For Honor We Stand – Excellent sequel to the first book

For Honor We Stand (Man of War, #2) by H. Paul Honsinger
My rating: 10 out of 10 stars

In 2315, the Earth Union is losing a thirty-year-long war with the Krag Hegemony.

Having encountered the Krag before, Space Commander Max Robicheaux now faces daunting challenges aboard the USS Cumberland: the dangers from the enemy without…and clashes with crew and superiors within.

Meanwhile, Doctor Sahin receives a coded message summoning him to a secret meeting that aims to forge an alliance that could change the balance of power in Known Space. But first, he must circumvent the fighter ships and heavily armed troops of the traitorous emir bent on killing him before he reaches the negotiating table.

Both men must call upon their developing skills and growing friendship to bear the burden of carrying between the Krag Hegemony and the Earth Union a fateful ultimatum and the shocking answer—an answer that could spell eternal slavery, or even extinction, for all humankind.

This is an excellent sequel to the first book, To Honor You Call Us, in the Man of War series. The book continues the adventures of Max and Sahin as they combat, not only the Krag but also the all too common incompetent officers, appointed by political maneuvering rather than actual merit and competence, within their own navy.

It has all the good parts of the previous book. The dialog is sometimes quite fun to read. The characters are likable. Heck I even like the loud-mouthed Admiral. There is a fair amount of action which is also reasonably well done.

The book is advancing the story in a nice way and setting the stage for the next book quite well without feeling like a middle-in-the-series kind of book. The interactions with the Vaach are quite entertaining and did put a nice twist to the story so far.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The only negative thing I can say about it is that I wished that the idiot Duflot would have been given the public chewing that he deserved. I would have liked the Admiral to tell him exactly where he could stuff his attitude with Max and a few others present. Instead his reassignment was more or less glossed over in a few sentences after it had happened.

Well, you cannot have everything and I am certainly looking forward to the next installment in this series.