Path of the Fury has always been my favorite of Weber's books (yes, even over Honor Harrington), so when I saw this one -- labeled as a revised edition of PotF plus a novel-length prequel -- I had to grab it.

Nor was I disappointed. The prequel is what I expected it to be: the backstory of Captain Alicia DeVries' military career, first as a regular soldier and then as a member of the Imperial Cadre, including full details on the two major engagements alluded to in PotF. The revisions to PotF itself are relatively minor: a couple of added or changed scenes, and otherwise mostly bringing the language and the details into harmony with the storyline from the prequel -- for example, some minor characters now have names, when the original book referred to them only by description. If you don't have the original PotF, you won't be missing anything by just getting this book; and if you do, it's still worth the purchase price for the prequel alone.

It's hard to classify this book as SF or fantasy. The setting and most of the action is good old-fashioned space opera, taking place in Weber's Terran Empire. But the Fury in the title is one of the Erinnyes of ancient Greece, which gives it a solid push in the direction of fantasy. Overall, I tend to think of it as SF; the magical element isn't enough to overwhelm the rest of it. Captain DeVries herself is a protagonist in much the same mold as Honor Harrington (including being a prodigy to a degree that rides the ragged edge of unbelievability), but with less personal involvement in politics -- this is straight action-adventure from beginning to end. There's a rich background tapestry of secondary and incidental characters, and enough technobabble to sound realistic without descending into the depths of relating interminable engagement details.

Now that Weber has his character and this particular section of the universe a little more fleshed out, I'm rather hoping that he'll write a sequel or two about Captain DeVries' further career. If you like strong female protagonists who kick ass and take names, you'll certainly enjoy this book. ( )

Sample Chapters: http://webscriptions.net/chapters/141...

Expansion of the original paperback, with 32 new chapters added to the beginning, and some changes to Ch 33/Ch 1. I'm glad to have the beginning stuff, but transisition isn't seamless despite the changes.

For those wondering if this book contains the original "Path of the Fury"--yes, it does contain that book, but I haven't gone over the original text to see what has been changed from the first printing into this version.

The added material is a prequel to "Path of the Fury."

apparently this is an extension and rewrite of a shorter work. the first and newest part is pretty standard Military SF. Then the heroine is possesssd by one of the Furies and The whole thing becomes a space opera. No complaints Better than watching Big Brother that is for sure. ( )