The focus has switched from Haven as enemy to, on the one hand, the Solarian League, mostly by virtue of the League's stupidity (manipulated stupidity?) and, on the other hand, the clandestine Mesan Alignment.

Seeing Honor as a diplomat was eye-opening.

Hoping that, at some point, Weber wraps up this series. ( )

It moves along, but it was fairly easy to guess where the plot was headed. I'm looking forward to the end of the series. ( )

This episode has Honor on a diplomatic mission to Haven to try to forge a peace treaty with the Republic of Haven. She goes to Haven and brings the whole Eighth Fleet along with her to emphasize that Manticore is willing to use the fleet to destroy Haven if something better for both parties can't be worked out. President Pritchart is very much in favor of peace but she has to convince her legislature to go along with it and some of them can't see anything beyond their immediate desires.

While she is gone, the Mesan Alliance conducts a sneak attack on the Manticore home system which takes out much of the orbital infrastructure and drops pieces of it on the planet of Sphinx. One of the pieces wipes out a treecat clan and another hits a city where most of Honor's relatives live. There were huge civilian losses even beyond the kingdom's infrastructure and no one knows who did it or even how the attack was accomplished.

The Solarian League looks at the attack on Manticore as an opportunity to hit them while they are gone. They can't believe that Manticore really has military technology that is so much better than the Leagues. And with the Mesan Alliance pushing in the background, the Solarian arrogance thinks that defeating Manticore will be easy.

This one has a lot of information about the Mesan Alignment and what they want to accomplish. It also spends a lot of time with the mandarins who really run the Solarian League. It was fascinating to watch all the various plot threads begin to come together. And to see how thoroughly the Mesan Alliance has manipulated things to bring about their desired future. ( )

This episode has Honor on a diplomatic mission to Haven to try to forge a peace treaty with the Republic of Haven. She goes to Haven and brings the whole Eighth Fleet along with her to emphasize that Manticore is willing to use the fleet to destroy Haven if something better for both parties can't be worked out. President Pritchart is very much in favor of peace but she has to convince her legislature to go along with it and some of them can't see anything beyond their immediate desires.

While she is gone, the Mesan Alliance conducts a sneak attack on the Manticore home system which takes out much of the orbital infrastructure and drops pieces of it on the planet of Sphinx. One of the pieces wipes out a treecat clan and another hits a city where most of Honor's relatives live. There were huge civilian losses even beyond the kingdom's infrastructure and no one knows who did it or even how the attack was accomplished.

The Solarian League looks at the attack on Manticore as an opportunity to hit them while they are gone. They can't believe that Manticore really has military technology that is so much better than the Leagues. And with the Mesan Alliance pushing in the background, the Solarian arrogance thinks that defeating Manticore will be easy.

This one has a lot of information about the Mesan Alignment and what they want to accomplish. It also spends a lot of time with the mandarins who really run the Solarian League. It was fascinating to watch all the various plot threads begin to come together. And to see how thoroughly the Mesan Alliance has manipulated things to bring about their desired future. ( )

At this point, the series is well underway, so please, start at On Basilisk Station and catch up. You'll be lost if you don't as this does not stand alone well, although the author does a good job of refreshing the reader's memory.

Mission of Honor is far from being military science fiction at this point. There are political machinations, spies, and wheels within wheels as well as heartbreaking battles. Weber has no more compunction than George R. R Martin in killing folks off if it is called for. The action and planning were enough to keep me turning pages when I should have been sleeping. And yes, I am getting the next book in the series.

If you enjoy good science fiction with a military background, then the series is for you. ( )