Reviews

A Rising Thunder by David Weber

jacalata's review

3.0

This felt like an episode in a larger series, which it is, but I dislike that style. Decent but not great as a standalone novel.

elisenic's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

4.0

ameliapancake's review

3.0

First read through:

It had some good parts and some not so good parts. In the not so good parts, it didn't quite feel like an Honor Harrington book. I started feeling that way in the previous book and more so in this book. I wonder if too much time has passed since the early books for the series to have kept a perfectly consistent tone, and it makes me less hopeful for the upcoming book.

The ending also felt abrupt. This probably would have been a four star book for me, but that ending kicked it to a three. I might not have been as bothered by the ending if the next book was available to read; I'm not sure.

Second read through:

I was curious why I had rated this book 3 stars, and then I remembered why as I reread it. There were way too many scenes from other perspectives for this to feel like an main entry in the Honorverse. It either should have been combined with the previous book (especially since the first half of this book takes place before/during it), or it should have been a side book and not a part of the main series of books.

kejadlen's review

3.0

3.5/5 - This was a surprisingly short HH book! I've gotten used to the weighty tomes that were the previous few books in the series. While it was enjoyable, not much actually happened and this felt like it was just setting the stage for the next book in the series (for which I am anxiously awaiting).

wishanem's review

2.0

This series is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Firstly, it takes itself much too seriously considering that it prominently features a species of psychic six-legged cat. Secondly, many of the heroes are cartoonishly heroic and good. The pacing is often glacial, and the cast is bloated by interchangeable supporting characters. I often find myself rolling my eyes as yet another villain chews the scenery like an overexcited beaver.

So why do I read it? This series features the most gripping and exciting space combat in any fiction I've ever encountered. In the beginning of the series, the technologies of the space ships necessitated a sort of battle which strongly resembled 17th century naval engagement. This grounding in reality led to all sorts of elaborate combat scenes, which were nonetheless easy to follow. Over the course of the series, changes in tech and tactics have evolved the battles in a unique and utterly strange sort of space combat.

So onto this specific book. It was 90% political intrigue, 9% character development, and 1% space combat. As a result, I only thought it was okay.

jmartindf's review

2.0

This is the 13th book in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. When the series started, back in 1992, it was pretty easy to follow. Sequel followed sequel and each book picked up where the last left off. More recently, in 2002, Weber approved the creation of two sub-series. The result is that the plotline and scope of the “Honorverse” expanded dramatically

The first sub-series was “The Wages of Sin”, starting with Crown of Slaves, which follows book #10, War of Honor. The second sub-series was “Saganami Island”, starting with The Shadow of Saganami, chronologically following both book #10 War of Honor and Crown of Slaves.

Later mainline novels, such as At All Costs and Mission of Honor, incorporated elements of both sub-series. The plotline of the sub-series’s increasingly started to drive the plotline and direction of the main series. This book, A Rising Thunder, is Weber’s attempt to fully tie the main series into the elements and events of the two sub-serieses.

The resulting book is a bit of a boring train wreck. It does include characters and plot elements from both sub-series. What it doesn’t include is a lot of action. Given that all 3 serieses are built around action, this is a glaring omission. Mostly what we get is a lot of talking, as officials in 3 or 4 locations talk about how recent events will affect future events. I remember one main battle, out of 464 pages. Given how action packed the previous books have been, this was a major letdown.

In some respects, a slow book was almost inevitable. Given how much things have changed over the last several books, there needed to be an attempt to tie everything together and then to re-launch the series in its new direction. But I feel that the relaunching could have been achieved with a greater economy of words and a bit more action.

Perhaps the most damning indictment I have is that most fans would be best served by reading a plot summary of this book rather than reading the book itself.

schyzm's review against another edition

2.0

another HH book that doesn’t know what it wants to be

The first 25% of this book are a disjointed mess, with long passages of the previous book actually copied verbatim. The middle half is fine. The end bogs down in long infodumping meetings and trains of thought.

It appears to me that whomever Baen books has assigned to edit this series has basically thrown up their hands and stopped trying to trim the excesses of side characters and plots.

katmarhan's review against another edition

3.0

While a number of unexpected things happen in this book, more are left unresolved, with a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end. Mostly I'm wanting Weber to wrap it up and move on, but I realize this is a lucrative series for him. I need to acquire the next book, but I'm really ready for things to be somewhat resolved.

towo's review

3.0

It's written fairly well, but everything is pretty much going along as expected. No surprises, no sudden plot twist, nothing. Pretty similar in progression to "Like a might army". Nice read, but it's just "more".

imitira's review

4.0

I love this series so much, but this latest iteration is surprisingly slender, and the ongoing plot machinations are starting to hint at repetition. It's also starting to suffer from subplot sprawl; there's a few too many characters that only appear once, in reasonably detailed vignettes, and it's hard to keep track of the ones that are significant and those just there for local colour. It's starting to feel just a little bit like the Wheel of Time in space.