In Enemy Hands

Military SF
The adventures continue in book 7. Can’t say too much without spoilers, but the first half outlines the circumstances of the capture, and the next half is the MC’s incarceration, along with several officers. Despite the title giving away the story, HH gets beat up further in this entry. The enemy is a combo of the mania of the French Revolution and the extreme rhetoric of “them dirty Commies,” since Weber keeps going on about how social programs lead to useless citizens in the welfare state gone amok. While some of the background stuff is useful for painting a broader picture, some of the political prose is beginning to approach camp. After seven books telling us the situation, we get it. Capitalism under benign constutional monarchy = good. Welfare state = evil, and prone to sadistic monsters. The action scene remain good, and characters well drawn. I haven’t given up yet.

This entry in the series is just… bad. I have forced myself to keep slogging through it and have survived 67% of the misery. Nothing – NOTHING – happened until the 50% mark, but just when it seemed like things were really starting to move, they stalled out again. Like another reviewer here, I was willing to put up with a bit of back-story, but it just went on and on and on and on and on. Most of the rest (so far) is dialog and description which feels pointless, and not the least bit interesting. I will read the rest and update this review if it gets better, but I’m not holding my breath.

I like the series. The universe is phenomenal, the characters are interesting, the battles are great, the worlds are also great. However I am sad to say (not only me if you look at the 1-2’s), that there is too much written about background, how people think, how their actions might have consequences 5 different ways. I find that starting with this book , I am skipping page after page. Sometimes 5-6 pages to get back to the stories. I would estimate that the meat of the book, and that would include what really is relevant the first time around is 40-50%. I am finding the same thing going on in book 8. All I can hope is that considering when these books were written that Mr Weber heard some of the complaints and trimmed back the dialog for the later books. I can tell I will go on to book 9 but I will have a decision point. If you don’t mind skipping, get the book series. It really is incredible, it is just getting to be a bit much to read.

Ok, this review is for this edition of the book, not of the story itself. I am buying everyone of these editions to complete the collection because I love the series. This book, number 7 out of the 8 I have now, came with the binding print in a different color than the others! I have one Silver spine amid 7 gold spines!!!!! As a person with a touch of the obsessive, this is driving me crazy! It’s almost as bad as the fact that number 3 is bound in green and the rest are bound in blue. Ugh. Still good quality and still a real signature inside. Just wish someone would think about continuity with the rest of the books.

I am remiss in reviewing all the books in this series – so far I have read 12 of them and am about to buy the 13th – which will hopefully give you some indication as to how much I like the series. There is at least one follow up series – at least set in the same universe. So, whats it like. Often compared to the Horatio Hornblower saga of C.S. Forester, it basically tells the tale of a navel officer and her exploits as she rises through the ranks of command. You meet others in the various books – some of whom you really like. Some may (And will) die. In some ways it would be good for people in the military to read one or two from this series as Harrington leads by example and encourages her subordinates to think – and does not take credit for what they accomplish. *This is not restricted to her character but to others as well. And you will see the opposite as well – which makes a good and true contrast – and is believable because that is the way it is. (I admit I was not in the Navy but another service – but the example would be the same. Highly recommended for everyone who likes a good story, ones involving military action – or, who likes cats!

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