Honor in Space

On Basilisk Station

A young naval officer has embarrassed some important high-ranking people and is banished to a distant outpost. Crew morale is low, smuggling and corruption is commonplace, and the native population is threatening to rise up. While politicians meddle, merchants complain, and two powerful nations edge closer to war, the crew of the Fearless will do their duty to protect their kingdom.

Yes it is a naval story. However, while the commander in question’s initials are “HH”, this is not Horatio Hornblower, but Honor Harrington. The Fearless is a light cruiser of the Star Kingdom of Manticore’s navy. The outpost in question is Basilisk Station, located near a wormhole of strategic importance to both Manticore and its enemy, the People’s Republic of Haven.

On Basilisk Station by David Weber is the first book in the ongoing Honor Harrington series. It is of course reminiscent of C. S. Forrester’s Hornblower stories as well as the Napoleonic Wars and other historical events. The cast list is quite large and varied. Some are quite decent. Some “allies” you would not want to turn your back on. Honor herself is honest and courageous, though has a temper that gets her in trouble. The technology, while futuristic, is not fanciful or particularly hard to believe, given how far into the future the story is being projected.

The Honor Harrington series currently numbers eleven novels and four short story anthologies. Two spinoff series are also being written; the Saganami Island series and The Wages of Sin series (the latter being co written with Eric Flint).

-JK