• Brothers in Valor

  • Man of War, Book 3
  • By: H. Paul Honsinger
  • Narrated by: Ray Chase
  • Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,320 ratings)

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Brothers in Valor  By  cover art

Brothers in Valor

By: H. Paul Honsinger
Narrated by: Ray Chase
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Publisher's summary

Sometimes Captain Max Robichaux fights by the book—and sometimes he throws the book away. This makes him one of the Union Space Navy's rising stars. It's also what has kept him and his green crew alive...thus far.

When Max and his ship—the twenty-fourth-century space destroyer USS Cumberland—are boxed in by eight enemy battleships, the odds are against them at a million to one. It takes all their skill and guts just to escape...and surviving won't get easier. Sent on a covert mission behind enemy lines, Max and his crew are poised to strike a blow so hard that, if successful, it could turn the tide of the war. But if they fail, it will cost them their lives...and the lives of every human in the galaxy.

©2015 H. Paul Honsinger (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

What listeners say about Brothers in Valor

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very Good Continuation... Can't Wait For Book #4

This really is a good series. It's one of those that I just can't stop listening to. This was one was probably the best so far, but left off in a cliffhanger.

A few things have come to annoy me just a bit... Like how the Doctor is always oblivious to anything and everything that might be happening on the ship or when the ship is in battle. No matter how much he learns, he is for some reason unable to grasp the concepts of naval warfare. This is usually the mechanism that the author uses to explain to us something that we don't already know or that isn't obvious, but you would think he could come up with some way other than the Doctor being once again in the dark about something that everyone else on the ship is astonished that he doesn't know... One or two times per book would be one thing, but it happens practically every 5 pages and seems to be the only way we get new information explained to us...

Other than my minor gripes, this book is full of the action and excitement we have come to expect from this series. I listened to the entire book almost straight through. 5 Stars.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Continues Smoothly From First Two Books



With Book 3, the universe of the Man of War series has expanded and author Honsinger opts for a very definitive punctuation mark at the end (though the series continues). Those enjoying the exuberant speeches and World-buildling-through-dialogue will no doubt have fun with Brothers in Valor. For there is plenty of action (and speeches) here to keep readers engaged.

Story: What looks to be a trap - often is? Warily, the Cumberland follows strict orders from Admiral Hornmeyer to enter Krag territory and take down a feared tactician, code named 'Admiral Birch'. But is it luck or are they about to find themselves three layers deep in deception? And will Robichaux's canniness be able to pull them out of this latest fix?

As with previous books, our Star Trek meets Master and Commander dialogue between young skipper Robichaux and uptight doctor Sahin is the heart of the book. Although I'm still not convinced that the Earth would hold back half the human race (the female half) despite facing annihilation, clearly Sahin with his over-emotional outbursts and uptight nature is playing the female role to Max's gung-ho macho maleness perfectly (in a very non-sexual if perhaps not necessarily unhomoerotic way).

The dizzying amount of superfluous information about cultures and languages of earth (and even Krag now) is balanced by the amount of fun Honsinger has with the action. So while I appreciate that this isn't a story about white guys in space, I do still wish that the characters were a bit more realistic. It makes for an enjoyable read but a bit too easy to forget afterwards.

I do admit, I am continually amused to find the Star Trek references in there. From a nurse by the name of Church (ah, Nurse Chapel, we miss you), to the doctor being called Bones as a nickname, to Robichaux's over the top speeches. There were many more references in Brothers in Valor - a treat to find the Easter Eggs for Star Trek fans.

I listened to the audible narration and I'm at a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. The narrator is emotive and does a great job with what has to be the hardest lines *ever* to read convincingly. But at the same time, the bored, fatalistic inflection takes the over-the-top dialogue and can make it really seem flat. At times, a lot of the fun was sucked out by the book because of the dropping of tone at the end of each sentence.

In all, I did enjoy Brothers and Valor and look forward to the next book.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Not the best of the series

I loved the 1st two books in the series. This one felt short and rushed. I'll definitely listen to the next book when and if it comes out. This one just wasn't my favorite.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

RIP H. Paul Honsinger.

Just found out that one of my favorite science fiction writers died from covid last year.
Harvey Paul Honsinger, aged 60, passed away on Sunday August 23, 2020 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona after a month-long battle with COVID-19. May he RIP.
I am totally sad and upset.

This series just got better and better and better. I will miss this writing so much.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Nothing too exceptional

It had been a while since I listened to the first two books in this series, so honestly it was all a bit foggy. However, there isn't much to worry about catching up on, since this series is all about the space action, and you're thrown right into it. This is for military sci fi fans who just want a quick adventure, with lots of explosions and not much in the way of character development or deep thought. It seems to try to emulate some of Campbell's "Lost Fleet" success, while lacking almost all of the actual substance behind that series.

My biggest complaint, aside from the shallowness of the book and the fantastical technologies employed, is how there isn't really any sense of danger or tension in the battles, because the good guys are just so much better than the enemy that there really is no contest. Each engagement seems set up to be a hopeless situation, but the captain's genius brings them through every time, while making sheer fools out of the enemy and making them out to be pure imbeciles. If it's so easy, then it just doesn't feel as significant. Then we skip any kind of resolution and jump straight to the next mission - this really feels like a series of "episodes" rather than a novel.

It's not a terrible book, but not a great one - thus the 2 stars overall.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very Disjointed

The book plays out like a handful of Star Trek episodes with little narrative relation to each other. Like barely related short stories. For a grand "eliminate the enemy leader" plot objective, that part ends with a rushed whimper.

There are some good side characters (I grin just thinking of the quirky aquatic alien allies or Admiral Hit 'em Hard Hornmeyer) but they all appear once and vanish each episode. The captain and his crew just aren't that interesting when they're not blowing things up and sometimes not even that. It all felt so rushed and poorly balanced.

The struggling underdog feeling that drew me in early in the series is gone. They pay it lip service but scythe through their enemies with such overwhelming ease that it shatters your sense of disbelief that humanity is having any difficulty at all. Definitely a low point in the series.

On the plus side, the narrator is still top notch, smoothly handling foreigner and alien alike. Has the perfect not quite deep yet rumbling voice for the main character. Mixed feelings on the Doctor's frequent chatter but he's supposed to be annoying so maybe its on purpose.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A great end to the trilogy

This book is the end of the first trilogy in this universe, and it while I am sure others will complain, to me the ending of this trilogy fit. It was foreshadowed very subtly, and when it hit, it hit fast and hard.
Honsinger has written a universe that is believable, and written heroes that are so close to infallible that it is a great surprise when something bad happens to them, and I for one appreciate it. There is no forced edginess, no strange dark past for these men; just years of war, and men doing their best. The characters have grown, since the first book in the series, and I cannot wait to see where they go next.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

What's with Max

I liked the story well enough, and I'm really hoping for more books in the series as I not a fan of cliffhanger endings.

That said, some things have changed and the first book is still my favorite. Max for example isn't the same Max we all know and love by the end of the story and he suddenly becomes a fan of fairly linear tactics because deus ex machinima.

(An example: he gets a jolly bag of treats in the form of various munitions that cause Max to salivate with celerity about all the outstanding tactical mischief he can cause with them... and then just uses 2 missiles from the new arsenal in the most bland fashion.)

Dr. Sahim also continues to to lose character as well. It's as if all of his intelligence and identity was sacrificed for comic relief. In the beginning of the series, his character had depth, motivations, experiences, and purpose. Now his character is limited to petting cats, humoring the CIC, and questioning Max's about his past.

On the bright side, we get to see more into Max's past, a brief look into Krag psychology, more sci-fi technical stuff, and exposition of the Union Navy's customs thereby expanding and ameliorating the overall universe.

Overall, it's still a pretty good book, just noticeably less satisfying than the previous entries.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

To Mr. Honsinger

Sir please please pick up where
you left off with Brothers in Valor
I find Max to be a great leading
Man. I read are heard the whole
Series all five at least four times
And well again let Max and the
Crew live on thank you. Alan Demetri

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite title

Sort of brakes my hart that COVID has taken this author. This is by far my favorite book. I have listened more times than any other than my 860 titles. I am sad thee will not be a conclusion to this story.

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