On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington, #1)

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On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington #1)

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 12,696 ratings · 698 reviews

HONOR HARRINGTON

Having made him look a 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 habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens.

Parliament isn't sure it wants...more

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Published October 1st 1994 by Baen Publishing Enterprises (first published April 1993)

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Dec 27, 2009 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cats-fiction, sci-fi-space-opera

I feel it necessary to admit a few things before starting this review proper.

1. I have watched the Horatio Hornblower movies that were shown on A&E (you know, back when A&E actually could be called Arts and Entertainment as opposed to Tattoo TV). I liked them. (Okay, I really liked LT. Bush {Paul McGann}, but who didn't? The only thing better was The Hanging Gale when all the McGann brothers were working together). I also saw the Peck movie.

2. I have only read one Hornblower novel. I did...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Honor Harrington, newly-promoted Captain in the Queen’s Royal Manticoran Navy, has taken command of her first space cruiser, Fearless. Sadly, she and her crew have been deployed to Basilisk Station, a low-status drudge assignment that mostly involves checking cargoes for contraband. Morale aboard Fearless is low, but things are about to change. Unbeknownst to Manticore, The Republic of Haven, which hopes to better its economy by conquering resource-wealthy...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Honor Harrington, newly-promoted Captain in the Queen’s Royal Manticoran Navy, has taken command of her first space cruiser, Fearless. Sadly, she and her crew have been deployed to Basilisk Station, a low-status drudge assignment that mostly involves checking cargoes for contraband. Morale aboard Fearless is low, but things are about to change. Unbeknownst to Manticore, The Republic of Haven, which hopes to better its economy by conquering resource-wealthy planets, plans to invade Manticore by way of the wormhole junction terminus at Basilisk Station. Can Honor and her crew uncover the plot and save Manticore?

David Weber’s On Basilisk Station is classic space opera loaded with lots of exposition about military tactics, weaponry, hyperspace, calculation of acceleration rates, etc., etc. This isn’t my favorite genre of science fiction, but I was hoping that a female protagonist might make it more fun.

Not really. At least, not in this case. Honor Harrington is admirable — she’s smart, proud, loyal, and completely reliable. She doesn’t back down in the face of opposition. She figures out all the stealthy plans of her enemies and she gets the job done. All the bad guys hate her and all the good guys love her (that’s how you can tell if they’re good guys or bad guys). In fact, Honor is so perfect that she’s downright dull. She’s the biggest Mary Sue in space. She hardly even flinches when she has to make the choice between her duty and the lives of her crew.

Honor’s courage and determination work out in the end only because she happens to correctly guess what the bad guys are up to. There’s no mystery for the reader, who knows Haven’s plans, but I was never convinced that Honor made the right judgments based on the facts she had. Her decisions were based on strings of guesses she made under the assumption that she understood the bad guys’ logic. For that reason, I couldn’t respect her cold-hearted commands, or her responses to their consequences.

Perhaps part of my problem was Allyson Johnson’s narration in the audio version (Brilliance Audio). Though she did a good job with most of the characters, her reading of the many expository portions of the text was dull (perhaps it was difficult to make this part interesting!). But my main complaint is that she used a high-pitched lilting voice for Honor. Weber’s text mentions that Honor is a soprano, but the cheery voice was probably unsuitable for the stressful scenes in which Honor has to make her harsh and deadly commands. Her seeming lack of grief, or even of any struggle at all, makes it hard to relate to Honor. It makes it hard to like her. But I think the narrator may have done a disservice to the text, and I’m willing to give Honor another chance (mainly because I already own the next few volumes in the series).

On Basilisk Station would have been a better book if Weber had spent less time explaining space-battle tactics and more time letting us get to know Honor Harrington. She feels cold and severe, but I don’t think this is really Weber’s intention. He just hasn’t let us in yet. I am hoping this improves in future installments and that Honor Harrington will start to feel more real. (less)

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Dec 01, 2008 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who likes military science fiction or space operas

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, read-in-my-40s, space-opera

This was my first David Weber novel and my introduction to Honor Harrington. And what a ride it was. The only time I had any thought of boredom was whenever the Marines were discussing and planning. Otherwise, I could hardly put the book down. And the climactic chase was heart pounding in intensity, tragedy and triumph.

I will definitely be reading more of this series.

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Feb 07, 2013 The Flooze rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, owned, vanquished_2012

According to some googling and some calculations (oooo, fractions), I made it through 54% of this book. A search using Amazon's Look Inside feature tells me I got to page 253.

253!

And I still couldn't tell the characters apart.

Okay, that's an exaggeration. I knew who Honor was, and her exec, and...her cat. And maybe one or two others. Weber introduces us to a rather large cast, but he fails to give each personality an individual stamp. I couldn't even describe anyone physically, apart from Honor...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favorites

Aug2011: Reread for the Beyond Reality group & I want to read the 2d book immediately, even though I only read it a few years ago. I love Honor. According to some other sources, she's Horatio Hornblower & Admiral Nelson, just set in a future civilization. (Weber does have a dedication to the former at the start of the book.) He succeeded in creating a wonderful heroine set in a very realistic future society with all the colonization & empire problems of old England.

I think that if yo...more Aug2011: Reread for the Beyond Reality group & I want to read the 2d book immediately, even though I only read it a few years ago. I love Honor. According to some other sources, she's Horatio Hornblower & Admiral Nelson, just set in a future civilization. (Weber does have a dedication to the former at the start of the book.) He succeeded in creating a wonderful heroine set in a very realistic future society with all the colonization & empire problems of old England.

I think that if you've spent any time in the military, you'll appreciate these books more. Honor is the epitome of a military officer. She is just getting to the point in her career where she is gaining real responsibility & thus winds up in some dicey situations, both military & politic.

Weber feeds us a LOT of information in this first book. He sets up an entire galactic civilization which is very similar to that of our world in the 18th century. There are Colonial powers, distant political fights, economics, scientific realities, & all the other issues that plague a commander out in the field weeks away from their superiors. Unfortunately, quite a bit of this information is handed to us in info dumps, some more interesting than others. Most are necessary as the strategy & tactics to deal with them are central to the story. There were a couple that weren't really needed & could have been put off to later books or given to us in smaller bites.

His characterization is a bit flat. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. With all the complexities in the story & quite a few characters, having B&W characters helps keep the story tighter. If there had been too many folks with complex motivations or issues, the story probably would have spun out of control into a brick. This isn't. It's a highly readable, swiftly moving story & I appreciated that.

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2008: A fairly long series of a dozen books or so - not counting all the spin-offs - it's one of the most well written, I've had the pleasure to read. His development of characters, politics & adherence to the physical laws of his world make it a great yarn. Through every book, I was biting my nails & rooting for Honor!(less)

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Apr 13, 2013 David Green rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-girls-are-also-awesome, dashing-heroines, science-fiction, space-opera, 2013-reads, read-by-kindlelight, favorite-books-or-series

The first book of the Honor Harrington saga may be light on action, but there's still plenty of wonder and intrigue to be found On Basilisk Station!

When Honor Harrington became a Captain in the Royal Manticorian Navy, she never imagined her first assignment would turn out like this! A spoiled senior officer shifts the blame for her own failures onto Honor. As a result, Honor and her crew aboard the light cruiser Fearless have been banished to Basilisk Station, an unpopular dumping ground for sc...more

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Dec 28, 2008 Lightreads rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

First three Honor Harrington books, in which aforesaid officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy (the space kind) and her – I kid you not – empathically bonded feline animal companion have military adventures. In the first, Honor is sent to a backwater outpost where she stumbles on corruption and thwarts an invasion. In the second, Honor is sent to a backwater system where she battles sexism and thwarts an invasion. In the third, Honor is sent to the front line where she, uh, I’ve got nothing for thi...more First three Honor Harrington books, in which aforesaid officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy (the space kind) and her – I kid you not – empathically bonded feline animal companion have military adventures. In the first, Honor is sent to a backwater outpost where she stumbles on corruption and thwarts an invasion. In the second, Honor is sent to a backwater system where she battles sexism and thwarts an invasion. In the third, Honor is sent to the front line where she, uh, I’ve got nothing for this slot and thwarts an invasion.

Weber does that old Star Wars trick of alternating POVs with Honor and the bad guys, relieving the reader of having to do any actual thinking by explaining everyone’s plans pages in advance. But to be fair I think Weber’s impulse to break up the POV is a sound one; spending a hundred thousand words in the head of the moral center of the universe Mary-Sue Honor would make anyone want to kill themselves. And, I mean, switching POVs allows Weber to deliver lines of unmatched hilarity like these.

“He’d reduced her cruiser to a wreck – she must be some kind of wizard to keep coming after him, let alone keep shooting at him”!

“�This medal is our highest award for valor,� he told her quietly. �Over the years, it has been worn by some truly extraordinary men, but never, I think, by one more extraordinary than the woman who has received it today.�”

Which is why I kept reading, because you can’t get comedy like that just anywhere.

To be fair, this is acceptably competent military SF in the military sense. Weber has clearly put some of the time he never spent thinking about adding a third dimension to his characters or making his heroine interesting in considering the physics and strategy of space battles. His editor has let him put a giddily burbling pseudo-scientific essay at the end of each book to talk about ship construction and weapons evolution and strategy. And it’s endearing that he clearly stopped writing in the middle of scenes to go do math. (Though I wonder what it says about me that I stopped reading to double-check some figures for fun – if ship A is accelerating at 450 g and ship B follows at 500 g from xxx million Km, how long will intercept take and where will they be?) Weber also has an excellent grasp of the sheer grinding time involved in space battles, and a surprisingly light touch in showing the nature of war from every level of military experience. Two-thirds of The Short Victorious War (no, in fact, you don't get to leave the comma out just because it's a title, copyediting fuckwit), is all about moving ships all over the map, and there's some nicely considered detail about how maneuvers work in vast, three-dimensional spaces.

Anyway. Unless someone can reassure me that this series gets appreciably better in the next dozen books, I’m done save for possible snortgiggling forays when I’m particularly bored.(less)

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Apr 18, 2007 Kaethe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: scifi/fantasy fans

I should actually give this book only 2 stars, but I'm a sucker for really quick reads in the sci-fi genre (also known as trashy books that aren't difficult to understand). This is a space navy/military book in the style of Elizabeth Moon's Familias/Herris Serrano books, but I liked Weber's book a lot less than Moon's. While there is a female heroine (which I like), I didn't think the story flowed very well, nor were the characters developed as fully, and the beginning was "patchy" while the war...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, reviewed, fantasy-sci-fi

Baen did something clever here. They created a free library by many of their best-loved sci-fi/fantasy authors. Going through it you notice how many of the books are the first, or very early, in the series; sucking in the reader with the first book with the hope that she will buy the rest of them. Great idea, especially as I can see all of the authors from the publisher together, without trying to wade through the Amazon morass.

For the reader who already bought and read something like eight of...more Baen did something clever here. They created a free library by many of their best-loved sci-fi/fantasy authors. Going through it you notice how many of the books are the first, or very early, in the series; sucking in the reader with the first book with the hope that she will buy the rest of them. Great idea, especially as I can see all of the authors from the publisher together, without trying to wade through the Amazon morass.

For the reader who already bought and read something like eight of these books in her twenties, getting to revisit the series long after the hard copies have gone to a Friends of the Library book sale, is nice. It would have been better if the book had stood up to the re-reading. I hadn't forgotten the parts of the book I hadn't liked; I'd just forgotten how many of them there were.

Honor Harrington is a character that speaks to me though. She's Wonder Woman in a tailored military uniform. No, really, she's Wonder Woman. She's taller than the average men. She's from a planet with a heavier gravitational force so she's stronger. She's smart, brilliant even, with a grasp of military tactics and strategy that could easily win WWII for the allies were she to show up on earth. And she's kind (not gentle) to people, in that strange, trusting way, Diana Prince always was. Anyone on her team is trusted, appreciated, nurtured (even the poor Steve Trevor types), and she reserved her focused anger for her enemies (each one so obviously horrible that they might as well as swastikas tattooed on their foreheads). She's even got the sexy boots (although no magic bracelets). Yes, she's got that sexy threatening-but-maybe-I-can-tame-her-dominatrix appeal that the original creator of Wonder Woman was so into. There's a vague "ick" from me in all that it's easy enough to put aside; the book doesn't lend itself to deep analysis of the author's intentions.

She's a pretty interesting character. She's all the things you're looking for in a Wonder Woman type hero (and I happen to love Wonder Woman - I owned the underoos).

Unfortunately, the other elements of the book are tough to take sometimes:

1. There's an intelligent cat creature. It likes celery.
2. This is the only book I know to interrupt the climatic battle scene to relate his history of faster-than-light travel technology development.
3. Honor Harrington likes hot chocolate, not coffee, and we have to hear about how stupid coffee is at least one every chapter that she's in.
4. Multiple points of view here; each and every villain gets his own chapter from his point of view so we know exactly why he is a horrible, evil person, and why Honor deserves to win against him.
5. Does anyone care this much about made up tech? I don't.
6. The dialog. (Although redeemed, sort of, because sometimes it's laugh out loud funny).
7. Honor is bad at math. She has a mental block around it and she's always second-guessing herself. Can we say Math is Hard Barbie?

Of the eight books in this series that I read; I think I enjoyed the first three, and kept reading hoping to get some of the original enjoyment back. There are few, very few, books about women leaders in sci-fi and fantasy (if there are any in literary fiction, you just let me know, would you please?). It's rare enough to find one to begin with and there are fewer that make that woman more interesting than, as Ceridwen says, "a man with tits." There is a lot in this book about how Honor builds her team on the ship and gains their respect. It isn't because she's so perfect they have to love her; she really works at it, and it's interesting and intelligently handled. (less)

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Jan 09, 2013 Mathijs Beaujean rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I was struggling with the rating I gave this book. It balances between two and three. Then all I had to do was think back on the cat-like thing on her shoulder and I settled on two.
All in all, David Weber wrote a well paced book. The action sequences are great and the politics behind the whole plot are well thought out as well. Why so low a score then?

Well. Even though the book has a nice pace to it, the explanations given for behavior, technology and politics all seem a bit convulated. Deducts...more I was struggling with the rating I gave this book. It balances between two and three. Then all I had to do was think back on the cat-like thing on her shoulder and I settled on two.
All in all, David Weber wrote a well paced book. The action sequences are great and the politics behind the whole plot are well thought out as well. Why so low a score then?

Well. Even though the book has a nice pace to it, the explanations given for behavior, technology and politics all seem a bit convulated. Deducts one star (would still have gotten 4, which is quite nice imho).

The technology itself, and the history of the galaxy at that point in time doesn't quite make sense. Sure, the thoughts on hypertravel and the like are well thought out. But overall, the tech seems to be sub-par for what could be expected of a star-travelling era. Now this isn't a problem in itself, as this happens quite often in sci-fi works. But I had the distinct feeling that with a bit of common sense (and a bit of 21st century AI) one could quite easily improve on the depicted technology and method of warfare without breaking a sweat. Deduct another star.

Then the pet. A six-legged treecat from a totally alien world who forms a psychic link with its owner/companion? Why? And the main character being superstrong because she originated from a planet where the gravity has a stronger pull, yet humanity has only been there for a few centuries? Genotype would trump phenotype after a few weeks in outer space, let alone years. And I applaud the sexual equality on board the Fearless, but barring hormonal treatment or genetic modification, I simply cannot believe 'sex' as a motivational force can be erased from human nature. The writer obviously struggled with this himself, as it is pointed out several times (without reason or provocation) that the female main character is 'not a beauty'. That deducted the third star.

If you are immune to one of the previously mentioned points I do encourage you to read the book. Because apart from these gripes it is quite well written.(less)

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Feb 01, 2008 Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read the HH series mostly for the interesting background and space navy technology/tactics. While each book warrants it's own review, some things can be said for them all. Generally, the characters surrounding Honor Harrington are more interesting than Honor herself. Honor is something of a superwoman, except in the realm of interpersonal relationships. It's really her only weakness. Everything else? She's perfect. She's a great tactician, a martial arts expert, and a great leader. Though to b...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Lin Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, honorverse

Rereading the Honorverse again, for the umteenth time.
Weber sets up his universe in this, the first book written in the Honorverse. It's not as complex, political, or technical as some of the later stories, so it's a good place to get your toes wet.

Honor Harrington does a good job with a questionable weapon, and then runs smack into the adage, no good deed goes unpunished. Through no fault of her own, she's banished to Basilisk Station, is set up by an old enemy, and of course, turns it around...more

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May 20, 2013 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first in a space-navy/military series recounting the adventures of commander Honor Harrington. Harrington and her crew are exiled to Basilisk Station, set up by a senior officer who hates her and set with an impossible task to police Basilisk Station, a duty set aside for the dropkicks of the navy. Harrington is faced with aborigines smoking homicide-induced hallucinogens, a confused parliament, smuggling, unhappy merchant cartels and the Republic of Haven which is planning something...more

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May 09, 2013 Aaron rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Those looking for a classic space opera tale with a military twist will find this first book in a series to be quite entertaining. The star of this show for this book and future volumes in the series in Honor Harrington. She is a young captain who would seem to be on the rise. She is bright and talented. Unfortunately, she is not a part of the big boy elite and quickly finds her in an assignment that places her in a bad light, even though she is doomed to failure.

As punishment, she receives a ne...more Those looking for a classic space opera tale with a military twist will find this first book in a series to be quite entertaining. The star of this show for this book and future volumes in the series in Honor Harrington. She is a young captain who would seem to be on the rise. She is bright and talented. Unfortunately, she is not a part of the big boy elite and quickly finds her in an assignment that places her in a bad light, even though she is doomed to failure.

As punishment, she receives a new assignment, which puts her in command of Basilisk Station. This outpost is a backwater one that is being touted as cutting edge due to an experimental design. It quickly becomes clear that experimental really means untested and prone to failure, though Honor doesn't let that keep her or her crew down.

They band together and get through the tough times, not only showing how talented she really is as a commander, but also allowing them to uncover a dangerous plot from a neighboring Republic of Haven, thus saving all of Maticore from full invasion.

The story was actually quite interesting. It reminded me a bit of a combination of Babylon 5 and Horatio Hornblower. The characters are pretty slow to be revealed, though that could also be said of the plot. Mostly, this is due to Weber's need to explain everything in minute (and pretty boring detail). Readers get a full sense of the political climate between Honor's home power of Manticore and its neighbors, the well-described science and engineering of the thrust systems used by the ship, and just about anything else that pops up. To be fair, this creates a fully developed universe, but it also means that the text is overwhelmed by description rather than being a good character study or plot-driven tale.

A part of me wishes that I could keep going with the series because I did like Honor and the plot (once a dredged through the voluminous pages of description) was interesting, but the story just moves too ... darn ... slow! I will have to pass on the further adventures of Honor Harrington.(less)

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May 01, 2013 Nichola rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

These books have been around for decades, but I've only just stumbled across them; I feel a little bemused about that, because I'd have wolfed through them in my teens. Anyway: cracking page-turny stuff, by and large, which is very up front about being Girl!Hornblower In Space! And, you know, I am absolutely down with the notion of Girl!Hornblower In Space, and I am taken aback by the fact that Weber's worldbuilding (and this is, what, twenty years ago?) is so solidly packed with characters who...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Luna_schaf rated it 4 of 5 stars

(Review from January 2009 - and I haven't yet managed to read anything else from the Honorverse...):
(view spoiler)...more (Review from January 2009 - and I haven't yet managed to read anything else from the Honorverse...):
(view spoiler)[I liked the book even though it was more complicated to read than I had expected and it took me quite a while to get through… (maybe I should have tried the German version... ).

The beginning with Haven confused me a lot (the names of colonies and so on… but that’s a general thing with most beginnings for me – I’m always afraid to miss the point when I read so many new things and it takes a few pages for me to “get comfy with a book” (sorry, weird expression, but perhaps you can guess what I’m trying to say).
I felt sorry for McKeon. It might have been weak of him to not overcome his jealousy (for a rather long time) but the reader was given glimpses of his thoughts now and then and he did never have really evil intentions, he always tried but couldn’t get over himself. It was great when he finally did fully support his captain.
The changing of the crew’s attitude towards Honor in general was something I liked very much.
The relations and feelings were portrayed very believably (for me) but it was a pity that Honor always remained so reserved.
I guess that’s part of what makes a good captain – making your crew be proud of and respect you but never get too close to them.
Still, I would have preferred if she was a little more involved with her crew. There were a lot of persons she trusted very, very much but she was always so serious and perhaps convinced that if she showed weakness her crew would immediately turn against her.
I’m not talking about Fearless 90210 here but she was really possessed of her job.
On the other hand, that’s certainly what made her so great as a captain but it wouldn’t do her bad to be a little more easy-going.
Still, I enjoyed the story and how things changed for the better in the end (McKeon got a ship!) even though there were a lot sad losses.
The characters were given a lot detail and yeah, I simply liked it and I want to read the rest of the books as well (but exams are getting nearer so that has to wait for a while).

And just one addition on the negative side, because it made me mad (perhaps well-calculated torture from the author):
the very very VERY detailed description of the Hyper Space and anything related when things had just started to get really exciting.
It’s nice that there’s so much backstory but I wanted to know how things would turn out and would have very much preferred if the Hyper Space story had been told anywhere else in the story. (hide spoiler)]
But still, great book ^^(less)

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Feb 26, 2013 D.L. Morrese rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’ve picked up several free e-books from Amazon since I first got my Kindle two years ago. This was one. Most of the others were ‘indie’ or self-published and most were surprisingly well written and enjoyable. This was neither.

When I saw this on the list of Amazon freebies, I grabbed it because I know the series has something of a following. Scanning down the reviews that have been posted, I saw many have raved about this book. I can only wonder why. Perhaps the Kindle version I got was an unpol...more I’ve picked up several free e-books from Amazon since I first got my Kindle two years ago. This was one. Most of the others were ‘indie’ or self-published and most were surprisingly well written and enjoyable. This was neither.

When I saw this on the list of Amazon freebies, I grabbed it because I know the series has something of a following. Scanning down the reviews that have been posted, I saw many have raved about this book. I can only wonder why. Perhaps the Kindle version I got was an unpolished draft. It certainly read like one.

This is a pulp sci-fi military space opera, and although these can be fun, this particular book has few redeeming qualities. There is a large cast of cardboard characters and enough techno-babble to choke a Vulcan, but, with a judicious amount of skimming, I found the story engaging enough for me to finish reading (almost). I couldn’t take any more by the end and skimmed the last few pages.

The poor writing style was obvious from the start. The prose is amateurish. The first ten to fifteen percent of the book is primarily backstory and exposition. If this were a self-published book, I would have stopped reading and concluded that the writer needed to develop his skills a bit more. But this book has a traditional publisher (Baen), and it has fans. I kept reading, thinking it must get better as it goes on.

It didn’t.

I almost gave up again half way in because the setting and characters were beginning to strain my ability suspend disbelief. Perhaps the most implausible aspect was that Honor Harrington (the unbelievingly self-disciplined lead character) increasingly appears to be just about the only truly competent commanding officer in the Royal Manticoran (space) Navy. If this were a work of comedy or satire, this would be fine, but it’s not. We’re supposed to accept that this is plausible. Even under an archaic form of monarchy (more on this later), where commissions are handed out based on family as often as they are on achievement, I have trouble accepting that any military organization could accept, or operate with, such a high amount of incompetence. (There is also a dysfunctional political system operating largely behind the scenes, which is, sadly, plausible, although I also doubt such a system can endure long without getting its act together.)

About eighty percent in, I considered tossing it aside again. In the middle of a chase scene, in which Honor’s ship is pursuing a much larger and more heavily armed enemy ship (for which she has no real plan how to defeat), the narrative devolves into a long exposition on the history of the faster than light technology they use. If there is ever a time for something like this, a chase scene is not it.

The battle scenes, especially the naval battles, are competently drawn, although a bit graphically for my taste. The wholesale slaughter of Bronze Age aliens (by the ‘good’ guys) with little remorse or reflection gave me one of those WTF moments. The ‘glory of war’ aspect of these scenes predominates. The ‘tragedy of war’ aspect is largely limited to instances when the ‘good guys’ lose or take casualties. The concept of war, the ethical considerations, and alternatives to it are largely ignored. That kind of underlying message became clearer as the book progressed. If there is a theme to this story, it is something along the lines of ‘duty above all else,’ ‘violence is always a first and best response,’ ‘war is inevitable,’ or ‘might makes right.’

But there really are no ‘good guys’ in this story. No one has a clear claim to the moral high ground. Honor is a citizen of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, a hereditary monarchy with privileged, landed gentry, self-serving corporations, a multiparty political system that seems largely inept, and a culture that feels almost medieval. Their rivals are the People's Republic of Haven, a star nation of military expansionists with a strained, socialist economy. The book provides little more insight than this into their respective cultures, but I doubt I would want to live in either. I saw insufficient reason to favor one side over the other in their squabbles despite Haven’s particularly nasty effort to foment something like the Boxer Rebellion by supplying drugs to the Bronze Age natives of Medusa. I got the impression that the Manticorans would have few ethical qualms about doing something similar if they found it expedient.

The formatting of the eBook was also poorly done. The text was double-spaced throughout, with forced line justification and missing scene breaks.

Maybe I’ve come to expect too much from a free eBook, but almost all of those I’ve seen had something going for them—a good story, interesting characters, a thought provoking theme, or even just proper formatting. This book fails in all regards.

If books were like TV, this one would be on par with Saturday morning cartoons or professional wrestling. I realize that many people enjoy that kind of stuff. That’s fine. Different people like different things. I, however, cannot recommend this, not even as a freebie. There are far better books available for the same cost.
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Jan 07, 2013 Cat rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

These were recommended to me by my other half principally for a well-written central character, and I was not disappointed by the first installment. There's a pleasing depth to the political world-building, if you can keep up with the large, ever-shifting cast and the many alliances formed and discarded. Weber is clearly a bit of a military history geek, so one does have to suffer through technical specs and tactical details for all the technology. I'll give that a pass, though, because he integ...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Mimi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult

This book has violence (there is an intergalactic war, as well as one on the ground on a world), and there is swearing, including stronger swear words. On those grounds, I don't recommend this novel, but you know your own limits. If swearing and violence don't bother you, and you are looking for a good science fiction novel, then you will enjoy this one.

The redeeming feature of this novel is the main character Honor Harrington. She's just incredible. She's honorable (thank goodness considering h...more This book has violence (there is an intergalactic war, as well as one on the ground on a world), and there is swearing, including stronger swear words. On those grounds, I don't recommend this novel, but you know your own limits. If swearing and violence don't bother you, and you are looking for a good science fiction novel, then you will enjoy this one.

The redeeming feature of this novel is the main character Honor Harrington. She's just incredible. She's honorable (thank goodness considering her name!), and she's feisty, smart, clever, funny, etc. Think of a positive adjective, and she's pretty much has it. But it isn't over-the-top greatness. She's just a really enjoyable character. She has overcome a lot, and she has worked really hard to gain the skills she has. And she triumphs over almost impossible odds against her enemies.

The enemy's plan was very tricky and brilliant, too. It is nice when things are written so well that you can't figure them all out by yourself one third of the way through.

I thought the first two quotes were funny. And the last two quotes were scary future possibilities for governments.

"Except in self-defense (of Honor's defense) Nimitz would no more hurt a human being than turn vegetarian, and treecats never made mistakes in that respect."

"No, she decided once more, with a familiar shade of regret, it was a serviceable enough face, but there was no use pretending anyone would ever accuse it of radiant beauty . . . darn it."

"After almost two T-centuries of deficit spending to shore up an increasingly insolvent welfare state, Haven had decided it had no choice but to turn conquistador to acquire the resources it needed to support its citizens in the style to which they had become accustomed, and the People's Navy had proven its capacity to do just that over the course of the last five decades."

"She'd been amused by that, until one of the government's foreign affairs experts explained the propaganda theory of the "big lie" to her. She found it difficult to credit, even now, that anyone, anywhere, could possibly believe the nonsense being spouted by the Haven Information Ministry, but the expert had only shaken his head and sighed. The bigger the lie, apparently, the more likely the uninformed were to accept it, simply because they couldn't believe any government would tell such an absurd story unless it were true."(less)

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Apr 15, 2012 Aspen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rereading this book for the first time in a while, I was reminded of just how much I enjoyed it. Honor Harrington is a strong, complex protagonist with both strengths and flaws, and the series explores a space going far future with interesting sociopolitical and cultural issues mixed very well into the story of interesting people. The book (and the series) is occasionally a bit heavy on military strategy and detailed explanation of the mechanics of space travel -- the long section given to the d...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The 17th book just came out so I decided to give this series a shot, if there are 17 books it must be a good series. With reading mostly good reviews I started listening to the book as an audiobook with high expectations, I was quite disappointed. I listened to the first book and halfway through the second and quit.

Simply the writing was boring. I can't stand books that take whole paragraphs to talk about ones feelings, (the first mates jealousy of not being named captain, Honor's thoughts about...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Jacey rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I confess this isn't a book I'd have been naturally drawn to because I'm neither a great lover of military SF, nor widely read in the sub-genre, however I'm going to Eastercon next weekend and David Weber is one of the guests of honour, so it seemed reasonable to read something of one of his best known (and best loved) characters Honor Harrington.

By the time I was halfway through this I was grinding my teeth. All the reasons that I don't read mil-SF were coming back to haunt me – way too much te...more

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Feb 09, 2012 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

David Weber's First Harrington Novel Remains Amongst the Best

C. S. Forrester meets Poul Anderson in David Weber's very first "Honorverse" novel, "On Basilisk Station", which remains one of the most compelling in Weber's popular space opera series, replete with naval battles as riveting as those in Forrester's Hornblower saga, and political intrigue as complex as Anderson's Technic space opera. A young Royal Manticoran Navy commander, Honor Harrington, must contend with a skeptical crew, a self-d...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Peter Hiller rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was good. I was reccommended it by Steve gibsons review and I was actually quite engrossed in it. I'm normally not a huge fan of military science fiction, but this really got me engrossed. The feeling of the author entering into the smaller details of the life of operating a military ship.

The book had some vague conservative leanings in parts that I wasn't a fan of, but these were generally balanced out by a reminder that the current hierarchical political system of manticore is not pe...more

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Dec 31, 2011 Eric Jackson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was recommended to me by friends and Amazon alike, most likely due to my undying love for the Vorkosigan Series. Alas, Honor is no Miles.

I found that the book suffered from three major issues.

First, it suffers from tech-dump, a common affliction to the sci-fi genre that produces long blocks of expository "facts" about space, space-travel, or the society at large. As a lover of backstory these generally don't bother me but it was quite pronounced and I found myself rushing past the "ba...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Wayne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

David Weber is an OK writer.

I know that statement is going to upset David's fans, but it is true. He has some awesome strengths, paired with some terrible weaknesses. His plotting, historical knowledge, and ability to weave things together are incredibly impressive. His characters are one dimensional at best. His writing tends towards the pedantic. David would make a fantastic professor, standing at the front of a classroom, reeling off the technical details of a battle. It gets a bit boring af...more

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Dec 25, 2011 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At least the author can write a gripping battle scene.

David Weber seems to be a naval buff. He really likes to make sure his reader knows almost as much as he does. I thought some of this book was bogged down with trivial details.I studied physics and engineering in college. There were times when I had to stop and re-read some of Mr. Weber's "far too deep for a silly novel" technical details. He made special notice about how there can only be one captain on a ship, so if another comes aboard, h...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Timo Pietilä rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book as a free download from Baen free library.

It is a first book on an apparently pretty popular series about Honor Harrington, the spaceship captain in the navy of the kingdom of Manticore. The popularity of the series is fairly hard to understand, as at least the first part wasn't too good. The book was really slow moving. Never, ever, I have seen so much exposition in any book. There are literally pages and pages describing the background of the world in mind-numbing detail. And...more I read this book as a free download from Baen free library.

It is a first book on an apparently pretty popular series about Honor Harrington, the spaceship captain in the navy of the kingdom of Manticore. The popularity of the series is fairly hard to understand, as at least the first part wasn't too good. The book was really slow moving. Never, ever, I have seen so much exposition in any book. There are literally pages and pages describing the background of the world in mind-numbing detail. And that is given as info-dumps of techno babble pages-long. Sometimes in middle of a battle there might be a description of history and mechanism of space torpedoes covering a few pages. Another irritating and unusual feature of the book is the usage of internal monologue. It feels at most of the book is about people speaking to themselves in their minds. Sometimes the viewpoint characters seem to change pretty suddenly, and it wasn’t always easy to keep track of who was ”speaking”. The book starts when Honor Harrington gets her first command post. As the Manticore’s navy is apparently run by idiots, her ship is crippled by a new weapon system which functions well only in very special circumstances. When it functions as expected, that is, doesn’t work at all, on exercise she and her ship are banished to the most important junction point of the Manticore kingdom. As the kingdom and the navy ARE run by complete idiots that is somewhere where the most incompetent captains and ships are sent. At the same time, an enemy empire is plotting against Manticore.. In the end Honor naturally saves the day after a few fairly boring and long winded space battles (a few of space battles in this book seem to employ surprisingly two dimensional tactics, considering this is supposed to happen in space, not at sea), even if the Manticore kingdom really seems something worth complete destruction with its nepotism and idiotic leadership. I strongly suspect that I won’t be reading the next dozen or so parts of this series.
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Jun 19, 2011 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I took a moment to reread the first book in the Honorverse series before reading some of its more recent additions. It was interesting to see how much the characters and the writing style have changed since I first added the series to my regular reading list. Weber's style has become less technical and more character oriented since the start of the series, and it is clear he was feeling out what he wanted to do with the characters in On Basilisk Station. However, the book remains a stunning good...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Doc Opp rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found David Weber this past summer and zoomed through this series. There are many things to like about this series - it has a very rich universe with lots of depth. He's thought a lot about the science of his future, and the implications that would have for military strategy. There are lots of people you want to root for, and they pretty much always win, which is feel good.

There are a few frustrating things, especially as the series progresses. The battle descriptions get a little repetitive a...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Boston Scifi Fant...: Honor Vs. Ender	1	6	Mar 18, 2013 02:18pm
SciFi and Fantasy...: Is David Weber's Honor Harrington series worth reading?	21	249	Feb 07, 2013 10:11am
Goodreads Librari...: Description in wrong language	2	27	Sep 02, 2012 02:41pm
Beyond Reality: ON BASILISK STATION - finished reading (spoilers)	48	56	Sep 20, 2011 10:36pm
Beyond Reality: ON BASILISK STATION - first impressions & roll call (no spoilers)	71	70	Sep 10, 2011 07:12am

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About David Weber

David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.

Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.

One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name...more

More about David Weber...

Books by David Weber

The Honor of the Queen (Honor Harrington, #2)

The Short Victorious War (Honor Harrington, #3)

Field of Dishonor (Honor Harrington, #4)

Honor Among Enemies (Honor Harrington, #6)

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On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington #1)

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