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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Really great plot and interesting characters. Would've liked more character development, but as this is the first in a rather long series, perhaps it's just the foundation (can't wait to find out!).
“On Basilisk Station” by David Weber is the first book in the Honor Harrington series. This series is in the military science-fiction genre, although it does probably fit the space opera mould as well. I have to admit that I only actually read the book because it was being given away for free on Amazon and the series as a whole did seem to be reasonably well respected.
The story follows Honor Harrington who has recently been made captain of the spaceship HMS Fearless, a light cruiser in the Manticoran Navy. Honor faces some resentment issues with her crew however which is only exacerbated when a new weapons policy from the admiralty doesn’t work consistently and they are “punished” for this failure by sending them to Basilisk Station, a well-known dead end assignment. However with a threat to Manticore looming in the form of the People’s Republic of Haven, Basilisk Station could be much more important than anyone could ever have imagined.
This was an enjoyable space adventure with an interesting and engaging plot which takes the reader on a bit of a thrill ride. In addition, the lack of any gender bias was quite impressive to see, it really didn’t matter if someone was female or male in this world as there was no difference between them when it came to their role, be that military or civilian. The world in which Weber has created is superbly detailed, with corrupt officers, interest laden politicians, and incompetent leaders aplenty. He has clearly thought through all the various political situations and technologies which would be utilised in this far off future.
Honor Harrington herself is an interesting enough character and I do like how Weber has created a female lead but has avoided sexualising her or bogging her done in a romantic sub-plot. Instead, we get a ship captain, who is resourceful, determined, well skilled in tactics and just so happens to be female. However, she is a little bit too perfect for my liking. The way in which she seems to succeed at everything and has pretty much no character flaws resulted in my eyes rolling a few times throughout the novel. It doesn’t help that everyone seems to fawn over her and the characters who quite clearly dislike her are also quite clearly “bad” people.
The main issue with the novel however is in regards to the various info dumps that Weber likes to drop. He just seems to enjoy dropping lots of technical information on the reader and this resulted in me skimming over multiple pages of missile ranges and physics explanations. It basically got a little bit dry and boring at times to the point were in sections it felt like a text book. I would much rather have seen this information dropped on the reader in slower time via the characters themselves. It doesn’t help that some of the pacing in the battle sections which should be the most exciting part of the novel is affected by these info dumps.
A final comment of mine is in regards to the treecats, an aboriginal lifeform who come from Sphinx, one of the planets of the Manticore system. Basically, Honor has one with her called “Nimitz” who seems to be some form of companion. I really do have no idea what the point in this creature was though. Honestly, it just felt like it was just some way to differentiate Honor from everyone else.
Overall, despite my issues with the tendency to info dump and the fact that Honor is a bit too perfect; the book was still an enjoyable experience. If you are looking for some fun military based Space Opera then you should probably consider picking up this book, especially as I think you can still get it for free from the publisher.
The story follows Honor Harrington who has recently been made captain of the spaceship HMS Fearless, a light cruiser in the Manticoran Navy. Honor faces some resentment issues with her crew however which is only exacerbated when a new weapons policy from the admiralty doesn’t work consistently and they are “punished” for this failure by sending them to Basilisk Station, a well-known dead end assignment. However with a threat to Manticore looming in the form of the People’s Republic of Haven, Basilisk Station could be much more important than anyone could ever have imagined.
This was an enjoyable space adventure with an interesting and engaging plot which takes the reader on a bit of a thrill ride. In addition, the lack of any gender bias was quite impressive to see, it really didn’t matter if someone was female or male in this world as there was no difference between them when it came to their role, be that military or civilian. The world in which Weber has created is superbly detailed, with corrupt officers, interest laden politicians, and incompetent leaders aplenty. He has clearly thought through all the various political situations and technologies which would be utilised in this far off future.
Honor Harrington herself is an interesting enough character and I do like how Weber has created a female lead but has avoided sexualising her or bogging her done in a romantic sub-plot. Instead, we get a ship captain, who is resourceful, determined, well skilled in tactics and just so happens to be female. However, she is a little bit too perfect for my liking. The way in which she seems to succeed at everything and has pretty much no character flaws resulted in my eyes rolling a few times throughout the novel. It doesn’t help that everyone seems to fawn over her and the characters who quite clearly dislike her are also quite clearly “bad” people.
The main issue with the novel however is in regards to the various info dumps that Weber likes to drop. He just seems to enjoy dropping lots of technical information on the reader and this resulted in me skimming over multiple pages of missile ranges and physics explanations. It basically got a little bit dry and boring at times to the point were in sections it felt like a text book. I would much rather have seen this information dropped on the reader in slower time via the characters themselves. It doesn’t help that some of the pacing in the battle sections which should be the most exciting part of the novel is affected by these info dumps.
A final comment of mine is in regards to the treecats, an aboriginal lifeform who come from Sphinx, one of the planets of the Manticore system. Basically, Honor has one with her called “Nimitz” who seems to be some form of companion. I really do have no idea what the point in this creature was though. Honestly, it just felt like it was just some way to differentiate Honor from everyone else.
Overall, despite my issues with the tendency to info dump and the fact that Honor is a bit too perfect; the book was still an enjoyable experience. If you are looking for some fun military based Space Opera then you should probably consider picking up this book, especially as I think you can still get it for free from the publisher.
A very promising start, but this book is REALLY, REALLY heavy on exposition. Fortunately it's explaining an interesting world with good characters, but I found my attention wandering none the less.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Solid military sci-fi, but a bit of a dry read overall. I see a lot of people comparing this to Tom Clancy in space, and it does remind me a lot of his early work (Red Storm Rising) in that there are way too many characters introduced, to the point where it's difficult to remember who I'm supposed to be caring about once the action starts and people start dying. It's nice to see a female lead in a military series, although she's kind of a blank slate here. She's a bit too good at everything, and doesn't show a ton of personality, but hopefully that gets developed over the course of the fourteen (!) volumes in this series. The world building is interesting, showing that this far future humanity is just as corrupt and terrible as our current version (realistic), and Weber has put a lot of time and thought into making some credible technology for the spaceships (from my non-physicist viewpoint). The space battle scenes are very intense, and provide a welcome payoff for the drier parts of the book. As mentioned, there are a TON of side characters, so none of them have time to really be developed much. This book is definitely more about the plot. Although I'm not sure I'll make it through the entire run of the series, I'll check out the next one to see how things develop.
Honestly, I didn't get a great sense of what most of the crew was like. He focuses on about five to seven secondary characters to go into detail about. The rest are names and titles.
That didn't really detract me from enjoying the overall story, though. Just a fact I thought should be acknowledged.
I wanted a military/sci-fi story and I got a Naval/Sci-Fi story. I think most of the others I've read have been more Marines or Army in tone. So the naval battles were new for me. I dug them well enough.
I'm a big fan of the plot. I like the set-up and the execution.
That didn't really detract me from enjoying the overall story, though. Just a fact I thought should be acknowledged.
I wanted a military/sci-fi story and I got a Naval/Sci-Fi story. I think most of the others I've read have been more Marines or Army in tone. So the naval battles were new for me. I dug them well enough.
I'm a big fan of the plot. I like the set-up and the execution.
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is not my kind of book, but it was pretty well done.
The beginning quarter of the book is rather empty and doesn't give you enough purpose to nail down who people are and why they matter. I know I'm supposed to like the main character and her cat, but I don't. I want her to be a strong, independent heroine, but instead I feel the author fell back on a few stereotypical tropes of concerns about personal appearance and the hidden feelings of incompetence. And the cat is just for color, he doesn't affect the story.
Once the crew of the Fearless get underway and arrive at Basilisk Station, a nice steady military science fiction story arrives. The main character becomes the heroine we want, and we get to see her work with her crew to unravel a mystery, be clever, be heroic, and rise above impossible odds. Lots of back room discussions and arguments in husky voices. Good times.
The author tries very hard to firmly establish the cast and crew of the story. I appreciate the effort, and I enjoyed picturing the harried wise woman running the outpost on the remote planet, the scarred, gruff petty officer, the first mate who must overcome his bitterness at being passed over, etc... but at the end of the story I still often couldn't quite remember the second-rank characters. I could identify the captain, first mate, etc... but there's a string of others that I simply couldn't identify, which weakened the action and the impact of what happened.
The other things readers might take issue with in this book are just things about Military SF that you either love or hate. "Our team" morality, comfort with the death of one's enemies as a righteous good, splashes of gore in the midst of battle, cartoonish villains, long descriptions of battle technologies and battle maneuvers. Oh, and the dramatic head hopping, as we shift into the enemy ship and hear his thoughts as he faces the "die-hard" heroine. I actually really enjoy 3 out of 6 of those things, so I finished the book! Can you guess which 3? (long descriptions, head hopping, and the occasional cartoonish villain)
The book also has Military Science Fiction's usual conservative political bias-- but it's not too heavy. Pro-military, obviously; belief in the necessity of military action and the slaughter of your enemy; occasional derisive comments about "dole-sits"; derisive comments about the "Liberals" who won't let the wise military set up a real military presence on the planet filled with savages... it's all pretty subtle, but it's there. However, I think it's important that liberals read books like this. The book makes arguments and depicts viewpoints that I would not otherwise encounter.
The beginning quarter of the book is rather empty and doesn't give you enough purpose to nail down who people are and why they matter. I know I'm supposed to like the main character and her cat, but I don't. I want her to be a strong, independent heroine, but instead I feel the author fell back on a few stereotypical tropes of concerns about personal appearance and the hidden feelings of incompetence. And the cat is just for color, he doesn't affect the story.
Once the crew of the Fearless get underway and arrive at Basilisk Station, a nice steady military science fiction story arrives. The main character becomes the heroine we want, and we get to see her work with her crew to unravel a mystery, be clever, be heroic, and rise above impossible odds. Lots of back room discussions and arguments in husky voices. Good times.
The author tries very hard to firmly establish the cast and crew of the story. I appreciate the effort, and I enjoyed picturing the harried wise woman running the outpost on the remote planet, the scarred, gruff petty officer, the first mate who must overcome his bitterness at being passed over, etc... but at the end of the story I still often couldn't quite remember the second-rank characters. I could identify the captain, first mate, etc... but there's a string of others that I simply couldn't identify, which weakened the action and the impact of what happened.
The other things readers might take issue with in this book are just things about Military SF that you either love or hate. "Our team" morality, comfort with the death of one's enemies as a righteous good, splashes of gore in the midst of battle, cartoonish villains, long descriptions of battle technologies and battle maneuvers. Oh, and the dramatic head hopping, as we shift into the enemy ship and hear his thoughts as he faces the "die-hard" heroine. I actually really enjoy 3 out of 6 of those things, so I finished the book! Can you guess which 3? (long descriptions, head hopping, and the occasional cartoonish villain)
The book also has Military Science Fiction's usual conservative political bias-- but it's not too heavy. Pro-military, obviously; belief in the necessity of military action and the slaughter of your enemy; occasional derisive comments about "dole-sits"; derisive comments about the "Liberals" who won't let the wise military set up a real military presence on the planet filled with savages... it's all pretty subtle, but it's there. However, I think it's important that liberals read books like this. The book makes arguments and depicts viewpoints that I would not otherwise encounter.
Yawn... How can this have a rating of >4 stars. The writing is so slow, the action is so slow and the characters are bland, personality lacking cardboard cutouts. I was excited to get into such a large multi-book series. However, after finishing the book and feeling very underwhelmed, I found a lot of other 1-2 star reviews from other experienced military scifi readers like me. I find myself joining the boat.
A message to those who gave 4-5 star reviews. I have the pleasure to tell you that if you think this series is great, you will be totally blown away when you explore the vast array of good military scifi.
A message to those who gave 4-5 star reviews. I have the pleasure to tell you that if you think this series is great, you will be totally blown away when you explore the vast array of good military scifi.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes