David Weber … at his best. A chance to meet old friends: Elisabeth III, Tom Thiesman, Hamish Alexander, Anton Zilwicki, and Honor and Nimitz, among many others; and to make new friends, Fire Watch, Plays with Fire, and More. As the story progresses, David reacquaints us with the villains: The corrupt, colony-crushing, juggernaut war-machine of the Solley Mandarins, the Machiavellian interstellar manipulations of the genetic slave-trading Mesan Alignment and its secret masters, the genetically-enhanced Detweiler clone-clan.
David’s last few books were short – for David – and anti-climactic. Not so Uncompromising Honor; it gathers the multiple threads and subplots from prior staging and slowly weaves them into a building crescendo, ending in what can only be described as a David Weber Climax. Mandarin entrenched bureaucratic reflexes and ruthless machinations of the Mesan Alignment drive the plot through heart-stopping but mathematically precise space battles, and galactic-scale intrigue and treachery, to the unexpected but powerful grand climax. The story, however, is not finished; it is ready to go in new, unexpected, and interesting directions that readers must impatiently wait for.
— Guest Reviewer Eric Lowenhaupt
Description
FIRST NEW HONOR HARRINGTON NOVEL IN FIVE YEARS!New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and international best-sellingphenomenon David Weber delivers book #19 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series, the first new Honor Harrington novel since 2013's Shadow of Freedom.
HONOR'S FINISHING WHAT SHE STARTED
The Solarian League's navy counts its superdreadnoughts by the thousands. Not even its own government knows how enormous its economy truly is. And for hundreds of years, the League has borne the banner of human civilization, been the ideal to which humanity aspires in its diaspora across the galaxy.
But the bureaucrats known as the "Mandarins," who rule today's League, are not the men and women who founded it so long ago. They are corrupt, venal, accountable to no one . . . and they've decided the upstart Star Kingdom of Manticore must be destroyed.
Honor Harrington has worn the Star Kingdom's uniform for half a century and served her monarch and her people well. In the course of those years, the woman the newsies call the Salamander has grown from a tactically brilliant but politically naïve junior officer to supreme fleet command and a seat on the highest military and political councils of the Grand Alliance.
Very few people know war the way Honor Harrington does. Very few have lost as many men and women, as many friends, as much family, as she has. Yet despite that, hers has been a voice of caution. She knows the Mandarins and the Solarian League Navy are growing increasingly desperate as the truth of their technological inferiority sinks home, but she also knows the sheer size of the League. And she knows how its citizens will react if the Grand Alliance takes the war to the League, attacks its star systems, destroys its infrastructure . . . kills its civilians. Today's victory, bought on those terms, can only guarantee a future war of revenge against a resurgent Solarian League and its navy.
Honor knows the Grand Alliance must find a victory that doesn't require incursions deep into Solarian space, doesn't leave a legacy of bottomless hatred, and the strategy she supports has been working.
The League is sliding towards inglorious defeat as it steadily loses ground in the Protectorates and the Verge. As its central government teeters towards bankruptcy and even some of its core systems opt to secede in the face of the Mandarins' corruption. As the Solarian Navy finally realizes it cannot face an Alliance battle fleet and win.
But the Mandarins have embraced a desperate new strategy, and in pursuit of that strategy, the SLN has committed atrocities such as the galaxy has not known in a thousand years. The League have violated its own Eridani Edict against mass civilian casualties, violated the Deneb Accords prohibition on war crimes.
And they have finally killed too many of the people Honor Harrington loves.
Hers is the voice of caution and compromise no longer, and the galaxy is about to see something it has never imagined.
The Salamander is coming for the Solarian League, and Hell is coming in her wake.
About Uncompromising Honor: “…a balanced mix of interstellar intrigue, counterespionage, and epic fleet action…with all the hard- and software details and tactical proficiency that Weber delivers like no one else; along with a large cast of well-developed, believable characters, giving each clash of fleets emotional weight.”—Booklist
“. . . moves. . . as inexorably as the Star Kingdom’s Grand Fleet, commanded by series protagonist Honor Harrington. . . . Weber is the Tom Clancy of science fiction. . . . His fans will relish this latest installment. . . .”—Publishers Weekly
“[E]ach book contains food for multiple tastes [and] provides a feast. Readers . . . will get enough hardware-geek stuff and space battles to make their palms sweaty. Those who love political intrigue will nigh have their brains explode from following all the tentacles of strategy. . . .Those who love fully drawn characters with everything at stake . . . will have lots to cheer about. And those who love bad guys committing atrocious deeds, only to get what they deserve from the good guys, will sleep contentedly at night because justice has been served. Uncompromising Honor provide[s] a long, luxurious trip. . . [that is] emotionally and intellectually gratifying. . .”—New York Journal of Books-West
“Weber’s books [are] enjoyable as fiction and profound as works of art. . . . [in them] great power competition makes its way into the space age on a galactic scale. . . . Battles are described in vivid, suspenseful detail. . . . both sides grapple to do their duty as they understand it . . . [and] it is the human touches that make this book so gripping. . . . Weber’s fans will greatly enjoy Uncompromising Honor [and be left] eagerly awaiting the next installment of this magnificent series.”—Mark Vandroff, Center for International Maritime Security
About Shadow of Freedom, #18 in the Honor Harrington series:
“This entry is just as exciting as Weber’s initial offering. . . .The result is a fast-paced and action-packed story that follows [our characters] as they move from reaction to command of the situation. Weber builds Shadow of Freedom to an exciting and unexpected climax.”—Daily News of Galveston
About Mission of Honor, #13 in the Honor Harrington series:
“Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in this long-awaited Honor Harrington novel…Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.”–Publishers Weekly
“This latest Honor Harrington novel brings the saga to another crucial turning point…Readers may feel confident that they will be Honored many more times and enjoy it every time.”–Booklist
About David Weber and the Honor Harrington series:
“. . .everything you could want in a heroine …. Excellent … plenty of action.”–Science Fiction Age
“Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!”–Anne McCaffrey
“Compelling combat combined with engaging characters for a great space opera adventure.”–Locus
“Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice . . .”–Publishers Weekly
Honor Harrington Main Series: On Basilisk Station The Honor of the Queen The Short Victorious War Field of Dishonor Flag in Exile Honor Among Enemies In Enemy Hands Echoes of Honor Ashes of Victory War of Honor The Shadow of Saganami At All Costs Storm from the Shadows Mission of Honor A Rising Thunder Shadow of Freedom Uncompromising Honor
About the Author
With more than eight million copies of his books in print and 33 titles on the New York Times bestseller list, David Weber is a science fiction powerhouse. In the vastly popular Honor Harrington series, the spirit of C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander live on—into the galactic future. Books in the Honor Harrington and Honorverse series have appeared on 21 bestseller lists, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today. Additional Honorverse collaborations include the spin-off miniseries Manticore Ascendant with New York Times best-selling author Timothy Zahn; and with Eric Flint, Crown of Slaves, Cauldron of Ghosts, and To End in Fire contribute to Weber’s illustrious list of New York Times and international bestsellers.
Best known for his spirited, modern-minded space operas, Weber is also the creator of the Oath of Swords fantasy series and the Dahak Saga, a science fiction and fantasy hybrid. Weber has also engaged in a steady stream of best-selling collaborations: the Starfire series with Steve White; the Empire of Man series with John Ringo; the Multiverse series with Linda Evans and Joelle Presby; and contributions to the Ring of Fire series with Eric Flint.
