pjonsson's review against another edition
4.0
This is another good book by David Weber & Co. Unfortunately I have to say that I liked the first book in the series better. The book is quite slow to start and, what I consider the main character, Travis is really not present at all during a good first chunk of the book. During this part of the book it suffers a bit from the “David Weber Syndrome” were people just go around and talk, discuss and talk some more. The latter third of the book makes up for this with plenty of action but the first parts of the book still drags it down quite a bit.
Most of the book is spent on the build up for the war to come. We are following one of the principal agents in his endeavours to set the stage for a crushing defeat of the Manticoran forces which, due to the usual political short-sightedness as well the equally usual habit of said politicians to work primarily for their own gain, is a abysmally poor state. This is also one of the parts with this book that I do not like very much. A lot of it is spent on frustrating politics and political manoeuvring.
Luckily things do heat up in the third part of the book when the cat is out of the bag and the shit hits the fan big-time. Once we get to the fleet action it is as good as can be expected from a book (partly) written by David Weber. These parts were a pleasure to read.
The, not so surprising, outbreak of the hostilities also means that previously mentioned assholes (aka politicians) got some nice surprises and consequently got slapped around a bit. Unfortunately, and this frustrated me to no end, these assholes actually do not get it but, during the very end of the book, they immediately starts to plot how they can use the events for their own gain. What was especially pissing me off were the parts where the jerk Winterfall repetedly tries to convince himself that he is working in Manticore’s best interest by continuing to have his head stuck up Breakwater’s arse. Not only that but they manage to screw Travis over…again. Arrrggghhhh!
On the whole it is a good book. As the previous one it is good but not great and I liked the previous one better.
Most of the book is spent on the build up for the war to come. We are following one of the principal agents in his endeavours to set the stage for a crushing defeat of the Manticoran forces which, due to the usual political short-sightedness as well the equally usual habit of said politicians to work primarily for their own gain, is a abysmally poor state. This is also one of the parts with this book that I do not like very much. A lot of it is spent on frustrating politics and political manoeuvring.
Luckily things do heat up in the third part of the book when the cat is out of the bag and the shit hits the fan big-time. Once we get to the fleet action it is as good as can be expected from a book (partly) written by David Weber. These parts were a pleasure to read.
The, not so surprising, outbreak of the hostilities also means that previously mentioned assholes (aka politicians) got some nice surprises and consequently got slapped around a bit. Unfortunately, and this frustrated me to no end, these assholes actually do not get it but, during the very end of the book, they immediately starts to plot how they can use the events for their own gain. What was especially pissing me off were the parts where the jerk Winterfall repetedly tries to convince himself that he is working in Manticore’s best interest by continuing to have his head stuck up Breakwater’s arse. Not only that but they manage to screw Travis over…again. Arrrggghhhh!
On the whole it is a good book. As the previous one it is good but not great and I liked the previous one better.
pct196's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent... Up till past midnight because I had to finish it.
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
Surprisingly fast read. And with kind of a light touch. Which is weird for a book that is mostly battles. But really cleverly done battles that make a lot of sense. And make good use of the technology laid down by the world building. Not a deep book. But it fills the space intended for it. I'm still waiting for the Manticore Wormhole Junction to be discovered though - maybe next book.
annika2304's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
imitira's review
3.0
Weber is at his best with medium-scale writing: neither the quotidian lives of infantry, nor the grand manoeuvering of nations work as well in his writing as the tales of one captain and her crew. This has a mix of all of the above, and it works about as well as you might expect.
kesnit's review
3.0
I like the first book in this series a lot more. This book isn't bad, but it didn't really have a lot to it. Travis Long is barely in the first part of the book, which is more talking and politics than the action that make the HH books so good. Once the action starts, the book is great.
tome15's review
4.0
Weber, David, Timothy Zahn, and Thomas Pope. A Call to Arms. Honorverse: Manticore Ascendant No. 2. Baen, 2015.
In A Call to Arms, the second novel in the Honorverse spinoff series Manticore Ascendant, Travis Long is now an officer. As in the first novel, his character is defined by two seemingly incompatible traits: a penchant for following rules and an unusual ability to “think outside the lines.” These qualities are keys to the character dynamics in the novel and the theme that people are not always what they seem at first glance. Combine that with some political skullduggery, some space pirating, and an epic space battle and you have the makings of a more than usually satisfying space war story.
In A Call to Arms, the second novel in the Honorverse spinoff series Manticore Ascendant, Travis Long is now an officer. As in the first novel, his character is defined by two seemingly incompatible traits: a penchant for following rules and an unusual ability to “think outside the lines.” These qualities are keys to the character dynamics in the novel and the theme that people are not always what they seem at first glance. Combine that with some political skullduggery, some space pirating, and an epic space battle and you have the makings of a more than usually satisfying space war story.
jtone's review against another edition
4.0
The previous book in the series was a little slow, this was very much more a return to a Honor Harrington type story.