Degrees of Affection

*4.9 Stars*

Scorecard: (Out of 10)
* Quality of Writing - 10
* Pace - 9
* Plot development - 10
* Characters - 10
* Enjoyability - 10
* Insightfulness - 10
* Ease of Reading - 9
* Photos/Illustrations - NA
Final Score: 68/70 = 97%

*The Gush*

The war with the Peeps is on at last! Is it just me or are they completely incapable of simple battle? It’s like they have to be sneaky about it.

The reader meets a lot of new people in this book, but there are some old friends as well. Old friends include Honor’s Com officer from Basilisk, Webster, and, more importantly, Paul Tankersley. Tankersley, now without the gutless wonder as his commander (Don’t worry, the gutless wonder aka Pavel Young makes an appearance as well), comes to play a very important part as he becomes close and important to Honor. Through him, we come to see a new side of her; I believe a better side of her. She is still firmly a captain and in command, but we get to see more of her personal side.

New characters abound, many of them come to mean as much to you as McKeon or Scotty Tremain. “Mike” Henke, who is related to the Winton Royal Family, is a close friend of Honor’s from the Academy and now serves as her Exec. She also happens to be related to Tankersley as well. Admiral Mark Sarnow almost takes the place of Courvesier; he is Honor’s flag officer and comes to respect and care for her. They are a lot alike and work well as a team. I hope we see more of him.
The Peeps are here but their Navy is kept on the fringes; only Admiral Parnell, who we saw in the first book, really stands out. What we see more is the political situation on Haven as two Cabinet members are assassinated and the whole of the government is shattered at the end of the book. This event changes the course of Haven and the books in extraordinary ways.

The plot is one of inevitability. You basically know what’s coming halfway through the book as the characters fear the same and you can only watch it unfold. Young’s appearance brings about some rather interesting developments but he is only a part of the whole. Honor and Hancock play an important part in the events but they are part of the larger whole and the reader is allowed to see the whole, rather than pieces. The previous two books and Honor’s career have lead up to War with Haven, and the reader gets to see it unfold completely.

*The Rant*

Very little other than to reiterate what the reader should know after by this point in the series; the battle scenes, while not gruesome, are at times vivid and the author does not sugar coat what the Naval crew experiences during the horrors of battle. The assassinations on Haven are a bit more descriptive and while only briefly discussed, are a bit hard to read.

As the book talks about multiple areas of conflict, names and places may get a bit muddled. There is a map of the star systems and this is extremely helpful and 1st time readers definitely should make use of it.

*Conclusion*

If you’ve enjoyed the previous two books, this shouldn’t disappoint. Old friends ( and an enemy) returning while new friends add to the richness of Weber’s universe makes this book a wonderful addition to an already well written series.