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A review by redheadbeans
Cauldron of Ghosts by Eric Flint, David Weber
3.0
I feel like a better title might have been "Meanwhile, the Plot", but things pull together pretty well by the end. I still think Weber and Flint spend too much of the first half of the book literally waxing poetic on how awesome Victor Cachat is. I like Victor, but it's still a bit much to see everybody thinking just how awesome he is. Repeatedly. What was Yana up to? What was Thandi up to? What were Barry and Jeremy and Hugh up to? I'd ask for others but they're questions that could be answered in the main series and "Saganami" books.
Maybe I just haven't read a main series Honorverse book in a while, but there's SO much time spent detailing areas and people and politics that don't directly or indirectly for most of the book involve the protagonists and it's a bit exhausting and somewhat boring. It's all building up and there are reasons that I could see for most of it.
Overall it's a very timely book. There's one soldier's name that I think was not picked accidentally. There are a lot of messages about prejudice, media framing, police brutality, and the distance between political understanding and reality. On that note, it's also a very brutal read, particularly for violence against children. If you're an Honorverse fan, you'll probably be fine.
Maybe I just haven't read a main series Honorverse book in a while, but there's SO much time spent detailing areas and people and politics that don't directly or indirectly for most of the book involve the protagonists and it's a bit exhausting and somewhat boring. It's all building up and there are reasons that I could see for most of it.
Overall it's a very timely book. There's one soldier's name that I think was not picked accidentally. There are a lot of messages about prejudice, media framing, police brutality, and the distance between political understanding and reality. On that note, it's also a very brutal read, particularly for violence against children. If you're an Honorverse fan, you'll probably be fine.