Field of Dishonor
by David Weber
Honor Harrington Universe - Deutsch (4), Honor Harrington (4), Honor Harrington Universe (13)
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HONOR BETRAYEDThe People's Republic of Haven's sneak attack on the Kingdom of Manticore has failed. The Peeps are in disarray, their leaders fighting for power in bloody revolution, and the Royal Manticoran Navy stands victorious.
But Manticore has domestic problems of its own, and success can be more treacherous than defeat for Honor Harrington. Now, trapped at the core of a political crisis she never sought, betrayed by an old and vicious enemy she'd thought vanquished forever, she stands show more alone.
She must fight for justice on a battlefield she never trained for in a private war that offers just two choices: death . . . or a "victory" that can end only in dishonor and the loss of all she loves.
- David Weber is the new Big Name in science fiction, and his dauntless Honor Harrington has conquered not only the enemy but the hearts of thousands of readers everywhere, who have been relentlessly demanding Honor's exploits in a more permanent form. And we're happy to oblige.
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bunnygirl I know, the base subjects (military sf vs. semi-erotic fantasy) are different, but if you're one of those who love the character dynamic between Honor and Andrew LaFollet, the protagonist and her bodyguard are quite similar...but with a quite different ending.
Member Reviews
Hey, you got character development in my military scifi, and it's actually pretty good!
Fresh from the victory at Hancock Station, things couldn't be going better for Honor. She's a hero, she's in love, and her nemesis is finally getting what's due to him, with a court-martial for cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy. But being a protagonist comes with a heavy price. Honor's love Paul is killed in a duel arranged by the villanous Pavel Young, and Honor sacrifices everything to get her revenge.
Several things make this book stand out. First is Honor's very real grief. Weber might not be the best at intimacy, but he does loss like a champion. Second, Honor's friends really come through for her, and it's no surprise that such an show more exceptional woman draws those kinds of people too her. And finally, Pavel Young is disgusting scum; sexist, corrupt, and cowardly, and we get to watch him squirm.
Field of Dishonor is tense and tightly plotted, and better than it has any right to be. show less
Fresh from the victory at Hancock Station, things couldn't be going better for Honor. She's a hero, she's in love, and her nemesis is finally getting what's due to him, with a court-martial for cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy. But being a protagonist comes with a heavy price. Honor's love Paul is killed in a duel arranged by the villanous Pavel Young, and Honor sacrifices everything to get her revenge.
Several things make this book stand out. First is Honor's very real grief. Weber might not be the best at intimacy, but he does loss like a champion. Second, Honor's friends really come through for her, and it's no surprise that such an show more exceptional woman draws those kinds of people too her. And finally, Pavel Young is disgusting scum; sexist, corrupt, and cowardly, and we get to watch him squirm.
Field of Dishonor is tense and tightly plotted, and better than it has any right to be. show less
This was a page turner! Once things started happening, I kept reading it long past my bedtime and didn't stop until the end. The battlefields here are not out in the stars. These battles are personal and political. In some ways, I think they were even harder on Honor than the previous battles. These were designed to hurt her deeply and to crush her as a person. I wanted her to win her battles with herself and to stay true to who she was.
The really fascinating part to me was the Grayson culture and how Honor is adapting to it, and its members to her. I love watching her grow into her role as a Steadholder.
Once you are about halfway through the book, you are in for a ride. I strongly suggest you allow time to finish it in one sitting. show more This is for those who have read the earlier books in the series. While the author does a good job of reminding the reader of pertinent information, the reader really does need the fuller background to really understand all the events. show less
The really fascinating part to me was the Grayson culture and how Honor is adapting to it, and its members to her. I love watching her grow into her role as a Steadholder.
Once you are about halfway through the book, you are in for a ride. I strongly suggest you allow time to finish it in one sitting. show more This is for those who have read the earlier books in the series. While the author does a good job of reminding the reader of pertinent information, the reader really does need the fuller background to really understand all the events. show less
No space battles, but that doesn't mean there aren't conflicts galore. This is, so far, my favorite of the Honor Harrington books that I've read. Several places I found myself tearing up...lots more emotional depth in this story than the first three in the series.
I will enjoy getting to know the head of Honor's Grayson bodyguard better--he's smart, stubborn, and good at his job!
I hope it's not too long before Honor finds someone to love. She's a more fully realized character when she has someone besides Nimitz to love.
Pavel Young's brother may or may not carry on a vendetta against Honor, but it will not have the layers of hate and humiliation that the feud between Pavel Young And Honor had, and that's good. Time for the series to move show more beyond that relationship.
Can't quite bring myself to give the book as 5 star rating. As much as I like her, Honor is still, and probably always will be, just a little too perfect show less
I will enjoy getting to know the head of Honor's Grayson bodyguard better--he's smart, stubborn, and good at his job!
I hope it's not too long before Honor finds someone to love. She's a more fully realized character when she has someone besides Nimitz to love.
Pavel Young's brother may or may not carry on a vendetta against Honor, but it will not have the layers of hate and humiliation that the feud between Pavel Young And Honor had, and that's good. Time for the series to move show more beyond that relationship.
Can't quite bring myself to give the book as 5 star rating. As much as I like her, Honor is still, and probably always will be, just a little too perfect show less
I thoroughly enjoyed this Honor Harrington book, the fourth in the series. It's very different from the first three, where she was the standout star ship captain who battled the Republic of Haven's numerically superior ships and won. In this book, she's home on Manticore while her ship is undergoing time consuming repairs. And Pavel Young, her nemesis, is being court martialed for desertion and cowardice, as well as several other things. Two of the charges would result in execution if he is found guilty. The problem is ... politics. Manticore wants to press the war with Haven while it has the upper hand, but the liberals in their version of Parliament are completely opposed and they hate Honor with a passion. They think she's trying to show more "get" Young, one of their own highly born aristocrats, truth be damned. The other half back Honor and have seen the video truth of Young fleeing in his ship as he is told to return to the fleet to fight Haven. Honor is told that if he is found guilty, it could hurt the war effort, badly, and she's shocked. She doesn't understand politics.
We're spared the trial, but we see the jury deliberate, if you can call it that. There are six, and they are deadlocked and one of them, in favor of Young, is a total asshole. He wants to get Young off on a technicality, even though the others appeal to him by telling him he KNOWS Young fled, he KNOWS, Young disobeyed a direct command, and he still wants to do this? Yes he does. Honor is in the courtroom when the jury returns with their verdict. Young is found guilty on the first three minor counts, but on the two major counts, the jury is deadlocked and his life is spared. However, he is kicked out of the Navy and stripped of his medals and income. Fortune calls, however. His father, an earl, dies in the courtroom. Pavel immediately finds himself an earl in the House of Lords. Is there no justice? Honor is devastated.
She decides to go visit her new estate on Grayson, a backwards world trying to work itself into the present. Women take a backseat to men on this planet, but because Honor saved the planet from destruction in a previous book, she's given their highest award and the title of homesteader, I think, which entitles her to an estate. But it also includes obligations, because now she would be responsible for the people in her area, her own government, her budget, her military -- everything. First, she has to be officially invited in by the sitting homesteaders. No woman has ever worn this medal and there has never been a woman homesteader on this planet and some people are very opposed to Honor's doing this, but she passes their judgment and begins her rule. Then something very bad happens. Her old pal, Mike, now a star ship captain shows up and tells her that Paul, Honor's lover, is dead. Has been killed. In a duel. Honor goes ice cold and can think of nothing but justice. She immediately leaves Grayson with her own guard from her "province" and practices her shooting skills on the star ship while going back to Manticore.
What has happened is that Young has hired a professional duelist/hitman to kill Paul, and then goad Honor into a duel so he can kill her too. Young holds Honor responsible for his ills, when it was really his own fault. When she returns, she goes to a bar, finds this man, and goads him into challenging her for a duel. And he smirks because he knows he's going to kill her. Meanwhile, she's calm, even as her friends and colleagues are freaking out. One of these men, a mentor of sorts, tells her if she kills him, she'll be out of the Navy, and if she prepares to duel Young, which is her goal, she'll be a pariah and will lose everything. She doesn't care. She just wants justice.
***SPOILER***
On the assigned day, the duelist and Honor meet on a field, complete with the media there in a frenzy, and they are to fire at the drop of a hanky. It flutters in the wind and before the duelist can even get a shot off, she hits him five times, blowing his head off. It's sweet. I loved it. The Lords go nuts. The media go nuts. But while there, while speaking to the media, she challenges Young to a duel to the death for his murder and another attempted murder of her by some hired assassins that her Grayson team stopped. He freaks out and hides in his mansion. He only leaves to go to the House of Lords. She realizes she can't get to him, so she does something rather clever. Some time back, she was given a title and admitted to the House of Lords, but she's never gone. One day, she shows up and invokes a little used rule that a new member can address the group immediately and she is given permission. She throws off her cloak, Young sees her and freaks out. She re-issues her challenge and he has no option but to accept it. They meet on the assigned day, stand back to back and walk forward. When they reach thirty paces, they are to turn and fire on command. One shot at a time. After just a few steps, Honor hears the word, "Down," and dives, only to be shot in her left shoulder. She rolls to evade the other shots and sees Young standing there with an empty gun staring at her. She puts three bullets in his heart and he is finally, finally, finally dead and out of her life. Sweet, sweet justice. Unfortunately, as she knew would be the case, she is stripped of her captaincy, but not kicked out of the Navy. Just put on half pay and kind of retired. She decides to return to Grayson. As she's preparing to leave, her mentor comes to visit her and tells her after the furor is over, there will be the war with Haven and they'll need competent captains and he basically promises her she'll be back. So there's hope.
One of the things I loved about this book was Honor's character development, which was so much more detailed than in previous books. You really get to see her grow and expand, learn and lead, make mistakes, show she's human, while still performing at a superhuman level. It's good to know she's not just a robot. Sometimes the politics got to be a bit much, but as it was integral to the story, I can forgive Weber that. It was odd, however, not to see Honor in any space ship battle scenes. Unusual. I kind of liked it. I don't know if this is my favorite Honor book -- it's so different -- but to me, it's worth five stars and I won't hesitate to recommend it at all. show less
We're spared the trial, but we see the jury deliberate, if you can call it that. There are six, and they are deadlocked and one of them, in favor of Young, is a total asshole. He wants to get Young off on a technicality, even though the others appeal to him by telling him he KNOWS Young fled, he KNOWS, Young disobeyed a direct command, and he still wants to do this? Yes he does. Honor is in the courtroom when the jury returns with their verdict. Young is found guilty on the first three minor counts, but on the two major counts, the jury is deadlocked and his life is spared. However, he is kicked out of the Navy and stripped of his medals and income. Fortune calls, however. His father, an earl, dies in the courtroom. Pavel immediately finds himself an earl in the House of Lords. Is there no justice? Honor is devastated.
She decides to go visit her new estate on Grayson, a backwards world trying to work itself into the present. Women take a backseat to men on this planet, but because Honor saved the planet from destruction in a previous book, she's given their highest award and the title of homesteader, I think, which entitles her to an estate. But it also includes obligations, because now she would be responsible for the people in her area, her own government, her budget, her military -- everything. First, she has to be officially invited in by the sitting homesteaders. No woman has ever worn this medal and there has never been a woman homesteader on this planet and some people are very opposed to Honor's doing this, but she passes their judgment and begins her rule. Then something very bad happens. Her old pal, Mike, now a star ship captain shows up and tells her that Paul, Honor's lover, is dead. Has been killed. In a duel. Honor goes ice cold and can think of nothing but justice. She immediately leaves Grayson with her own guard from her "province" and practices her shooting skills on the star ship while going back to Manticore.
What has happened is that Young has hired a professional duelist/hitman to kill Paul, and then goad Honor into a duel so he can kill her too. Young holds Honor responsible for his ills, when it was really his own fault. When she returns, she goes to a bar, finds this man, and goads him into challenging her for a duel. And he smirks because he knows he's going to kill her. Meanwhile, she's calm, even as her friends and colleagues are freaking out. One of these men, a mentor of sorts, tells her if she kills him, she'll be out of the Navy, and if she prepares to duel Young, which is her goal, she'll be a pariah and will lose everything. She doesn't care. She just wants justice.
***SPOILER***
On the assigned day, the duelist and Honor meet on a field, complete with the media there in a frenzy, and they are to fire at the drop of a hanky. It flutters in the wind and before the duelist can even get a shot off, she hits him five times, blowing his head off. It's sweet. I loved it. The Lords go nuts. The media go nuts. But while there, while speaking to the media, she challenges Young to a duel to the death for his murder and another attempted murder of her by some hired assassins that her Grayson team stopped. He freaks out and hides in his mansion. He only leaves to go to the House of Lords. She realizes she can't get to him, so she does something rather clever. Some time back, she was given a title and admitted to the House of Lords, but she's never gone. One day, she shows up and invokes a little used rule that a new member can address the group immediately and she is given permission. She throws off her cloak, Young sees her and freaks out. She re-issues her challenge and he has no option but to accept it. They meet on the assigned day, stand back to back and walk forward. When they reach thirty paces, they are to turn and fire on command. One shot at a time. After just a few steps, Honor hears the word, "Down," and dives, only to be shot in her left shoulder. She rolls to evade the other shots and sees Young standing there with an empty gun staring at her. She puts three bullets in his heart and he is finally, finally, finally dead and out of her life. Sweet, sweet justice. Unfortunately, as she knew would be the case, she is stripped of her captaincy, but not kicked out of the Navy. Just put on half pay and kind of retired. She decides to return to Grayson. As she's preparing to leave, her mentor comes to visit her and tells her after the furor is over, there will be the war with Haven and they'll need competent captains and he basically promises her she'll be back. So there's hope.
One of the things I loved about this book was Honor's character development, which was so much more detailed than in previous books. You really get to see her grow and expand, learn and lead, make mistakes, show she's human, while still performing at a superhuman level. It's good to know she's not just a robot. Sometimes the politics got to be a bit much, but as it was integral to the story, I can forgive Weber that. It was odd, however, not to see Honor in any space ship battle scenes. Unusual. I kind of liked it. I don't know if this is my favorite Honor book -- it's so different -- but to me, it's worth five stars and I won't hesitate to recommend it at all. show less
This story concentrates on Honor's relationship with Captain Lord Pavel Young. After his cowardice and desertion on the field of battle that was near the end of the previous book, this book begins with his court martial. But Young has powerful friends and the government needs to appease them if they are going to get the declaration of war against Haven that the need so badly.
An almost hung jury saves Young from being shot but enough was proven to have him cashiered out of the Navy. After his father's death just after the verdict is given, Young becomes the new Lord North Hollow who inherits his father's secrets and position in the House of Lords. But he blames Honor for all his problems and won't be content until she is dead.
Before he show more gets to Honor though, he decides to make her life terrible by killing Paul Tankersley who is Honor's love and lover. North Hollow hires Denver Summervale to challenge Paul to a duel. Summervale is a cashiered Marine who is a killer for hire who has killed many men on women on the field of honor.
Honor had been sent to Grayson to get her out from under the massive publicity the court martial has stirred up. When she hears about Paul's death, she is determined to challenge Summervale to a duel and kill him herself. But Honor has friends on her side who get to Summervale and convince him to tell them who hired him. To no one's surprise, the man was hired by North Hollow and Summervale's confession is on tape. Of course, with the confession gotten by less than legal means it is impossible to take the take to law enforcement.
Honor publicly calls out North Hollow and demands that he meet her on the field of honor even though she gets a lot of pressure from the Queen's government and her own superiors to back off. North Hollow's support is still needed in the upcoming war effort. But Honor won't be dissuaded. She feels that the cost to her career is a cost worth paying if it gets justice for Paul and shows North Hollow for the coward he is.
The story was packed with emotional intensity. Honor's grief for the loss of Paul was very movingingly written and narrated. show less
An almost hung jury saves Young from being shot but enough was proven to have him cashiered out of the Navy. After his father's death just after the verdict is given, Young becomes the new Lord North Hollow who inherits his father's secrets and position in the House of Lords. But he blames Honor for all his problems and won't be content until she is dead.
Before he show more gets to Honor though, he decides to make her life terrible by killing Paul Tankersley who is Honor's love and lover. North Hollow hires Denver Summervale to challenge Paul to a duel. Summervale is a cashiered Marine who is a killer for hire who has killed many men on women on the field of honor.
Honor had been sent to Grayson to get her out from under the massive publicity the court martial has stirred up. When she hears about Paul's death, she is determined to challenge Summervale to a duel and kill him herself. But Honor has friends on her side who get to Summervale and convince him to tell them who hired him. To no one's surprise, the man was hired by North Hollow and Summervale's confession is on tape. Of course, with the confession gotten by less than legal means it is impossible to take the take to law enforcement.
Honor publicly calls out North Hollow and demands that he meet her on the field of honor even though she gets a lot of pressure from the Queen's government and her own superiors to back off. North Hollow's support is still needed in the upcoming war effort. But Honor won't be dissuaded. She feels that the cost to her career is a cost worth paying if it gets justice for Paul and shows North Hollow for the coward he is.
The story was packed with emotional intensity. Honor's grief for the loss of Paul was very movingingly written and narrated. show less
This story concentrates on Honor's relationship with Captain Lord Pavel Young. After his cowardice and desertion on the field of battle that was near the end of the previous book, this book begins with his court martial. But Young has powerful friends and the government needs to appease them if they are going to get the declaration of war against Haven that the need so badly.
An almost hung jury saves Young from being shot but enough was proven to have him cashiered out of the Navy. After his father's death just after the verdict is given, Young becomes the new Lord North Hollow who inherits his father's secrets and position in the House of Lords. But he blames Honor for all his problems and won't be content until she is dead.
Before he show more gets to Honor though, he decides to make her life terrible by killing Paul Tankersley who is Honor's love and lover. North Hollow hires Denver Summervale to challenge Paul to a duel. Summervale is a cashiered Marine who is a killer for hire who has killed many men on women on the field of honor.
Honor had been sent to Grayson to get her out from under the massive publicity the court martial has stirred up. When she hears about Paul's death, she is determined to challenge Summervale to a duel and kill him herself. But Honor has friends on her side who get to Summervale and convince him to tell them who hired him. To no one's surprise, the man was hired by North Hollow and Summervale's confession is on tape. Of course, with the confession gotten by less than legal means it is impossible to take the take to law enforcement.
Honor publicly calls out North Hollow and demands that he meet her on the field of honor even though she gets a lot of pressure from the Queen's government and her own superiors to back off. North Hollow's support is still needed in the upcoming war effort. But Honor won't be dissuaded. She feels that the cost to her career is a cost worth paying if it gets justice for Paul and shows North Hollow for the coward he is.
The story was packed with emotional intensity. Honor's grief for the loss of Paul was very movingingly written and narrated. show less
An almost hung jury saves Young from being shot but enough was proven to have him cashiered out of the Navy. After his father's death just after the verdict is given, Young becomes the new Lord North Hollow who inherits his father's secrets and position in the House of Lords. But he blames Honor for all his problems and won't be content until she is dead.
Before he show more gets to Honor though, he decides to make her life terrible by killing Paul Tankersley who is Honor's love and lover. North Hollow hires Denver Summervale to challenge Paul to a duel. Summervale is a cashiered Marine who is a killer for hire who has killed many men on women on the field of honor.
Honor had been sent to Grayson to get her out from under the massive publicity the court martial has stirred up. When she hears about Paul's death, she is determined to challenge Summervale to a duel and kill him herself. But Honor has friends on her side who get to Summervale and convince him to tell them who hired him. To no one's surprise, the man was hired by North Hollow and Summervale's confession is on tape. Of course, with the confession gotten by less than legal means it is impossible to take the take to law enforcement.
Honor publicly calls out North Hollow and demands that he meet her on the field of honor even though she gets a lot of pressure from the Queen's government and her own superiors to back off. North Hollow's support is still needed in the upcoming war effort. But Honor won't be dissuaded. She feels that the cost to her career is a cost worth paying if it gets justice for Paul and shows North Hollow for the coward he is.
The story was packed with emotional intensity. Honor's grief for the loss of Paul was very movingingly written and narrated. show less
The quality of the writing is what really shines through in this novel. Weber always writes well, but here he excels. The relationship between Honor and Paul Tankerville is that of a couple who are confident enough in their love to be able to trust, tease one another, crack jokes, disagree occasionally and generally avoid almost all the cliches of romance novels.
The descriptive text is excellent in all kinds of ways and the worldbuilding too.
An entire novel without a space battle, and I surprise myself by not having missed it. There's a fair bit of politics, but mostly well handled.
The only minus is that it's really annoying to see Pavel Young back yet again. Characters who are only motivated by mindless vengence are not my thing.
I show more should also add that the people of Grayson shine here. show less
The descriptive text is excellent in all kinds of ways and the worldbuilding too.
An entire novel without a space battle, and I surprise myself by not having missed it. There's a fair bit of politics, but mostly well handled.
The only minus is that it's really annoying to see Pavel Young back yet again. Characters who are only motivated by mindless vengence are not my thing.
I show more should also add that the people of Grayson shine here. show less
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222+ Works 77,417 Members
David Weber was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 24, 1952. He received an undergraduate degree from Warren Wilson College and attended graduate school at Appalachian State University. He ran Weber Associates, a small advertising and public relations agency, for several years. He currently writes science fiction and fantasy full-time. His first show more novel, Insurrection, in collaboration with Steve White, was published in 1990. He has authored or co-authored over 40 books including The Honor of the Queen, In Enemy Hands, The Service of the Sword, Storm from the Shadows, the Honor Harrington series, the Safehold series, and the Star Kingdom series. Weber's first book in the Manticore Ascendant Series, co-authored with Timothy Zahn, made the New York Times bestseller list in October 2014. At the Sign of Triumph, book 9 in the Safehold series, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2016. Book 10, Through Fiery Trials, was published in January 2019. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Honor Harrington Universe - Deutsch
22 works (4)
Honor Harrington
16 works (4)
Honor Harrington Universe
31 works (13)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Field of Dishonor
- Original title
- Field of Dishonor
- Original publication date
- 1994
- People/Characters
- Honor Harrington; Pavel Young; Paul Tankersley; Denver Summervale; Nimitz; PO Harkness (show all 27); William Alexander; Allen Summervale, Duke of Cromarty; Thomas Caparelli; Michelle Henke; Elizabeth Winton; Ariel; Willard Neufsteiler; Tomas Ramirez; Susan Hibson; Alistair McKeon; Andreas Venizelos; Rafe Cardones; Hamish Alexander; Sonja Hemphill; Theodosia Kuzak; Mark Brentworth; James MacGuiness; Howard Clinkscales; Adam Gerrick; Georgia Sakristos; Scotty Tremaine
- Important places
- Manticore; Grayson; Gryphon
- Epigraph
- "It is always a bad thing when political matters are allowed to affect . . . the planning of operations."
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
160 Ante-Diaspora (1943 C.E.) - First words
- It was very quiet in the huge, dimly lit room. The Advanced Tactical Training Course's main lecture hall boasted the second largest holo tank of the Royal Manticoran Navy, and the rising, amphitheaterlike seats facing the tan... (show all)k seated over two thousand a full capacity.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Aye, aye, Sir." She blinked her misty eyes, nodded to him, and turned back to the hatch, and Hamish Alexander watched Dame Honor Harrington walk down the passage between Andrew LaFollet and James MacGuiness with her head high.
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