Here’s the second book I finished on the trip – the next volume in what has come to be called the “Honorverse”. I’ve been reading these books since 1993, when the first novel in the collection – “On Basilisk Station” – was released. This is a huge, sprawling collection with multiple story arcs and spinoffs. It currently consists of 26 stand-alone titles – all of which I’ll list out at the end of the post. While the primary author is David Weber, a whole platoon of writers have contributed – either as co-authors on specific volumes or as short story contributors to Honorverse collections. I have every single one of those 26 books – all in hard cover and I’m buying the special commemorative editions of the 17 core Honor Harrington titles as they’re released – on average, one per year.
The whole series is actually inspired by the Horatio Hornblower novels by C.S. Forester. These stories – following the career of a fictional Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic Wars – are amazing. The first of these books was published in 1937 and they were favorites of my father. He actually introduced me to the books and I still have three of his old versions safely stored away in the basement. If you haven’t read these books and you have an interest in either the British Navy, the Napoleonic Wars or military fiction – you really must – I do truly believe you’ll fall in love with them as well. The only thing I asked my wife to get me for my last birthday was a four volume, leather bound, commemorative issue of the complete Hornblower collection – it has pride of place within my library and I’m looking forward to the day when I can pull those four volumes down and reread them – cover to cover.
The Honorverse has been a labor of love for me. It was love at first read – “On Basilisk Station” was a great book that I’ve probably read three times. Unfortunately, as the series has progressed, it’s become more labor than love. The thing that always captivated me about these novels – similar to what drives my love for the Hornblower stories – is the time on ship and the time in combat. Weber spent a lot of time and put a lot of thought into the technology of the universe he’s created and he’s meticulous about the way in which he plans out and describes his battles. They’re seamless and intense and all too bloody and destructive and tragic and triumphant. With the Royal Manticoran Navy, he’s also created an organization and a culture that is all too easy to admire and cheer for.
As the series has progressed, however, Weber and his collaborators have spent an increasing amount of time off ship and out of combat. He’s replaced what initially made these stories truly great with pages and pages of what I consider to be amateurishly conceived and described politics and great power plotting. He’s also created antagonists that are cartoonishly evil. With most of the recent volumes, you spend far too much time wading through marginally interesting – almost silly – scheming just to get to the shrinking amount of content devoted to what I really love – the dedication and duty and culture of the Royal Manticoran Navy and the excellently conceived combat – whether it be ship to ship or fleet actions.
This book is no different. I’ve read through three quarters of the book and the RMN has yet to engage. It’s fixated on truly boring descriptions of Manticoran politics – an increasingly common theme in all the later titles – wasting countless pages on the activity of those domestic political factions who are consistently and foolishly pushing misguided policies meant weaken or defund the RMN. When not dragging us through caricatured descriptions of a government at odds with itself – he spends far too much time with cartoonish protagonists that call to mind Boris and Natasha from the Bullwinkle and Rocky show. I can honestly say that reading through the more recent Honorverse books is hard work.
End of day – it doesn’t matter. I’ll stay with it, primarily because I do still enjoy the Honorverse, I enjoy Manticore and it’s constitutional Monarchy, I love the RMN and its culture and its heroes and I’m willing to wade through the muck to get to what are still pretty invigorating descriptions of combat in space. I just wish Weber would get back to his roots and make the whole exercise a little easier on me.
The next book in the primary story arc – “Uncompromising Honor” – is scheduled for release on October 2, 2018 and it’s in my que. Unlike the most recent titles, it appears to bring the original heroine – Honor Harrington – back to center stage. I’ll buy it and read it in hopes that Weber finds a way to thrill and entertain me again – in the same way he managed to do all the way back in 1993.
Full List of Titles:
Main Honor Harrington Story Arc:
- On Basilisk Station
- The Honor Of The Queen
- The Short Victorious War
- Field Of Dishonor
- Flag In Exile
- Honor Among Enemies
- In Enemy Hands
- Echoes Of Honor
- Ashes Of Victory
- War Of Honor
- At All Costs
- Mission Of Honor
- The Shadow Of Saganami
- Storm From The Shadows
- A Rising Thunder
- Shadow Of Freedom
- Shadow Of Victory
Prequel – Manticore Ascendent
- A Call To Duty
- A Call To Arms
- A Call To Vengeance
Prequel – The Star Kingdom
- A Beautiful Friendship
- Fire Season
- Treecat Wars
Erewhon Stories
- Crown Of Slaves
- Torch Of Freedom
- Cauldron Of Ghosts