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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Some interesting sci-fi, though not described in enough detail to give much plausibility. For example, the existence of hyperspace that is created by folding of the spacetime continuum by vast gravity waves in higher dimensions, and the existence of gravity "sails" that allow spaceships to pull themselves through to different points in 3-space.
The second half of this book is where it gets interesting, and I might have been tempted to give it a fourth star, but the conclusion tied everything up much too neatly. You would hardly believe this is the first book in a series given how thoroughly every loose end was tied up. Everything was too pat and too positive for my taste, it was definitely a Disney-style ending.
The second half of this book is where it gets interesting, and I might have been tempted to give it a fourth star, but the conclusion tied everything up much too neatly. You would hardly believe this is the first book in a series given how thoroughly every loose end was tied up. Everything was too pat and too positive for my taste, it was definitely a Disney-style ending.
At first,
It seems the author spent a lot of time thinking about all the details, which is great except im feeling overwhelmed by it all in the first chapters.
Also, so much technical and militaristic jargon and codes ...
The main character seems likable although that cat on shoulders is weird :)
But as the story was picking up pace, the action and suspense was building and the interest picked until the end, ravaging and full blown militaristic sci-fi.
I still think Weber spends a lot of time detailing so much of this universe that im wishing he can move on to the story but it does show how much commitment he put on the characters, the story, the universe.
Im glad to have read this great space opera and ill be looking out for the next chapters...
It seems the author spent a lot of time thinking about all the details, which is great except im feeling overwhelmed by it all in the first chapters.
Also, so much technical and militaristic jargon and codes ...
The main character seems likable although that cat on shoulders is weird :)
But as the story was picking up pace, the action and suspense was building and the interest picked until the end, ravaging and full blown militaristic sci-fi.
I still think Weber spends a lot of time detailing so much of this universe that im wishing he can move on to the story but it does show how much commitment he put on the characters, the story, the universe.
Im glad to have read this great space opera and ill be looking out for the next chapters...
This was my first time reading David Weber and was a little underwhelmed. This is not a knock on his writing, but his attention to his minute attention to the smallest detail. I have read Tom Clancy in the past so know how an author can get lost in detail and inner monologue. By the end of the book, I was hooked on the action that comes towards the end of the book.
I am going to go for the next book in the series to determine if I continue going forwards with this series. Overall this book let me down, but by the end gave me some hope for the series.
I am going to go for the next book in the series to determine if I continue going forwards with this series. Overall this book let me down, but by the end gave me some hope for the series.
challenging
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
In the early 2000s, there was a fun thing to do called Play by Post Roleplay (PbP RP). Imagine DnD without dice or a GM being played out by semiliterate nerdlings on forums, each thread rife with powerplaying and, despite the kind of collective pre-play optimism that only proverbial lemmings can muster, doomed to come to a trickling, stuttering end with no conclusion. It was fantastic.
In the very early days, as these things tend to go, it was silly, innocent fun. Nobody was trying to impress anyone. Soon, though, some RPers got - and I use this term loosely - standards. Some actually thought they were writing good stuff. Like to a publishable level. I know that because I was one of these delusional souls. We called ourselves "advanced", and set about writing several paragraphs - three being a standard minimum, I'd say - and I want to really emphasise this: per post. I'm not saying that was a lot of writing, because it really wasn't for the most part. It was, however, too much writing.
Think about it. We were all writing one character apiece, from a very tight third person perspective, and were always responding directly to what the last character had done and said, which was usually not much, because that's how conversations work. So, what were we writing about? What could possibly have filled all those paragraphs to support a character shrugging and uttering a single line?
To learn the answer to that question, read this book.
I didn't have this impression of On Basilisk Station to begin with. Sure, it started out pretty infodumpy, but many books do that. I don't like it, personally, but whatever. It's when I passed the 10% mark that I realised things weren't going to change. Things were happening, sort of, but those things were sparsely scattered in a sea of barely useful and profoundly uninteresting information. It was exactly the same action-to-padding ratio of the old RP days.
I realised sometime in my late teens that this style of writing was bad. I adjusted accordingly. I started to stick out like a kind of maverick sore thumb in my RP communities, and worse, I started to get very annoyed by some of the odd consistencies in my companions' writing. For instance, one thing that bothered me was the way someone would write a whole bunch of information disconnected from the action - some backstory, for instance - and then, somehow, have their character react to that information as if this was an actual train of thought that the character had followed in the moment. To take a step back and picture the scene in real time would be to see a character go into a half-coma every time someone spoke to them, then scowl or laugh or something unrelated to what was happening around them, then finally respond. Over and over. In this scenario, everyone looks insane. In this book, this scenario happens over and over.
Anyway. I quit RPing in favour of actual writing. I miss those halcyon days when nobody knew any better, but they're long gone. At least, they are for me. I probably would have loved On Basilisk Station back in the early-to-mid 2000s, but unfortunately, growth comes at a price.
In the very early days, as these things tend to go, it was silly, innocent fun. Nobody was trying to impress anyone. Soon, though, some RPers got - and I use this term loosely - standards. Some actually thought they were writing good stuff. Like to a publishable level. I know that because I was one of these delusional souls. We called ourselves "advanced", and set about writing several paragraphs - three being a standard minimum, I'd say - and I want to really emphasise this: per post. I'm not saying that was a lot of writing, because it really wasn't for the most part. It was, however, too much writing.
Think about it. We were all writing one character apiece, from a very tight third person perspective, and were always responding directly to what the last character had done and said, which was usually not much, because that's how conversations work. So, what were we writing about? What could possibly have filled all those paragraphs to support a character shrugging and uttering a single line?
To learn the answer to that question, read this book.
I didn't have this impression of On Basilisk Station to begin with. Sure, it started out pretty infodumpy, but many books do that. I don't like it, personally, but whatever. It's when I passed the 10% mark that I realised things weren't going to change. Things were happening, sort of, but those things were sparsely scattered in a sea of barely useful and profoundly uninteresting information. It was exactly the same action-to-padding ratio of the old RP days.
I realised sometime in my late teens that this style of writing was bad. I adjusted accordingly. I started to stick out like a kind of maverick sore thumb in my RP communities, and worse, I started to get very annoyed by some of the odd consistencies in my companions' writing. For instance, one thing that bothered me was the way someone would write a whole bunch of information disconnected from the action - some backstory, for instance - and then, somehow, have their character react to that information as if this was an actual train of thought that the character had followed in the moment. To take a step back and picture the scene in real time would be to see a character go into a half-coma every time someone spoke to them, then scowl or laugh or something unrelated to what was happening around them, then finally respond. Over and over. In this scenario, everyone looks insane. In this book, this scenario happens over and over.
Anyway. I quit RPing in favour of actual writing. I miss those halcyon days when nobody knew any better, but they're long gone. At least, they are for me. I probably would have loved On Basilisk Station back in the early-to-mid 2000s, but unfortunately, growth comes at a price.
Good but for the info dump smack in the middle of the exciting finish. Some random POV shifts too.
Don't read this, read Vatta's War series. It does everything this does but better and is well written with actual characters
This books deeply flawed in many ways. But a very enjoyable at times, very annoying and unreadable at others, and generally poorly written (although it's military sci-fi that's pretty par for the course). Essentially something akin to Hornblower iiiiinnnnn ssspppaaaascccceeeee.
And despite what I'm about to say it is a fun read although that gets totally weighed down by the bad bits. And starting the second book of the series where all this gets somehow worse made me go it's not worth it and find something else in a similar vein.
The big issues are the absurd Mary Sue of Honor Harrington. And the fact it was written by an obvious right wing moron who probably has had more intelligent progressive people arguing ring around him and has so had to set up an entire universe where he can be right and do that he has to make everyone else beyond stupid to make them wrong or even just get to the fundamentally unbelievable set up of the book.
The characters in the book are basically split into people who like Honor Harrington and who are good and right and work hard. And people who don't like Honor Harrington who are some combination of terminally stupid, arrogant, naive, corrupt, lazy, psychotic etc. There's one character who is good and who doesn't like Honor and it's basically his entire plot arc in the book.
I could forgive some of these flaws if I only read this novel and they improved in the seond but I started the second and they've got worse.
This books deeply flawed in many ways. But a very enjoyable at times, very annoying and unreadable at others, and generally poorly written (although it's military sci-fi that's pretty par for the course). Essentially something akin to Hornblower iiiiinnnnn ssspppaaaascccceeeee.
And despite what I'm about to say it is a fun read although that gets totally weighed down by the bad bits. And starting the second book of the series where all this gets somehow worse made me go it's not worth it and find something else in a similar vein.
The big issues are the absurd Mary Sue of Honor Harrington. And the fact it was written by an obvious right wing moron who probably has had more intelligent progressive people arguing ring around him and has so had to set up an entire universe where he can be right and do that he has to make everyone else beyond stupid to make them wrong or even just get to the fundamentally unbelievable set up of the book.
The characters in the book are basically split into people who like Honor Harrington and who are good and right and work hard. And people who don't like Honor Harrington who are some combination of terminally stupid, arrogant, naive, corrupt, lazy, psychotic etc. There's one character who is good and who doesn't like Honor and it's basically his entire plot arc in the book.
I could forgive some of these flaws if I only read this novel and they improved in the seond but I started the second and they've got worse.
everyone needs to shut up this book is so incredibly good my god i hate it
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
I have mixed feelings about this book. The last 100 or so pages or so were very tense and hard to put down, with a really good story. The first 250 or so pages were really dull, and I almost abandoned the book halfway through. I'm glad I stuck with it in the end. Weber writes really detailed background, with all the political and military interactions in excruciating detail. I think the book is actually quite good, it's just not really my cup of tea.