I started out on this series way down the line and am now filling in from the beginning. Surprise, surprise! The first book in the series is every bit as well written as the last. When I began reading David Weber, I found his ultra detailed appproach somewhat tedious. Before anything happened you found out what everyone in the scene was thinking and had been thinking for the last 20 years and what their parents had thought and done, the color of the carpet, the barometric pressure, etc.etc. Come on! Get on with the story! But, at the same time, I realized that Weber was building a universe that I would be unable to abandon. It is a pleasant addiction. I am a fan of the Space Opera beginning with E.E. Smith, Phd. and right on down the line. Weber's version is the current State of the Art.