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Title: Crown Of Slaves by David Weber, Eric Flint ISBN: 0-7434-7148-2 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (16 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Wait for the paperback
Comment: An avowed Honerverse fan, I picked this up as a bit of holiday reading. What the hey? Splash a little cash on myself for Xmas.
Sollies, Mantys, Peeps and Erewhonese all mix it up with some interesting new characters and some background characters coming to the forefront. You'd have to be as familiar with the Honververse as the author to follow this silly mess. Another draft of two seems in order.
Once again, where is the editor, or the proofreader for that matter? Weber, Flint and the rest of the incestuous gang at Baen sure do churn out some good reading - but I think they're spreading themselves too thin on this franchise. Weber and company ought to put the 'verse to bed for a while.
Rating: 1
Summary: Weber jumps the shark
Comment: Wow, this was bad. Poor plotting, lazy characterization, and totally unbelievable ending. Weber is a good writer, and I've read most of his other stuff, but this is just... bad. Worse than bad. Train-wreck bad.
The characters behave in ways that don't make sense, situations resolve themselves in implausible ways, plot points lurch into view only to vanish without really doing anything, and the final resolution is possibly the least believable thing I've read in the last decade - including political speeches.
Rating: 5
Summary: Complex and Engaging and Outstanding
Comment: The universe in which Crown of Slaves is set is as epic and complex as any ever created for fiction. So far more than a dozen novels and short stories have been wrung out of it with no sign of slowing down. Fans will certainly hope the franchise keeps going. The fact that the founding character Honor Harrington has only a cameo role in Chapter 40 should not stop any fan of the series from thoroughly enjoying this story.
Almost all the characters are flat out fun and the immersion in both global and galactic politics really works to make the story interesting. The action centers mostly on two young women: Berry, the adopted daughter of a superspy and Ruth, a princess of the Kingdom of Manticore are sent on a quasi-diplomatic mission with Berry impersonating Ruth and vice versa under the supervision of Berry's father. The place they are going to is a star system's whose leader was assassinated and whose alliance with Manticore is shaky. Another superspy who works for Manticore's enemy is there, along with an ambitious naval officer from the Solarian league. To add to the fun a cadre of terrorist religious fanatics have designs on the princess and there are ex-slaves that are active in revolt.
In short, a lot is going on. Yet none of it is too hard to follow, particularly if you are up to date on the Honor Harrington series. The authors are clearly as much interested in pontificating on political philosophy as space-opera action, which puts this on quite a few levels above something like the Star Wars potboilers. They are clearly knowledgeable, which helps, but I can see why some readers find it "talky."
For this reader a few problems did manifest. Much in the plot depends on the ability of the Berry character (aged only 17) being able to form deep bonds with other characters very quickly. This charm seems a little forced, and is used over and over again to form the basis of alliances that otherwise wouldn't exist. Overall, the two girls are just too savvy - at one point mixing it up in lethal action with space marines and at other times "oh no my dad is going to kill me!" mode when they realize he will find out what they've been up to. Of course that's fun too.
All of it is fun. Go get it.
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Title: The Course of Empire by Eric Flint, K. D. Wentworth ISBN: 0743471547 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Far Side of the Stars by David Drake ISBN: 074347158X Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Service of the Sword: Worlds of Honor 4 by David Weber ISBN: 0743435990 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo ISBN: 0743471644 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Ring of Fire by Eric Flint ISBN: 074347175X Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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