This book could have been so much better.

It's really hard to top Field of Dishonor, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I found Flag in Exile a mixed bag. We've seen this plot before, religious extremists do bad things to Honor's reputation and herself. This is straight out of Book 2. After having been personally attacked by the "Maccabeus" in book 2, I found myself wondering why Protector Mayhew put up with this shit in this book. It's like he doesn't even remember that religiously-motivated strife has almost destroyed his world twice, and he lets it blow up in his face. The domestic Grayson conspiracy is boring, and has already been done before in Book 2 by the Maccabeus conspiracy. I honestly skipped through most of it, finding it pretty much word for word the same plot as in book 2.

And after dealing with that crap, Honor returns to space in time to blow the crap out of a surprise attack by the Republic of Haven. Good thing she didn't get stranded groundside because of the conspiracy or anything! Really, this was an afterthought to the book and the battle itself is one-sided. Two fleets of battleships against a line of Grayson Superdreadnoughts! The only moment of suspense is when watching to see whether the second fleet will stand and fight or flee.

In spite of the frustrating domestic conspiracy, there were still some good parts in this book. Grayson society is quirky and interesting, I found the idea of Graysons "importing" their traditions of swordplay from rewatching Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" many centuries in the future a suitably unique idea, they play baseball where Manticorans don't, and the sword battle between Honor and her antagonist towards the end was suitably cool. I simply wish that she had more compelling reason to cut him up than that he was yet another religious fanatic that couldn't deal with a woman on equal terms. ( )

http://freesf.blogspot.com/2008/08/fl... ( )

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Honor Harrington shuffled to discretely out of the way planet Grayson on half pay after a politically disastrous duel is recruited to a post in that worlds space navy. Meanwhile Grayson's reactionary old guard plot to disgrace her. ( )