Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a review I didn't want to write. I genuinely like David Weber's writings. I own most of the books he's produced and loved On Basilisk Station when it first came out. This series has been a huge breath of fresh air in the world of science fiction writing. Sadly, this series is also a wonderful example of a storyline that has been extended far past the original scope. David Weber seemed to be flailing around more than a bit as he tried to hold the pieces of the plot together. There are many things that have gone wrong in this world. At first it was about one person and her uncanny ability to get a ship's crew to excel in combat. Yes, the combats were in some ways simple. Originally missles were described as more of a standoff weapon while energy weapons and fighting in a line like 18th century warships was the standard. However, the technology kept becoming more and more powerful, and missiles have become the uberhammer in the universe. This book not only notes it, but emphasizes it with many of the discussions the characters get involved in. And sadly, the bad guys are showing almost no character development. Haven and its people were textured and deep with many of the characters showing shades of gray in their personalities and motivations. The "five mandarins" of the Solarian League and the Detweiler clones who run the Mesan Alignment are extremely 2-dimensional. Sure the supposed plots that Weber has them conducting might appear complex, but the foundations are simple and the motivations are just too obvious. There is no attempt by David Weber to add nuance to the characters. And as others have said, this read like a very long setup for later books. Overall, it was like one of hte middle books in The Wheel of Time, there was a lot of filler and exposition, but the plot moved incrementally. This series has been suffering since the first "Podnaughts" appeared, and has seemed to almost lose it's way. Mission of Honor had many unnecessary deaths and new technologies that appeared to exist solely to help boost the power of a new bad guy. It was almost like reading a bad comic book where the villain suddenly gains a new power just to add in more danger. The early books were character driven, with the personalities of the characters being a major component of hte story. A Rising Thunder downplays the individual characters. This story is lost in "epic" mode. Weber is best when he can keep the story focused on a few specific characters, rather htan try to write about every action taking place in his universe. For lovers of the series, this will add a few details and does push towards a couple of major confrontations in later books, but in my opinion it is a major disappointment.