hanuman wrote:Amaroq wrote:Another reason to read the "side story" novels is that you get different perspectives on the same events or happenings. I, personally, like to get the view from the other side and these books give you some idea of how the other characters deal with the events that you normally only "see" from Honor's POV.
Besides, aren't the 'side shows' supposed to merge into the main storyline again at some point? Reading the 'side stories' then becomes essential, in order to understand many of the characters and relationships that began, or are only found, there.
Certainly. They really shouldn't be called "side stories" anymore. They're not like the stories in the anthologies which don't have any direct, necessary bearing on the main storyline but just provide information to flesh out the Honoverse for those interested. The two arcs (Talbott and Zilwicki/Cachat) are meant to bring in multiple threads of the wider story and eventually weave them into the mainline Honor novels. They really are integral.