On Basilisk Station (1993)

I've had this series recommended to me so many times that I actually prepared for disappointment after too much hype. But while I admit the book is somewhat flawed (the review that comments on the pages of background in the middle of a tense scene is *not* exaggerating), it was more that enjoyable enough for me to give the next book in the series a try. I'm hoping that later books will have a slightly less jarring meld of hard scifi tech discussion, politics, psychology of command, character development and actual plot, and if the number of recommendations I got is any indication, it's will indeed get better from here. ( )

There are many faults with On Basilisk Station. I'm not going to deny that. The bit where a tense action scene was interrupted for eight pages of background on the ins and outs of space travel was a particularly egregious one, and David Weber is quite frankly, to judge on this, not that good a writer at all. I also understand people who think Honor is a bit of a "Mary Sue", a bit too perfect. I understand, but I don't agree -- at least not at this stage in the series, though I've read analyses which suggests it definitely gets that way.

But for me I was mesmerised. Hard SF with a strong, non-sexualised female lead, absolutely no romantic plot, platonic relationships with multiple male characters... A female lead who is resourceful, determined, and quite frankly does her superiors' jobs better than they were doing them themselves. She isn't faultless. She isn't even pretty. There's nothing about her which implies Weber thought sex appeal would be important, and good god that should not be so refreshing in SF.

I think Weber's worldbuilding really shines: he's clearly thought through all the political situations and the exact details of the technology involved, too. Granted, he doesn't deploy this with the greatest of subtlety -- holy infodump, Batman! -- but the planning is all there.

To top all that off, I got very involved with the characters, my heart was in my mouth during the action scenes (bar the bit with the eight page digression) and I was willing to overlook all its flaws because of that. It gets four stars not for being a brilliant piece of writing, but for taking a firm grip on my heart. ( )

There are many faults with On Basilisk Station. I'm not going to deny that. The bit where a tense action scene was interrupted for eight pages of background on the ins and outs of space travel was a particularly egregious one, and David Weber is quite frankly, to judge on this, not that good a writer at all. I also understand people who think Honor is a bit of a "Mary Sue", a bit too perfect. I understand, but I don't agree -- at least not at this stage in the series, though I've read analyses which suggests it definitely gets that way.

But for me I was mesmerised. Hard SF with a strong, non-sexualised female lead, absolutely no romantic plot, platonic relationships with multiple male characters... A female lead who is resourceful, determined, and quite frankly does her superiors' jobs better than they were doing them themselves. She isn't faultless. She isn't even pretty. There's nothing about her which implies Weber thought sex appeal would be important, and good god that should not be so refreshing in SF.

I think Weber's worldbuilding really shines: he's clearly thought through all the political situations and the exact details of the technology involved, too. Granted, he doesn't deploy this with the greatest of subtlety -- holy infodump, Batman! -- but the planning is all there.

To top all that off, I got very involved with the characters, my heart was in my mouth during the action scenes (bar the bit with the eight page digression) and I was willing to overlook all its flaws because of that. It gets four stars not for being a brilliant piece of writing, but for taking a firm grip on my heart. ( )

This was a hard one to review. The first 250 pages were really hard to get through, but I knew from reading reviews that the book is fantastic and the ending would be great. I give this part of the book 1 star. The final 100 or so pages, however, would be rated 4 stars - it would be a full 5 if it wasn't for a handful of sections of droning, over-the-top detail which broke up otherwise unbeatable action sequences. So, overall, a solid 3 stars. I think that the rest of the books in the series might be more enjoyable since a lot of the explanations have already occurred in this book. ( )

Couldn't get past the psychic cat thing. Felt like fan fiction. Tried three different times but just was bad bad bad. ( )