Crown of Slaves

Eric Flint makes this MUCH better

The 9th (Ashes of Victory) and especially the 10 ((War of Honor) books in the Honor Harrington mainline series were definitely a sign that David Weber needs to be reined in by the editors at Baen, since the writing was very flabby. The 36+ hours of War of Honor could have easily been a MUCH better book at 15-20 hours. Here we have 19 hours of tight, well written, and well read Honorverse. I enjoyed all of it without a single place where I just hit fast forward.

Crown of Slaves focuses on the Genetic Slave Trade and the fight against it, along with the creation of Torch. Honor herself is essentially not a part of the story. But instead we have more of the Zilwickis and Victor Cashet, with the first appearance of Ruth Winton, niece of Queen Elizabeth.

Highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Crown of Slaves

Enjoyed this story and I also would have preferred Allyson Johnson as the narrator but at least Peter Larkin does a better female voice than Snyder. The other books mention the new slave star kingdom of Torch, so it was great to hear the story of it's creation.. The life of Midshipman Helen Zilwicki was covered in another sub-series. This book covers the creation of Queen Barry Zilwicki and the star kingdom of Torch. The action of the two young girls gave an excitment to the story as Princess Ruth Winton was so enthralled with her role as the computer spy for the control of Congo. This book fills in the detail that other book in the series did not cover. Can not wait for the next in the series. I do hope Audible will carry all the books in these sub-series.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Good story, bad narrator

The story is what I'd give four stars to. As for the narrator, Peter Larkin, I'd give two and a half, maybe three.
He mutters too much, and it makes it hard to understand what he's saying at times.
They should have used either Allyson Johnson or Jay Snyder.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful

The narration hinders a great story.

I really like this offshoot of the main Honor Harrington series, having read the books myself before listening to the audiobook. The story rips right along, and the characters, as usual, are richly developed. By the time the story ends, you're glad for the time to catch your breath, but annoyed that it's over. Thank goodness the next book is already written!

All of this makes the two major deficiencies in the narration all that much more disappointing. First, I found the narrator very difficult to listen to because he was always changing his volume levels. He often spoke so softly that I needed to turn up the volume to even hear. Then in the next breath, he would be too loud for that increased volume, so I had to turn it down again. Second, Mr. Larkin was quite good at his vocal characterizations, except for some of the female characters. In particular, his voices for Berry and Ruth make them seem very child-like throughout, even at times in the story where the characters are anything but childish. I found this detracted greatly from the story.

I would say that if you are going to be listening to this audiobook in a quiet place where the voice level shifts will not bother you, the story is still well worth the listen. For myself, I have the next audiobook in the series, but after that, I will not be continuing with it any further unless the narrator changes.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

David Weber at it again

Where does Crown of Slaves rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Somewhere in the middle this is good old entertainment not an epic story but a good read.

What other book might you compare Crown of Slaves to and why?

This is another in a long line of Weber books if you have not read all are at least some you will be missing a lot in the story although it is a stand alone book.

Have you listened to any of Peter Larkin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have never listened to Peter Larkin"s performances before but his is a very can make it come alive..

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

not realy just a good read.

Any additional comments?

As always I will stop and buy a new David Weber book any time I see a new one.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Thoroughly enjoyed the listen!

All I can say is that I liked it enough to buy the second listen in the series.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Honor Harrington background

Where does Crown of Slaves rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is the first in a series that fills in the gaps in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. Incidents mentioned in the Honor Harrington books are more thoroughly detailed in this book and series.

What did you like best about this story?

Wanted to here the "complete" story starting with "Crown of Slaves".

Have you listened to any of Peter Larkin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. However his performance is excellent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really, It is 19+ hours long.

Any additional comments?

No.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

ENJOY

I believe this is one of the best if one has followed the series. I gave it and the narrator [ Peter Larkin] 5 stars.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Honor Harrington Universe Book 16

"Pure Politics"

It tells about political situation which occurred after Highridge's government neglect of Erewhon‎.
During that situation Erewhon‎ sold star alliance Tech to PRH, also there are some more interesting events.

PS
Narrator wasn't bad, it just took some time to adjust.

12 of 16 people found this review helpful

Can't understand the narrator.

The narrator is hard to hear and understand even at max volume. I also was not impressed with his general storytelling or voices.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful