The Shadow of Saganami

This story follows snottie Helen Zilwicki and four of her fellow snotties as they go on their first ship duties. Even though things are heating up with Haven, Helen is sent on a new ship - the Hexapuma - to the Talbot Cluster. It should be a quiet area but it was only recently within reach of Manticore as a recently discovered node of Manticore's wormhole. Hexapuma is being captained by Aivars Terekhov who has just recovered from injuries suffered in a previous battle which decimated his command. There is some question that he is able to make the tough decisions that a captain in wartime might have to make and some of the questions come from Terekhov himself.

Many in the Talbot Cluster are afraid that their star systems will be gobbled show more up by Frontier Security and the Solarian League and have voted to be annexed by Manticore instead. There is a constitutional convention going on filled with its own political infighting. And some of the people who weren't in favor of the annexation are developing their own homegrown terrorist organizations to oppose the vote. We get a look at two of the terrorist organizations. Stephen Westman is on the planet of Montana and Agnes Nordbrandt is on Kornati. They are taking two radically different approaches to their protests. Nordbrandt is favoring killing lots and lots of people whereas Westman has been scrupulously careful not to kill anyone though he isn't opposed to destroying a lot of the property owned by those he considers interlopers. What these two protest organizations have in common is under-the-conter support from an agitator called Firebrand who, unknown to either of them, is an agent of Frontier Security.

I enjoyed getting to know Helen and her fellow snotties and watch them grow as potential Queen's officers. I liked seeing a new part of Weber's world which was away from Manticore. I liked reconnecting with characters from earlier in the series including Commander Ginger Lewis who is the ship's engineer which is quite a change from when we met her as a noncom engineering mate in an earlier book. And also Abigail Hearns whom we met as a young girl on Grayson who wanted to break the stereotypes of her planet and follow her idol Honor Harrington into military service. Now she's a tactical lieutenant. Many other characters from earlier books in the series also make appearances here.

I thought this episode was a nice blend of the political infighting, the military battles and the personal stories of many of the characters. show less

This story follows snottie Helen Zilwicki and four of her fellow snotties as they go on their first ship duties. Even though things are heating up with Haven, Helen is sent on a new ship - the Hexapuma - to the Talbot Cluster. It should be a quiet area but it was only recently within reach of Manticore as a recently discovered node of Manticore's wormhole. Hexapuma is being captained by Aivars Terekhov who has just recovered from injuries suffered in a previous battle which decimated his command. There is some question that he is able to make the tough decisions that a captain in wartime might have to make and some of the questions come from Terekhov himself.

Many in the Talbot Cluster are afraid that their star systems will be gobbled show more up by Frontier Security and the Solarian League and have voted to be annexed by Manticore instead. There is a constitutional convention going on filled with its own political infighting. And some of the people who weren't in favor of the annexation are developing their own homegrown terrorist organizations to oppose the vote. We get a look at two of the terrorist organizations. Stephen Westman is on the planet of Montana and Agnes Nordbrandt is on Kornati. They are taking two radically different approaches to their protests. Nordbrandt is favoring killing lots and lots of people whereas Westman has been scrupulously careful not to kill anyone though he isn't opposed to destroying a lot of the property owned by those he considers interlopers. What these two protest organizations have in common is under-the-conter support from an agitator called Firebrand who, unknown to either of them, is an agent of Frontier Security.

I enjoyed getting to know Helen and her fellow snotties and watch them grow as potential Queen's officers. I liked seeing a new part of Weber's world which was away from Manticore. I liked reconnecting with characters from earlier in the series including Commander Ginger Lewis who is the ship's engineer which is quite a change from when we met her as a noncom engineering mate in an earlier book. And also Abigail Hearns whom we met as a young girl on Grayson who wanted to break the stereotypes of her planet and follow her idol Honor Harrington into military service. Now she's a tactical lieutenant. Many other characters from earlier books in the series also make appearances here.

I thought this episode was a nice blend of the political infighting, the military battles and the personal stories of many of the characters. show less

I like this. The fact that it's _not_ Honor or her crew that lead this story enriches the Honorverse - Terekhov doesn't handle things the way Honor would, I don't think, but he still handles them. The varied storylines - the Mesans, the various factions at the Convention, the planetary matters (and factions) on Split and Montana and the others, the internal tensions (between Helen and Paul, for one) on Hexapuma - all interweaving to make a strong and coherent story. And the way it interweaves with previous and concurrent books, too - At All Costs makes a lot of references to what's going on in Shadow, and there's a few back (not a lot, the Talbott Cluster is kind of out of touch with the details of what's happening in Manticore and in show more that area). But Shadow does refer to Abigail's story (in Service of the Sword) quite a lot, and not a few mentions of the events in Crown of Slaves. It's all one universe, and what happens in one place affects others - what happens to one group of people affects or will affect others. It's a little odd that the final battle is so nearly elided - though I suppose it does actually show all the shooting, it's just the endurance portion that gets discussed afterward instead of shown. Good story and a good direction for the Honorverse to go. show less

The Shadow of Saganami is an Honorverse spinoff of the brilliant Honor Harrington series that I really didn’t want to start reading, but I had been reading so much about the several sub-series’ spinoffs and how they elaborate on key plot elements, that I decided to go ahead. And I’m glad I did. Of course, the book didn’t feature Honor and I missed her, and it’s a whole new cast of characters, but you quickly get to know them and care about them and, as it’s a long, long, comprehensive David Weber book, you end up feeling a connection with a number of them by the end of the book.

Saganami Island is Mantictore’s version of the US Naval Academy and this book follows the careers of several recent graduates, most in their first show more post-graduate assignments as midshipmen. They are assigned to the heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma, headed by Captain Aivars Terekhov, a mysterious, intense man who is suffering from PTSD due to a terrible battle he survived with a Haven fleet some time before. No one knows if he’s recovered and everyone wonders how he’ll react under pressure.

They are assigned to the Talbot Cluster, a cluster of planetary systems on the verge of the Solarian League near Manticore’s newly discovered Lynx Junction. The planets of the Talbot Cluster have just overwhelming voted in favor of being annexed by the Star Kingdom of Manticore and are drafting a constitution. However, there are some dissidents and some Solly-related planets and corporations willing to arm and aid these dissidents in rebellion in attempts to destabilize their governments and destroy the constitutional convention and the annexation. Of course, if this happens, the Solarian Frontier Security will move in and take over the Cluster and those worlds will be doomed.

The plot of this book is too detailed and far too complex to go into in a significant review of this type. The Hexapuma joins the few Manticoran ships in the area for patrol and support of the cluster’s systems and meanwhile terrorists are blowing up people and planets, aided by mysterious strangers with modern weapons. Terekhov ultimately discovers the secret behind the plot and moves a squad he has called together against a star system to engage in a typical Weber space battle, which is handled pretty well, if a little subdued for Weber. There’s a great deal of tension in this novel and that makes it engaging and interesting. Some of the interesting new characters include Lt Abigail Hearns and Midshipwoman Helen Zilwicki, among others. We’ll see them again in other Honorverse books.

Even though this is a good book and rather enjoyable, I do have a complaint and it’s not unique to Weber. There are, per usual with this author, way too many characters to keep up with. Not only are there a ton of naval officers to try and remember, but there are a ton of system politicians to try and keep track of and it’s virtually impossible to do so. To make matters worse, the Talbot Cluster is larger than I ever imagined and we’re introduced to what seems like a ton of planetary systems. Somehow, we’re supposed to keep track of worlds like Spindle, Pontifex, Split, San Miguel, Montana, Rembrandt, Kornatia, Nuncio, Mesa, Dresden, Monica, Torch, and of course, Grayson and Manticore, among others, and there are also scenes featuring Manpower, the Jessyk Combine, and Technodyne Corp., the “evil” corporations behind all that’s wrong with the picture in this puzzle. It’s just too much. And of course, all of these planets and corporations have presidents, vice presidents, admirals, boards of directors, police chiefs, various naval ships, most of which are obsolete by Manticoran standards, and so on. It’s damned annoying and stupid!

Whatever the case, this is a good book. It’s got a good plot, introduces an interesting new cast of characters, has a couple of decent naval battles, has some ground battles, has some political intrigue, if that’s your game, and fills in a lot that’s left out in the main Honor books. However, it’s typically long, at times it drags, the plot can be a little convoluted and somewhat scattered, the names of characters and planets are just too much and too many to make the book enjoyable, and it’s a little galling to think that this is the first book in an Honor sub-series, one of several, information that can’t actually be told in a real Honor book, which is annoying. Worthy of five stars? Not quite. But certainly worthy of four stars. A solid four star effort. And definitely recommended. show less

I fell in love with this book. Some of the characters I'd met already -- Abigail Hearns, Ginger Lewis, Helen Zilwicki, and Aubrey Wanderman -- and liked. It is Helen's midshipwoman cruise and we get to meet four of her classmates who are aboard the Hexapuma. Assigned to the Talbott Cluster where the planets overwhelmingly asked to be made part of the Star Kingdom, the ship's role is nearly as much diplomatic/political as it is military.

The cast of characters is pretty numerous; luckily in the back of the book is an index to them if you need to keep track of them. They include ship personnel, delegates from the planets to the convention to draft a constitution, various people on the planets, and some Bad Guys (and Gals). You need to be show more up on previous books that have mentioned genetic slavery ("from the Highlands" in Changer of Worlds, "The Service of the Sword" in The Service of the Sword, and Crown of Slaves come to mind) to get the most from the book.

All that said the story is solid political/military science fiction. I liked the character of Stephen Westman of the planet Montana. His actions blurred the line between patriot and terrorist. There were tissue moments, both sorrow and joy.

If you like the Honor Harrington main series, this is a book that you might also enjoy. Captain Terekhov doesn't tackle things the same way that Honor would, but I could see why he did what he did and how he inspired others. I think this book is well worth the read. show less

7/10
This book, to me, was good space opera--large-scale conflicts made personal by a large cast of characters, some black, some white, some gray, with a very light sprinkling of romance (very light!). I really enjoyed getting to know Captain Aivars Terekhov and the main members of his crew.

My only complaint is that the exposition, via long discussions between characters, is not always fascinating reading. Those passages, along with detailed descriptions of the weapon systems and construction of the various ships, really bogged down the story for me. I know some of that is critical to understanding both the how and the why of the action. It just seems that it could be done in different ways or smaller chunks.

I'm now going back to the show more main Honor series and will be interested to see how this and some of the other Honorverse stories affect the action in the main series. show less

A long, sprawling book with a half-dozen overlapping story lines and far too many characters (there's a list at the end, and I recommend you bookmark it). Weber takes several hundred pages to get things started, but once the yarn finds its footing things get really interesting.

It helps to be familiar with the Harrington series before reading this story, but really it isn't essential to do so; most of the characters are either new or had previously been minor players in the larger drama.

This review is also posted on a dabbler's journal.