A Call to Vengeance (3) (Manticore Ascendant)

(Volume 3 of "Manticore Ascendant")In two previous books, Travis Long has demonstrated his freak talent for tactics by saving the day in several battles. In this book, he demonstrates his freak talent for tactics by saving the day in a couple of battles - though in one case he actually saves the day by avoiding a battle and scaring the enemy off.Plus, there's politics. Bad old Earl Breakwater, the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Manticore, is out to get the Navy again (or still), and a chance occurrence in the Royal house gives him the opportunity - or so he thinks - to manipulate the Monarch.That, plus a lot of plot complications and thickenings, is about it.Those who like these books (and I do) will like this one. Those who don't, won't.One very odd thing: every time a person's name is put in the possessive form, it's always underlined. I have no idea why.

Why is it that the Kindle versions of a book are obviously ARC editions and full of glaring typos? The Audible version is up to date but the Kindle version is not? Anyway, I enjoyed reading this book and can't wait for Book 4 which I am.sure will have just as many typos and editing snafus.One aspect of this series that bothers me is the relatively low tech feel I get from the story? Data chips? Reminds me of the original Star Trek TV series. I guess it's the age of the writer.What about artificial intelligence in these stories? Look at where AI heading right now in the real world. These books should be dripping with AI and human computer brain interfaces embedded in the skull. This future should be way more futuristic than it is.But I have really enjoyed Travis Long. Obviously he is on the spectrum even though it's never really mentioned. Can't wait for Number 4

This book is the third in the “Manticore Ascendant” series which is an early prequel to David Weber’s “Honor Harrington” series. The Manticore system has three habitable planets and is governed by a constitutional monarchy. It is far away from the dominant Solarian League which has hundreds of inhabited planets. Although Manticore is moderately prosperous, its space navy is barely large enough to defend freighters from pirates. For unknown reasons, it has been attacked twice in the last few months by mercenary fleets. The reader knows that the mercenaries were hired by a Solarian League corporation that has discovered that, unknown to the inhabitants, the Manticore system has a “wormhole” and that anyone who controls that wormhole can make enormous profits by charging freighters fees to use that wormhole.The hero is Lieutenant Travis Long along with his good friend Commander Lisa Donnelly. While many of the Manticore navy warships are being repaired because of damage taken in a recent attack, a new hostile force arrives in the Manticore system. Can Travis Long figure out a new way to defeat a much larger force as he did in the earlier novels?The story also has nasty political fights, a devastating accident that creates a constitutional crisis, and quarrels over defense priorities. David Weber military sci-fi novels usually involve a large naval battle. But this one involves not one, but two huge naval battles. Read the book to find out how the small damaged Manticore fleet is able to fight not one, but two large naval battles.Readers might want to read the first two novels of this series before reading this novel. I hope the next book solves the nasty political problems that keeps Manticore from making a rational defense budget. And I hope that new books of this series are published faster than the infuriatingly slow schedule that now plagues the Honor Harrington series.

Book number three of a three book space opera military SF series. This series is a prequel to the 19 ? 20 ? book Honorverse series. I read the well printed and bound MMPB published by Baen in 2018. I would love to see another prequel trilogy for the Honorverse.The book is about the early days of the Manticore Kingdom, before the wormholes that made Manticore into a rich crossroads of merchant trade. Parliament is firmly in control of the kingdom's purse and the Royal Manticore Navy is barely existent with three obsolete cruisers and a few destroyers and corvettes. And pirates are plundering merchant ships in the voids between star systems. And sometimes the pirates are not real pirates, they are Solarian Corporations grabbing territory using mercenaries.

This installment of "Manticore Ascendant" is a top notch addition to this well written, superbly plotted prequel to the "Honorverse," which is populated with fully developed characters who vhange over time in believable ways.This installment introduces several new roles for familiar faces. One shows his true colors as a burglar/hacker/intelligence agent, who is in the mold of Coontz's Tommy Carmellini. Another is a Naval officer, who is recruited into the ranks of an ultra secret off the books intel organization, ala Jack Ryan Jr and "The Campus."The plot is set in territory and culture familiar to those who love the multitude of Honor Harrington books. It reveals the origins of the political conflict an turmoil present in previous books set in later times.I enjoyed this book, and cannot wait for the sequel. Do not miss this one.

With this series it's been a bit difficult to remember that the RMN represented here isn't the ultra efficient navy of the main Honorverse but that makes it fresher than one would have thought possible in something that's been running so long. In this book, the Manticorans are beginning to realise how badly off they were and after successfully bluffed out a second raiding force, the admiralty has decided that it's time to take their place in the Galaxy but the learning process is going to be traumatic and with constitutional problems at home, Manticore's very survival is in doubt. One has to wonder how much input David Weber has in this book - there's actually less political shenanigans than has become usual in his standard series and the lack of experienced crews on the Manticoran ships has lead to some humorous situations.

With the third instalment of the Manticore Ascendant series you get the first step past the first battle of Manticore revealed in the Honorverse companion novels. We get the glimpse of what may come in the battle with the Solarian corporation that wants Manticore for itself. Weber, Zahn and Pope between them are creating the events that form the naval traditions and political landscape in the Honorverse. Its excitingly written and you get a thrill when you see a passage and think that's why the civilian security service is always at loggerheads with the naval ones, the civilian service was created to police it!Its also a refreshing reversion back to a single storyline, where each new book is following the same characters and the story moves forward with each new book.

Travis Long is back, and I found myself wondering why I had delayed so long (see what I did there?) before reading this latest instalment in the earlier history of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. This is not, perhaps, the most exciting of the Manticore Ascendant books, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable read. One might consider the narrative a little fragmented as it follows three more-or-less separate storylines: Travis himself, Lisa Donnelly, and the royal family. However, it works well.There are probably things I could criticise on plot and pacing, but David Weber is such a good author that he persuades the reader not to care. You just get so invested in the characters that you get swept along, and any deficiencies get forgotten or ignored. Yes, David Weber is still one of my favourite authors. :-)

Really, Really, Really can not wait for the next book in this series, loving the look at Manticore before Harrington and co came along, the charters are great, along with the normal double dealing that goes on in politics, looking forward to all the new tech to come online for their navy...

Really interesting to find out about the early days of the Star Kingdom. Looking forward to any further installations. All of the different sub plots in the Honorverse are equally gripping and all worth reading.