenant jg Travis Uriah Long, a mustang (an enlisted man promoted to officer), is a by-the-books Navy man with ingenuity and the ability to think outside the box. Travis' half-brother, Gavin Vellacott, Baron Winterfall, is on the opposition, which is against the Navy. Travis' mother breeds dogs. This is not to say that Travis has a relationship with his mother or Winterfall.
Capt Marcello is in command of Damocles . Tactical Officer (TO) Lieutenant Commander (Lt Cmdr) Lisa Donnelly is recently divorced and lost custody of their Scottish terrier, Crumpets. (She'd served with Travis on the Vanguard and Guardian. Rolfe is her ex.) Susan Shiflett is the executive officer (XO). More of the crew includes Chief Petty Officer MacNiven, Cmdr Pappadakis in charge of engineering, Petty Officer First Class Charles "Chomps" Townsend of Sphinx, Electronic Warfare Tech Second Gregor Redko is friends with Townsend, Spacer Second Class Aj Krit had been Redko's partner on that humiliating search, Chief Lydia Ulvestad is on com, Coxswain Plover of the mistaken ID, and Lt Nikkelsen.
HMS Salamander's captain is John Ross, Baron Fairburn. Senior Chief Fire Control Tech Lorelei Osterman has a widowed father who's looking forward to her coming home for a visit . . . after he tells her to look after young Fenton Locatelli who's posted aboard as a know-it-all ensign. So unfair! Cmdr Maximillian Todd is the XO. Chief Marulich is on the com. Wanda Ravel is TO. Spacer First Class Hugo Carpenter is only trying to keep Locatelli at bay. Ravel. Forward Gunnery Officer Lt jg Pascal Navarre.
HMS Phoenix's captain is Capt Castillo. who will inherit Locatelli. And the admiral insists Osterman be transferred with him. Weapons Officer Lt Cmdr Bajek; Lt Brad Fornier, commander of the Missile Division; Spacer Second Skorsky; Cmdr Vance Sladek is the XO; Beam Weapon Tech Second Tomasello; and, Townsend drops a rank to Missile Tech First and transfers to Phoenix.
HMS Invincible's captain is Allegra Metzger, who gets a vindictive Admiral Locatelli. Lt Tessa Griswold, Cmdr McBride, and Lt Cmdr Perrow is the TO.
HMS Casey is almost ready. Her commander is Commodore Rudolph Heissman. Cmdr Celia Belokas is his XO. Travis is transferred in — with a much better commander. Lt Cmdr Alfred Woodburn, Lt Rusk, Lt Dahl is the Forward Weapons division head, Chief Kebiro is on com, Shapira, and Albert.
HMS Hercules's is captained by Adrian Hagros. Ensign Richard Winton is newly assigned, Lt Petrenko is in Forward Impeller, and, Impeller Tech Chief Labatte.
The Aries , captained by Ellen Hardesty, is part of MPARS. Townsend gets transferred yet again. Ensign Kyell is nominally in charge of weapons. Spacer Second Class Ghanem. TO Ensign Rol Badakar is inexperienced, but his first assignment had been Damocles. Husovski is an example of the negative of nepotism. The MPARS Taurus , captained by Kostava, also ignored the memo.
Capt Eigen of the HMS Guardian reported pirate activity in Secour. Swiftsure and Victory get back in service. Gorgon , HMS Gemini, and Sphinx. HMS Vanguard is commanded by Capt Davison, who refused to use his missiles. Captain (Capt) Billingsley is tyrannical and in command of the Thorson . Capt Franklin Casey had been the only recipient of the Manticore Cross. It will be renamed the Locatelli Cross. The Cross of Military Valor will be renamed the Osterman Cross. Jonny Funk had been Travis' old drill instructor and a friend.
The Government
Prime Minister Davis Harper, Duke Burgundy. Clara Sumner, Countess Calvingdell, is the defense minister with a few undercover operations going, and Baroness Castle Rock is good at political analysis.
The power-hungry Chancellor of the Exchequer Anderson L'Estrange, Earl Breakwater, wants to practically dismantle the Royal Manticoran Navy and build up the Manticore Patrol and Rescue Service (MPARS), the kingdom's home guard. Additional anti-Navy allies stripping the Navy include Earl Chillon and Yvonne Rowlandson, Baroness Tweenriver, and Secretary of Industry Baron Harwich.
Countess Acton has a new managing director, Heinrich Hauptman.
Manticore Space Control has some of people who get excited when a ship comes through, such as the freighter Hosney .
Phobos had been a debacle investigated by Dapplelake with some nasty fallout ( A Call to Duty , 1).
Canaan is . . .
. . . an obscure world that had been taken over by General Amador Khetha who declared himself the Supreme Chosen One until he was overthrown.
Casca is . . .
. . . a neighbor of the Star Kingdom, which has a very small fleet of cargo ships. Commodore Gordon Henderson had participated in the Secour disaster. Professor Cushing is the head of their tiny Military Intelligence and Decryption Department. Commissioner Peirola is head of the Department of Ports and Customs with a fondness for good food and wine. Police Detective Dolarz is with the Quechua City PD, investigating those gunshots along with Lt Nabaum.
Khetha has taken refuge here in its capital city, Quechua City. Ulobo is one of Khetha's aides. Score Settler is Khetha's diplomatic courier ship. The Black Piranha is a criminal organization.
The Silesia Confederacy is . . .
. . . is a government that turns a blind eye to piracy.
The Volsungs are . . .
. . . are a mercenary group, with a bent toward piracy, headquartered in Rochelle on the planet Telmach. Admiral Cutler Gensonne, a.k.a. Admiral Tamerlane, is their leader and had formerly served under Anderman, and he's aboard Capt Sweeney Imbar's Odin . Clymes. Tyr is commanded by the arrogant Blakely. Capt Olver claims to be the personnel transport Leviathan . Umbriel and Miranda are part of the Sidewinder Force and captained by Patterson and Hawkin. Naglfar . Copperhead (its captain is Von Belling) and Adder are in their own stack. Ganymede guards the starboard flank. Phobos is hanging back. Capt De la Roza is in command of Thor and the main force. Cmdr Jenz is in the CIC. Obregad is the TO. Fox . Selene .
The Andermani Empire is . . .
. . . started with Gustav Anderman conquering Kuan Yin, renaming it Potsdam, and then taking over five more planets.
< Haven is . . .
. . . another planetary system that is still friendly with Manticore. Mota, a system hacker member of a gang that was part of the Secour pirate attack, is a prisoner at Deuxième Prison. Guzarwan had been in command of the gang and Wanderer , which included Dhotrumi, Vachali, and Shora.
The Solarian League is . . .
. . . the biggest system in the world, based in Chicago. They had passed the Eridani Edict, which forbids bombing a planet.
Axelrod of Terra is . . .
. . . a powerful and evil corporation with a huge secret. Jeremiah Llyn is so average looking that he makes an excellent spy. One with no conscience. Pointer is one of the big dogs.
Soleil Azur is a freighter. I think Torrell Baker is its captain.
Captain Shresthra of Berstuk commands the Izbica . His crew includes the engineer, Pickers, and Nguema is the helmsman. Grimm, Bettor, and Merripen of Axelrod are passengers aboard Izbica.
Tash McConnovitch, a data scavenger, only has to deliver the data. Hermie.
The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily browns and blacks, starting with the background in black. A good three-fourths of the cover is an inset bordered in a thin red. Within it is a space battle with the foremost ship making a direct hit on the middle ship and a third ship off to the right in the back. Most of the inset's background is a gradation of brown angling off to deep blue to the upper right. A misty deep blue slice of a planet is in the lower left corner. At the top of the cover are the authors' names. Overlapping the top border is a two-tone ribbon scroll in blue with a pale blue outline with the overall series info in white. Immediately below it is the title in a rounded bronze with a black and gray outline, and stars on either side of "arms". At the bottom left of the cover is the immediate series info in a textured gray blue.
Oh yeah, the title is definitely A Call to Arms as Manticore faces its first serious attack.
I'm guessing Weber decided to expand upon Timothy Zahn's short story Beginnings: "A Call to Arms" . . .
My Take
It just goes to show that politicians are alike everywhere and when, allowing their own interests free rein, promoting their issues with lies.
It's obvious that A Call to Arms is a set-up to promote the Navy — versus all the anti-Navy politicians. The drama is increased with all the descriptions of how weak the Navy already is. As for the one-in-the-eye, Breakwater wants to transfer ships from the Navy, outfit them with weapons, and have his people trained to operate them only there's no room in the academy for his people nor enough people in the Navy to transfer over to train Breakwater's. Unless Breakwater gives in on funding.
Nor does it help that the Navy is enduring nepotism instead of promoting quality.
After reading Honor Harrington, it is weird to read about missiles being considered expensive and valuable, so much so that they need the cooperation of three officers to launch one.
Weber & company use a third person global subjective point-of-view from a number of perspectives, which gives us insight into a number of the characters' stories.
Poor Travis has an unhappy character arc that will hopefully expand his perspective. He does have his admirers, but they're all trying to get him to see the bigger picture. As for Ensign Locatelli, well, he's a welcome surprise.
Web & company get heavyhanded with going on about Manticore not being able to win. It does seem impossible, but geez, do they have to go on and on about it?
We'll see both sides of greed and a passion for one's country. And we'll learn how "travesty" became part of Travis' signature. Poor guy.
Yep, it's action-packed with characters from one extreme to the other. The text is heavy with science and engineering, but if you skim that part, you'll enjoy the story.
The Story
Lieutenant Travis Long of the Royal Manticoran Navy is the sort of person who likes an orderly universe with officers who do their duty. The good news is that Travis is one of those rare people who has a talent for thinking outside them when everything starts coming apart. The bad news is that two of the best ways of making enemies ever invented are insisting on enforcing the rules...and thinking outside them when other people don't.
But there are powerful forces in the young Star Kingdom of Manticore's Parliament that don't think they need the Royal Manticoran Navy. After all, what does a sleepy little single-system star nation on the outer edge of the explored galaxy need with a navy?
Unhappily for them, the edge of the explored galaxy can be a far more dangerous place than they think it is. They're about to find out why they need the navy…and how very, very fortunate they are that Travis Long is in it.
The Characters
The Kingdom of Manticore is . . .
. . . composed of three planets and is ruled by King Michael; Mary is his wife. His son, Capt Edward Winton, is the crown prince and in command of Sphinx . Edward is married to Cynthia and they have a son, Richard, who will be an ensign aboard Hercules, and a daughter, Sophie. Elizabeth is Edward's half-sister who married widower Carmichael de Quieroz, Baron New Madrid, and she will be raising Carmichael's three children. King Roger and Roger's daughter, Queen Elizabeth, had died in office. Thorson is Manticore's single moon.
The Royal Manticoran Navy
First Lord of the Admiralty Cazenestro has promoted out-system trips. Admiral Carlton Locatelli has an officious nephew whom he protects. Admiral Anastasiya Dembinski is in charge of BuPers (Bureau of Personnel). Lt Cmdr George Sukowski is one of hers.
Navy forces are split into three groups: Green Task Force One, commanded by Locatelli, and Two in the Manticore-A system and Red Force, commanded by Admiral Jacobson, at Manticore-B.
Lieutenant jg Travis Uriah Long, a mustang (an enlisted man promoted to officer), is a by-the-books Navy man with ingenuity and the ability to think outside the box. Travis' half-brother, Gavin Vellacott, Baron Winterfall, is on the opposition, which is against the Navy. Travis' mother breeds dogs. This is not to say that Travis has a relationship with his mother or Winterfall.
Capt Marcello is in command of Damocles . Tactical Officer (TO) Lieutenant Commander (Lt Cmdr) Lisa Donnelly is recently divorced and lost custody of their Scottish terrier, Crumpets. (She'd served with Travis on the Vanguard and Guardian. Rolfe is her ex.) Susan Shiflett is the executive officer (XO). More of the crew includes Chief Petty Officer MacNiven, Cmdr Pappadakis in charge of engineering, Petty Officer First Class Charles "Chomps" Townsend of Sphinx, Electronic Warfare Tech Second Gregor Redko is friends with Townsend, Spacer Second Class Aj Krit had been Redko's partner on that humiliating search, Chief Lydia Ulvestad is on com, Coxswain Plover of the mistaken ID, and Lt Nikkelsen.
HMS Salamander's captain is John Ross, Baron Fairburn. Senior Chief Fire Control Tech Lorelei Osterman has a widowed father who's looking forward to her coming home for a visit . . . after he tells her to look after young Fenton Locatelli who's posted aboard as a know-it-all ensign. So unfair! Cmdr Maximillian Todd is the XO. Chief Marulich is on the com. Wanda Ravel is TO. Spacer First Class Hugo Carpenter is only trying to keep Locatelli at bay. Ravel. Forward Gunnery Officer Lt jg Pascal Navarre.
HMS Phoenix's captain is Capt Castillo. who will inherit Locatelli. And the admiral insists Osterman be transferred with him. Weapons Officer Lt Cmdr Bajek; Lt Brad Fornier, commander of the Missile Division; Spacer Second Skorsky; Cmdr Vance Sladek is the XO; Beam Weapon Tech Second Tomasello; and, Townsend drops a rank to Missile Tech First and transfers to Phoenix.
HMS Invincible's captain is Allegra Metzger, who gets a vindictive Admiral Locatelli. Lt Tessa Griswold, Cmdr McBride, and Lt Cmdr Perrow is the TO.
HMS Casey is almost ready. Her commander is Commodore Rudolph Heissman. Cmdr Celia Belokas is his XO. Travis is transferred in — with a much better commander. Lt Cmdr Alfred Woodburn, Lt Rusk, Lt Dahl is the Forward Weapons division head, Chief Kebiro is on com, Shapira, and Albert.
HMS Hercules's is captained by Adrian Hagros. Ensign Richard Winton is newly assigned, Lt Petrenko is in Forward Impeller, and, Impeller Tech Chief Labatte.
The Aries , captained by Ellen Hardesty, is part of MPARS. Townsend gets transferred yet again. Ensign Kyell is nominally in charge of weapons. Spacer Second Class Ghanem. TO Ensign Rol Badakar is inexperienced, but his first assignment had been Damocles. Husovski is an example of the negative of nepotism. The MPARS Taurus , captained by Kostava, also ignored the memo.
Capt Eigen of the HMS Guardian reported pirate activity in Secour. Swiftsure and Victory get back in service. Gorgon , HMS Gemini, and Sphinx. HMS Vanguard is commanded by Capt Davison, who refused to use his missiles. Captain (Capt) Billingsley is tyrannical and in command of the Thorson . Capt Franklin Casey had been the only recipient of the Manticore Cross. It will be renamed the Locatelli Cross. The Cross of Military Valor will be renamed the Osterman Cross. Jonny Funk had been Travis' old drill instructor and a friend.
The Government
Prime Minister Davis Harper, Duke Burgundy. Clara Sumner, Countess Calvingdell, is the defense minister with a few undercover operations going, and Baroness Castle Rock is good at political analysis.
The power-hungry Chancellor of the Exchequer Anderson L'Estrange, Earl Breakwater, wants to practically dismantle the Royal Manticoran Navy and build up the Manticore Patrol and Rescue Service (MPARS), the kingdom's home guard. Additional anti-Navy allies stripping the Navy include Earl Chillon and Yvonne Rowlandson, Baroness Tweenriver, and Secretary of Industry Baron Harwich.
Countess Acton has a new managing director, Heinrich Hauptman.
Manticore Space Control has some of people who get excited when a ship comes through, such as the freighter Hosney .
Phobos had been a debacle investigated by Dapplelake with some nasty fallout ( A Call to Duty , 1).
Canaan is . . .
. . . an obscure world that had been taken over by General Amador Khetha who declared himself the Supreme Chosen One until he was overthrown.
Casca is . . .
. . . a neighbor of the Star Kingdom, which has a very small fleet of cargo ships. Commodore Gordon Henderson had participated in the Secour disaster. Professor Cushing is the head of their tiny Military Intelligence and Decryption Department. Commissioner Peirola is head of the Department of Ports and Customs with a fondness for good food and wine. Police Detective Dolarz is with the Quechua City PD, investigating those gunshots along with Lt Nabaum.
Khetha has taken refuge here in its capital city, Quechua City. Ulobo is one of Khetha's aides. Score Settler is Khetha's diplomatic courier ship. The Black Piranha is a criminal organization.
The Silesia Confederacy is . . .
. . . is a government that turns a blind eye to piracy.
The Volsungs are . . .
. . . are a mercenary group, with a bent toward piracy, headquartered in Rochelle on the planet Telmach. Admiral Cutler Gensonne, a.k.a. Admiral Tamerlane, is their leader and had formerly served under Anderman, and he's aboard Capt Sweeney Imbar's Odin . Clymes. Tyr is commanded by the arrogant Blakely. Capt Olver claims to be the personnel transport Leviathan . Umbriel and Miranda are part of the Sidewinder Force and captained by Patterson and Hawkin. Naglfar . Copperhead (its captain is Von Belling) and Adder are in their own stack. Ganymede guards the starboard flank. Phobos is hanging back. Capt De la Roza is in command of Thor and the main force. Cmdr Jenz is in the CIC. Obregad is the TO. Fox . Selene .
The Andermani Empire is . . .
. . . started with Gustav Anderman conquering Kuan Yin, renaming it Potsdam, and then taking over five more planets.
< Haven is . . .
. . . another planetary system that is still friendly with Manticore. Mota, a system hacker member of a gang that was part of the Secour pirate attack, is a prisoner at Deuxième Prison. Guzarwan had been in command of the gang and Wanderer , which included Dhotrumi, Vachali, and Shora.
The Solarian League is . . .
. . . the biggest system in the world, based in Chicago. They had passed the Eridani Edict, which forbids bombing a planet.
Axelrod of Terra is . . .
. . . a powerful and evil corporation with a huge secret. Jeremiah Llyn is so average looking that he makes an excellent spy. One with no conscience. Pointer is one of the big dogs.
Soleil Azur is a freighter. I think Torrell Baker is its captain.
Captain Shresthra of Berstuk commands the Izbica . His crew includes the engineer, Pickers, and Nguema is the helmsman. Grimm, Bettor, and Merripen of Axelrod are passengers aboard Izbica.
Tash McConnovitch, a data scavenger, only has to deliver the data. Hermie.
The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily browns and blacks, starting with the background in black. A good three-fourths of the cover is an inset bordered in a thin red. Within it is a space battle with the foremost ship making a direct hit on the middle ship and a third ship off to the right in the back. Most of the inset's background is a gradation of brown angling off to deep blue to the upper right. A misty deep blue slice of a planet is in the lower left corner. At the top of the cover are the authors' names. Overlapping the top border is a two-tone ribbon scroll in blue with a pale blue outline with the overall series info in white. Immediately below it is the title in a rounded bronze with a black and gray outline, and stars on either side of "arms". At the bottom left of the cover is the immediate series info in a textured gray blue.
Oh yeah, the title is definitely A Call to Arms as Manticore faces its first serious attack.
October 3, 2017
There is definitely a bit of the mid-series blahs in this book.. it starts off very slowly, but the last third is one of Weber's patented space-naval battles, which is great fun as usual.
Honorverse fans will enjoy the tech differences and the more simplistic capabilities, while at the same time still showing the good guys, the faux-British Manticorans, at their best in the role of resourceful underdog.
As with the first book, the main weakness is the utter unlikability of the main character, and the snoozefest political scenes. Those are made all the worse when Travis (the main character) screws over his friend and one of the only intriguing supporting characters, and it turns out he was utterly unfair to the standard 'spoiled-brat-that-really-is-OK' character that Weber loves.
Overall, a good read for the battle scene, but honestly you could probably skip the 1st half.
Honorverse fans will enjoy the tech differences and the more simplistic capabilities, while at the same time still showing the good guys, the faux-British Manticorans, at their best in the role of resourceful underdog.
As with the first book, the main weakness is the utter unlikability of the main character, and the snoozefest political scenes. Those are made all the worse when Travis (the main character) screws over his friend and one of the only intriguing supporting characters, and it turns out he was utterly unfair to the standard 'spoiled-brat-that-really-is-OK' character that Weber loves.
Overall, a good read for the battle scene, but honestly you could probably skip the 1st half.
April 14, 2018
The start of this book was a big disappointment, the previous book wasn’t great but the ending made me think that this one might be more to the point and less rambling. It isn’t!!!
The start of this book was so boring. I know lots of people like the political intrigue in David Weber’s novels and in fact I’m quite partial to a good political thriller, but why does it have to be so long-winded, he can write pages and pages and say so little.
I have several other issues with this book, the main one beginning;
The last third of the book is the big battle and I thought this was really well written and nearly made up for the tedium of the first half of the book. If the rest of the book had been like this I would have given 4/5 stars.
The start of this book was so boring. I know lots of people like the political intrigue in David Weber’s novels and in fact I’m quite partial to a good political thriller, but why does it have to be so long-winded, he can write pages and pages and say so little.
I have several other issues with this book, the main one beginning;
The last third of the book is the big battle and I thought this was really well written and nearly made up for the tedium of the first half of the book. If the rest of the book had been like this I would have given 4/5 stars.
March 31, 2018
ACtA is set several hundred years before the Honor Harrington series. It is not a safe time. Shadowy and powerful forces have decided that the Manticore binary system has great value and plan to take it over by force. The chronically underfunded and understaffed Manticore space navy will find itself with its back to the wall and in a fight to the death.
Good military SF with a lot of intrigue and some interesting characters.
Good military SF with a lot of intrigue and some interesting characters.
July 31, 2022
A good book in the series
This was a good book in the series. The characters were well written as usual for the authors. The plot line and political intrigue used throughout was well written. The use of the politics and military maneuvering was a good mix.
This was a good book in the series. The characters were well written as usual for the authors. The plot line and political intrigue used throughout was well written. The use of the politics and military maneuvering was a good mix.
July 31, 2018
Surprisingly fast read. And with kind of a light touch. Which is weird for a book that is mostly battles. But really cleverly done battles that make a lot of sense. And make good use of the technology laid down by the world building. Not a deep book. But it fills the space intended for it. I'm still waiting for the Manticore Wormhole Junction to be discovered though - maybe next book.
July 29, 2022
So I was pretty rough in my review of the Book 1: A Call to Action for not having enough action for my tastes. A Call to Arms, book 2 seems to make up for my insatiable need for constant danger and turmoil of the characters that I have come to know from the introductory installment. One think that rang out while reading this novel was the intensity of the technical details of space dog fighting. An understanding of the technology and technical details is assumed from mentioning it over and over and never really explained (that I picked up), so you just have to figure it out. This can be somewhat tedious and make reading some portions a chore. Overall, I think it's a decent book with a lot of thought put into the writing. I'll be following up the later two books in the series in August.
July 3, 2020
A CALL TO ARMS is the second book in the Manticore Ascendant trilogy. Its main viewpoint character is Travis Uriah Long who is serving in the Royal Manticoran Navy. Travis is a rule follower and a stickler for doing the right thing. Writing up a fellow officer for infractions puts him on the radar of a very powerful Admiral who is subtly and not-so-subtly hampering his career.
Of course, despite being a rule follower, Travis has a remarkable talent for coming up with out of the box solutions to problems when the sh*t hits the fan. This becomes an essential skill in this episode. Manticore, after a hundred years of peace, has become the target of an organization who wants to conquer it and take over its valuable wormhole.
The story takes place over six years. As is usual in a Weber book, many plot threads intertwine. One of them tells the story of a spy named Llyn who is gradually assembling the forces that will lead to the takeover of Manticore by his employers. I liked the way that various members of the RMN get hints of what Llyn is doing but don't have enough information to put all the pieces together.
One other plot thread has to do with political infighting on Manticore. Strong factions led the Lord Breakwater, Chancellor of the Exchequer, don't see the need for a Navy and are constantly trying to gut it and transfer assets and personnel to the Manticore Patrol and Rescue Service which has smaller, unarmed ships and has as its mission close-in protection for the planet. Since MPARS is under Breakwater's command, any strengthening increases his influence and power. For some reason, Travis's half-brother Baron Winterfall is a strong supporter of Breakwater.
I like the way Travis changes over the six years of the story and the way he gains supporters of his own among the part of the RMN who value competence more than nepotism. He doesn't play politics at all well which doesn't really change from the beginning to the end of the story.
The main action in this book is the attempt by armed mercenaries hired by Llyn to take over the planet. A hundred years of peace is shattered when the invading force appears on Manticoran Space where they will be opposed by the RMN which is under-staffed, under-supplied and determined to save their home planet.
Fans space operas will enjoy this intriguing series which is a prequel series to the Honor Harrington series.
Of course, despite being a rule follower, Travis has a remarkable talent for coming up with out of the box solutions to problems when the sh*t hits the fan. This becomes an essential skill in this episode. Manticore, after a hundred years of peace, has become the target of an organization who wants to conquer it and take over its valuable wormhole.
The story takes place over six years. As is usual in a Weber book, many plot threads intertwine. One of them tells the story of a spy named Llyn who is gradually assembling the forces that will lead to the takeover of Manticore by his employers. I liked the way that various members of the RMN get hints of what Llyn is doing but don't have enough information to put all the pieces together.
One other plot thread has to do with political infighting on Manticore. Strong factions led the Lord Breakwater, Chancellor of the Exchequer, don't see the need for a Navy and are constantly trying to gut it and transfer assets and personnel to the Manticore Patrol and Rescue Service which has smaller, unarmed ships and has as its mission close-in protection for the planet. Since MPARS is under Breakwater's command, any strengthening increases his influence and power. For some reason, Travis's half-brother Baron Winterfall is a strong supporter of Breakwater.
I like the way Travis changes over the six years of the story and the way he gains supporters of his own among the part of the RMN who value competence more than nepotism. He doesn't play politics at all well which doesn't really change from the beginning to the end of the story.
The main action in this book is the attempt by armed mercenaries hired by Llyn to take over the planet. A hundred years of peace is shattered when the invading force appears on Manticoran Space where they will be opposed by the RMN which is under-staffed, under-supplied and determined to save their home planet.
Fans space operas will enjoy this intriguing series which is a prequel series to the Honor Harrington series.
October 2, 2015
This is another good book by David Weber & Co. Unfortunately I have to say that I liked the first book in the series better. The book is quite slow to start and, what I consider the main character, Travis is really not present at all during a good first chunk of the book. During this part of the book it suffers a bit from the “David Weber Syndrome” were people just go around and talk, discuss and talk some more. The latter third of the book makes up for this with plenty of action but the first parts of the book still drags it down quite a bit.
Most of the book is spent on the build up for the war to come. We are following one of the principal agents in his endeavours to set the stage for a crushing defeat of the Manticoran forces which, due to the usual political short-sightedness as well the equally usual habit of said politicians to work primarily for their own gain, is a abysmally poor state. This is also one of the parts with this book that I do not like very much. A lot of it is spent on frustrating politics and political manoeuvring.
Luckily things do heat up in the third part of the book when the cat is out of the bag and the shit hits the fan big-time. Once we get to the fleet action it is as good as can be expected from a book (partly) written by David Weber. These parts were a pleasure to read.
The, not so surprising, outbreak of the hostilities also means that previously mentioned assholes (aka politicians) got some nice surprises and consequently got slapped around a bit. Unfortunately, and this frustrated me to no end, these assholes actually do not get it but, during the very end of the book, they immediately starts to plot how they can use the events for their own gain. What was especially pissing me off were the parts where the jerk Winterfall repetedly tries to convince himself that he is working in Manticore’s best interest by continuing to have his head stuck up Breakwater’s arse. Not only that but they manage to screw Travis over…again. Arrrggghhhh!
On the whole it is a good book. As the previous one it is good but not great and I liked the previous one better.
Most of the book is spent on the build up for the war to come. We are following one of the principal agents in his endeavours to set the stage for a crushing defeat of the Manticoran forces which, due to the usual political short-sightedness as well the equally usual habit of said politicians to work primarily for their own gain, is a abysmally poor state. This is also one of the parts with this book that I do not like very much. A lot of it is spent on frustrating politics and political manoeuvring.
Luckily things do heat up in the third part of the book when the cat is out of the bag and the shit hits the fan big-time. Once we get to the fleet action it is as good as can be expected from a book (partly) written by David Weber. These parts were a pleasure to read.
The, not so surprising, outbreak of the hostilities also means that previously mentioned assholes (aka politicians) got some nice surprises and consequently got slapped around a bit. Unfortunately, and this frustrated me to no end, these assholes actually do not get it but, during the very end of the book, they immediately starts to plot how they can use the events for their own gain. What was especially pissing me off were the parts where the jerk Winterfall repetedly tries to convince himself that he is working in Manticore’s best interest by continuing to have his head stuck up Breakwater’s arse. Not only that but they manage to screw Travis over…again. Arrrggghhhh!
On the whole it is a good book. As the previous one it is good but not great and I liked the previous one better.
November 26, 2016
This on I would give a four and a quarter if I could.
The action scenes are very well done, if the main battle went on for quite a few pages, but Weber and the other two writers, got not the minds of more than one character and there were at least three separate stages to the battle. The build up was good.
The various characters-and there a few of them-stayed in character for them. The way Manticore's system works is well developed. You wish it wasn't that way but you will understand how it works. The book isn't as long as Weber's usual works but that is probably because of the other two writers. I don't know who did the most work but there are definite characteristics of Weber's other works.
There is quite a bit of political and personal action going on, not so much fighting action, but that is there, as I implied already. Everything and every person is set up just right to get them in the right spot for what they do during the battle. Including one person who had very little on camera time and who didn't have much chance to do anything-good or bad.
I would very much recommend this book but get the first one first, since this is number two.
The action scenes are very well done, if the main battle went on for quite a few pages, but Weber and the other two writers, got not the minds of more than one character and there were at least three separate stages to the battle. The build up was good.
The various characters-and there a few of them-stayed in character for them. The way Manticore's system works is well developed. You wish it wasn't that way but you will understand how it works. The book isn't as long as Weber's usual works but that is probably because of the other two writers. I don't know who did the most work but there are definite characteristics of Weber's other works.
There is quite a bit of political and personal action going on, not so much fighting action, but that is there, as I implied already. Everything and every person is set up just right to get them in the right spot for what they do during the battle. Including one person who had very little on camera time and who didn't have much chance to do anything-good or bad.
I would very much recommend this book but get the first one first, since this is number two.
November 3, 2015
I am a big Honor Harrington fan and can hardly wait for more stories about Manticore and Honor. This is book two in the Manticore Ascendant series. Lieutenant Travis Long of the Royal Manticorean Navy is a mustang. Long is an enlisted man who has been given a commission as an officer. Manticore is going through a stage where it is trying to decide if it even needs a navy. Suddenly they find out how dangerous the universe is.
The book is well written, the pace is fast, and as with any Weber book there are technical details about space flight and fighting. I think the co-authors kept Weber from his usual long winded political rants. Weber is great at writing space battles and this story has some good space battle scenes. The book will keep your attention all the way to the end. The book provides information about the early history of Manticore. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Eric Michael Summerer does a good job narrating the book.
The book is well written, the pace is fast, and as with any Weber book there are technical details about space flight and fighting. I think the co-authors kept Weber from his usual long winded political rants. Weber is great at writing space battles and this story has some good space battle scenes. The book will keep your attention all the way to the end. The book provides information about the early history of Manticore. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Eric Michael Summerer does a good job narrating the book.
July 18, 2018
[November 26, 2015]
This is the second book in the "Manticore Ascendant" series, starring young Naval officer Travis Long. But Travis barely appears in the first third of the book. Instead the early action focuses on one of his friends (possible love interest in the future?). Also there's a lot of politics. But there is also a lot of fairly exciting action. And enough hints about the future to make me anxious for the next installment.
[July 18, 2018]
I enjoyed this probably more the second time through. Enough to increase my rating from three stars to four.
This is the second book in the "Manticore Ascendant" series, starring young Naval officer Travis Long. But Travis barely appears in the first third of the book. Instead the early action focuses on one of his friends (possible love interest in the future?). Also there's a lot of politics. But there is also a lot of fairly exciting action. And enough hints about the future to make me anxious for the next installment.
[July 18, 2018]
I enjoyed this probably more the second time through. Enough to increase my rating from three stars to four.
November 11, 2015
Exciting blend of politics and military sci-fi
I lack the skill to write a proper review of this novel, so I will say just a few words. I thought that David Weber had done about all he could with Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom of Manticore but I was wrong. By going back to an earlier period in Manticore's history and introducing new, interesting, sympathetic characters, the story continues without being tired and stale. Even though the reader familiar with the Honorverse knows that Manticore will survive there is still suspense and excitement.
I lack the skill to write a proper review of this novel, so I will say just a few words. I thought that David Weber had done about all he could with Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom of Manticore but I was wrong. By going back to an earlier period in Manticore's history and introducing new, interesting, sympathetic characters, the story continues without being tired and stale. Even though the reader familiar with the Honorverse knows that Manticore will survive there is still suspense and excitement.
October 20, 2015
This is the second book in the Manticore Ascendant series. This is an Honorverse book. It is by David Weber, Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope. I am a big fan of David Weber and Timothy Zahn. I have never read anything by Thomas Pope but I understand that he too is a very good writer. This book is certainly very good, with plenty of action both on the ground and space. This is a fine example of Space Opera/Military Science Fiction. I highly recommend it.
September 24, 2016
Weber is at his best with medium-scale writing: neither the quotidian lives of infantry, nor the grand manoeuvering of nations work as well in his writing as the tales of one captain and her crew. This has a mix of all of the above, and it works about as well as you might expect.
February 21, 2016
I liked this book as much as the first one. These have been an interesting series of books focusing on the formation of the manticoran navy
April 30, 2022
A fine sequel in what is shaping up to be a good series. Having a new set of characters completely unattached to Honor Harrington has injected significant new life into a universe I felt had gotten quite stale, and story of how Manticore established its naval tradition and presence and became a significant power in that corner of the galaxy is a good one. (and because this is a prequel, it limits the ability to pull out too many technological deus ex machinas as problem solving, and as a result I feel like the plotting is a bit tighter)
Building the spine of the book around the twin poles of Travis Long (the somewhat prickly rules-follower) and Lisa Donnelly (who is a bit of a proto-Honor in her ramrod attitude) gives a good structure around relatively junior officers, but not so junior that there isn't a reasonable rationale for them to be in the mix. They're both easy enough to root for and differ enough in their approaches to things that while their basic orientation is similar it's not repetitive.
Some of the politics grate a little; Weber & his collaborators do a poor job in showing the opposition on Manticore as anything other than selfish, egotistical, greedy fools...or stubborn self-righteous prigs too clueless to change. A little more nuance would be better, but this may be where Weber's politics might get in the way. It's a minor note, but a noticeable one. (one of the manipulators of the entire conflict is treated with much more respect and almost admiration for his professionalism & skill, even though he's an amoral murderer)
I will say I think they also made a mistake on listing out the Royal Family of Manticore's family tree in the first book: it tips the hand for some later events as well, a trap that I recall Katherine Kurtz falling into with her Deryni prequels as well. Disappointing to lose the suspense, I think?
The battles are very nicely done, and balance the tactical aspects and details with some excitement and energy. The details and intricacies and accuracy have always been there in this universe, but some times they've tipped past the balance to where only those fascinated with battle tactics and strategy will stay engaged. I think the balance is done well here.
Good book, looking forward to volume 3.
Building the spine of the book around the twin poles of Travis Long (the somewhat prickly rules-follower) and Lisa Donnelly (who is a bit of a proto-Honor in her ramrod attitude) gives a good structure around relatively junior officers, but not so junior that there isn't a reasonable rationale for them to be in the mix. They're both easy enough to root for and differ enough in their approaches to things that while their basic orientation is similar it's not repetitive.
Some of the politics grate a little; Weber & his collaborators do a poor job in showing the opposition on Manticore as anything other than selfish, egotistical, greedy fools...or stubborn self-righteous prigs too clueless to change. A little more nuance would be better, but this may be where Weber's politics might get in the way. It's a minor note, but a noticeable one. (one of the manipulators of the entire conflict is treated with much more respect and almost admiration for his professionalism & skill, even though he's an amoral murderer)
I will say I think they also made a mistake on listing out the Royal Family of Manticore's family tree in the first book: it tips the hand for some later events as well, a trap that I recall Katherine Kurtz falling into with her Deryni prequels as well. Disappointing to lose the suspense, I think?
The battles are very nicely done, and balance the tactical aspects and details with some excitement and energy. The details and intricacies and accuracy have always been there in this universe, but some times they've tipped past the balance to where only those fascinated with battle tactics and strategy will stay engaged. I think the balance is done well here.
Good book, looking forward to volume 3.
Read
November 2, 2020And once again we return to the story of (mostly) Travis Uriah Long, a young officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy who is constitutionally incapable of breaking the rules, and who manages to get into trouble, mostly political, when he tries to make sure they're always applied, even to the politically connected.
It's rather interesting to visit Manticoran prehistory, to learn about events taking place before the wormhole in the system is opened up and Manticore becomes a major power in the area. There's a constant struggle in the halls of power between the royal family and their loyalists in the Navy who know that the best defense is a strong offense, and the opposition who believe that limited resources must be spent domestically, not chasing mythological creatures like pirates, nor threatening aggressive neighbors by patrolling too strongly in their back yards.
There's a plot afoot by secret agents employed by the Axelrod Corporation, who have come to suspect the existence of the Manticore Junction, and who are determined to control it and the system surrounding it, so they've hired a fleet of mercenaries to invade, just at the time when the Navy has grown weak.
The story jumps around between various POVs, as we've come to expect from a Weber book, and can be a bit confusing sometimes, moving from cliffhanger to cliffhanger.
Taking an awful long time to get from point A to point B. Glad we're not paying by the word.
By the way, though I've probably not reviewed any of his stuff here, I'm a big fan of Timothy Zahn, Weber's co-author. I eagerly snatched up the first half dozen or so novels he wrote, back in the eighties. He's a powerful writer all on his lonesome.
It's rather interesting to visit Manticoran prehistory, to learn about events taking place before the wormhole in the system is opened up and Manticore becomes a major power in the area. There's a constant struggle in the halls of power between the royal family and their loyalists in the Navy who know that the best defense is a strong offense, and the opposition who believe that limited resources must be spent domestically, not chasing mythological creatures like pirates, nor threatening aggressive neighbors by patrolling too strongly in their back yards.
There's a plot afoot by secret agents employed by the Axelrod Corporation, who have come to suspect the existence of the Manticore Junction, and who are determined to control it and the system surrounding it, so they've hired a fleet of mercenaries to invade, just at the time when the Navy has grown weak.
The story jumps around between various POVs, as we've come to expect from a Weber book, and can be a bit confusing sometimes, moving from cliffhanger to cliffhanger.
Taking an awful long time to get from point A to point B. Glad we're not paying by the word.
By the way, though I've probably not reviewed any of his stuff here, I'm a big fan of Timothy Zahn, Weber's co-author. I eagerly snatched up the first half dozen or so novels he wrote, back in the eighties. He's a powerful writer all on his lonesome.
December 19, 2023
While the first book was fairly formulaic, that did make it very easy to follow, despite having a dozen or more subplots. This one is much less structured (it's three sections, all a couple of years apart, and they only tie together loosely), yet I found myself enjoying it more.
I always have to grit my teeth during battle scenes, but I've just grown to accept that, like, this is possibly the meat & potatoes of these books for some people. It is what makes it a Weber/Baen book. We get every thought leading up to every action, then the lead-up to the reaction from the appropriate party, then their thoughts into what comes next, then their action, then strike that, reverse it. THIS CAN BE TRIMMED DOWN. But I get it, just b/c I find it double dipping on the action in a grating way doesn't mean others don't enjoy it. Since I cared much less about the characterization going on w/the 'baddies' I just skipped their sections, and it WAS FINE. IT WAS TOTALLY FINE. Did not feel like I missed out on anything.
I was a little sad b/c the couple I liked the most from the first book don't show up here at all. I know they like ... defected (to Haven?) at the end of the first book, but still, we get POV sections from everywhere else, so why not them. Good character development with Chomps, Lisa, and Metzger, though, as well as (obviously) Travis. Also I really liked that Travis got in one really good idea during the climax, but that was it. I'd find it a bit eye-roll-y if he came up with every good idea & saved the day over and over again.
I always have to grit my teeth during battle scenes, but I've just grown to accept that, like, this is possibly the meat & potatoes of these books for some people. It is what makes it a Weber/Baen book. We get every thought leading up to every action, then the lead-up to the reaction from the appropriate party, then their thoughts into what comes next, then their action, then strike that, reverse it. THIS CAN BE TRIMMED DOWN. But I get it, just b/c I find it double dipping on the action in a grating way doesn't mean others don't enjoy it. Since I cared much less about the characterization going on w/the 'baddies' I just skipped their sections, and it WAS FINE. IT WAS TOTALLY FINE. Did not feel like I missed out on anything.
I was a little sad b/c the couple I liked the most from the first book don't show up here at all. I know they like ... defected (to Haven?) at the end of the first book, but still, we get POV sections from everywhere else, so why not them. Good character development with Chomps, Lisa, and Metzger, though, as well as (obviously) Travis. Also I really liked that Travis got in one really good idea during the climax, but that was it. I'd find it a bit eye-roll-y if he came up with every good idea & saved the day over and over again.
June 16, 2018
I generally find it entertaining when some one enters the universe of a grand master story teller, (such as David Weber) and develops the back story -or- as I like to think of it, plays with the toys that David left there.
This Manticore Ascendant series has three books so far and having recently purchased book three, I took the time to re-read book two.
A reoccurring theme in the Manticore story line (Honor Harrington) is the tension that develops when a politically connected near-do-well gets in the decision tree or when some power hungry politician will cut the throat of the armed forces who keep him safe and in power if they cannot figure out how to divert some graft to fatten their purse.
I have not served in the Armed Forces but I have tremendous respect for the men and women who have and I often pray that our troops will not find themselves caught between the honor of their oath and the orders they are given.
This Manticore Ascendant series has three books so far and having recently purchased book three, I took the time to re-read book two.
A reoccurring theme in the Manticore story line (Honor Harrington) is the tension that develops when a politically connected near-do-well gets in the decision tree or when some power hungry politician will cut the throat of the armed forces who keep him safe and in power if they cannot figure out how to divert some graft to fatten their purse.
I have not served in the Armed Forces but I have tremendous respect for the men and women who have and I often pray that our troops will not find themselves caught between the honor of their oath and the orders they are given.
February 10, 2022
Many I ore Rises (Ascends)
In the not so distant past for Honor Harrington, but still before the Star Kingdom of Manticore became a major galactic power, there was a beginning. A Call to Arms tells the story of the start of Harrington's "modern" Royal Manticore Navy. The first navy formed a century before to fight the pirate Brotherhood is on its last legs and gasping for breath. But a new danger is coming that is determined to eliminate the Kingdom and has the financial strength to accomplish that destruction. Can this evil find the mercenaries necessary to remove Manticore from their path or will the poorly funded and maintained RMN rise to the Call to Arms and preserve the Kingdom? And what will be the cost? An excellent book as good as the first time I read it. Highly recommended.
In the not so distant past for Honor Harrington, but still before the Star Kingdom of Manticore became a major galactic power, there was a beginning. A Call to Arms tells the story of the start of Harrington's "modern" Royal Manticore Navy. The first navy formed a century before to fight the pirate Brotherhood is on its last legs and gasping for breath. But a new danger is coming that is determined to eliminate the Kingdom and has the financial strength to accomplish that destruction. Can this evil find the mercenaries necessary to remove Manticore from their path or will the poorly funded and maintained RMN rise to the Call to Arms and preserve the Kingdom? And what will be the cost? An excellent book as good as the first time I read it. Highly recommended.
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