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mks's review against another edition
3.0
Lots of action, but the plot hasn't seemed to have advanced very far. The editing was very poor and the seams between chapters wasn't great - there were literally passages that were duplicated word for word.
I enjoy Weber's works, but his habit of stretching the plots on beyond the breaking point is becoming quite annoying. This interweaving of various series, while probably great for his sales, makes it harder to stay up to date and interested. I'll keep buying for now, but I wish he would tighten these books up.
I enjoy Weber's works, but his habit of stretching the plots on beyond the breaking point is becoming quite annoying. This interweaving of various series, while probably great for his sales, makes it harder to stay up to date and interested. I'll keep buying for now, but I wish he would tighten these books up.
brettt's review against another edition
2.0
David Weber began his Honor Harrington series in 1992 with On Basilisk Station, and in it our intrepid heroine commanded a ship of the Star Kingdom of Manticore against the far larger People's Republic of Haven. Manticore remained Haven's superior on the fields of battle because of its robust interstellar trade and Haven's corruption. And in case Weber hadn't made it clear he was writing a Horatio Hornblower England v. Revolutionary France-in-space novel, the leader of Haven was Rob S. Pierre.
But the two nations have found a common enemy after many years of fighting, and are now allied against the Mesan Alignment. This cloak-and-dagger corporation has as its goal the establishment of a genetic caste system throughout as much of the galaxy as possible -- with its own directors as tyrant oligarchs. Master spies Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki, of Haven and Manticore respectively, have been moving against Mesa's backstage shenanigans for some time and have helped uncover enough of the conspiracy to unite their formerly antagonistic governments. Now in Cauldron of Ghosts Cachat, Zilwicki and their team infiltrate the Mesa homeworld to try to gain proof of the conspiracy and perhaps even bring Mesa a freedom its people have never known.
For this series, Weber teams with sci-fi author Eric Flint, who is a well-known name in military-based science fiction in his own right. It's hard for anyone other than the authors to say how much each one contributed, Flint has less success than other collaborators in reducing the amount of "meeting minutes" scenes to which his colleague is prone. The espionage plotline is handled deftly, but the pair telegraph the villains' atrocities with almost anesthetized clumsiness. The Mesans are exploding bombs in their own cities to create a "terrorist threat" they can use to justify harsh measures, and as soon as we meet some ordinary person going about their business in the middle of a chapter, we know what's coming. The replication of these scenes lengthens and deadens the story, and helps make Cauldron one of the weaker entries in its particular Honorverse series.
See original here.
But the two nations have found a common enemy after many years of fighting, and are now allied against the Mesan Alignment. This cloak-and-dagger corporation has as its goal the establishment of a genetic caste system throughout as much of the galaxy as possible -- with its own directors as tyrant oligarchs. Master spies Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki, of Haven and Manticore respectively, have been moving against Mesa's backstage shenanigans for some time and have helped uncover enough of the conspiracy to unite their formerly antagonistic governments. Now in Cauldron of Ghosts Cachat, Zilwicki and their team infiltrate the Mesa homeworld to try to gain proof of the conspiracy and perhaps even bring Mesa a freedom its people have never known.
For this series, Weber teams with sci-fi author Eric Flint, who is a well-known name in military-based science fiction in his own right. It's hard for anyone other than the authors to say how much each one contributed, Flint has less success than other collaborators in reducing the amount of "meeting minutes" scenes to which his colleague is prone. The espionage plotline is handled deftly, but the pair telegraph the villains' atrocities with almost anesthetized clumsiness. The Mesans are exploding bombs in their own cities to create a "terrorist threat" they can use to justify harsh measures, and as soon as we meet some ordinary person going about their business in the middle of a chapter, we know what's coming. The replication of these scenes lengthens and deadens the story, and helps make Cauldron one of the weaker entries in its particular Honorverse series.
See original here.
leons1701's review against another edition
4.0
Probably the last book in the Torch (or Wages of Sin) sequence, this is a solid read for Honorverse fans. Sadly, this is probably the last good Honorverse book other than prequels unless David gets a better editor to keep him on track. But hey, this one is good, enjoy it while you can. Despite a somewhat rushed and jumbled ending (it's easier to put together if you've been reading the Shadows sequence) this is a decent espionage adventure starring the team of Cachat and Zilwiki and their not exactly triumphant return to Mesa. You've just discovered the biggest secret in the galaxy and revealed it to those who need to know, what do you do for an encore? Yup, go back to the incredibly dangerous source to learn more.
betsychadwell's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. It suffers from the same problem as the previous one in the series, namely that it is so obviously just building back story for a future book to come. But the action is engrossing and it has the feeling that the main book must be coming soon.
And I really like the main characters.
And I really like the main characters.