Shadow of Saganami

STUDENTS OF HONOR . . .

The Star Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven after a stunning sneak attack. The graduating class from Saganami Island, the Royal Manticoran Navy's academy, are going straight from the classroom to the blazing reality of all-out war.

Except for the midshipmen assigned to the heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma, that is. They're being assigned to the Talbott Cluster, an out of the way backwater, far from the battle front. The most they can look forward to is the capture of the occasional pirate cruiser and the boring duty of supporting the Cluster's peaceful integration with the Star Kingdom at the freely expressed will of eighty percent of the Cluster's citizens. With a captain who may have seen too much of war and a station commander who isn't precisely noted for his brilliant and insightful command style, it isn't exactly what the students of Honor Harrington, the "Salamander," expected.

But things aren't as simple -- or tranquil -- as they appear. The "pirates" they encounter aren't what they seem, and the "peaceful integration" they expected turns into something very different. A powerful alliance of corrupt Solarian League bureaucrats and ruthless interstellar corporations is determined to prevent the Cluster's annexation by the Star Kingdom . . . by any means necessary. Pirates, terrorists, genetic slavers, smuggled weapons, long-standing personal hatreds, and a vicious alliance of corporate greed, bureaucratic arrogance, and a corrupt local star nation with a powerful fleet, are all coming together, and only Hexapuma, her war-weary captain, and Honor Harrington's students stand in the path.
They have only one thing to support and guide them: the tradition of Saganami. The tradition that sometimes a Queen's officer's duty is to face impossible odds . . . and die fighting.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Undeniably the science fiction phenomenon of the decade, New York Times best-selling author David Weber is often compared to C.S. Forester (the celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower) and is the recipient of critical praise worthy of Heinlein or Asimov. His hordes of voracious fans clamor for more and more Weber. Fortunately for them, Weber keeps steadily producing book after book with first printings that sell out almost immediately, then go back into printing after printing after printing. His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God’s Own, Wind Rider’s Oath) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, Empire from the Ashes) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the celebrated and nationally best-selling Honor Harrington series, War of Honor being the most recent installment). Reviewers call Weber “irresistible . . . masterful” (Publishers Weekly), “highly entertaining” (Booklist), “remarkable” (Kliatt), “the best” (Dragon), “worth shouting about” (Philadelphia Weekly Press), “great . . . compelling” (Locus), and “the best writer around today” (FosFax). Readers call Weber similar things, but mostly they call the Baen offices several times a week demanding more from their main man. Weber, his wife Sharon, and their three children live in South Carolina.

Illustration by David Mattingly
Map by Randy Asplundh
Cover design by Carol Russo

Hardcover
Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, November 2004

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weber, David, 1952-
The shadow of Saganami / David Weber.
p. cm.
"A Baen Books original"—T.p. verso.
ISBN 0-7434-8852-0
1. Harrington, Honor (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Space warfare—Fiction.
I. Title.

PS3573.E217S54 2004
813'.54—dc22
2004015087

Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH
Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-8852-5
ISBN-10: 0-7434-8852-0

Copyright© 2004 by David Weber

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webscription.net

For Anne McCaffrey,
because ideas, like dragons, fly,
and you helped give mine wings.
Baen Books by David Weber:

Honor Harrington:

On Basilisk Station
The Honor of the Queen
The Short Victorious War
Field of Dishonor
Flag in Exile
Honor Among Enemies
In Enemy Hands
Echoes of Honor
Ashes of Victory
War of Honor

edited by David Weber:

More Than Honor
Worlds of Honor
Changer of Worlds
The Service of the Sword

Honorverse:

Crown of Slaves (with Eric Flint)
The Shadow of Saganami

Mutineers' Moon
The Armageddon Inheritance
Heirs of Empire
Empire from the Ashes (Megabook)

Path of the Fury
The Apocalypse Troll
The Excalibur Alternative
Oath of Swords
The War God's Own
Wind Rider's Oath

with Steve White:

Crusade
In Death Ground
The Stars at War (Megabook)
Insurrection
The Shiva Option

with John Ringo:

March Upcountry
March to the Sea
March to the Stars

with Eric Flint:

1633