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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Strength and Honour is the 4th in the series and a thoroughly good read. The Roman Empire is reborn, bringing with it warring factions, territorial disputes, bitter rivalry with the USA and an alien entity so monstrous it threatens to destroy them all. Advanced technology is largely redundant in the face of this enemy and the crews of both Roman and American ships are forced into an uneasy alliance and to rely on weaponry from another age. This is space opera at its best. The story is told mainly from the perspective of the Americans. It is populated with some great characters. I loved TR Steele and his marines - their camaraderie, banter and descriptions of shipboard life bring the action to life. The patterner, Augustus, is fascinating - he is rude, abrasive, malicious, but strangely honourable and likeable. All the most interesting elements from Roman history are here,cleverly transferred to a futuristic setting; combine these with epic battles in space and you have an easy and engrossing read. The other books in the series are The Myriad, Wolf Star and The Sagittarius Command - it is best to read them in order to make sense of the action. They are just as good. This remains one of my favourite series and I am pleased that there is more to come from The Merrimack.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
An excellent finish to the series. I am disappointed this is the end. The characters were entertaining. The series is a thoroughly good read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
The best space opera around!
30 July 2009
Amazon Verified Purchase
Oh, what a guilty pleasure this series is. "Strength and Honor" is the fourth in the U.S.S. Merrimack series, and it's as fun as the ones that preceded it.
As with the previous books in the series, "Honor" features a strong cast of characters, a healthy mix of action, sex, intrigue, physics and humor. There are two enemies (the bad space-Romans and the hungry Hive). Of particular interest to a nationalist like me, the heroes of the book (mostly) are clearly Americans, who appear to be the leading power in outer space.
There are some resemblances to the "Star Trek" concept; the captain of the Merrimack has some James T. Kirk in him, and there are a host of "minor" characters who are intriguing and amusing in the Spock and Scotty tradition.
This book -- like the whole series -- is well-written, fast-paced and fun quite on its own merits. There are lots of cliff-hanging moments, and the term "page-turner" seems to have been coined for these stories.
One minor flaw seems to be the resolution of plot points. Frequently, when the Merrimack is about to be destroyed, captured or eaten, Capt. Farragut has some last-second "It's-crazy-but-it-might-just-work" idea that saves the day. You can only go to that well so often, and perhaps author R.M. Meluch even knows that.
Despite that, I'd quickly scarf up a fifth "Merrimack" book. It's that much fun.
As with the previous books in the series, "Honor" features a strong cast of characters, a healthy mix of action, sex, intrigue, physics and humor. There are two enemies (the bad space-Romans and the hungry Hive). Of particular interest to a nationalist like me, the heroes of the book (mostly) are clearly Americans, who appear to be the leading power in outer space.
There are some resemblances to the "Star Trek" concept; the captain of the Merrimack has some James T. Kirk in him, and there are a host of "minor" characters who are intriguing and amusing in the Spock and Scotty tradition.
This book -- like the whole series -- is well-written, fast-paced and fun quite on its own merits. There are lots of cliff-hanging moments, and the term "page-turner" seems to have been coined for these stories.
One minor flaw seems to be the resolution of plot points. Frequently, when the Merrimack is about to be destroyed, captured or eaten, Capt. Farragut has some last-second "It's-crazy-but-it-might-just-work" idea that saves the day. You can only go to that well so often, and perhaps author R.M. Meluch even knows that.
Despite that, I'd quickly scarf up a fifth "Merrimack" book. It's that much fun.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Conclusion to the Series
19 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover
In this book, Romulus, the newly declared Caesar (who is not entirely in his right mind) decides to take over the Universe.
Naturally, his plans come close to succeeding but our heroes are still heroes and justice has to triumph. The ending (I won't give it away) was brilliant, though the whole scenario leading up to it was (to say the least) improbable. Why then do I give this book five stars? I love the characters. I love the dialogue and I love the sheer preposterous grandeur of the whole idea: the Roman Empire never died, it just went underground for a couple of thousand years until it could reconstitute itself in space.
I have always loved the work of Rebecca Meluch. She is one of the best writers of science fiction around. This series is excellent and I hope it gains her the acclaim it deserves, but it is not in fact her best work. Try The Queen's Squadron or Sovereign or, best of all, Jerusalem Fire. We had more than ten years between The Queen's Squadron and this series. I hope that this author keeps it up. We need more great books and R. M. Meluch can give them to us.
Naturally, his plans come close to succeeding but our heroes are still heroes and justice has to triumph. The ending (I won't give it away) was brilliant, though the whole scenario leading up to it was (to say the least) improbable. Why then do I give this book five stars? I love the characters. I love the dialogue and I love the sheer preposterous grandeur of the whole idea: the Roman Empire never died, it just went underground for a couple of thousand years until it could reconstitute itself in space.
I have always loved the work of Rebecca Meluch. She is one of the best writers of science fiction around. This series is excellent and I hope it gains her the acclaim it deserves, but it is not in fact her best work. Try The Queen's Squadron or Sovereign or, best of all, Jerusalem Fire. We had more than ten years between The Queen's Squadron and this series. I hope that this author keeps it up. We need more great books and R. M. Meluch can give them to us.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Semper Fi - One awesome tale woven of unlikely threads
5 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover
Strength and Honor, is much more than a supreme example of military science fiction. It is a proclamation of the absolute glory of the human spirit.
Meluch gives us a view into the unparalleled strength of mankind to remain always faithful to answer the call of morality and justice to defeat the forces of entropy and evil.
In portraying the indomitable strength of man, and the ability to achieve honor in the face of enemies both inexorable (the Hive - mindless alien race feeding on the universe) and insidious (New Rome on the planet Palatine and its far flung colonies) this novel (and its predecessors in the Tour of the Merrimack) is catapulted into class of its own. This series is on par with the Star Trek franchise for action, the Star Wars saga for portraying the eternal struggle between good and evil, and a great big helping of "hoo ra", a la Starship Troopers to boot.
I hope you pick up the whole series and enjoy them as much as I have.
Meluch gives us a view into the unparalleled strength of mankind to remain always faithful to answer the call of morality and justice to defeat the forces of entropy and evil.
In portraying the indomitable strength of man, and the ability to achieve honor in the face of enemies both inexorable (the Hive - mindless alien race feeding on the universe) and insidious (New Rome on the planet Palatine and its far flung colonies) this novel (and its predecessors in the Tour of the Merrimack) is catapulted into class of its own. This series is on par with the Star Trek franchise for action, the Star Wars saga for portraying the eternal struggle between good and evil, and a great big helping of "hoo ra", a la Starship Troopers to boot.
I hope you pick up the whole series and enjoy them as much as I have.
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