On 2010-02-15 Langer, Detlef, Hamburg wrote: This was the first Honor Harrington novel I´ve read, and it will be the last one.
True, one shouldn´t start reading a series with the last outing. But if one does so, the novel should spark a desire to read the other novels. This novel doesn´t - and that is because of at least two crucial flaws in it´s whole design.
Upon reading a novel, but especially an SciFi novel, the reader and the author embark on some kind of tacit agreement called ´suspension of disbelief´. That is, the reader accepts things that are impossible at the present time, such as FTL travel, artificial gravity and so on, or won´t ever be possible. But this agreement carries only so far. As a reader, I keep asking myself questions like: Why is this or that feature necessary? How does it contribute to the (integrity of) the story? (I´m sure most readers ask themselves those questions even if most of them won´t ask them explicitely.) And if I don´t get reasonable answers to these questions, the feature in question is no longer covered by the suspension of disbelief.
Item: As a student of history and social sciences, I´ve never believed nor will I ever believe that ´aristocratic´ societies like those depicted in this novel will ever make it to the stars. For once, societies in which there are steadholders, yeomen, queens, kings, duchesses, barons and so on are basically land-owning societies. Historically speaking, they are pre-industrial, rural, agricultural by nature. By the same token, they are adverse to change, progress, and development: If your social status is defined by the fact that you do or don´t own land (and what kind or size of land), and if you do, you don´t exactly embrace development and progress because it means change and change tends to threaten your status. You want, you need, and you fight to maintain the status quo.
To travel to the stars, however, an industrially developed society is necessary, science, technology, and free enterprise with its creative and inventive power. That means that not land-owning or heritage defines a person but only his/her personal skills and abilities, his/her intelligence, his/her competence and preseverance. And if such a society has successfully made it to the stars, why should it revert to ´the old ways´?
So, what it boils down to: ´Star kingdoms´ like Manticore, all this ´Royal this and that´, all this ´Your Grace´ business contributes nothing to the story as such but simply satisfies the author´s fondness of (or obsession with) ´the Old English ways´. (By the way - this seems to attract many American SciFi authors. What leaves me as a European with the question: Why did you guys stage the American War of Independence in the first place?) And it is significant that the novel is set only in the upper classes, not in the ´common´ classes, the people in the streets who were at the wrong end of the injustice and inequality inherent of aristocratic societies.
Item: The cats. Oh, I know, actually they´re ´treecats´ which is a completely different cup of tea altogether. Yeah, right. They´re ´telempathic´. Yeah, right. They ´adopt´ people. Yeah, right. They´re intelligent, thinking, talking sign language with ´true hands´ but otherwise behave like simple - cats. (By the way: Do they need cat litter?) Most of the cat-lovers among my friends keep telling me: ´It´s as if they´re able to read your thoughts and emotions.´ ´It´s as if they adopt you and not the other way round.´ As one can see, there´s no need for a ´treecat´ - your garden variety kitty will do just as nicely. And in what respect are they constituitive to the story? Exactly how would the story become improbable, even impossible, what would the story lack if there were no ´treecats´ in it? Even the most impressive scene, the assassination attempt on Honor Harrington, doesn´t really need a treecat.
Again: The only thing that justifies the omnipresence of the treecats is the author´s fondness of (or obesssion with) his (obviously) favorite pets. In that, the novel reminds me of some novels by Janice Cherryh in which there are characters depicted as man-sized cats. Same question there: Why?
Please don´t get me wrong: I´ve absolutely nothing against intelligent alien species alongside humans in a SciFi novel - I mean, that´s why it´s SciFi after all - but if the author´s imagination of an alien species doesn´t exceed a pimped-up version of his own housecat sitting on the kitchen window sill, the story would have been better off without it.
Apart from that, I can second some of the issues mentioned in other negative reviews as well as positive reviews: The book is definitely too long; 500 pages would have done. The explorations in Honor Harrington´s family life are way too detailed and become all the more boring as long as they drag on. On the other hand, the battle scenes are very interesting, as is the strategic thinking behind the - political and military - decisions made. But that alone won´t cut it for me.. And summed up by saying Not convincing. Currently At All Costs (Honor Harrington) has an overall rating of 6 over 10.
At All Costs (Honor Harrington) can also be found in the following searches:
Baen claimed What price victory? The war with the Republic of Haven has resumed . . . disastrously for the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Admiral Lady Dame Honor Harrington, Steadholder and Duchess Harrington, the single victorious Allied commander of the opening phase of the new war, has been recalled from the Sidemore System to command Eighth Fleet. Everyone knows Eighth Fleet is the Alliance´s primary offensive command, which makes it the natural assignment for the woman the media calls ?the Salamander.? But what most of the public DOESN´T know is that not only are the Star Kingdom and its Allies badly outnumbered by the Republic´s new fleet, but that the odds are going to get steadily worse. Eighth Fleet´s job is to somehow prevent those odds from crushing the Alliance before the Star Kingdom can regain its strategic balance. It´s a job which won´t be done cheaply. Honor Harrington must meet her formidable responsibilities with inferior forces even as she copes with tumultuous changes in her personal and public life. The alternative to victory is total defeat, yet this time the COST of victory will be agonizingly high.
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