30% fantastic story, 70% dreary marathon

There is a good story in Echoes of Honor, as there is in most Honor Harrington books. That good, gripping story comprises about 30% of the book.

The problem with David Weber is that he likes conversation. Polite, well-measured, careful, politic, tactful conversation between two people sitting in a room, or in a shuttle, or at a conference desk, or on a bridge. And be they heroes or murderers, ensigns or admirals, his characters will have their careful, polite, tactful, well-measured conversations, whether discussing long-term political strategy, intrigues, healthcare, history, sign language, fission reactors, food, heavy metal poisoning, or ANYTHING AT ALL.

The conversation will last anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour. Usually an hour. And you will hear that conversation, every. single. damned. word. of it, in all its nuance, from the moment each thought is generated inside a character's head to the moment they speak it. Then you will hear their companion speak, mull over every word and gesture, every bit of meaning chewed over until it drips through your brain like cud falling out of a cow's mouth.

And somewhere along the way, you will wonder why David Weber writes like he is being paid by the word, and you will pray for it to end just long enough to get back to the distant memory of the exciting book you remember from a few chapters ago.

It is regrettable, because deep in the heart of each Honor Harrington book there really is a good story struggling to break free. But Weber needs an editor to reign him in, and it is painfully clear that he just does not have one who will. The result is a book that commits the cardinal sin that all books must avoid.

It is boring.

3 people found this helpful

Probably the best or top 3 of series

The Harrington series are great except sometimes they drag on a little for me because the narrator is not the best, I've grown to know her as the voice of Honor but she is not one of my favorite female narrators. This book has action of all forms, like a space seal its on land, sea, & air/space... If you have read the prince Roger series, I think that is the best series by this Weber & just like with this series there are suppose to be more to come.

This particular book is such a great shot in the mouth to all the different antagonist's Honor has, & there are many, she is assumed dead which is not a spoiler obviously but the way she ultimately gets back home & the manner she does it can only bring a smile to your face. With many of her books there are at least a few sections I speed up a bit because frankly, its a bit slow.... but this book is one crazy ride & I did not skip anything, I replayed certain parts because of the entertainment the author paints with characters & situations that are solved, or terminated.... with Extreme Prejudice! Great read, highly recommend this book. You should read at least the last 2 books before this one but if you read this for the first time you would not be too confused, Weber rarely lets down

3 people found this helpful

Echoes of Honor

I am enjoying this series can hardly stand to put the story down. Echoes of Honor kept me holding on by my finger tips as she takes two years to escape the prison island. Her leadership ability bringing all the various people that have been in prison from various planets was interesting to watch. The battle scenes were great. Honor is beginning to remind me of Admiral H. Nelson of the British Navy. First the lost of an eye, now an arm what next? Allyson Johnson does a great job reading the series. She is Honor to me now. Can not wait to start the next book in the series.

7 people found this helpful

Honor Harrington Universe Book 11

The whole Star Alliance Mourns for Honor Harrington
Manticarans Swore to Execute all State Security (SS)
Grayson's Swore Blood Vengeance "For Lady Harrington and NO MERCY"!!!!!!
The war continues.

Meanwhile on hell nothing ever will be the same.
The point of any prison is to contain maximum number of prisoners with the least number of guards.
This means that prisoners always outnumber guards!!!!
Try to Imagine Honor's thoughts on this topic.


PS
IMHO one of the best books in the series.

NEXT BOOK IS " Ashes of Victory "

10 people found this helpful

Excellent! perfect holiday gift

Allison does a very good job here, she is now "honor" to me. i am very happy audible an bean got the aggrements in place to finish the series and am now working my way thru the new 6 books up, echoes was well done, ashes is coming along well too, i expect all the mainline books to be great, will see about crown and torch

8 people found this helpful

Long Poignant Conversations

Long before Honor was a gleam in David Weber's eye I was a big fan of British historic and military fiction.

I grew up in Texas with a Dad who loved military fiction and non-fiction alike, and I guess like British writers, we had many British books in our large library.

In particular I loved Neville Shute's novels, most of which had military or aviation themes, as well as the standard Napoleonic war sea tales. In particular I enjoyed all the 'Master and Commander' stories by Patrick O'Brian. Some of Ken Folliet's novels are also somewhat similar, but with a lot more sex than we encounter the Honorverse.

One thing all these British writers have in common is that these novels tend to start slow compared to many American novels. It is very common that the first few chapters consist of getting to know the hero and the people around them. The characters chat, go about their daily business, go to dances, go foxhunting, fishing or shooting birds. Very often they are members of Parliament who mill about with politicians. There are subplots involving the romantic complications in the hero's life.

I sometimes imagine these British writers sitting by the fire in their thatched roof cabin writing with quill pens as the cold British winters rattles the window panes. The days are very short and the nights very long, so the writer is no hurry to rush through the story. He'd rather get the reader to know the characters, hear their thoughts, meet their friends, family, and of course the powerful person who opposes the hero. It is a common trope in the sea stories that the hero skipper has more respect for his enemy counterpart than he does for his own Admiral.

Only when the character's milieu has been painted with the detail of a John Constable oil painting does the actual dramatic conflict begin.

At this point the real action begins to build with a succession of exciting battles ending in a heroic victory that astounds and amazes friend and foe alike.

I like this style of a slow build up to the excitement a lot, I enjoy getting to know the character at a deeper level than we ever experienced with Maverick and Goose.

I must say that in this novel David Weber carries the technique to an extreme. The first quarter of the novel is people sitting around talking about and morning the death of Honor. The issue of heraldic succession is a big deal, and a lot of groundwork for the next novel is laid down.

The second quarter is people sitting around either talking about the military and political problems facing their side, or trying to think of ways to best the other side in the next battle, or how to get out of the political or physical pickle in which they find themselves.

The thing that Weber does that is a little tiresome is that all these conversations follow an almost identical template. They are all more or less like this:

[discussion of the relative ranks of the two participants in the conversation]

Character A: Thank you for meeting me in private. I'm very concerned about our supply of McGuffins, compared to the [peeps/manties].

Character B: Yes, the shortage of McGuffins is a problem, I wish Admiral Foggy would understand the problem.

Character A. Well, we do have this advantage over the [peeps/manties] but on the other hand the [manties/peeps] have this other advantage.

Character B: 'hmmmmmmmm' Well, on the other hand, we could do plan C.

Character A: But if we do plan C then this bad thing might happen....on the other hand, we could do plan D.

Character B: Well, I admit that plan D has some advantages, but on the other hand what about the other guy's anti-McGuffin shield?

Character A: hmmmmmmm, Well, at least our McGuffin ray is better than their McGuffin ray, but Admiral Foggy can't see that and wants to something monumentally stupid instead.

Character B: Well, should we do plan D?

Character A: Yes and No

Character B: WTF???????????????? [OK, that's the listener, not the character].

Anyone once the characters have wept until they have no tears left concerning Honor's death, and once we've had some long lessons on the history, legal issues of probate and passing of titles of nobility, corporate succession issues, medical issues, and politics of each side, and once each sides comes up with the Big Plan, the action starts.

Once the action starts the novel is excellent. I really cared about the characters, all those conversations, history lectures, and political machinations helped me root for the good guys and dislike the bad guys because you I knew them so well.

And while its overdone a bit, Honor and reader do feel a little sad when Honor kills a peep who was a good guy doing what he thought was his duty.

I will note that Honor wastes many fewer redshirts in this novel compared to some of the previous editions. I was also pleased that the Allies have figured out that if maybe they use some automation and robots (err, 'cybernetic assistants') they can reduce their crew sizes to somewhat below the seating capacity of the typical Super Bowl stadium.

When Honor was tied up and left on the railroad tracks as the Midnight Express is roaring down the tracks I really cared. I took the long route home more than once to see how she gets out of this one.

It's a good thing Honor can squeeze a lump of coal and make a diamond! On the other hand, she is being dismantled piece by piece just like the real Admiral Horatio Nelson.

Despite all the quirks, all the talk talk talk talk, the absurdity of some of the ship designs, Weber's characters are as real as just about any fictional ensemble that I can think of.

I felt the narrator did just fine. She is able to distinguish male and female voices better than a lot of narrators. OK, her French accent seems a little forced and inconsistent at time, but in the big scheme of things she's doing fine.

I've got the next novel queued up, I can't wait to see what happens next!

1 person found this helpful

Go Honor!!

Okay, I guess you have to suspend a lot of disbelief, Honor gets really lucky and everything just happens to go her way.

Still has a Harrington fan I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The action scenes were fun, and the character building for her mother and father and others was nice to have.

1 person found this helpful

Intense whips of emotional extremes lows & Highs.

Intense crushing of the heart at the loss of dear friends. Great courage to make those losses not lose their meaning from lack of determination. Surprising turns of fortune as betrayal turned into cunning plots of escape. A great story as always from Weber. Well done Sir.

Excellent

That's it. It's all excellent. The only thing that bothers me the the narrator's pronunciation of Manticoran as Man-TIC-oran, rather than Man-ti-COR-an, but that's probably just me.

Echoes of Honor

This complex book brings Honor via trials of combat and survival back to the Manticoran Alliance. The voice and narrative bring together many paths in the books in a smooth flow. The ending is outstanding.