The Short Victorious War

Honor Harrington, Book 3

By: David Weber

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent.

But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power: a "short victorious war" to unite the people and fill the treasury once more. It's a card they've played often in the last half-century, always successfully, and all that stands in their way is the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its threadbare allies: enemies in the past who have always backed down.

Only this time the Peeps face something different. This time they're up against Captain Honor Harrington and a Royal Manticoran Navy that's prepared to give them a war that's far from short - or victorious.

A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.

Listen to another Honor Harrington adventure.

©2002 David Weber (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

A good continuation of the series

Once again David Webber put out a good book building on the foundation of previous novels. I must say though I’ve already read his later book series and I can see how this mirrors the books he wrote later on. However I feel the Honor series so far feels less fleshed out than I’m use to seeing in his writing. That’s not to say I’m disappointed in the book just that I’m more of a fan of some other series. I enjoyed seeing the return of Lord Young and seeing Honor have to deal with her rival. I would’ve like to see more of this in the story but I feel that it will be played out in the next book more.

Narrator getting better

I liked the intrigue, the action and the science. Reminded me of a battle at sea between two sailing ships.

More exciting action for Honor

The narrator was good. I wasn't a fanb of her Honor in the first book but she has grown on me, and her accents are great.

great read,

good book, great narrorator engaging and mysterious. great action. as always. characters were great too.

Passionate writing

Honor is and does as her name implies. I look forward to reading many more novels about her exploits.

Honor again

This book had a great deal of back story and not enough real action. it felt like watching a movie where there is 90 minutes of modest setup and then 10 minutes of action. I still like the character but hope something more happens in the next book

Larger Scale Battles

I feel that this book is better than the second one.

It introduces us to larger scale engagements. Both in contemplating the maneuvering in a large scale war and simply larger system engagements. We are also introduced to more elements of fleet politics.

By this point I think it is fairly safe to say that if this was fanfiction, honor would be considered a Mary Sue. Most of her problems tend to come from other characters having problems with her competence and success. This might turn some people off.

This is different than the first two books, but very similar to them at the same time. I plan on reading the next book, but feel like I need a bit of a break before continuing incase it is too similar.

Good listen - mostly

Would you listen to The Short Victorious War again? Why?

possibly, in a few years

Who was your favorite character and why?

Honor Harrington - of course

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes - but that was the way I read the print book.

Any additional comments?

The reader's pronunciation was so different on many words than the way I read them in the book that it continually pulled me away from the story to try to figure out what she was saying. It has now (after the previous two books) gotten so I can almost ignore my irritation, but not completely. Every time she says man-TIC-o-ran it drives me up a wall. I hope I can begin to not hear it in the later books for I'll probably listen to at least the first ten books in the series.

Victorious War?

That does not exist.

This was a great story. Loved it, David did a great job carrying his heroine onward. I have to say I am a fan of the relationship David gave his heroine character, as it humanizes her. A great continuation of the series,

Honor war continues

Honor Harrington has be given a new ship and role. She has taken up to role of Flag captain. Her new position places her and her ship in the way of the invasion fleet of the people's republic. Honor know what is at state, and as we expect of her victory is the only option.