Honor of the Queen (Mass Market Paperback)

This time, Honor heads to the planet of Grayson to oversee a strategically important treaty. There's a serious problem, however: Grayson was founded by religious fundamentalists who see women as inferior, and getting the people of the planet to trust her or take her seriously is difficult. Meanwhile, Grayson faces a war with a splinter faction that moved to another planet and is even more radical and dangerous -- and they are negotiating with the Republic of Haven and have secret plans to use Haven's technology to assist their dreams of conquering Grayson.

The ship battles are again excellent, and there are more of them than in the previous book. The best action scenes, however, are some great ground duels and marine battles -- author David Weber does a fine job keep the action varied. He also does good work with the conflict between Honor and the prejudiced people of Grayson, showing how they can overcome their bigotry. Weber adds many shades of gray to people we might accept as irredeemable when we first meet them. This dramatic conflict helps to flesh out what is otherwise a straightforward military science-fiction/space opera. Good fun.

This installation finds Honor sent to protect Grayson, a relatively weak world allied to Manticore. Grayson was founded by religious reactionaries; its traditional enemy Masada by even more extreme conservatives of the same sect. So it's a society where women are expected to be subservient. There is also little tradition of technological innovation, so the Grayson fleet is backwards and of limited value when Haven sends a fleet of modern ships to ally with Masada. But Honor is assigned to hold the situation in check with, as usual, a grossly inadequate force. The story builds to a concusion where Honor will be forced to fight a battle against a hugely superior enemy, something of a stock plot for the Harrington series, especially the early entrants. The subplots focus on Grayson domestic politics and a conspiracy to assassinate the Protector, the Grayson head of state.

Both the strengths and weaknesses of the book are those of the series. Honor is an attractive character and the Grayson society is interesting. The story is suspenseful and exciting, making for a good read. On the negative side, Weber has worked out in detail all the technical aspects of the ships and weaponry he is describing, and he doesn't let any of that work go to waste. I once heard an experienced SF editor advise would-be writers to work out the background for their stories in detail and then not directly use most of it. The fact that you have thought it out will give it a realistic feel, while you avoid boring the reader with excessive exposition. Good advice, which Weber fails to use. He goes into ship sizes, throw weights, and relative velocities with such loving detail that some passages read almost like a parody of the excesses of hard SF.

The political preaching in this novel is also unnecessary. In Weber's universe, welfare is almost literally the root of all evil. The generous welfare system of Haven is portrayed as having wrecked the economy; the military aggressiveness is seen as a direct result of the weak economy, forcing Haven to conquer more productive worlds in order to generate the wealth needed to keep up the dole payemnts for the Haven core worlds. This is explained in almost identical expository sermons in each of the first several Honor Harrington novels. The identical fervor of the same speech repeating in several volumes left Weber at monemts in danger of turning into the John Norman of the hard SF fraternity. Fortunately, Weber ultimately avoided that temptation and no longer gives the same set sppech in each novel. And, of course, he can write better than the execrably leaden prose of Norman.

The flaws give the book some moments of awkwardness, but Weber is smart enough to get back to the story before things get too boring. So I can give this book a solid recommendation in spite of the faults. It can be read without having read the prior volume, "On Basilisk Station".