What Price Victory?

Worlds of Honor, Book 7

By: David Weber

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer, Khristine Hvam, Allyson Johnson

The hottest military science-fiction series of all time continues with a collection of tales set in David Weber’s New York Times best-selling Honorverse.

The hottest military science-fiction series of all time continues. The mission: to boldly explore David Weber’s Honorverse; to deliver all the action, courage, derring-do, and pulse-pounding excitement of space naval adventure with tales set in a world touched by the greatness of one epic heroine—Honor Harrington.

New Honorverse tales by Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope, Jane Lindskold, Jan Kotouč, and Joelle Presby. Plus First Victory, an all-new novella by David Weber!

About David Weber and the Honor Harrington series:

With more than eight million copies of his books in print and 33 titles on the New York Times best seller 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 best seller 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 best sellers.

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 the Ring of Fire series with Eric Flint.

©2023 Words of Weber, Inc. (P)2024 Audible, Inc.

Brilliant Anthology

Rating anthologies is always tricky; the stories cannot be equally strong. But a few truly excellent stories can make the entire anthology very much worth reading. This anthology has three very strong stories, and I will unhesitatingly recommend it for those. Detailed notes below.

Traitor, Timothy Zahn & Thomas Pope - 3 stars. This short novella is well enough written, with an interesting plot and good characters. But it feels like the beginning of a novel, not a stand-alone story. It's good as far as it goes, but it's not especially satisfying.

Deception on Gryphon, Jane Lindskold - 2 stars. A relatively slight novelette starring Stephanie Harrington and company. This is a minor mystery story that didn't engage my attention much. The split between the treecats' POV and the humans' POV isn't managed well and the reactions of the humans really doesn't ring true.

The Silesian Command, Jan Kotouč - 4 stars. A solid novella set in Silesia, covering the response to a renegade peep admiral who is attempting to set himself up as an independent warlord. Good plot and decent characterization.

If Wishes were Space Cutters, Joelle Presby - 5 stars. This short novella is a truly excellent character study of a poor head of household on Grayson and his attempts to make a life for himself and help his dependents. The start of the story is a bit opaque and scattered, but once it reaches its stride, the plotting is strong and the characters develop an amazing amount of depth for such a short piece.

First Victory, David Weber - 5 stars. A very strong short novella covering the lives of Alfred and Allison Harrington from their marriage through the birth of Honor Harrington. It's not a kinetic action story, but as a character study, it's brilliant.

Narrator notes: Allyson Johnson does her typical quality work and Khristine Hvam is also very good. But while Eric Summerer has a very nice voice, he does names from languages other than English poorly, which I found distracting.

Great background stories

these fill in many back stories so very well. I loved them all! the writing was as good as I expected, and reading the same high quality I've come to expect

the variation in the stories

This is a fantastic romp through the Honorverse. I recommend these stories to anyone who loves a good tale.

Okay, but nothing essential to the Honorverse

This anthology contains 5 short stories. I'll review each in order.

Traitor 4/5 stars
A prequel to the Manticore Ascendant series (which is itself a prequel) we get to meet Gustav Anderman in his eccentric prime as he deals with an attempted coup along with learning the background behind Cutler Gensonne. Lots of action but not necessary to read to enjoy the rest of Manticore Ascendant.

Deception On Gryphon 3/5 stars
Stephanie Harrington, Karl and their Treecat friends from the YA spinoff solve a murder. Its well paced but not particularly exciting.

The Silesian Command 4/5 stars
Basically the hunt for the German pocket battleship Graf Spee but set in the Honorverse. Not a lot of action, a little bit of political maneuvering and intrigue. Not bad, although I don't find it believable that StateSec hardliners would sacrifice their lives for a villain who is very clearly setting himself up as a warlord.

If Wishes Were Space Cutters 1/5 stars
The sequel to "Grayson Letters Home". First half is absolutely boring. The final half dealing with a poor Grayson man who takes a job building a new space station but has to deal with an air headed intern is a little interesting. Overall you can pass on this one, Grayson Letters Home was far better (which is saying something).

First Victory 2/5 stars
Honor Harrington's parents have to deal with Allison Harrington's family. If you just must read everything about Honor Harrington I guess read (or listen to) this one as this is the story about when Honor was born. How Alfred and Jacques conspired to get Allison's mother to come visit the Harringtons on Manticore made me very angry.