an epinion on: "The Honor of the Queen" (David Weber)
Baen Books, 1993, paperback, 422 pp.
by: tomgray

"The Honor of the Queen" is the second book in a series by David Weber on Honor Harrington, a female space navy captain who is cut from much the same cloth as Captain Horatio Hornblower. (The first novel in the series includes a dedication to C.S. Forester, the creator of the Hornblower novels.)

In "Honor of the Queen," Harrington is selected to command a squadron of starships on a mission to a planet with an anti-technological, highly patriarchal society. Weber skillfully weaves this premise, which offers obvious potential for personal conflict, into an interesting and readable yarn.

Weber is a fine writer, and this is a good example of "soft SF," with the scientific content apparently fabricated for entertainment's sake, and the focus on Harrington's adventures as a supremely capable commander of a ship of the line. Characters are well sketched, and their interaction is described with an eye for detail which holds the reader's interest.

Like "On Basilisk Station," the first novel in the series, this is a book about life-and-death conflict and the dramas of human emotion and character development to which that conflict gives rise. Several times in both books, I found myself moved and inspired by Harrington's courage, dedication, loyalty, and decency.

Readers who are squeamish be warned: Harrington lives in a true-to-life universe where battles are fought and people, sometimes close friends or aides, die. Weber does not shrink from the horror of war.





Recommended: Yes