Author | David Weber |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Honor Harrington Honorverse |
Genre | Military science fiction novel |
Publication date
|
2000 |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 576 |
ISBN | |
OCLC | 42765100 |
813/.54 21 | |
LC Class | PS3573.E217 A87 2000 |
Preceded by | Echoes of Honor |
Followed by | War of Honor |
Ashes of Victory is the ninth Honor Harrington novel by David Weber.
The book begins hours after the end of the previous novel. Honor Harrington and her "Elysian Space Navy" arrive at Manticoran-controlled space, only to discover that she was believed dead, that her mother had given birth to twins (partly to satisfy the Graysons' need for an heir to her Steading), her cousin Devon has inherited her Manticoran title, and that the extent of her injuries will prevent her from returning to active naval duty for a couple of years, since she needs reconstructive surgery.
To put Honor to good use, the Royal Manticoran Navy promotes her to Admiral and places her at Saganami Island Naval Academy to teach future generations of naval officers. Queen Elizabeth III elevates Honor to Duchess Harrington. Meanwhile, Honor helps to prove that treecats are as intelligent as humans, and she eventually helps to develop an easy to understand sign language system, making full communication between humans and the treecats possible.
After the daring attacks featured in the previous novel, the People's Republic of Haven seems to have the initiative. However, Manticore has a trump card that has the potential to end the war, in the form of devastatingly effective new technology and weapons fully integrated into a new massive heavy assault force, known as 8th fleet. The Star Kingdom's navy bides time, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Chaos breaks up in the Havenite ranks, and the ambitious Admiral McQueen stages a coup that succeeds in killing Rob S. Pierre and almost all the members of the Havenite Committee of Public Safety, except for Oscar Saint-Just who manages to crush the coup by detonating a nuclear device secretly hidden within the navy headquarters. With the Committee and the military High Command in ruins, Saint-Just becomes the dictator of the People's Republic, and orders Admiral Thomas Theisman to take over the massive fleet guarding Haven. This proves to be an eventually fatal miscalculation. While Saint-Just believes Theisman is apolitical and trustworthy, in reality Theisman is plotting a coup of his own, with the secret help of the political commissar Saint-Just has assigned to him.