Poor Honor.

Enjoyable when the action gets started, but the pages of how depressed Honor is and then everyone saying how great she is, really wears me out.


Not to mention the first 40 pages are somewhat repeatitive in terms of infromation.

Yet, when the plot gets going, it's intersting. I just wish Honor wasn't so blasted perfect.

I just like all this series so far. I like the style of th books, with a slow pace at the beginning that suddenly turns over into a faster cross-cutting style between scenes and points of view.
This was a very political book, and I really enjoyed the twists and how they were dealt with. I don't think I'll ever tire of Honor Harrington...

Hounded from Manticore in the wake of Field of Dishonor, Honor has landed on Grayson, to grieve, heal, and take up her new responsibilities as Steadholder Harrington. But not all is well on Grayson, and Protector Benjamin's reforms have provoked a powerful conservative reaction. Honor is the target of a massive conspiracy to set Grayson back to the bad old days, and of course the Peeps are up to their usual military tricks.

There are moments in this book that really work-everything from the assassination attempt against Honor to the confrontation in the Chamber of Keys is really compelling and dramatic. That aside, this is where the cracks in the series show. One common complaint is that Honor is infallible, and this would've been a perfect place for her to stumble a little. Sure, Honor is a very good starship commander and martial artist, and she wins her pistol duels, but she's operating entirely out of her element. She could've failed to delegate effectively when promoted from battlecruiser captain to superdreadnought admiral, or screwed up civilian administration somehow, or just have more cultural problems. But no, Honor is perfect and so is almost everything in her life, and she has to win her victories by unimaginable margins.

The other problem is that while Weber is a decent wordsmith and knows how to steal from history, he's a lousy sociologist, and the more we see of Grayson the less it holds together. I just don't buy the balance between the Steadholders, the Protector, and the Church, or the way that Graysons seem so ordinary and American, when in fact they're a monolith religious nation practicing polygamy and radical gender inequality living on a planet that's basically a toxic waste dump.

In my headcanon, this is where the Honorverse ends. Sure, there's more story to tell (and books to sell), but her personal arc has reached its limit. Weber might agree, since the later books get bloated with secondary viewpoint characters, digressions on treecats, and all kinds of nonsense.

Second or third time through this series, it's always a ton of fun. Great to see Honor going back to Grayson and getting new opportunities in this one etc.

This series has always had it's faults, but to me it's getting to a point where the bad outweighs the good. My biggest complaint is the amount of time devoted to the backstories and viewpoints of minor, mostly irrelevant characters. It really bogs down the narrative and ruins the pace. A good editor could solve this problem pretty easily because so much of it really is superfluous information. (Plus it gets melodramatic very quickly.) Another big problem lies in the character of Honor. The first book was so good in part because she was such an underdog. You rooted for her and were even a little surprised that she was able to pull it of. By book five you just have to accept that there is nothing she can't do, there is no one who is better than her at anything, and that despite all of the evidence that she is without fault she will have an "aww shucks" attitude about it and will never believe that she is superhuman. Also, don't get me started on that cat. Anyway, sorry to say I think this is where I get off the train. Bummer.

We discuss this series further in a special Sci-Fi episode of the All the Books Show.
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-201-sci-fi-books

A wonderful addition to the series with a ethical debate which could be mapped on to any number of debates going on today.

Honor just can't catch a break...

This novel remains up to the high standards set by the other Honor Harrington novels. In this one you meet a beaten and bruised Honor Harrington. But Grayson needs her and she ends up in a high position in their Navy. This novel helps you learn about the character of Grayson even more and I found myself admiring them more and more. Also, they play baseball on Grayson but it does not play a part in this novel. There is quite a bit of Grayson politics which were interesting. But the Havenites do raise their ugly heads so you get a nice dose of Naval action.

A nice thing is that Grayson has kept the Navy Hymn, which I have heard sung on behalf of pilots and astronauts also.

This is the fifth book in the Honor Harrington series. If you are not familiar with the series, I suggest you listen to Luke Burrage's review of the first book in the series (http://www.sfbrp.com/archives/403). Everything he says about the character is true, and yet I continue to read and enjoy the series of my own free will.

In this book Honor finds herself on the planet Grayson, after being put on half-pay by the navy and sent away due to a politically embarrassing episode from the last book. Every Honor Harrington book needs space battles so Honor ends up being loaned to Grayson's new space navy. Grayson is a backwater world founded by Christian conservatives who are struggling with modernizing their society without compromising their values. A plot is hatched, Honor blows up some starships, and everybody is a little too good at their jobs.

I liked that this book explored the religion of the Honor Harrington universe. There was enough action to keep the story going. These are fun reads for people who dream of joining the space navy.