Ashes of Victory
A novel by David Weber

Sometimes you can lose even when you win. Sometimes you want to cry even as you exalt in triumph. And if you're Honor Harrington, the heroine of the eponymous Honor Harrington series, then there is no "sometimes" about it.

We first met Honor as a newly-made Commander in Royal Manticoran service, in the book On Basilisk Station. Manticore, one of the richest single-star nations in the history of Terran expansion into space, boasted a dynamic Navy, and Honor -- despite the best efforts of some very powerful men -- had finally been given command of a warship. She was then set an impossible task, and even though she made it possible, she was punished for it... and sent into exile. That this punishment enabled her to save her kingdom from invasion in no way detracts from the one simple truth in Honor Harrington's life: the odds are always against her.

In the now eight books -- and many years -- since the events on Basilisk (not including two anthologies of short stories set in the universe, More Than Honor and Worlds of Honor), that has been proven again and again. Whether she is saving a system from annihilation or a government from treason, Honor is constantly standing with her back to the figurative wall against the demons, pushed to the limit and past and yet forging on, bloodied but unbowed. And in Ashes of Victory, the latest chapter in Honor's angst-ridden life, it happens all over again.

Leading on from where previous book Echoes of Honor finished, Honor and her cohorts -- all half million of them -- arrive in friendly territory after a desperate escape from the clutches of their enemies. Made an Admiral, a Duchess and a mega-billionaire, Honor undergoes surgery to repair the very Horatio Hornblower-ish injuries she sustained two books ago (it took them a long time to get home, okay?) Of course, this means that she's in for a little light duty -- and being made Commandant of her Navy's most advanced training centre is certainly light duty for her. Honor has always been shown as an outstanding leader, but in this latest installment we see how good she is at teaching others to be good leaders... if only there were more of it.

In fact, if only there were more of everything. Though the longest book yet in the HH series, Ashes of Victory still leaves many minor plots unexplored, or under-developed. While one of Weber's great strengths has always been writing from many points of view -- enemy, officer and civilian alike -- there is far less of Honor in this book than ever before seen, which can make the morass of action seem far less cohesive than in previous efforts.

The technical side is, as ever, impressive, and the intriguing political machinations and motivations continue to provide a cerebral contrast to the rollicking action of grand and bloody space battles. Weber, again, kills off beloved characters willy nilly -- but realistically, within the framework of a long and grueling war -- and the insights we have into enemy commanders, and enemy soldiers, always lends events an unusual perspective. One of Weber's themes has always been that an enemy soldier is just a brother wearing a different uniform, and that is proven here when those men of conscience on the other side do what they have to do to stay true to their code... dare I say it?... of honor.

This was perhaps the most frustrating of the HH books yet, but none the less gripping for all that. The many changes that have taken place are somewhat wrenching, and with Admiral Honor now too senior to be in the thick of the fighting, there is, at times, a feeling of unfulfilled anticipation. But, still, it's Honor! It's Honor "The Salamander" Harrington, always to be found where the fire burns hottest, and that hasn't changed. Honor (again), single-handedly (again), saves the rulers of a planet (again)... and yet, as always, can't do quite enough. The odds are too great, always too great...

And she is left, as are we all, with the Ashes of Victory.

RE-READ FACTOR: Yes. Many times. Ad infinitum. My copy of On Basilisk Station is near to disintegrating, and while Ashes of Victory has not quite the same style of fast-paced action, it bears reading anew (and often) to absorb the many and profound changes Weber has wrought in the Harrington universe.

SEQUEL FACTOR: Yes. Well, there bloody better be one. Several. That's all I'm saying.

STRONG CHICK FACTOR: Yes. None stronger. Honor is the yardstick by which all heroes, male or female, are measured in her world: not merely for her achievements, but for why she achieved them. Her belief in duty, in respect and, yes, in honor, is what drives her to succeed -- and the fact that she's a brilliant, genetically-engineered billionaire feudal magnate with the rank of Admiral probably doesn't hurt her any. But Honor is not the only woman of the series. Manticore's Queen Elizabeth III is indomitable and determined; enemy Naval Commander Admiral Esther McQueen is brave and cunning; and Honor's mother, the scandalous Dr. Allison Chou-Harrington, is all that one would expect in the mother of a legend. And there are many more kick-ass chicks... Weber believes strongly in equal opportunity. All of his main characters, regardless of gender, are made cool enough so that we care when they, inevitably, die.

-- Rachel Hyland

Ashes of Victory, published by Baen Books, is currently available in hardcover.

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