Ashes of Victory

Honor Harrington, Book 9

By: David Weber

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

Length: 25 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The People's Republic of Haven made a tiny mistake when it announced the execution of Honor Harrington. It seemed safe enough. After all, she was already dead. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Now Honor has escaped from the prison planet called Hell and returned to the Manticoran Alliance with a few friends. Almost half a million of them, to be precise including some who know what really happened when the Committee of Public Safety seized power in the PRH. Honor's return from the dead comes at a critical time, providing a huge, much-needed lift for the Allies' morale, for the war is rapidly entering a decisive phase. Both sides believe that victory lies within their grasp at last, but dangers no one could foresee await them both. New weapons, new strategies, new tactics, spies, diplomacy, and assassination all are coming into deadly focus, and Honor Harrington, the woman the newsies call "the Salamander," once more finds herself at the heart of them all. But this time, the furnace may be too furious for even a salamander to survive.

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.

©2001 David Weber (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The new Honor Harrington novel is the longest yet, but justifies its length and complexity by greatly advancing the story of Honor and her universe. Honor has triumphally returned from Hades, at the head of a fleet of liberated POWs. Her reward is to become an admiral, a duchess, and a billionaire. She also becomes an elder sister of twins and, since Nimitz has lost some of his telepathy to war wounds, helps the ever delightful treecats learn signing, thereby proving they are fully sapient. But the war goes on, and the Star Kingdom's superior technology and training increasingly give it the advantage....Factor in Honor's personal and professional dilemmas, realistic R&D and procurement problems, spine-tingling action, and the series' usual dry wit, and it is clear that Weber has produced another mandatory acquisition." ( Booklist)

Another great HH story, but politics are tedious!

Would you consider the audio edition of Ashes of Victory to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print edition

What did you like best about this story?

How the war was being driven to a successful conclusion. The long-running nature of it was causing unconscionably large casualties.

What does Allyson Johnson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The varied voices, inflections and accents help differentiate the large cast of characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The loss of still more of Honor's past comrades-in-arms is a sad part of the story, but inevitable given the long-running heavy fighting and their propensity for being where the action is.

Any additional comments?

The re-emergence of characters from Masada brings a note of extremism and intolerance that is unpleasant. Sort of matches the real world in a sad way.

No battles for Honor

Honor is out of the battles for this one. Others are taking the war to the peeps.

This installment is the most tedious so far. There are some very nice sections, like teaching the tree cats to sign, the effects of the jump in technology, the assassination attempt. But it drags and parts.

Ashes of Victory

I could not put this book down. Honor comes back from 2 years at a prison camp and rebuilds her life. She is moving from an battle action person, except at the end of the book to flag command. The interaction with her Mother and the increasing role with the Queen is interesting. Enjoyed the parts with the tree cats. Nemitz injury and all the cats learning to communicate by other than telepathy was great. The ending makes me want to start on the next book in the series right away.

sci-fi operatic story telling, best I've ever read

unbelievable amount of crafting goes into this series. amazing, thought provoking, ruthlessly logical. the writer is so pragmatic in his approach, I OFTEN forget I'm listening to a made-up space adventure, and instead find myself rubbing my chin in general agreement: yes... that is the way a ship operates at a wormhole junction...

Too Many words

I enjoy the series but David Weber just uses too many words. The book could be around half the size and even be better.

Awesome story more challenges and more background

My favorite book so far. Great story getting together and seeing the main key players work together to fight for their lives. Glad to see the story show Honor in a more varied roles and interest and saving people at the right time and the right place.

Good reading

This book is good and Johnson is also good. The story is always getting big and with more charecters and it is geting handfull to remember all of them.

Continuation of the epic

I've read and listened to all the Honor Harrington books at least twice and I continue to be pleased with the story and the reading performance. I certainly recommend this episode to anyone who has read the story. For anyone who hasn't started on David Weber's books I recommend they begin with the first in the series.

Stunningly fun to listen

Yes, I read the book at least 2x I find the entire series fun and buying the audio has been worth not listening to teen music in the background at home or blaring whatever muzak is on nearby cars on the way to work.

It gets better the closer you get to the end

I should hate this book, but I don't. The book starts with talk talk talk talk. Some of it is interesting, some of it OK, and a few of these conversations are kinda bad.

Lots of 'on the other hand.....hmmmm....yes and no...' that are the conversational template followed by all inhabitants of the Honorverse.

The worst is the conversations between Queen Elizabeth and Honor. Did you ever cringe at a commercial where two overdressed suburban wives with fake smiles yammer about their favorite dish washing soap? The conversations between Honor and 'Beth' are even more cringe worthy. They are so full of mutual ass-kissing and so sugary sweet and contrived that they are like fingernails on the blackboard.

Personally I'm kind of sick of the cats, but YMMV.

Anyway, stick it out to about hour 15, when things start to get interesting and then become really interesting. Weber throws in some surprises that make a pretty good story.

I ought to hate this book for all the endless talking.....hmmmm....but on the other hand I'd really like to know what effects these new changes in the Peep power structure will have on the war.

Guess I'd better plan on listening to book 10.