Honor Among Enemies

Well. Those who have read the last few know that Harrington was previously put on half-pay, and more-or-less exiled to Grayson—which was (mostly) happy to have her—where she excelled in the role of Admiral. But this book starts with her Manticorian enemies, of all people, conspiring to get her back into RMN uniform as a captain again. And once that happens, more enemies start popping up every couple of chapters, it seems; the book's title is quite apt, really. And until the end, Honor manages to survive, and give most of them the thrashings they deserve, through her usual combination of luck, friends, talent, and strong moral fiber. And the finale: wow! Even though I was aware that there are at least eight more books in the series show more (never mind the Honorverse books), I was really worried during the climactic events. Weber does an amazing job here of showing us the uncertainty, doubt, and guilt of a commander whose people have died or been hurt because of her decisions, and the thin lines between success, failure, and catastrophe.

This sounds great, and it is, but.... The problem is that Weber, in the last few books, has grown increasingly strident with his libertarian preaching about the perils of a welfare state, and this is the preachiest to date. Over the last few books, the in and out of character musings on the object lesson of the People's Republic of Haven have grown starker, and preachier, and as a result less interesting (although this book does interestingly flesh out some of its political figures in nice ways, that make me want to know more about their careers).

The other problem with this book is that the degree of luck that plays into Harrington's achievements seemed to me to shoot through the roof. Yes, she has incredible tactical insights, and inspires her people to heroic levels of competence, but there's no way those things could occur if the people she ends up with didn't have the raw stuff to excel, or she didn't receive the intelligence on which to base her conclusions. So events feel more than a little forced here.

I still like this series a lot, and I figure I will read at least the next couple in it. But this is the first one that's made me think that, just maybe, I don't need to read all of them. show less

This episode sees Honor rejoining the Manticoran Navy but with a nearly impossible assignment. Her job is to take some refitted merchantmen and head off to Silesia to stop the pirates that are harassing Maniticoran shipping. This assignment was dreamed up for her by Klaus Hauptman who has had it in for her since Basilisk. After all, his merchant ships are losing money and the Navy is supposed to protect them. If Honor fails, Hauptman wins in his subversive battle against Honor.

But all isn't as it seems in Silesia. Some of the pirates are actually Peeps in disguise whose goal is to prey on Maniticoran shipping both for the products they will get and in the hopes of drawing Manticoran forces away from more valuable targets.

The Manticorans show more also deal with a legitimate pirate who is running a group of ships and who has taken over a planet. His crews are busy raping and pillaging at his command and one of their victims is a ship owned by Hauptman and captained by someone close to him. That story weaves its way through the book and gives Hauptman his reason for being in the system for some of the major plot points of the story.

I enjoyed the variety of viewpoints in this one as we learn that not all Peeps are bad people. I also liked getting a look at some of the other people who are serving in the Manticoran Navy in the person of Aubrey Wanderman who is a new recruit in gravitics and who has some problems with a major bully on the ship.

I also liked meeting a new treecat named Samantha as her person is assigned to the crew on Honor's ship. I liked watching Nimitz and Samantha fall in love.

This was another excellent episode in a great series. show less

This episode sees Honor rejoining the Manticoran Navy but with a nearly impossible assignment. Her job is to take some refitted merchantmen and head off to Silesia to stop the pirates that are harassing Maniticoran shipping. This assignment was dreamed up for her by Klaus Hauptman who has had it in for her since Basilisk. After all, his merchant ships are losing money and the Navy is supposed to protect them. If Honor fails, Hauptman wins in his subversive battle against Honor.

But all isn't as it seems in Silesia. Some of the pirates are actually Peeps in disguise whose goal is to prey on Maniticoran shipping both for the products they will get and in the hopes of drawing Manticoran forces away from more valuable targets.

The Manticorans show more also deal with a legitimate pirate who is running a group of ships and who has taken over a planet. His crews are busy raping and pillaging at his command and one of their victims is a ship owned by Hauptman and captained by someone close to him. That story weaves its way through the book and gives Hauptman his reason for being in the system for some of the major plot points of the story.

I enjoyed the variety of viewpoints in this one as we learn that not all Peeps are bad people. I also liked getting a look at some of the other people who are serving in the Manticoran Navy in the person of Aubrey Wanderman who is a new recruit in gravitics and who has some problems with a major bully on the ship.

I also liked meeting a new treecat named Samantha as her person is assigned to the crew on Honor's ship. I liked watching Nimitz and Samantha fall in love.

This was another excellent episode in a great series. show less

What an excellent book! Behind the scenes of Honor Harrington's return to the Royal Manticorian Navy are plots and plans. She has made some enemies and those enemies have made plans that they believe will benefit them in one way or another. So yes, there are battles to be fought brilliantly and doggedly.

However, what made the book sing for me were the characters and growth. From a young engineer who is helped to grow a spine (and taught to be able to defend himself) to a merchant who finds out that he isn't always right, people grow and change. We also gain more insight into the decent people who are part of Haven, making the enemies less cardboard and more real.

If you like military science fiction, start at On Basilisk Station and keep show more going. You won't be disappointed. show less

While this isn't my favorite Honor Harrington book, I really can't think of any reason not to give it five stars, so that's what I'm doing. In this book, Honor is still an admiral in the Grayson Navy, but Manticore comes crawling back to her, begging her to rejoin their navy as a mere captain to lead a four ship squadron of Q ships in the Silesian Confederacy area, where pirates are destroying merchant shipping and crews. It's an ugly invitation, but she wants back in the Manticoran Navy so badly, she accepts. Crazy.

Q ships are converted merchant freighters with no armaments to speak of, but in this case, with lots of weaponry. They are to act as targets for pirates and when they are attacked, to destroy the pirates. But obviously, they show more have to do so immediately, as they can't sustain damage. Honor is gratified to learn that her captains and execs are of good quality and she knows some of them, but the crews are a combination of cast offs and new recruits fresh out of the academy. Not good.

Klaus Hauptman figures in this book. He asks that she be chosen for this assignment because she's a great combat commander AND if she gets killed, that's great for him too, as he hates her. So when she saves his sorry butt late in the book, it's pretty ironic.

A nice piece of writing in this book has to do with Haven. In the past, the Havenites have always been evil, for the most part. In this book, we see some evil Havenites, but we see some good ones too. It makes for a more realistic and humane look at this group of people. One Havenite cruiser is in the same area as Honor's ship and it's going after pirates too, and the captain rescues some Manticorans, even though he knows he probably should have destroyed them.

Speaking of pirates, there are some pretty evil ones in this book. Led by a maniac. With nukes. And of course, Honor outwits him. Couldn't have it any other way. And also, the body count is high in this book. Honor's crews always suffer high casualties. Makes ya wonder why so many people want to serve under her.

One nice touch was a new kid fresh out of the academy. He shows some promise in Engineering and is promoted, but there's a crew of about five nasty bullies, led by one utterly insane nutjob. He loves to hurt people. He wants to murder people. And he wants to desert the navy, knowing it's an execution squad he would be facing if he were caught. Well, he catches this kid alone and beats the shit out of him. Someone spots them and runs him off, but neither of them will say anything other than the kid fell down. Right. Everybody knew who did it, but there's no proof. Later, one of the kid's friends, a female of the same rank, has her space suit (?) sabotaged, and nearly dies, but again there's no proof. Meanwhile, this kid has been working out with the Marines on board the ship, learning how to fight. He goes and tracks down the bully. He goads him into taking a swing at him and then beats the shit out of him and it's a pretty sweet scene to read. Honor gives the bully 90 days in the brig, followed by a court martial. She gives the kid one day of sitting in his room and docks him one week's pay. He's stunned. He thought he'd lose his stripes and maybe be court martialed himself. She knew what was going on. She approved. Nice.

It was good to get Honor away from the religious nuts and politics of Grayson. That was starting to get old. But it was crappy not seeing her in the captain's chair of a dreadnaught. However, she worked wonders with those Q ships and it was a pretty good story, so five stars it is. Recommended. show less

A more complex book than the previous entries in this series, in my opinion. Not only the ever-evolving relationships between Honor and her crew, but with Nimitz and his mate as well. Throw in pirates, honorable Peeps, POWs, nasty bullies who get what's coming to them, a glimpse into the Andermani Empire, and old personal enemies faced anew and you have a rip-roaring good story with plenty of twists and turns.

9/10 on my personal raring scale.

Book 6 of Honorverse. Think I must have enjoyed this one based on the underdog scenario. I also know Weber frequently waxes pontifical on the tech. "Captain Honor Harrington is recalled from exile on Grayson by political enemies to command a, squadron of Q-ships (heavily armed merchantmen) to combat, rampant piracy in the Silesian Confederacy. Tasked with protecting shipping, Honor faces, corrupt politicians, a ragtag crew, and, a, disguised, Havenite, naval, operation, forcing her to rely on her, tactical genius to win against overwhelming odds."