The Honor of the Queen

This was a difficult book to read in some ways as it has themes of religious intolerance. I know the worst of it comes from the “bad guys,” but it was difficult to read some of the male characters’ hatred of a woman who doesn’t conform to what they expect: staying secluded and serving the husband. The aftermath of rape was also hard to read.

That written, there is much to admire in the book. Honor Harrington is more than competent, the good guys can learn, and it is a cracking good military SF story. I think the parts that got to me got to me because it is so well-written. I cared about the characters and I wanted the good guys to win.

This needs to be read in series order, after On Basilisk Station. If you liked that book, go ahead and get this one. Military science fiction fans, if you don’t have this series, you should!

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Somehow Flag in Exile has become linked to The Honor of the Queen. Above is a review of that book. This is for Flag in Exile.

This book spoke to me, somewhere deep. I fell in love with the Graysons, at least the ones on the side of good. I think the theme for the Graysons is this quotation: Nor do we always remember how limited our perceptions are compared to His, and that He, unlike us, sees to the hearts of all people and knows His own, however strange and different they may appear to us.

I also felt that Honor was far more human in this book. I got to see her emotions and her drive make her be the best Steadholder she could be. Her caring for all the people under her command, be it civilian or military shines through.

I will issue a tissue warning. To say more would be a spoiler. I did have a gut-felt moment of exultation when Honor dealt justice in the Protector’s name.

If you like military science fiction or just well-written, page-turning science fiction with a dose of political machinations, then this book is for you. I would strongly suggest starting at the beginning of the series.

This can only be a discussion rather than a review, because I’ve read this book far too many times to “review” it. Weber’s Harrington is just beginning her naval career, fresh from her triumph “On Basilisk Station.” She’s about to meet the intransigently paternal, religious societies of Grayson and Masada, where Honor must serve with, and command, men who are ill-prepared to cope with strong, capable women.

Contrasting forces and philosophies abound in this novel: diplomacy vs. military action; strong religious beliefs vs. religious fanaticism; even environmental technology vs. Luddite anti-techs.

Diplomacy
Honor commands a task group in support of a diplomatic mission headed by once-Admiral Raoul Courvosier, whose mission is to bring Grayson into alliance with the Kingdom of Manticore. (At this point in Weber’s Honorverse, although Manticore has a protectorate in the Basilisk system, it is still a single-system kingdom.) Honor can whole-heartedly support Courvosier, despite her suspicion that diplomacy is a sneaky way to achieve something, because she respects his tactical experience: “War may represent the failure of diplomacy, but even the best diplomats operate on credit. Sooner or later someone who’s less reasonable than you are is going to call you, and if your military can’t cover your I.O.U.s, you lose.”

Others in the diplomatic mission are not as respectable; in fact, one of Honor’s long-running enmities is about to develop as she deals with a nit-wit diplomat who seems to believe his touchy-feely assumptions about the Grayson-Masada conflict ought to be considered. In the character of Reginald Houseman, Weber was ahead of his times, writing about “snowflakes” before the type was recognized.

Religion
I often think of the opposed religious groups portrayed in this novel when see entire religions tainted by the perfervid actions of a tiny minority within them. Grayson’s society may have a religion at its base, but it is also a balanced, constitutional polity. When we and Honor first encounter Grayson, women are treated more as near-adult children: they are to be protected, guided, and treasured. In contrast, Masada’s women are chattel.

Many reviewers have cited the black-and-white nature of Weber’s characters. Good guys are all good, bad guys are not just opposed, they are evil. So here in this novel, the Graysons are revealed as capable of learning to respect Honor and, by extension, others in the Manticoran navy who are, or are commanded by, women. “If Captain Harrington is as outstanding an officer as you believeas I believeshe invalidates all our concepts of womanhood. She means we’re wrong, that our religion is wrong. She means we’ve spent nine centuries being wrong.”

Technology
Weber sets up the story of Grayson and Masada with a pair of ironies. First, Grayson was settled directly from Earth as a religious colony, pro-environment, anti-technology “true believers.” Arriving at Yeltsin’s Star, they find a lovely, blue-green worldthat is poison to human life. They do not discover this fault until they havealready, literally, burned their boats. A second world in the Yeltsin system, Masada, with its less-welcoming climate, is now out of their reach.

The colonists spend generations battling their environment, gradually re-acquiring space flight, and needing the technology they had rejected back on Earth simply to survive. After a schism divides them into the few, fanatic “Faithful” and the larger original colony with their adapted belief in appropriate technology, Grayson decides to use their limited space flight to move the Faithful to Masada.

The Faithful on Masada could now re-abandon technology and revert to the original belief system. But they do not, because now they are focused on reclaiming the original world of the colony and substituting their belief for that of Grayson, whom they call “The Apostate.”

I find the technology and religion themes comforting to re-read, especially as I am aware of how they will play out again in later novels in the series. With so many similar conflicts in today’s news, I reflect, with David Weber, on the need for open discussion: “There are two sides to every dialogue, but if you accept the other side’s terms without demanding equal time for your own, then they control the debate and its outcome.”

Technobabble’s fine. I like it. It makes me feel like I’m reading scifi instead of space fantasy, and I actually do try to understand it. Which does not change the fact that Weber is a bit of a geek and cares more about geeking out than he does about his readers.

I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again. Weber’s in love with his main character. That’s fine. But maybe coddle her a bit less; make the good guys a little less inclined to fall at her feet; give her some actual emotional challenges (And no, her love life, as addressed in latter books, does not count)

Perhaps Weber could fall a bit in love with his other characters as well? Stereotypes, the lot of ’em. His alien race of treecats is flatter than a sheet of cardboard. They’re a bit like the ranger’s familiar in a game of D&D. We meet the main character. We meet her new decoration. Cool, we say. We never hear from it again.

The action was probably exciting, if you like that sort of thing. I don’t. My favorite part of the book was the Harrington-crew interactions. Those were pretty clever, a lot of the time (which did not change the fact that her entire crew was composed of stereotypes.)

The search for reasons why I read Weber’s books continues.

Webers Honourverse ought to be read in order. This is No2 after ‘On Basilisk Station’ and before ‘Short Victorious war’

Epic geo-politics, human subterfuge, politics, space warfare, economics. Always a clear steady build up and deep world building to give us a firm grasp on underlying causes and motives. Some critisise the pacing of this style; I find it more real than ligher space opera stuff: MUCH more real. It makes you really understand the tech; the space-geometry of combat is real in a way very few others even attempt. This makes combat very clear and understandable: The fear is more tangible and credible when missiles start to fly thanks to that level of detail. And the courage is obvious and makes it real.

There is a large number of richly drawn characters to whom to set many very engaging challenges and complex interactions. This is not space opera in any trivial or light sense, it is science-fiction in some of its highest forms. A lot is at stake and you really and clearly understand exactly how much. You can taste he honor in taking the hard choices.

The Honor verse is up to 19 volumes, all gripping, not including the Torch sideline and various anthologies. The Treecat trilogy might be for you in the same universe, if you like a smaller collection or slightly lighter read (some might say better suited to teens or YA; no high intensity warfare anyway). The treecat books are also very nicely detailed and of similar quality.

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

I’ve heard so much about this series for years and have meant to pick it up for ages. It really is excellent military space opera – terrific for a fan of Tom Clancy or Hornblower, but who fancies a bit of lasers and spaceships to add flavour.

Having blasted through the first book, I was thrilled to find the second on special offer on Kindle, and I snatched it up. It’s a really terrific second step that expands on the arching theme whilst tackling some really challenging issues relevant to our modern world. Although the ending is a little pat (“all things can be resolved if only reasonable people talk reasonably”), the danger and threat of the military space conflict is intense and compelling and although Honor’s life is clearly not at risk (she’s the hero, after all), Weber’s unflinching style puts everything else – including her mental, emotional and physical well-being – on the block.

Not a book for the faint-hearted, but fantastic space opera.

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