Manticore is still a small backwater Star Kingdom. The second wormhole has yet to be discovered. The Andermani are the bigger players in the neighborhood. But they have caught the eye of an outside player who is playing a really long game. The beginning of Wnterfall’s, Travi
S Long’s, and Lisa Long’s careers and a hint of the conspiracy….,, ( )

The fourth book is mostly two separate stories that do dovetail in the end. This does build on the previous three books but since it has been about 4 years since the previous one the backstory given during the book was helpful. The Andermani Empire comes calling on a diplomatic mission and they very much want to take Thomas back to meet their Emperor. So Manticore sends him and his half-brother, Gavin the Foreign Secretary to Andermani and things change quickly as soon as they get out of hyper. Now things have changed, and they must find a way to still accomplish their mission. The second plotline has to do with Chomps solving a mystery that everyone is convinced isn’t a mystery at all, just a drunken accident.

An entertaining read and I can’t wait for more in this series because when they do find that wormhole that readers of the Honor books know about, things are going to change for Manticore.

Review copy proved by the publisher
( )

This is the fourth book in the Manticore Ascendant series. It takes place in the early years on Manticore when they have just come through the plague years and are trying to build relationships with their interstellar neighbors. They have also attracted an enemy who has made numerous attempts to destabilize and conquer Manticore.

Travis Long and his new wife Lisa have been sent to the Andermani Empire at the request of Emperor Gustav. Travis is hoping to absorb some of the Andermni's military knowledge to bring home to Manticore's fledgling Navy.

Also on the trip is Travis's brother Gavin who is Earl Winterfall and a new member of Manticore's government. Though inexperienced, he has been sent to try to forge trade agreements with the Andermani.

Left at home is Chomps who has run afoul of Navy Intelligence and has been sent to the countryside until things cool down. However, he quickly gets involved in solving the murder of the local duke and all of his family. He thinks the determination that it was an accident caused by a drunken duke is very suspicious.

Travis and Gavin also soon find out that their trips are much more complicated than they had thought. Emperor Gustav has died and things in the Andermani Empire are a little unsettled as the new 23-year-old emperor is trying to consolidate his position. Gavin stumbles upon conspirators who have a different candidate in mind for emperor.

And Travis and Lisa find themselves about a fleet sent to put down an insurrection as the would-be emperor has joined forces with a world that wants out of Andermani control. There are lots of space battles in this section of the story.

And weaving through all the different plot threads are the machinations of a shadow corporation whose aim is to conquer Manticore without sending in a fleet this time since it didn't work at all well when they last tried it.

I enjoyed this story very much. I like the characters and find the world building very entertaining. Eric Michael Summerer did an excellent job with the different voices and accents. ( )

This prequel to HH continues very nicely with excellent characters and a complex but lively plot. There is even a murder mystery for Chomps to solve. ( )