To Honor You Call Us

Man of War, Book 1

By: H. Paul Honsinger

Narrated by: Ray Chase

The Terran Union is engaged in a vast interstellar war against the Krag Ruthless aliens intent on exterminating humankind. In 2315, the wily Max Robichaux is given command of the USS Cumberland, a destroyer with state-of-the-art capabilities but a combat record so bad, she’s known as the “Cumberland Gap.” Capt. Robichaux’s first mission: to take his warship to the Free Corridor, where the Krag have secretly been buying strategic materials, and to seize or destroy any ships carrying enemy cargo. Far from the fleet and under enforced radio silence, Max relies only on his determination and guile…and the support and friendship of his chief medical officer, the brilliant Dr. Sahin. Because even as he deals with the ship’s onboard problems and the stress of carrying out her risky assignment, Max and the doctor discover that the Cumberland and her misfit crew are all that stands in the way of a deadly Krag attack that threatens to end the war - and humanity - once and for all. A far-future story in the tradition of “ships of wood, men of iron” novels, To Honor You Call Us and the Man of War series combine the adventure of exploration, the excitement of war, and the dangers of the unknown through the eyes of a ship and her crew.

©2013 H. Paul Honsinger (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Thoroughly enjoyed the story

I'm not one who normally goes for military stories, but after reading the description and the reviews I decided to take a chance. Glad I did. This was an entertaining story from the very beginning. The struggles LCDR Robichaux endures with his crew and vessel are similar to other "overcoming the odds" stories but the author does well to make it unpredictable. While not a huge military buff I enjoyed the references to earth's historical wars and how they related to the war humanity finds itself in. There were plenty of humorous moments that had me laughing aloud as well (references to a certain space faring television show to start) and even though you only "meet" him for the last chapter, Admiral Hornblower was probably my favorite character. Ray Chase was an excellent narrator, bringing life and uniqueness to each of the characters. I particularly liked how each character had his own unique voice, from the very young midshipmen to the gruff and crass Admiral.

The only negative I really had was every now and then the characters would give long expositions on historical wars or explanations of culture, history, procedures, etc that, while important for the story, occasionally dragged on and seemed out of place for the scene. Despite that, I look forward to reading the other stories in this series.

Detailed Universe With Familiar Characters

If you could sum up To Honor You Call Us in three words, what would they be?

Well thought out.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the details explaining so much behind the universe the story is set in. Why are there no women on board? Why are there midshipmen? This is basically taking the Aubrey - Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian set in space. If you have seen the movie "Master and Commander The Far Side of the World" you will see this honors that series. I love the details of how a new captain has to take a discouraged crew and turn them into an effective fighting team.

Which character – as performed by Ray Chase – was your favorite?

The admiral "Hit em harder". The writing is well done but Ray did a good job on that character.

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

I cannot listen in one sitting any book this long.

Any additional comments?

I bought and am enjoying the sequel.

Undervalued

Would you consider the audio edition of To Honor You Call Us to be better than the print version?

Great buy, interesting story, different look at religion in a space faring society.

What did you like best about this story?

The basic premis of the story. I didn't care for the lack of female characters; however, I did understand the rarity of them based on the story plot.

Which character – as performed by Ray Chase – was your favorite?

No particular favorite however the narrator sometimes seamed to have confused characters.

Any additional comments?

.

A standard space navy opera given life.

Ray Chase narrates a somewhat standard space navy book and turns it into a masterpiece with a fantastic performance and entertaining range of accents.

Aubrey-Maturin... in spaaaace!

With some work I think Honsinger might turn out to be a decent writer, but this book reads like a seat-of-the-pants pastiche of O'Brian's series. One of the more annoying habits that the author routinely gets into is the straining to explain why his space-borne series is so similar to the Napoleonic era British navy; sometimes the twist might be interesting, but it always comes across as laborious.

The slap-dash science also drew me out of the moment at several points in the story.

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