Growing up, Travis Uriah Long yearned for order and discipline in his life . . . the two things his neglectful mother couldn't or wouldn't provide. So when Travis enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Navy, he thought he'd finally found the structure he'd always wanted so desperately.
But life in the RMN isn't exactly what he expected. Boot camp is rough and frustrating; his first ship assignment lax and disorderly; and with the Star Kingdom of Manticore still recovering from a devastating plague, the Navy is possibly on the edge of extinction.
The Star Kingdom is a minor nation among the worlds of the Diaspora, its closest neighbors weeks or months away, with little in the way of resources. With only modest interstellar trade, no foreign contacts to speak of, a plague-ravaged economy to rebuild, and no enemies looming at the hyper limit, there are factions in Parliament who want nothing more than to scrap the Navy and shift its resources and manpower elsewhere.
But those factions are mistaken. The universe is not a safe place.
Travis Long is about to find that out.
Listen to the authors discuss the book on the Baen Free Radio Hour: Part 1 | Part 2.
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ExcellentAs a former victim of Basic Training and things military, I can sympathize with the characters involved and the author(s) makes it easy to do so. They are well-fleshed and believable.
I bought this book yesterday and finished it today and the only reason it took so long is ... I had to sleep.
As I have very much enjoyed Mr. Weber's stories of Honor Harrington, this book was fascinating in its setting early in Manticore's history. I can easily see myself reading everything coming in this end of the storyline.
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Product ReviewOne has to admire how stiff his neck stays. Possibly to the stick up his behind. And yet one can't help but like Travis.
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Product Review(This is a direct quote of the review I gave the Advanced Reader Copy of this novel.) I'd rate this at 4.5 stars, but that's not an option. Timothy Zahn does an excellent job of fitting his writing inside the Honorverse. We're given a view of the very early days of the RMN when they didn't have a long tradition of duty and victory at all cost, or much of a purpose at all other than to deter pirates. It's nice to see the Havenites as they were before the Republic collapsed into the People's Republic, and there's some pretty good action. A couple of events stretch military protocol a bit, but this is FICTION so I won't complain too much. The ending makes clear that we'll hear about the first major battle the RMN fought in the next book, and the background, infighting, and discovery of the Manticore Junction will be interesting reading. We aren't left hanging - if you've read all of the latest infodumps and background books that have come out on the early Honorverse that is. The plot is solid and well worth reading, and entirely devoid of tree-cat marines in battle armor!
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Product ReviewInteresting for its setting and the history of the RMN
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Not A Big Deal...More an indirect example of what editors do, this book wanders through hundreds of pages and years of book time without anything actually happening. What used to be accomplished in the early Harrington books with a sharp sentence or two now churns on for page after page. The story, such as it is, lacks focus and direction. Save your money.
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