The Honor of the Queen (Honor Harrington #2)

The Honor of the Queen by David Weber is the second book in his Honor Harrington series - Honor is a spaceship captain in the Manitcore Navy far in the future - after humans spread through the stars.

Generations ago a group of people left Old Earth in search of a planet free of the slavery of technology. They left to go back to an older way of life - a way based on the Bible. After founding a planet, a schism formed among the people  - between those who wanted strict adherence to the word of God in all thing and the more moderate.

Now there are neighboring worlds filled by the progeny of the followers of Austin Grayson. The planets Grayon and Masada. And the worlds are located in space between the two superpowers in the galaxy - two superpowers who are edging toward war. Each side - Manticore and Haven - sees the benefit of becoming allies with (and possibly constructing forward bases on) Masada or Grayson.

Captain Honor Harrington is in charge of a fleet of Manticore ships headed toward Grayson on a diplomatic mission. While she is a fine captain and tactician, she is an odd choice. For the Graysons do not believe women to have the capacity to be in any role other than wife. Women have no rights on Grayson and are protected by their husbands. Their delegates will be in for a shock. (And Grayson is the more liberal of the two planets.)

Meanwhile, the People's Republic of Haven has moved a couple of high tech war ships into orbit to aid Masada in their plot to take Grayson  - following God wishes.

Weber has created a fascinating military science fiction series with a great character at the head. Honor Harrington is the best we can hope to evolve into as a species. The politics and religion makes for interesting reading, partly due to current trends in our own society. Reader's will want Honor in charge if they ever have to face a threat in the galaxy.

Weber, David. (1993). The Honor of the Queen. New York: Baen.

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington #1)

On Basilisk Station by David Weber is the first book in the Honor Harrington series -  a military science fiction series featuring a tough ship's captain in the Manticore navy.

Honor has been given a new ship with her promotion. While she is getting used to her crew - and they to her - they will participate in war games to check the readiness of the fleet. Honor's ship, the HMS Fearless, has been retrofitted with the latest weapon (at the cost of many other useful weapons).

After the first round of games, when she and her crew surprised the enemy and won, the Fearless has been blasted every time. In response, the higher up who had the weapon installed, has assigned Honor and her new crew to the least desirable post in Manticoran space - Basilisk Station.

Basilisk Station is one of the newer parts of Manitcoran space. Manticore is against colonization - even though Basilisk is a valuable portal that saves months of travel time there is political opposition to being there. The post has many detailed rules about what is to be supervised, but historically not much has been done.

When Honor arrives, she finds out that the commander in charge of the station is her least favorite person in all of space. And he has a grudge against her. In order to set her up for failure, he puts her in charge while he takes his ship home for repairs. But anyone who knows Honor knows she will find a way to complete her assignment.

Weber has created a great science fiction series peopled with humans who have evolved with the colonization of different planets. This is a brilliant start to a political, military science fiction series. (Since it is not new you may have trouble finding it in your library. You can buy used copies at www.abebooks.com)

Weber, David. (1993). On Basilisk Station. New York: Baen Books.