In this episode we discussed the ninth novel in the Honor Harrington main series: Ashes of Victory. It’s the direct follow-on to Echoes of Honor. And if you keep listening through the end credits you might find a bit of extra “Oops!”

At 672 pages (the trade paperback edition), it’s slightly shorter than Echoes of Honor, but not by much and with no complaints from your hosts about the length. The story is large, requiring equally substantial books to capture all that’s going on, and it picks up right where Echoes left off. Ashes of Victory was first published by Baen Books in March 2000.

The war with Haven happens and as you can tell from the title, we’re going to see what emerges from the ashes of Honor’s apparent death (covered in the first half of the book), but also from the war (covered in the second half). As for Honor, it seems “The Salamander” is also a Phoenix!

As we’ve grown accustomed to, David Weber has seamlessly woven in references to historical events that provide good background to what’s happening: the Battle of Midway (4-7 June 1942), the Battle of Savo Island (9 August 1942) and Operation Bagration (23 June through 19 August 1944). Note: the first two were quick references, while Bagration is mentioned several times because it was the name of a military operation in the book. While knowing the history of these events isn’t necessary or covered, interested readers may want to take the time to learn why David made these references. They add a lot of color to the story.

Because the war we all saw coming occurs, the story in this novel brings quite a few things to culmination, and also exposes some new threads within the greater Honorverse storyline. This was done very well, too, given we all seemed to agree the action in this book wore us out at times. Yet it also left us eager to see what comes next. Related to that, consider and ponder just how the war with Haven actually ends…

A final thought: we mentioned in our discussions that this book makes it clear how important reading the anthologies can be. Remember, they’re not throw-away side stories. Instead, they very deliberately inform the reader of things going on that weren’t included in the novels. Call it what you want—backstory, amplifying info, sidequels, something else—but whatever you call it, understand we all saw important elements in this novel that tied directly back to select short stories in the anthologies. Do you have to read the anthologies to appreciate how amazing the growing Honorverse is? No. Is it worth your time to read them? Absolutely yes. They’ll make the incredibly mature universe David Weber is building even more robust than it would be otherwise. If you haven’t been convinced already, we encourage you to read (or re-read) the anthologies, and in the order of publication if you can.

We rated Ashes of Victory with three 5s (out of 5), for an overall rating of 5.

As always, thanks for those of you who have liked and/or commented on our episodes so far. Your comments are genuinely appreciated and warmly received. Remember, we’re fans of the series just like you and we’re honored to have a venue to share our experiences and thoughts as we work our way through the Honorverse with other, like-minded people. Please keep those likes and comments coming!

Next up: we’re back to another anthology, the third in the Worlds of Honor set, entitled “Changer of Worlds”. Grab a copy and join in!

You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at honorverse@tpenetwork.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Now, let’s be about it!