Book Review: Honor Harrington: Honor Among Enemies SPOILERS!

In February of 1996, David Weber published a massive 538 page novel about Honor Harrington coming back into the Manticoran Navy via Klaus Hauptman who wants to use this chance to rid himself of both piracy and Honor. Synopsis: For Captain Honor Harrington, it's sometimes hard to know who the enemy really is. Despite political foes, professional jealousies, and the scandal that drove her into exile, she's been offered a chance to reclaim her career as an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. But there's a catch. She must assume command of a "squadron" of jury-rigged armed merchantmen with crew drawn from the dregs of her service and somehow stop the pirates who have taken advantage of the Havenite War to plunder the Star Kingdom's commerce. That would be hard enough, but some of the "pirates" aren't exactly what they seem . . . and neither are some of her "friends." For Honor has been carefully chosen for her mission - by two implacable and powerful enemies. The way they see it, either she stops the raiders or the raiders kill her . . . and either way, they win.

The novel opens with Manticoran Captain Harold Sukowski, working for the Hauptman Catrel, making a cargo run in the Silesian Confederacy when a pirate group ambushes and captures him and his crew. In the Star Kingdom of Manticore, Klaus Hauptman demands that something be done. When nothing happens, Hauptman suggests to Reginald Houseman and Erika Dempsey that they petition to bring Honor back to patrol the Confederacy and discover the people behind the pirate attacks. Houseman is against it but is convinced when he realizes that Honor would die fighting the Silesian pirates. On Grayson, Adml. Hamish Alexander (Earl White Haven) brings news to Honor that she's being reactivated in the Royal Manticoran Navy, but still a captain. Honor agrees and during the few months she and hew four Q-ships are in the Silesian Confederacy, pirate activity is reduced. Havenite Citizen Commander Warner Caslet ambushes pirates and recovers Harold and his crew. During another pirate attack, Warner and his crew plus Harold are captured by Honor. From pooled information, Honor learns that the formerly deceased pirate leader, Andre Warnecke, is still alive and has taken over Marsh and she puts an end to his activities and Warnecke. In a vicious duel with a Havenite ship, Hauptman and his daughter, Stacey--both believing Honor's a loose cannon after Basilisk and that she's dead--travel to the Silesian Confederacy to do the task themselves and their ship is wounded. Honor rescues them and transfers her wounded crew to Hauptman's ship.

Hauptman orders Honor to escort his daughter back to Manticore, but Honor refuses as her ship has minimal life support left and that she's going to draw the Havenite ship away, allowing for Hauptman's ship to make repairs. Stacy, seeing what Honor is really like, tells her dad to shut up and be grateful that Honor's willing to die luring the Havenite ship away. Rafael Cardones, Prescott "Scotty" Tremaine, Horace Harkness, and several new characters--Ginger Lewis, Yoshiro Tatsumi, Dr. Angela Ryder, Harold Tschu, and Aubrey Wanderman and several others--stay with Honor and help her lure the Havenite ship away. In that fight, harold is kiled and his treecat Samantha, in a cage with Nimitz, goes into a near catatonic state, despite being pregnant with Nimitz's kittens. Both ships heavily damage one another and end up drifting too close the the Veil. Agreeing that Warfare can support more people and work out who's who's prisoner after a rescue, the Havenites join the Manticorans on their ship. With life support failing, Honor and the Havenite captain try and keep up good spirits. A Manticoran pinnace from Hauptman's ship arrives and they begin transfers back to Hauptman's ship with the Havenites becoming POWs. Hauptman invites Honor to dinner to prove to Stacy that he's apologized to Honor over his behavior here and at Basilisk and offers the use ot the Hauptman Cartel should Honor ever need help again as repayment for the sacrifices she endured on their behalf. In the end, Honor transfers Caslet and his fellow Havenite POWs to the Andermani Empire.

All in all, a well paced, lengthy novel with a big side plot featuring Ginger Lewis, Aubrey Wanderman, Horace Harkness and four technicians who want to desert. Aubrey suffers injuries and harassment by Randy Steilman--the leader of the rogue technicians and a brute--while learning how to defend himself with the aid of Horace Harkness. Ginger is wounded in the process and Aubrey bests Steilman in a fight. Honor puts Steilman and his friends in the stockade; they die during the fight with the Havenites at the end. That subplot is one-third of the novel itself. David Weber shows just why he's the best military sci-fi author out there, surpassing the best of the best with his attention to detail and world-building. A great read for any fan of military science fiction.

Book Review: Honor Harrington: On Basilisk Station SPOILERS!

First published in April 1993, David Weber put to use his knoweldge of military and history to form one of the most compelling series every. And it all started with Honor Harrington: On Basilisk Station. Synopsis: Honor in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her; Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station; The aborigines of the system's only habitual planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens; Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling; the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so called "Republic" of Haven is Up To Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system. But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They've made her mad.

The novel opens in a prologue with a meeting between Havenite president Haris talking to his cabinet about their shrinking economy amongst their cluster of planets. They decide that war is the way and with that will come more planets and, more importantly, money. On the Manticoran Space Station Hephaestus, Commander Honor Harrington and her treecat, Nimitz, board Honor's assigned HMS Fearless from it's former commanding officer, a Lieutenant Commander named Alistair McKeon, who's somewhat resentful for the fact that he didn't get command. They take Fearless out for the war games where the head of R&D, Admiral Sonja Hemphill, wants to test a new toy that ultimately prove useless after the initial surprise attack. When her side loses the game, and in anger, they ship Honor and her crew, plus Fearless to the most useless place in the Manticoran Empire, Basilisk Station. Once there, Honor's former rival and that man who raped her in the academy, Pavel Young, the son and heir to the current Earl North Hollow, commands that station and abadnons her when she arrives, claiming his ship is due for maintenance--which it does and his crew rebels against him when he returns to Hephaestus for plot related reasons.

Once there, Honor senses the anger and hatred for her that her crew has because they're been shipped--exiled--to Basilisk Station. She demands that her crew get over it and works them past their abilities to get Basilisk Station back to operational status as befits with the Queen's will. The Havenites, who have been bribing certain politicos in the Empire, want Basilisk for their war strategy. After refusing to accept bribes, backdown, or even see common sense, and months after having used her ships probes short-range probes to become more effective and long-range sensors and getting the Basilikan population of indigenous beings under some control, the Havenites launch their strategy via rebellious indigs who are drug dealers but are stopped when the Marine guard under Honor prevent them from fully staging the coup. Honor, meanwhile, fights dirty with the lone Havenite ship at the edge of the Basilisk system. Fearless becomes heavily damaged during the fight and the Havenite commander moves in for the kill but dies surprised when Honor uses Adml Hemphill's toy against them and destroys the Havenite ship. At the end, the Manticoran Navy arrives to stop the rest of the Havenites from encroaching on Basilisk and Honor and the crew of Fearless head back home.

All in all, a great start to one of the best science-fiction sagas out there and proves why David Weber is one of the best in military sci-fi. He knows his stuff and isn't afraid to show it. For those people who like Lois McMaster Bujold, you're really going to love David Weber's Honor Harrington series.