sarahlouisereads's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
bory's review against another edition
2.0
I think this my jumping off point for the series, at least for now.
Where to start? It really is the fact that the whose story was set in Grayson that left a foul taste in my mouth. Weber's insistence in trying to portray Grayson as worthy of respect, regardless of their backward cultural norms, does not hold water. I don't care how hard they've worked, or how far they've come despite their poisonous planet and technological disadvantages. I'm sorry, but this is a society that has, essentially, subjugated its entire female population based on antiquated religious views. We're told that the people of Grayson are changing for the better, but we never see any women that are moving into the workforce, the military, or the circles of government. Maybe it happens in later installment in the series, maybe it doesn't. It's never shown here, and it hurts the narrative.
I hate religious zealotry, and I detest the fact that I had to force myself to read chapter after chapter of religious nuts whose idea of the epitome of an insult against a woman is the word whore. In fact, I almost DNF'ed the book when Honor was having her battle of the faux religious quotes with Brother Marchant.
And boy, oh boy, is Mar Sue-ness out in full force in Flag in Exile. Honor Harrington is the best. She can quote religious texts she's studied for a few months better than a religious zealot who has spent decades studying said texts. She can out-duel one of the best duelist on the planet, after only a few months of training, regardless of her complete lack of experience with sword combat prior to her exile on Grayson.
But the battle between the Grayson Navy and the Peeps in the last ca. 50 pages is great. I was hoping it would take up more of the book, something like what we saw in On Basilisk Station or The Honor of the Queen, but no, we have to read multiple chapters from the point of view of several men calling Honor Satan's harlot. Time well spent it was not. In any case, those last several dozen pages is what gives this book a second star for me, because the rest was a solid 1 star material.
Where to start? It really is the fact that the whose story was set in Grayson that left a foul taste in my mouth. Weber's insistence in trying to portray Grayson as worthy of respect, regardless of their backward cultural norms, does not hold water. I don't care how hard they've worked, or how far they've come despite their poisonous planet and technological disadvantages. I'm sorry, but this is a society that has, essentially, subjugated its entire female population based on antiquated religious views. We're told that the people of Grayson are changing for the better, but we never see any women that are moving into the workforce, the military, or the circles of government. Maybe it happens in later installment in the series, maybe it doesn't. It's never shown here, and it hurts the narrative.
I hate religious zealotry, and I detest the fact that I had to force myself to read chapter after chapter of religious nuts whose idea of the epitome of an insult against a woman is the word whore. In fact, I almost DNF'ed the book when Honor was having her battle of the faux religious quotes with Brother Marchant.
And boy, oh boy, is Mar Sue-ness out in full force in Flag in Exile. Honor Harrington is the best. She can quote religious texts she's studied for a few months better than a religious zealot who has spent decades studying said texts. She can out-duel one of the best duelist on the planet, after only a few months of training, regardless of her complete lack of experience with sword combat prior to her exile on Grayson.
But the battle between the Grayson Navy and the Peeps in the last ca. 50 pages is great. I was hoping it would take up more of the book, something like what we saw in On Basilisk Station or The Honor of the Queen, but no, we have to read multiple chapters from the point of view of several men calling Honor Satan's harlot. Time well spent it was not. In any case, those last several dozen pages is what gives this book a second star for me, because the rest was a solid 1 star material.
elisenic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
travelgirlut's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe 2.75 stars. This book had the same flaw in my eyes as the last one: too many politics, not enough space battles. Granted this book did have a space battle, but it sure seemed tacked on at the end just for the sake of having a space battle. Maybe I need to change my expectations of what this series is about if I'm going to continue reading it. I was looking to read more like the Lost Fleet series by [a:Jack Campbell|55547|Jack Campbell|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1302415236p2/55547.jpg], and so far this isn't quite it. And besides, Honor is starting to seem a little too perfect. She wins amazing space battles, she runs whole countries, and she can even sword fight, all while being perfectly honest and nice to everyone around her. Oh to have the perfection of a fiction character! :)
dorinlazar's review against another edition
2.0
There are two things happening in this story, and both of them are taking a long time to build up. First of all, Honor goes into exile, starts a new business building domes on Grayson, and everyone hates her for that except the people. At the same time, the French... I mean Haven attack two different systems so that they can attack Grayson without scouting first.
Since some religious nuts want to discredit and kill Harrington and they are fine with killing a ton of people, including some children. Funny enough, the author chooses to get rid of her bodyguards in a similar manner, probably bored with the concept that he created for the steadholder. I wonder if he'll remember that the steadholder *has* to have a bodyguard in the next book. Looking at the name, it looks like he doesn't.
Ok, so, the religious nuts take their sweet time, and try to kill her just a few seconds before the French attack. This is seriously slow-paced stuff, I mean the author fills a lot of pages with what he calls suspense and what I call complete boredom. The point of view of Haven is absolutely useless, it would've been a lot better to simply discard that insight in the mind of the Havenite fleet. Also, they are bad at scouting and information gathering.
When it comes to battles, Weber is obsessed with tonnage, klicks and gs and other things that are simply a bore to read. The final quarter of the book can be summed as „religious nuts try to kill Honor, they kill the high priest instead, Honor cuts the head of a guy, then she leads a fight where she's badly hurt, and quotes Clausewitz to justify a game of chicken”. By now, Honor is a casual killer, but hey, tradition and shit.
It's kind of a mess of a book, but honestly? It's a natural continuation of what Weber wrote so far, so I can't really hold it against him. The character is fine, but seriously, Weber writes himself in corners and he's bad at avoiding them. By now, Honor is the kick-ass-est officer in any fleet she goes in, and really, there's no place to climb. In book 1 she was a newly-minted captain, in book 5 she's an admiral of the fleet (albeit, a foreign fleet). That's a tough spot to be in. He still wrote at least 10 more books after this one.
The same goes for religious sentiment, and the quotation of that silly thing where „people killed themselves more in the name of religion”. No, they didn't. Caesar didn't go genocidal in the name of religion. Neither has Gengis-Khan. Nor Hitler. Nor Stalin. Anyway, Weber is an American and there's all kind of nuts there - he wrote this while the FBI was fighting at Waco, and finished it right before the Oklahoma bombings, so he gets a free pass for his short-sighted view on religion.
All in all, a mediocre book. Stuff happens, people get killed. The end.
Since some religious nuts want to discredit and kill Harrington and they are fine with killing a ton of people, including some children. Funny enough, the author chooses to get rid of her bodyguards in a similar manner, probably bored with the concept that he created for the steadholder. I wonder if he'll remember that the steadholder *has* to have a bodyguard in the next book. Looking at the name, it looks like he doesn't.
Ok, so, the religious nuts take their sweet time, and try to kill her just a few seconds before the French attack. This is seriously slow-paced stuff, I mean the author fills a lot of pages with what he calls suspense and what I call complete boredom. The point of view of Haven is absolutely useless, it would've been a lot better to simply discard that insight in the mind of the Havenite fleet. Also, they are bad at scouting and information gathering.
When it comes to battles, Weber is obsessed with tonnage, klicks and gs and other things that are simply a bore to read. The final quarter of the book can be summed as „religious nuts try to kill Honor, they kill the high priest instead, Honor cuts the head of a guy, then she leads a fight where she's badly hurt, and quotes Clausewitz to justify a game of chicken”. By now, Honor is a casual killer, but hey, tradition and shit.
It's kind of a mess of a book, but honestly? It's a natural continuation of what Weber wrote so far, so I can't really hold it against him. The character is fine, but seriously, Weber writes himself in corners and he's bad at avoiding them. By now, Honor is the kick-ass-est officer in any fleet she goes in, and really, there's no place to climb. In book 1 she was a newly-minted captain, in book 5 she's an admiral of the fleet (albeit, a foreign fleet). That's a tough spot to be in. He still wrote at least 10 more books after this one.
The same goes for religious sentiment, and the quotation of that silly thing where „people killed themselves more in the name of religion”. No, they didn't. Caesar didn't go genocidal in the name of religion. Neither has Gengis-Khan. Nor Hitler. Nor Stalin. Anyway, Weber is an American and there's all kind of nuts there - he wrote this while the FBI was fighting at Waco, and finished it right before the Oklahoma bombings, so he gets a free pass for his short-sighted view on religion.
All in all, a mediocre book. Stuff happens, people get killed. The end.
remocpi's review against another edition
4.0
Tras retirarse a Grayson, Honor no puede librarse de la guerra entre Haven y Manticore, y debe acudir como Almirante jefe de la armada de Grayson para evitar ser aplastada entre dos mundos.
katmarhan's review
4.0
Random thoughts...
The duel with Burdette in the presence of the Keys was one of my favorite scenes in the book--Honor demonstrating the difference between the art of fencing and the deadly business of dueling. Her fencing teacher may have been frustrated at her tendency to go for the mortal blos rather than "first touch", but it saved her life.
Mueller is a slimy bastard and I hope it's not too long before Honor is able to teach him a lesson as well.
I mourned the loss of Reverand Hanks and Adam Gerrick, as well as the other "minor" characters I'd come to know and like. Weber is more than willing to kill off characters. And the nameless,faceless masses who were killed in the space battle--I can tell I don't read many war novels. The carnage is mind-numbing. And while I know a commander can't let casualties stop him/her from making decisions, I do find it reassuring that Honor is at least a little haunted by all the deaths that result from her decisions.
More horrifying are the deaths that resulted from the fanaticism of Marchant, Burdette, and Mueller. Terrorism up close.
Looking forward to the next installment in the Honor Harrington series. She is becoming an even more complex person with even more baggage to both hinder and help her contined growth and maturity.
The duel with Burdette in the presence of the Keys was one of my favorite scenes in the book--Honor demonstrating the difference between the art of fencing and the deadly business of dueling. Her fencing teacher may have been frustrated at her tendency to go for the mortal blos rather than "first touch", but it saved her life.
Mueller is a slimy bastard and I hope it's not too long before Honor is able to teach him a lesson as well.
I mourned the loss of Reverand Hanks and Adam Gerrick, as well as the other "minor" characters I'd come to know and like. Weber is more than willing to kill off characters. And the nameless,faceless masses who were killed in the space battle--I can tell I don't read many war novels. The carnage is mind-numbing. And while I know a commander can't let casualties stop him/her from making decisions, I do find it reassuring that Honor is at least a little haunted by all the deaths that result from her decisions.
More horrifying are the deaths that resulted from the fanaticism of Marchant, Burdette, and Mueller. Terrorism up close.
Looking forward to the next installment in the Honor Harrington series. She is becoming an even more complex person with even more baggage to both hinder and help her contined growth and maturity.
towo's review against another edition
4.0
A bit too slow at times, and vaguely reminiscient as an intellectual base of David Weber's later Safehold series. A very interesting trend away from the typical structure of the previous novels.