August 13, 2000 Note: This was originally posted in august 1999. A few of the things I thought of did show up in Ashes of Victory (if you throw enough stuff at a wall, something will stick).
There was a report some months ago that David Weber planned to have this book start immediately after the epilogue of Echoes of Honor. Of course, he could have changed his mind. I have put together my thinking for both possibilities.

Assuming that the sequel starts immediately after end of EoH:

In general, David Weber has prologues to the Honor Harrington titles, prologues that are foreshadowing for a major plot element in that book. Assuming this, I have thought of a number of possible prologues; they can be classified into three different types. The first involves people (not knowing that Harrington is alive) carrying on without her. These can take place before the epilogue of Echoes of Honor (and even chapter 45). Personally, I didn't really care for similar scenes when they appeared in EoH and, for the most part, I am uninterested in them as a prologue (even a scene with the Drs. Harrington and child). One exception would be a scene with the probate court having finished with Honor's will, with every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed. Actually, it would be AFTER the court is done and the participants are indulging in shop talk. One of the Manticorean lawyers discusses some legendary case when the "deceased" turned up alive and everything had to be undone.

The second type involves people carrying on their own plans and ambitions (not that different from the first of course). There are a multitude of possibilities, most could take place before the epilogue of EoH. Some Haven examples would include Pierre and company planning destabilization of Manticore politics (i.e., assassignations), Peoples Navy officers planning another offensive, political intrigue against the Committee, a scene set on one of the long occupied planets, etc. Manticore Alliance examples would include Rear Admiral Truman planning the first deployment of Carrier Div 1, a team of scientists isolating the 7th terminus, political intrigue on Grayson or another Alliance member, a scene set on one of the liberated planets, and the Duke of Cromarty and cabinet discussing political problems in Manticore. Other possibilities could have the Anderman Emperor and ministers discussing actions in Silesia or a Solarian League official telling the Manticore and Haven representatives that peace would be in their best interests, or a scene set on some other neutral stellar nation.

The third type involves people realizing that the Haven stories (secret and official) of Honor's "death" left something to be desired, but I don't expect to see this. A Manticore Alliance intelligence officer could have analyzed the video of the hanging and determined that it was fake (however, after Operation Icarus, Alliance intelligence should have much more immediately important work to do). Commissioner LePic might be concerned with Theisman (too much drinking?) and shows him Tourville's report (of course, only if he has it, would he?). Theisman could then deduce that the escaping shuttle was a blind and there were other shuttles that escaped undetected (and landed on the planet). This scene doesn't look useful to me, unless Theisman is being groomed (by Weber) for greater things. Citizen Vice Admiral Tourville and the "Count Tilly" could arrive at Danak to find out what happened to Citizen Rear Admiral Yearman and his battlecruisers (this strikes me as too pat). Citizen Major General Thornegrave could be ordering a courier (or other SS vessel) to go to Haven with his report (I would expect him to not mention the word "Harrington" to the ship commander). And then there is the arrival of that report to the Committee of Public Safety that Hades had been taken over (and mostly evacuated). However, I would expect to see this scene in the main text (since Pierre and St. Just will have a new problem to solve). August 13, 2000 Note: And there was no prologue (unless Chapters 1-3 and perhaps 4 are considered the prologue).

As for the main text, the most obvious first chapter would be on the "Farnese" observing the approach of the escort from 8th Fleet, the all-GSN escort that is. After that scene, the possibilities multiply. The first question is how will the public announcement of Honor's return be done. While there are several ways to do it, in the past few months I have concluded that Manticore would most likely make the announcement of Honor's return as big of a news production as possible and as soon as possible as well. I have dreamt it ... The ESN stages though the wormhole and journeys towards orbit about Manticore. Along the way, Home Fleet squadrons (one after another) rendezvous with it and escort it in. During the final approach, Queen Elizabeth Winton starts a system-wide broadcast (all channels, hopefully) in which she describes the revolt on Hades and the ESN (at first not mentioning the role of the "Prince Adrian" survivors). She speaks of proofs of Haven lies (perhaps showing a copy of Tourville's report on the destruction of the "Tepes" - but was there a copy on Styx?). At the end of the broadcast (after the "Farnese" had docked via one thruster burn that left it in the right spot with zero net velocity and received a flagship salute from the massed Home Fleet) she finally mentions Honor by name when she welcomes Honor back via a video transmission with the "Farnese." After that, coordinated interviews with as many prisoners as possible (except for people like Parnell, each newsies organization will be given exclusive access to different prisoners). August 11, 2000 Note: There was no grand spectacle in AoV (though I wonder what the ball on Grayson threatened in Chapter 3 was like).

And then there will be all the political and legal actions getting Honor off the rolls of the dead and back into her proper role. And the honors, and the joyous scenes on Grayson, etc. But, upon thinking of this and how much text it would consume, I find myself wishing that more progress would be made in the overall series story arc. This would be facilitated if the next book doesn't start immediately after the epilogue of Echoes of Honor. August 11, 2000 Note: David Weber skipped a lot of this stuff, but at the cost of Honor appearing in only a few chapters.

Assuming that the sequel starts several months after end of EoH:

The prologue would most likely have people carrying on their own plans and ambitions as described at length above. A scene on the news wavefront announcing Honor's return (e.g., the arrival of the first courier to Grayson) is possible, but would suggest (like Field of Dishonor) a plot that doesn't advance the war very much. Also, possible would be Haven's independent discovery of what happened on Hades (see Thornegrove report above), this would suggest that Haven politics (e.g., McQueen's coup and aftermath) will be a very important plot element. The big PR offensive described above would still had taken place, it would be merely summarized (or referred to). While the first chapter could take be set on Haven (and could be anything from a particularly spirited Committee of Public Safety meeting to McQueen's coup), in my mind it would be more coherent for the first few chapters to have Honor. For example, she could had attended a legal meeting with the probate courts and then, when leaving, is intercepted by any number of newsies. Their questions as well as her reactions and answers can go a long way into filling in the background of the preceding months. August 13, 2000 Note: If chapters 1-3 are considered the prologue, then _AoV_ could be viewed as really starting several months after EoH, with a chapter in Haven, a few chapters of Honor settling in, and then to the plot starting (unfortunately, Honor almost disappeared).

Commentary common to both approaches:

However, after the treatment of Honor's return, just about anything can happen (the prologue should be a hint). We could have another military operation (either Haven or Alliance counter offensive) or it could be something different. For example, while we can expect that there will be a temporary peace with Haven, we don't know if it will occur in this title or a future one. Weber has also stated that Honor will be in Silesia sometime in the future (but not, I suspect, this book if it has serious amounts of text devoted to Honor's return). McQueen's coup is possible (in fact, depending on the possible "discussions" that could happen when the Committee of Public Safety learns of the escape from Hades, it might even be likely). August 11, 2000 Note: The following was mentioned in this post and appeared in some fashion in AoV - assassignation planning, coup, big military offensives (both sides), political intrigue on Grayson, peace breaking out, Carrier Div 1 (and 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.). Unfortunately, I must admit that several had been rumored for years and the others were rather obvious.