After having established the setting in the first part of the series, nothing lies closer than to go for full space opera with one protagonist, military sci-fi social commentary speed.

Weber is not just constructing an amazing female lead character, the only one I know so far besides Sandersons´Skyward and Becky Chambers´Wayfarers, but he is also trying to and succeeding in making each completely inhuman and fanatical political, ideological, and faith related fraction a victim of its own circumstances and not just a one dimensional evildoer. There are long passages with dialogues, introspections, and monologues explaining why the antagonists´s do as they do and it seems logical and reasonable. Still evil, of course, but at least one understands their motivations.

And that´s a huge achievement, while the dark side stays superficial and stereotypical in most works and the narrative focus is on establishing the protagonists, Weber doesn´t just produce amazingly detailed, perfectly planned and plotted space battles, but a social and ideological backbone too, adding an extra, deeper layer besides Honor and the plot action.

I don´t know how far he will still go and develop these ideas and style in the many parts of the series I haven´t read, it´s so enormous that I am not sure about continuing reading it, but just thinking about which philosophical and ethical implications might lie there hidden in the endless space of the Honorverse make me want to do it.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...weber-david165 s Mike (the Paladin)3,147 1,908

First let me congratulate David Weber. I don't know what his own religious convictions (if any) are but he's done something (for me) very welcome here. He's written a book about a civilization of religious fanatics without leaving the feeling that anyone who is religious or holds religious convictions is either crazy or dangerous. That's more rare than you might might realize if it doesn't effect you. I'm a Christian and in spite of the fact that it's hard to remember the last big Baptist bombing or Methodist terror attack it seems that every time religious fanatics come up in a book recently Christians come off looking pretty bad. I mean I can see why. With well known threatening figures out there Billy Graham and Mother Teressa it's no wonder.

Anyway, that aside, the book itself is good and for me comes just short of the 5 star rating...close, oh so close, but I think that I found the ones I have given 5 stars either more enjoyable or in some way more moving. Still if we had that half star we're always talking about, this would get 4.5.

Honor back in action after the events of her Command at Basilisk Station. Confronting prejudice in a society where women are still chattel she gets to change attitudes of an entire civilization, or at least try to.

In the line of duty this time Honor will face physical danger, bigotry, covert killers and worst of all...a cowardly bureaucrat. Horrors.

If you've read other of my you know that I protagonists who are frankly good guys (of course "guy" is used in the generic sense here with no gender inferred) who understand honor (small h), honesty, duty, courage (saddling up anyway even when you're scared to death). Heroes and heroines who struggle not to compromise with evil who understand that the strong interpose themselves between danger and the weak. So I'm a sucker for Honor Harrington. So far so good. I am enjoying the series.



Almost my favorite scene in this book (if not my favorite) was when Honor slapped the bureaucrat (and of course with her strength the "slap" floors and bloodies him). And I really think Weber might have considered letting Honor keep her eye patch instead of giving her a bionic eye in the next book. Oh well, to stereotypical I suppose. :)
science-fiction space-opera53 s Phrynne3,474 2,355

So I guess I am hooked into an other series! I enjoyed this second book as much as I did book one.

In The Honor of the Queen Honor Harrington returns to fight more space battles and earn more love and respect from those around her by her pure brilliance. Gotta love her and Nimitz of course. I am not usually one for extended, detailed battle scenes but there is something about space battles which makes them fun even for me.

Just book one, this one builds steadily towards a superb and exciting conclusion. By the last few chapters there is no putting it down at all and there is a nice twist to the story which I did not see coming. All good fun and I will certainly be opening book three very soon.36 s BradleyAuthor 4 books4,326

I am a victim of having already read some really great MilSF, and so many of them have had vibrant characters and an outrageous hat-trick narrow escapes.

What does this mean for this particular novel?

Well, unfortunately, the characterizations were NOT as good as the setup in the first Honor book. It seemed rather cardboard-cutout, actually. So I have to rely mostly on good worldbuilding and battles to carry me through this particular novel. It's not a dealbreaker, but it does lessen my enjoyment by loads.

It's a shame, too, because I d the interplay between the ice-queen and her new crew in the previous one. So years have passed and Honor gets the honor of being on a diplomatic mission as a prelude to war. It's tactics. Staging planets and beachheads and supply lines.

Unfortunately, the planet they're courting for this seems awfully Isreal mixed with a bit more fundamentalist elements that seem Muslim. This book is from '93, so on one hand, I can be somewhat impressed with the willingness to explore social craziness when it comes to women's roles, the perception in the military from the fundamentalist PoV as well as Honor, the exemplary female officer, balking and resolving some of her own issues when dealing with very different cultures. It's all right.

But by this point in my reading career, it's woefully flat and mild and full of aspects that I just can't quite believe.

This is a spacefaring society and, yes, the colonists here were fundamentalists under major terraforming problems that tortured the populace and made them regard women as breeding machines blah blah blah.

No.

So wait, the characters fell in quality and the seemingly impressive worldbuilding bits are kinda falling short? Possibly. So what's left?

Space Battle.

That was okay. :) Oh, and battle wounds. Particularly Honor. I felt something for her there. ; ;

I will probably continue this at some later date, but I'm not sure it warrants the full-press treatment anymore.2018-shelf sci-fi space-opera22 s Timothy Boyd6,787 44

Fantastic 2nd book in the series. I have had these on my too read list for decades and am just now getting to them. Don’t be me and wait to discover this amazing SiFi series. Very recommended15 s2 comments Nate481 20

DISCLAIMER: I originally read this book around November of last year in an utterly narcotized state after getting all four of my wretchedly impacted wisdom teeth cut out. In short, reading David Weber's books while fucked up is not a good idea--they're full of technical detail, worldbuilding, intrigue, and feature a pretty decently sized cast of characters. This lead to a somewhat underwhelming experience and while I had fun with it, I only gave it three stars in my original review. Well, unsurprisingly I retained fuck-all from it and with these books you have to pay attention so I re-read it in preparation for my current read of the third book. I d it much better this time around!

We pick up with Captain Harrington a few years after On Basilisk Station. She's been conducting successful but not terribly interesting campaigns against pirates in some backwater system, and things get interesting when her old mentor Admiral Raoul Courvoisier presents her with a mission to form the military component of a diplomatic mission to the planet Grayson, in the Yeltsin's Star system. Sounds simple enough, until you take account of the fact that the only other inhabited planet in the system is Masada, a kind of dumber, angrier, estranged younger brother of Grayson. The colonizations and relationship between the two planets is complex and fascinating but I can basically sum it up by saying Grayson was colonized by an intensely fundamental, puritanical and dogmatic religious sect, who then had a war amongst themselves and kicked out the people that were inconveniently TOO fundamental, puritanical and dogmatic. There's a lot more to it than that but I have to say I love this kind of complex political worldbuilding Weber s to do. Given that he started writing this as a kind of parallel to Admiral Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars it's not groundbreakingly original or anything that but the settings and systems all feel very authentic and thoroughly considered.

That's just the background of the plot, really. The Manticoran concern in the foreground is the fact that the Republic of Haven are concurrently forming an alliance with the Masadan zealots, which would give them a forward base to attack from in the long-expected war with Manticore. And Honor Harrington, Commander of the HMS Fearless, CANNOT LET THAT SHIT HAPPEN. So it's off to Yeltsin's Star for political scheming, adventure, intrigue and tense combat of the terrestrial and naval (obviously meaning space in this series) varieties. I guess I'll start with the political scheming I mentioned. These books seem to be advertised as mostly militarily-concerned science fiction. Obviously that's hard to argue with, but Weber seems to include a lot of political content in these books. It gets to the point where even the characters have a conversation about the point, if any, where the lines between the military and political apparatuses and operations of a particular government intersect, with the obligational mention of Clausewitz's On War. I am far from Politics Guy. I'm very jaded and bored with modern politics, and thusly have to especially mention that I somehow find the attention to politics fascinating in these books.

Being human and thusly imperfect, David Weber devotes all this time to war and politics and plot at a seeming cost to his characters. Almost no time at all is dedicated to defining each one as a separate and unique human being, and even main characters can get pretty short shrift when it comes to personality traits and stuff that. He does give you a decent look at what motivates the main players, though, and it doesn't end up hurting the books too much (thus far) because these books are about the big picture--the governments, their policies and decisions, and the people who have to carry them out. You're not gonna get much time with random grunts and stuff that--despite the focus on realistic military and political structures this is still a bombastic, swashbuckling space opera and there are no Everypeople here--everyone serves on a hugely powerful spaceship, holds a high position in the government or is behind some world-changing plot or plan. Honor kind of reflects this in a way--her character is not about human angst, self-doubt and folly or anything that. She's a smart, tall, strong genius who can kill armed opponents with her bare hands, never makes mistakes or acts petty. She's constantly facing huge adversity and odds and still comes out ahead looking a million bucks. It's kind of nice! She's a fun protagonist to hang out with and her barefaced Mary Sueness is ironically now a refreshing change from all the self-conscious, tortured flawed protagonists of genre fiction...at least for me. The woman can't even get shot in the face properly, as this ends up basically leaving her only with an extremely badass EYEPATCH! I don't care if it's a cliche, any person wearing an eyepatch automatically looks badass.

The space action is extremely tense and awesome. I have literally never read a piece of naval-based fiction the Hornblower or Aubrey/Maturin series, but the idea of fighting in giant warships armed to the teeth where a single mistake or piece of bad luck can result in instantaneous death for everyone aboard is some intense shit! Space makes it worse, because when the shit hits the fan you can't just jump overboard and take your chances. There's a good deal of description of the technology everyone's using from the various ships of different navies to the life-extending Prolong process and all manner of stuff, but I really found it easy to deal with and understand in this one and ended up feeling all the detail just added weight and authenticity to the action in the book. Honestly the worst book for that kind of shit has to be the first one, because that's where you have to come to grips with ideas Warshawski sails, impeller wedges, inertial compensators and shit that. To an extent, Weber treats all that stuff as read so there's very little technical infodumpery going on here--just scheming and action, really. There's a LOT of talking in these books, and it can feel exposition-y, but really it never bothered me. I was just interested in what factions were at odds and for what reasons for the duration of the book. I also have to mention the Havenite antagonists were awesome, especially Captain Yu--just regular people trying to do their duty and serve their country as best as they can. The Masadans were a bit more evil-mustache-twirly but were pretty realistic in that they were religious zealots and not just insane evil weirdos.

Another really fun entry in the Honor series. These aren't perfect but I think anyone who s space opera with a strong military flavor will probably find something to and keep coming back for. I have to mention that E-Book readers have no excuse to not give this one a shot as it, along with first entry On Basilisk Station are available on the Baen Free Library in all kinds of formats. I gotta admit I'm the tiniest bit skeptical about this pretty-huge series continuing to be consistently enjoyable experiences for me, but as long as Weber keeps coming up with different scenarios and conflicts to introduce Honor to we'll probably be good. Given that the third book finally deals with the inevitable war between Manticore and Haven I have no idea how it couldn't be exciting--it's awesome enough when a couple of these huge ships are slugging it out with terrifying beam and missile weapons at ridiculous speeds, but a Trafalgar- true scrap between the two major powers sounds wonderfully overstimulating.13 s Susanna - Censored by GoodReads545 671

It's odd seeing the romance trope "she's gorgeous but totally thinks she's plain, but all the men can't stop looking at her" pop up in a space opera.17 s JimAuthor 7 books2,050

I d this a lot better this time so am raising it from 3 stars to 4 in the audio format. Part of that is for the action. There's a few good fights, but the one where Honor faces the assassins is tops. This book is definitely better than the first.

What really made it for me this time was the way the evil Havenites wind up not being so evil. They become much more human & are contrasted against religious fanatics that make even them seem nice. While the good guys are also religious, the fanatics are a good example of where faith without any rationality can take a people.

Definitely recommended, but only if read in order. On to the next!

2014 Review: Again, I didn't this quite as well listening to it as reading it. There weren't as many data dumps, but Honor's insistence on taking responsibility for things outside of her control got old, something I could skim through in paper format.

Johnson did a better job with the voices, although again her accents struck me as strange as did her insistence on mispronouncing some common words. She did a good job pitching her tone to fit the excitement level.

It was a fun romp with Honor shining again.1audio 2fiction 3series ...more12 s Andy441 78

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 as was a tough start & tbh nearly a series ending one....

As to why?

First the minus 1.5pts - Yes the backdrop to the story is required, which are around the first 100pgs or so but IT IS hard work getting through it & i nearly gave up. Ive also learnt to snooze read the techno-babble too after the first book’s Hypoenginechargetransformthingmabob so that’s no longer such a negative for me but it does go a little "overboard" at times & combined with a slow start we started on a negative rating....

Redemption & the 5 pts - The success of the story revolves around Honor Harrington & her interactions, everything else is jus fluff really, all the characters are fair wooden when left to their own devices & really struggle to have empathy with any of them, then Captain Harrington walks into the room & it all lights up! The Captain really does transform the story & it fairly jaunts along once she’s back. Even her interactions with once wooden characters bring them to the fore.

As too the charcters they all deserve a little more building up EVEN if some of them are a little shortlived - they become a bit a red shirter on a Star Trek Away mission......!!! Would have d to have seen more evolvement of Nimitz too, her empathetic Treecat, ok so he’s a whizz with Frisbee we now know plus he’s got quite good at throat ripping in a close fight but would be good to have more development believe there's scope there too... Ok so Im a cat person, and then.....!

Its a good finish & the battle scenes are entertaining despite the sometimes overboard technobabble but Still gonna go with a middling three (really a 3.5) despite the positives outweighing the negatives as a four is a bit of a reach when you take the book overall.

I shall read-on (for the time being)2014-trl 2015-shortlist sci-fi8 s Jeffrey Jelmeland171 4

I started this series upon the recommendation of a friend, and I can't thank that friend enough for that recommendation. This series definitely establishes a standard for military space-opera, and un so many others that I have read in the past this series really does feel something other than military fiction.

This book took some work for me to get into, but at some point I found myself simply devouring the pages, unable to read fast enough to match my hunger for more. And the last 40+ pages resulted in my taking an extended break at work just to finish the book. I couldn't help myself. I had to finish it.library-copy military science-fiction ...more9 s Rachel (TheShadesofOrange)2,380 3,607

4.0 stars
After enjoying the first book last year, I am finally returning back to this long running series. I love the blend of action, humor, political intrigue and character development that I'm finding within the book. I particularly enjoyed how this book played around with the role of women in this alien culture. It felt very reminiscent of a Star Trek TNG episode.8 s Kat Hooper1,584 402

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Though she’s a woman and not a diplomat, Honor Harrington, the highly competent and well-respected Manticoran Navy Captain, has been assigned a diplomatic mission to a planet run by a patriarchal religious cult. Why would the Manticorans send an aggressive woman with no diplomatic skills on this type of mission? There’s only one possible reason: to try to make The Honor of the Queen more interesting...

I wasn’t thrilled with On Basilisk Station, the first book in the Honor Harrington series, because there was too much exposition about military tactics and spaceship dynamics and Honor was too perfect and seemed cold and distant. I decided to read The Honor of the Queen because I already had purchased it in audio and I was hoping Honor would be more relatable as we got to know her better. Actually, she does seem more human, going on an almost murderous rampage at one point and becoming teary-eyed at another. Weber begins to make it clear that Honor has emotions, but we rarely see them and she’s such a Mary Sue that it’s difficult to feel comfortable with her. Even her homicidal rampage was more righteous than reckless.

But my biggest issue with the Honor Harrington series is that the plots so far (I’ve read only the first two books), though exciting at times (e.g., the big space battles at the ends) are constantly being interrupted by dull exposition about base and closing velocities, acceleration rates, missile weights, engagement times, energy ranges, magazine sizes, projected courses, etc.

This material does not have to be dull. As I read, I kept comparing it to Patrick O’Brien’s Aubrey/Maturin (Master and Commander) novels which have analogous plots (just at sea instead of in space). Those books contain a lot of information about warships and naval tactics, but they are immensely entertaining because the protagonists are real people with interests, hobbies, relationships, problems and faults.

To be fair to David Weber, it is certainly possible that my disappointment is partially caused by Allyson Johnson’s narration of the audiobooks. Her voices are pleasant, but she uses little inflection. I downloaded a free print copy of The Honor of the Queen at the Baen Free Library and read several pages that I thought were dull in the audio version. They were better in my head than they were on audio, but I still found myself skimming over some of the exposition (which is difficult to do with an audiobook). I’m not sure that any narrator is skilled enough to make The Honor of the Queen exciting for me or to get me past the glaring problem with the premise of Honor being sent as a diplomat to a misogynist society.

I think I’m finished with Honor Harrington, which is too bad because I spent one of my Audible credits on the third book.audiobook8 s Mr. Matt288 90

The Honor of the Queen follows the story of Harrington in her new command, the newly commissioned RMN light cruiser, Fearless. And it offers more of the same. This is good and bad.

First the good. The action is good - no great. The story revolves around a astro-political power struggle between Manticore (the good guys) and Haven (the bad guys). Both are backing client states in an otherwise insignificant star system. The rival powers are clearly positioning for a conflict and the system in question offers key advantages. The Haven client state initiates a surprise conflict and Harrington and the Fearless find themselves matched against a vastly superior foe. Through a combination of pluck and luck the good guys come out on top - although not until a desperate assault on secret starbase and a long running broadside to broadside battle. I this stuff. I the inside view of the astro-political conflict. I the star battles. It's fun, and it's all done very well.

There are some things that bother me. Reading these books I can't help comparing them to Dewey Lambdin's Alan Lewrie saga. The Lewrie series follows a British naval officer in the Revolutionary/Napoleonic era. As I read I keep inserting "Britain" for "Manticore" and "France" for "Haven." And it is very easy to jump between broadsides of missiles and beam weapons to broadsides of cannon and shot. Not a deal-killer for me, but it amuses me. My own mental comparisons continue and it is not good. It all comes too easy for Harrington. One of the great things about the Lewrie books is the development and growth of Alan Lewrie. He struggles against the caste of naval tradition, the slights of petty captains, and the whims of the admiralty - and this excludes his personal struggles. I think it would've been fun to have Harrington clash with a real nasty tyrant of a captain. Instead she glides from one gem pf a position to another. Regardless, the books are still fun.

Three and a half stars rounded down to three. I'm continuing into the series and looking forward to the war between Haven and Manticore. I'm not certain, however, that I'll be able to make it through the 30 odd books in the series.2013 sci-fi ships-of-the-line6 s Brittany1,261 131

More engaging military space adventure fluff. This time, though, there's the added interest of some really thought-provoking ideas. It concerns a delegation to a planet/culture with a repressive attitude toward women. A lot of the book is a thought-experiment about the best, most respectful, most moral way to deal with such a culture (and whether respect and morality come into conflict at some point.)

Very interesting, with a twist I wasn't expecting for a female heroine. More highly recommended than On Basilisk Station.sciencefiction6 s Tina1,791 312

This is the second book on the Honor Harrington series.

After the events from Basilisk Station, the Manticorans realize that war with the Peeps (The People's Republic if Haven) is an inevitability. They decided to seek a strategic alliance. The queen sends a envoy of ships and diplomats to the small planet Grayson to seek their alliance and to help them out with a problem they are having with a sister planet of their own. Honor and her crew are along for the ride.

There is a slight problem. Grayson is a cultural backwater. They are a male dominated planet where polygamy is the norm and women do not have rank or rights. Needless to say things get interesting when they get a load of Honor Harrington.

This book is an excellent follow-up to the also great first book of the series, On Basilisk Station. This is our first introduction to the Graysons, a people who will become very important in the course of this series and to Honor. But this first introduction is a rocky one. The Graysons are absolutely reactionary to the presence of women serving not only in the armed forces but also as officers, commanders or in an capacity of leadership, really. Manticore is a monarchy that is headed by a Queen and there is total equality of the sexes there. So the cultural clash Weber sets up winds through the entire book and sets the stage for the later books where one person, Honor, can start to widen the horizons of an entire people.

In the meantime, what is supposed to be a diplomatic mission, quickly goes south. The situation with the Grayson fanatical sister planet (and they are fanatics, the floor rolling, foam-at-the-mouth, bat-shit crazy type) turns deadly as they seek to conquer Grayson both from without (using ships supplied to them by the Peeps) and from within as a Grayson traitor seeks to overthrow the government.

Honor spends much of the book meekly and quietly in the background, not wanting to jeopardize the diplomatic mission because her presence there is so distasteful to the Graysons. But once the situation goes critical Honor steps up and heads start to roll.

David Weber has a fine sense of how to craft a confrontation on paper. It could be as small as just two people trading barbs or as large as a full out military battle. This book is peppered with such gems. There are several great scenes: 1) When Honor beats the living crap out the of arrogant diplomat who is totally clueless as to how dangerous their situation has gotten, 2)When she foils the attempted coup at the palace and 3) The entire sequence of events when Honor goes to Blackbird Station and discovers how the prisoners of war had been mistreated.

And then there is what I to call "the final Battle." Almost every Honor Harrington book has this decisive, mother of all space battles. It usually involves Honor being a tactical genius (tactics is her specialty) and lots of explosions, humongous body counts, terrific descriptions of missile blasts and destruction. But aside from that what makes these scenes so awesome are the character reactions to what they are doing. He puts you in the head of not only Honor, but her crew and the opposing crew. You "hear" what they are thinking, how they rise to their tasks, their frantic efforts to do the job they were trained for, their understanding that they might die if they don't, their glee when they hit upon a great solution, their despair when they realize someone has died. And then there is that moment.... In every battle scene there is the pivotal moment he describes when the one side realizes they just did the one thing that made them win, and the other side realizes they are about to die. It is knee thumping exciting stuff.sff-science-fiction5 s Niall TeasdaleAuthor 70 books286

It's probably a little over 2 stars, but while this book had a big finish, it had an annoying lack of satisfaction before you get there.

This is the second Honor Harrington book and it has some really good bits to it, but more than half of it is not about the lead character. In the first book, there's a lot of frittering over her crew's dis of her until she works through it and, aside from her showing she knows her stuff, nothing happens. In this one you get plenty of nothing happening, and quite frequently it doesn't happen to other people.

Manticore and Haven are still preparing for the war they both know is coming (and if Haven were only more genre savvy, they would have given up already). Honor is tasked with the escort of a diplomatic delegation to a planet full of moderately hard-line religious types who find the idea of women in uniform (or doing anything outside the house really) as anathema. The Havenites are cosying up to another bunch who schismed off from the first in order to be more insanely hard line. This bunch of extremists are the real bad guys in this one; the Havenites act pretty much the scheming, moustachioed villains they were in the first book.

However... There's an attempt going on here to humanise Haven, but to do it, Weber contrasts them to a bunch of monsters. The Masadans (the fundamentalists) are a strawman example of a theocracy gone entirely bad, a combination of every bad trait of every monotheistic religion in our world. They come over as cardboard characters, the Germans in old WWII films. no matter how hard Weber tries to put us inside their heads. They are puppy-kickers and little else. Except for when they're chewing the scenery.

There's an obvious anti-misogyny element to the story which put me off getting this book for quite a while. Not because I dis that kind of plot, but because I suspected it would be handled in a heavy-handed manner... and I was not disappointed. There's a lot of textbook stuff from the 'chauvinist's guide to being a classic villain.' Then Honor and Nimitiz have a crowning moment of awesome and suddenly she's past most of it, from her side anyway. Of course, the bad guys just hate her more.

There were also two technical errors which kind of yanked me out of the story. One I should have spotted in the first book, but it's more clearly explained in the second. Gravity waves travel faster than light, and that's wrong. That was how Newtonian Gravity worked, but our gravity travels at light speed. That's been suspected for a while, but was not proved until after the series was started, so I guess I can let Weber off for that one. However, right in the middle of a combat scene I got hauled up out of the story because Weber doesn't know what a flechette is. It's quite a specific term, and it's applied to a weapon which, as described, does not fire flechettes.

Okay, so, lot of criticism, but there were good points. The space battles were, as usual, well handled and while they're happening the book hums along nicely as you wonder who is going to die so Honor can deploy her enormous guilt complex on them. We get some fairly good ground combat in this one too, and it's also handled with an adroit hand.

Most importantly, Nimitz the Treecat gets an opportunity to kick some serious ass. Clearly the true protagonist of the books, Nimitz gets to prove he's downright lethal, as well as making Honor even more lethal than she would be without him. In short: Nimitz rocks!

Summary: really drags for about half the book, pedestrian more often that it needed to be, some moments of severe awesome. Needs more Nimitz (obviously) and (unfortunately) more Honor.5 s Mina47 39

This went hard.
I remember whispering "damn" while reading a particular chapter, and I'm not someone who talks to themselves.

Sure, there are areas of each book in the series I've read so far that I found less enjoyable than others and nothing is perfect, but seriously, this series is so sick. I find myself still thinking about particular encounters and battles.
I was a little worried this would be too "strong woman vs oppressive chauvinist men" in theme, but Weber impressed me again with his sharp eye for detail and willingness to examine the human condition within his characters and factions.
Yanno, it was difficult for me to get behind the whole Treecat thing even from the first book, but the little guy even grew on me here too. There are many part of this one I'd talk about, but I want to avoid spoiling anything. Better than the first book, though I would never suggest skipping On Basilisk Station.8 s Arnis1,742 168

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...gads-20214 s William676 364

A great continuation of the "Honor-verse" series. Love the main characters, and (again) these books have SUPERB space battles - wonderfully technical and very gung-ho, a true homage to the Horatio Hornblower tradition.

I will be reading the whole series, I presume!5 s Dan1,285 72

I am so glad that I discovered this series walking past the best sellers section of a Stop and Shop about 2 decades ago.2018 2021 baen-free-library ...more4 s Jonathan Koan615 349

I think I understand why Weber has become so popular in the Military Science Fiction space. He is able to tell hard hitting themes without feeling preachy. And he also is excellent at telling an opposing viewpoint while still holding true to his worldview.

I also believe that Weber really understands how to write sci-fi politics, perhaps better than anyone I've read since Kevin Anderson. Weber is really good at conveying political information without it feeling an exposition dump.

This series feels the Dresden Files of Sci-Fi, in that each book kind of stands alone, but you can see a throughline forming that will become important later on. Weber's story here about two planets, both of which have very conservative and old viewpoints towards the roles of men and women is very compelling. You already felt for Honor Harrington in the previous book because of her being a goody-two-shoes, but you also feel more sympathetic towards her because she deals with such horrible people. And you totally understand their position despite disagreeing with it.

I think the series needs to level up in terms of plot for me to really get engaged. This book should have been 150 pages shorter and should have been a more pulpy adventure, but it tried to be more epic and scope. If the page count is going to get longer on these books, the storytelling needs to get more epic as well.

I think I need more time to get to know the side characters, the only ones I remember are Honor Harrington and her CO Alister McKeon. Other than that, I didn't latch onto any of the other characters.

Overall, this is an enjoyable book, but didn't quite nail all of the necessary points. Still enjoyable though. 7 out of 10!reading-challenge-20223 s James608 122

A little darker in places than the previous book, On Basilisk Station , this book touches on religious (in)tolerance, sexual discrimination and violence as well as the different moral lines in the sand that individuals and groups will set themselves in an ongoing war. Weber handles the topics well, each group manages to get represented across most of the human spectrum – some good people, some not so good people, some downright fucking nasty people and some people who need a trigger event of some kind to make them appraise their own culture and hopefully rise above it.

Fresh from her success in On Basilisk Station, a promotion and a new ship and crew. Honor is volunteered to accompany her former teacher on a diplomatic mission to form an alliance with one of two worlds that sit slap-bang in between Manticore and their enemies – the People's Republic of Haven. These two worlds are theocracies, both subscribing to a sort of ultra-conservative Christian off-shoot that has attempted to reject many of Earth's previous advances – including advanced technology and feminism. As with any religious group, it seems, once they got out into space and colonised their new world, schisms appeared and suddenly they needed two worlds. Now, not only are they sitting slap between the two warring systems, but they don't speak to each other and the second world views the recolonisation (or destruction if necessary) of the previous world as the will of God.

Honor hasn't ever been strong on diplomacy it seems, and with two warring systems and a sister-world all congregating round the tiny inhospitable world of Grayson it isn't going to be long before the shooting starts...honorverse i-own-ebook science-fiction3 s Enzo784 1 follower

David Weber again excels in "The Honor of the Queen" were Captain Honor again goes out against all odds to try to save the day. This is part of a great series. Yes, its the second of the line, and its a great read. As SciFi writers go Weber is a favorite because he gives us detail. Names of instruments and descriptions of future technology are a big hit. The Honor books have technology to spare and delight the reader. Captain Honor Harrington is really a remarkable character. One that envisions many of the great things we expect in a leader. She just simply does to know how to give up.
This book is based in a System where Religious leaders trying to get away from technology escaped to. Their beliefs are a bit controversial if not outlandish but its interesting how Weber manages to write about them without really making us truly feel we need to hate them. The Fanaticals in the book are a different story, those you dis straight out. But you need to read the context in the book to follow. HMS Fearless arrives with everything against them and again on pure Honor style she wins people over while looking at long odds of her and her crew survival.

Get the books read the series it is highly recommended SciFi.science-fiction thriller war3 s Buzz Park167 11

I thought this was a brilliantly-written exploration of current issues with fun, flawed characters and some excellent scifi action.

I was initially a little squeamish about the author's representation of a supposed pseudo-Christian society and their off-shoot cousins, a strictly pseudo-Old Testament society (that appears to be identical to modern Islamic terrorists). I was concerned that the author was trying to be anti-Christian and very anti-Semetic.

However, my concerns were largely unfounded. For me, I thought Weber's coverage of modern societal and political issues was brilliant: terrorism, bigotry, military intervention by a third party, trying to understand different cultures from their perspective, and indicating that the worst characters of a society are not necessarily representative of that society as a whole.

I also thought the depth of the major characters was good and added a great deal of richness to the story.

To be honest, this is one of the best science fiction novels I've read in a long time.3 s Xabi19902,017 1,078

El titulo comienza siendo un juego de palabras, bastante malo, donde el nombre de la protagonista, Honor Harrington, se mezcla con que esta “pertenece” a su reina del imperio Manticoriano.

Más cosas. Es el segundo de la saga de Honor Harrington. Al primero le puse 7,5/10 (debía estar generoso ese día). A este segundo 6/10, y gracias. ¿Por qué? Pues porque el argumento es previsible, los personajes planitos y ni tan siquiera la acción continua a base de batallitas espaciales entre naves (o a pistoletazo limpio) salvan el asunto.

Le he acabado porque tanta acción permite su lectura, pero para space opera militarista (ninguno de esos tres términos me ofende, conste, incluso me agradan a priori) de naves a torpedazo/laserazo/graserazo limpio las hay mucho mejores en CF: Card, Scalzi, Bujold, las batallitas de Bill héroe espacial … vamos, que no creo que siga con esta saga.

Vosotros mismos. Vosotras mismas. Miembros y miembras.3 s Margaret SankeyAuthor 9 books216

I get it--this is the space operate retelling of Horatio Hornblower, with thinly veiled Napoleonic War analogs. I decided to re-read this, realizing that it had been a really long time--and the series just hits differently now. In 1993, Les Aspin had just promulgated the rules allowing women to serve in combat pilot roles, so the very Mary Sue, gorgeous, brilliant, underestimated lead character was edgy and progressive. Now, having spent 25 years around actual militaries with serving women combat officers (99% of whom had to deal with religious fanatics in real life deployments and within their own service), it is condescending and paternalistic, and includes the weird militaristic fetish for monarchies and aristocracy while using a straw man socialism=lazy slobs who stifle ambition, which is HILARIOUS coming from inside the military.fiction3 s Kirsten 1,647 281

This series just gets better and better! (I've already started Book #3: The Short Victorious War) In this book, David Weber tackles sexism and fundamentalism. I love how he has put together the different societies, extending the foibles and follies of present day humanity into the future. Politics are still dirty, religion still causes more problems than it helps, and there are still heroes that rise above it.

This book also made me cry. I was very surprised. The tears caught me unawares. But there you are. Another sign of excellent writing if it does that IMHO.

audible kindle made-me-cry ...more3 s Sandi510 290

There is no way in heck anyone will convince me to continue with this series. It's boring beyond belief. The audiobook narrator is good, so I will look for more of her work. However, I won't be reading any of David Weber's books anytime soon. The only reason I gave this two stars is that there were a few good scenes in it. It's too bad they were so short and so spread out.2011 audiobooks sci-fi3 s L'ours inculte449 166

Pour ce deuxième tome de la saga Honor Harrington, notre héroïne se voit prendre du galon, des responsabilités, et toutes les emmerdes qui vont avec. Après un premier tome explosif, David Weber nous emmène pour un second tour dans les coursives de ses grands vaisseaux militaires.

Honor est ici chargée d’accompagner une mission diplomatique du royaume de Manticore sur la planète Grayson. Ce caillou fort peu hospitalier se trouve entre La république de Havre et leur système et donc, comme Basilic, représente un enjeu stratégique pour les deux super-puissances. Premier problème : Les habitants de Grayson sont pas vraiment des adeptes de l’égalité des sexes, et voir une flotte dirigée par une femme peut être un peu difficile à avaler pour eux d’autant plus qu’Honor est pas la plus diplomate dans l’affaire. Second problème : La planète Masada, voisine et ennemie jurée de Grayson, complote dans l’ombre avec les force de Havre pour prendre le contrôle du système.

A première vue, on démarre sur le même principe que le roman précédent. On a une planète indépendante entre Manticore et Havre et les deux vont se taper dessus pour en prendre le contrôle. Heureusement, cette aventure-ci prend une tournure différente très rapidement. La mission est à priori diplomatique et encore une fois, l’auteur prend son temps pour installer le contexte, et c’est pas superflu. Le temps de présenter les différentes factions avec leurs conflits idéologiques, on approche les 200 pages mais on ne s’ennuie pas pour autant. Comme Weber n’a plus à présenter certains éléments détaillés dans Mission Basilic, il peut s’étendre sur d’autres sujets et explorer de nouvelles choses.

Un des thèmes centraux de cette nouvelle mission est le féminisme. En lisant mon résumé vous vous direz peut-être « bah, encore des méchants misogynes contre les gentils égalitaires » et… vous n’aurez pas forcément tort maaaaaaaais on nous apporte assez de nuances pour mesurer le propos et taper dans pas mal de zones grises. Les Masadiens sont ici les vrais fanatiques religieux, les tarés vraiment arriérés à qui on a régulièrement envie de foutre des baffes, ça c’est certain. Mais du côté de Grayson, Weber arrive à beaucoup nuancer la chose à travers des rencontres explosives ou des discussions plus posées. Elles mettront en évidence le choc de culture flagrant mais y apportent souvent des explications historiques, culturelles et nuancent le propos en présentant des Graysonniens « modérés » qui ont un discours réfléchi, etc… C’est notamment une grande discussion entre Courvosier et Yanakov qui va commencer à apporter une réflexion un peu plus profonde sur le sujet.

Mais on est pas non plus là pour bavasser pendant 560 pages ! Et de l’action on va y avoir droit ! De ce point de vue là, j’ai trouvé que ce deuxième opus était bien plus équilibré que le précédent qui avait gardé sa grande bataille pour la toute fin. Ici, le rythme est mieux maîtrisé grâce à une meilleure répartition de l’action au milieu du reste. On retrouve des grandes batailles navales spatiales à plusieurs moments-clé, avec le même sens du détail associé à une progression dramatique vraiment bien gérée. C’est complexe, clair, et prenant à la fois. Mais deux des scènes les plus marquantes se passent loin des tableaux de contrôle et des postes de pilotage. Ceux qui ont lu le roman reconnaitront sûrement de quoi je parle mais j’ai pas envie de les spoiler du tout. Weber arrive à faire exploser la personnalité de son héroïne dans à peu près tous les sens du terme dans quelques scènes puissantes, débordantes de rage, de violence et de drame. Ça vous retourne un peu quand même.

Autour d’Honor on a une galerie de personnages secondaires vraiment intéressants. Outre les quelques-uns qu’on connait déjà, l’auteur s’amuse à multiplier les points de vue de narration pour nous faire comprendre toutes les perspectives. Si ça a tendance à perdre un peu le lecteur parfois, ça a surtout l’avantage de nous faire voir tous les aspects du conflit et de nous faire ressentir de l’empathie pour presque tous les camps, à part pour Masada parce que là ça serait vraiment trop compliqué. Sauf si vous êtes un psychopathe fanatique mais je peux rien pour vous.

Pour l’honneur de la reine est une réussite qui arrive à surpasser le premier tome de la saga Honor Harrington, grâce à un meilleur équilibre entre tous ses aspects et surtout une puissance dramatique multipliée. Parfait mélange de rigueur science-fictionnesque, de personnages forts et d’intrigue parfaitement calibrée, David Weber va finir par me réconcilier avec la SF, et c’était pas gagné.

http://ours-inculte.fr/honor-harringt...2 s Malapata646 58

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