Storm from the Shadows

From his first Honor Harrington novel, On Basilisk Station, to this title, David Weber has kept the entertainment level at the top. I have never been disappointed. The only problem I could convey is that they aren't written/published fast enough.

This is more of a background filler than the more action oriented story you would normally expect from Weber. This contains the start of what could turn out to be the start of a major branch of the Honorverse. The story is OK a little slow but there is a lot of who what and why but not much is done.

Although I really enjoyed this sequel to "The Shadow of Saganami" in the Honor Harrington universe or "Honorverse" it should come with three big health warnings 1) CLIFF-HANGER ALERT - this book has a cliff-hanger ending in which two heavy attacks, one of them a potential game-ender, are set in motion against the good guys, but we will have to wait for future books to find out what happens. It is obvious that the last words of the author's note which comes with this book "I should also warn you that the ride is going to get a lot rougher for the good guys over the next few books" - is a masterpiece of understatement. If you are likely to be agonised by the wait to find out what happens, you should possibly consider waiting a few months for the publication of "Mission of Honor" which is the next "main stem" book, currently with the printers, and reading both that book and this one together. 2) OVERLAP ALERT - This book continues the story of events in the Talbott Cluster (now renamed the Talbott Quadrant) following on from "The Shadow of Saganami" (TSOS). The main viewpoint character being Honor Harrington's friend and the Queen's cousin, Michelle Henke. Most of the action takes place in the same timespan as "At All Costs" (AAC). A significant part of the first third or so of this book retells events in TSOS and AAC from Michelle Henke's viewpoint. After that point, Weber, who was obviously concerned that readers who had read those books might be bored with repetition, cut the references to events already covered in AAC down to minimal outlines, just enough to fix the time frame so that readers who have already read AAC will be able to tell what point in that narrative has currently been reached. This did work for me but might not work for all readers. Those who have read TSOS and AAC may find the first third of the book a bit repetitive despite Weber's efforts to avoid this. However, those who have not read AAC may find the oblique references in the middle third of this book, to the war Honor Harrington is fighting on another front to be aggravatingly incomplete. 3) NOT MANY BATTLES ALERT There are fewer battles in this book than in any of the "Main stem" books or it's predecessor. This is very much the same kind of book as "War of Honor" which some readers hated because it was all about setting up a major war, but for most of that book, the war hadn't started. If you didn't like "War of Honor" you won't like this book either. But if you read Weber for the battles, it is very obvious that what follows this book is going to give you plenty to read in the next few books in the series ! THE HONORVERSE If you have not read any of David Weber's other books in the Honor Harrington universe and have stuck with this review to this point, I owe you an explanation about that universe. This is the fourteenth full length novel (with two more already delivered to the publishers) in a series of space opera novels set two or three thousan

This book continues Weber's series nicely. It joins two previous threads and provides a logical continuation to the series. It can be read standalone but is better read as a part of the series. While before the reader has been aware of Manpower and Mensa are players the characters have not been as aware. So now that they are aware, what will happen? What about the new attack on Mantacor, and relationship with the Havenites? Big cliff hanger!! But still a very good read with compelling characters and nice plots. Reexamining the book after reading the introduction it becomes obvious that this is an essential entry point into the rest of the series. The reprises are to make sure that new readers can "enter here". Weber states that he plans to bifurcate the series into an overt and covert set of related series and this book is the introduction. As such it is an essential read although there is a lot of introductory material for those already familiar with the series. Could those folks skip the book? Time will tell. At least he has not brought the series to an end.

Storm From the Shadows (2009) is the second naval SF novel in the Saganami Island series, following The Shadow of Saganami. In the previous volume, Manpower delivered fourteen obsolescent Solarian battlecruisers to the government of Monica. Realizing the danger to the wormhole connection at Lynx, Captain Terekhov gathered all available Manticoran ships from the Southern Patrol and took them into the planetary system of Monica. When the battlecruisers refused to standown, Terekhov destroyed twelve of the ships and captured two more. The Manticorans lost six ships and several thousand personnel. Admiral Khumalo soon arrived with the relief squadron. After reading the reports and discussing the battle with Terekhov, Khumalo supported his actions. Then the Admiral put even more pressure on the Monican government to furnish records to the Manticoran investigators. In this novel, Manpower is planning another operation in the region. Their agents contact New Tuscany and set up another incident. Only, this time the warships are manned by personnel from the Office of Frontier Security. Michelle Henke returns to Manticore as a courier for Eloise Pritchart. She learns that she has been promoted to Vice Admiral. Then she is assigned command of a squadron of Nike class battlecruisers. Aivars Terekhov returns to Manticore in the HMS Hexapuma. He is promoted to Commodore and given command of a task group of Saganami-C class heavy cruisers. The Admiralty -- and the Queen -- are very pleased with his actions. Commander Kaplan is promoted and given command of the HMS Tristram within Terekhov's group. Lieutenant Abigal Hearns is now her tactical officer. Ensign Helen Zilwicki becomes Terekhov's Flag Lieutenant. Although she would have preferred a tactical position, Helen realizes that Flag Lieutenant assignments are usually offered to those on the fast track. So she takes the job with a clear understanding of how much she needs to learn. In this story, Mike's squadron is sent to Talbott Station to protect the newly annexed planetary systems in the Talbott Quadrant. After the Battle of Monica, the Admiralty has started diverting additional ships to the region. No one is sure what the League will do next. Mike pays her respects to Admiral Khumalo and meets the Governor and the local officials. Then she takes her squadron to Monica to check out the situation there. To her surprise, Mike finds two squadrons of OFS battlecruisers within the system and learns of a Solarian Battle Fleet task force in the vicinity. Terekhov is also sent to Talbott Station. Upon arrival, Terekhov is warmly welcomed by Admiral Khumalo and then briefed on the current situation. Except for the withdrawal of the New Tuscany system from the Talbott Quadrant, everything seems to be going well. This tale puts the Royal Manticoran Navy into a bind. The way things are going, Manticore might soon be at a war with both Haven and the League. And Manpower Alignment has