Strength and Honor: A Novel of the U.S.S. Merrimack

by R.M. Meluch

Book Overview

Captain John Farragut and the crew of the U.S.S. Merrimack face their greatest challenge as Caesar Romulus declares war on the United States of America with a direct attack on Earth. The Merrimack... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0756405785
• ISBN13: 9780756405786
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Daw Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.7" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The best space opera around!

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.

Excellent Conclusion to the Series

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.

Semper Fi - One awesome tale woven of unlikely threads

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.

I just stayed up all night reading this novel.

This lady does military sci fi right. The perfect blend of action, drama, and intrigue, with a solid and mature emotional core sprinkled with wit and sensitivity to The Way Things Really Are. I loved this novel, and I loved the other three that came before. I plan to read the rest of R.M. Meluch's novels, and would be willing to get on my knees and beg for the Merrimack series to continue. I just can't get enough of these characters!

fantastic military science fiction

The Roman Empire never died; it just went underground waiting for the right time to emerge. That time came when FTL ships made traveling to the stars possible while the internet connected the Romans all across the globe. They took a spaceship and colonized the planet Palatine, modeling it after the ancient Roman Empire. They have since colonized planets all over the galaxy and they have conquered their sector of space. Caesar Romulus declares war on the United States for breaking a treaty which America never did. It is believed that Romulus' father was assassinated on his son's orders and the Patterner Augustus is still on the USS Merrimack determined to pay Romulus back for killing his Caesar. In a surprise move, Romulus has his troops attack the United States; while they hold their own the government orders the space armada to attack Palatine. Romulus has a plan to conquer earth and make it another Roman colony, but someone who is dead reaches out from the grave to try to foil his scheme. Captain Farragut of the Merrimack is in the thick of the hostilities on earth and Palatine even as Augustus makes a move and the Hive feels regenerated. R.M. Meluch writes a fantastic military science fiction tale with vivid battle scenes, intricate plotting, and great characterizations. Although Earth and Palatine are home planets to humans, their cultures are radically different, making it seem like two diverse species. The key element is how well the author makes a case that war is waste and the fool's folly of politicians who care nothing about expendable soldiers except the bottom line. The Patterner (a super cyborg who seeks intelligent patterns in the midst of seemingly random chaos) adds to the overall feel of a distant future in which the earth is still at war. Harriet Klausner