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A review by dorinlazar
On Basilisk Station by David Weber
4.0
I sort of knew the broad strokes of this book from [b:Tales of Honor Volume 1: On Basilisk Station|22358445|Tales of Honor Volume 1 On Basilisk Station|Matt Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420900846s/22358445.jpg|42441617] - "unexpectedly", the action is pretty much the same. A young Honor Harrington is named at the helm of HMS Fearless, and sent into a backwater post with minimal resources. What follows is pretty much competence porn - she manages to actually discharge of her duties honorably, while solving multiple issues at the same time, including a revolt on the native planet, fomented by a rival kingdom.
It has the faults of the space-opera genre - it tries at times to info-dump, it tries to introduce its own measurement units, it tries to explain some essentials like how sailing over multiple light-years happens, but what I liked about this one is that those pages can easily be skipped. And what I really liked about this book is how it can portray competent women doing their job while not screaming ZOMG COMPETENT WOMAN!!!11! - and having some asshole women characters helps as well. At least this book is well balanced in this concern.
If you don't like militaristic space operas, keep away. It is militaristic, and it is space-shippy. Weber manages to keep it light, he also manages to add a political sub-plot that is really believable and actually makes sense, which is amazing for the genre. I enjoyed it.
It has the faults of the space-opera genre - it tries at times to info-dump, it tries to introduce its own measurement units, it tries to explain some essentials like how sailing over multiple light-years happens, but what I liked about this one is that those pages can easily be skipped. And what I really liked about this book is how it can portray competent women doing their job while not screaming ZOMG COMPETENT WOMAN!!!11! - and having some asshole women characters helps as well. At least this book is well balanced in this concern.
If you don't like militaristic space operas, keep away. It is militaristic, and it is space-shippy. Weber manages to keep it light, he also manages to add a political sub-plot that is really believable and actually makes sense, which is amazing for the genre. I enjoyed it.