Honor Harrington Series

[Reader Rabbit]

Has anyone read this series through to the end? I've read the first two books, and I enjoy the main character, but the reactionary, monolithic politics of the author are a bit difficult to take. He can't seem to go 20 pages without vilifiying Manticore's Liberal and Progressive parties. And any character associated with those parties is portrayed as a moron and/or a coward. Granted, it's set in the far future and is supposed to resemble the political situation of the Horatio Hornblower series, but it seems more like a transparent jab at contemporary non-dittoheads.

Is it worth it to continue reading, or are the books that follow "Honor of the Queen" more of the same?

Thanks.

[rickrok66]

1. Honor Harrington

Reader Rabbit
I read up to War of Honor, of which I think is the second to the last in the series. He has one about her cadets and a new one where she has a baby. I feel the series tapped out when she became an admiral and a member of the nobility.

Ashes of Victory has some good space opera in it.

I see your point on the whole take that English monarchy is the best form of government. His later books have New Haven leaders like Robert Pierre (Robspierre) and an Oscar Saint Just (same name as the French Revolution). However, he treats the officers in the New Haven fleet equally with the Manticore fleet. He seems to throw in a lot of historical references to the French revolution and English Civl War also in later books (levellers). Anyway, I liked the character (Honor) and the space battles which made the havey handed politics digestable. But I would top at Ashes of Victory.

I hope this helps.

[Reader Rabbit]

2. It's not so much the monarchy aspect

Weber just seems unable to keep from throwing in negatives of just about every aspect of liberal politics. Whether it's the "Dolist" aspect of Haven, or the naive, ivory tower ignorance of Manticore's liberals and progessives and the evils of their "welfare programs," I have a hard time keeping my eyeballs in their sockets from rolling them so much.

Plus, there's Honor's Mary Sue-ishness to consider.

[rickrok66]

3. True about the critique of Manticore liberals

I forgot and must have blocked that out. I read those books like six or seven years ago. I read his use.net group for awhile. He made a big deal about Angelina Jolie getting to adopt a Cambodian baby (now Maddox) and he was trying and not able to. It was the whole "hollywood liberal" thing cutting to the front from of the line and she wasn't qualified to adopt a baby and all kinds of other criticisms about her.

The series has petered out, but I liked the first few books. Some others like Orson Scott Card despite his persona view. I haven't read his books and don't know if he places his views in his novels or not.

[bobbieinok]

4. I like them.... I read over the political stuff

I also read over much of the battle descriptions.

The last 2 are really interesting...the one written with Eric Flint and the one about the academy.

The political stuff about the new Manticore politics and the new system in Haven sort of resorts the political perspectives.

The book with Flint is really good; I've decided his name on any sci-fi book raises it significantly above the rest.

****

From amazon.com

Crown of Slaves (Mass Market Paperback)
by David Weber, Eric Flint


From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Weber's Honor Harrington series know that one of its more intriguing aspects is the "Honorverse," the historical, political and astrophysical foundation upon which he builds his plots. They will be delighted with this offshoot in which he and coauthor Flint (1633) develop several situations and characters from other stories. Due to the incompetence of Queen Elizabeth's current government, the alliance between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and Erewhon is on the verge of dissolution, so the queen sends her niece, Ruth, as a representative to a state funeral to patch things up. When a band of terrorists attack Ruth, Havenite agent Victor Cachat seizes the opportunity to forge new bonds between the Erewhonese and his own star nation. At the same time, Cachat liberates an interstellar slave ship and, in a Machiavellian scheme, puts together an alliance that includes Manticorans, Havenites, Erewhonese and units of the Solarian League Navy to liberate a slave planet and form a new star nation dedicated to the extirpation of slavery. Despite the authors' opposing political views, they have managed, in a rare and impressive display of bipartisanism, to blend Edmund Burke and Carlos Marighella into an intriguing synthesis that should appeal to readers of both persuasions.

And I think this is the next one:
The Shadow of Saganami (The Saganami Island) by David Weber

[Reader Rabbit]

5. I gave up on them

They just weren't that interesting for me, politics aside. And compared to the Vorkosigan series, which I began about the same time, they're like a comic strip. Bujold's characters and cultures are far more intriguing—not to mention hysterically funny.

[mike_c]

6. I've read a couple or three of them....

Not sure which now-- they weren't very memorable-- and all have long gone to the used book store. Weber didn't impress me much, frankly. Journeyman stuff, not particular inspired.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. It sounds like the "Ashes" books

A series of after-the-Apocalypse books by William Johnstone with lots of guns and violence and machismo -- and plenty of lectures about how the wonderful world was destroyed by liberals.

I got the distinct impression that the author wrote most of them tongue firmly planted in cheek.

--p!

[FogerRox]

8. I ve read all of Weber, if his politics bores you dont Read JOhn Ringo

Ringo is an RW for sure, and not a consistant writer. Webers earlier work before HOnor is good too. FLints is good.."1632" series.

I like weber because he gets only minorly technical, develops characters well, and can describe a 3D space battle in a solar system, from a strategic and tactical sense like no other.

You might like CJ Cherah (SP) Defender series is top notch in my book, she did another series in the 1990's, name escapes me... CJ developes characters well, and the main character is more of a diplomat, and theres no RW hype.

[Kellanved]

9. tends to be boring

Not that it hasn't got any upsides, but generally it really isn't that well done.
The characters are lacking any depth or ambiguity. The good & smart against evil & dumb is just tedious.
Also the constant use of some deus ex machina to make the good guys appear brilliant isn't a sign of a well built story line. Finally, the technological and social rise are far too steep; stealing the last bit of the appeal from the later novels.

[RiDuvessa]

10. The first four or five books are the best.

After that it got pretty tedious. I check the books out from the library. The last book was better then he had been in a while. I think is was "Against All Odds" or something like that. The biggest problem I have with the book is that Honor has gotten Perfect. I really enjoy having a strong female lead in these books, but after the first couple, she never makes mistakes.

I would say, for the most part, if reading Sci-Fi books with a conservative bent bothers you, stay away from Baen. The majority of their books have a conservative slant. Doesn't bother me if the book is good, but I could see how it would bother many people around here.

[DontBlameMe]

11. Weber is a diehard centrist.

On one hand, he clearly abuses the stereotypical "liberal" notion. On the other hand, he pretty accurately portrays conservatives and his disgust of them is pretty obvious.

Also, on the issue of his liberal bashing, he does have a few liberal characters whom he doesn't portray as idiots.

All in all, if it has the name Weber on the cover, especially if it's coupled with Steve White or Flint, it's pretty much a guaranteed good read.

[TygrBright]

12. The first few were fine, although one did have to skip...

...the occasional ideological rant, and overlook the odd ideological snark here and there. I think I got five or six of them read through before the next one made me vomit and I took them all to the Book Return second hand bookstore.

Some are better than others, I guess. Anyone who likes this TYPE of stuff will probably really enjoy Elizabeth Moon's stuff. That woman can write fast-paced MilSF with space-opera overtones, really WRITE!

helpfully,
Bright

[FloridaJudy]

13. Thanks for posting this

Amazon recommended the Honor Harrington books because I rated the Miles Vorkosigan novels so highly. Normally Amazon's picks are spot-on, but now I know to avoid this one.

[TygrBright]

14. If you like Bujold's Vorkosigan stories...

...try Elizabeth Moon's current series with Kylara Vatta (I think the first one is "Trading in Danger") and her earlier series about Esmay Suiza that starts with "Once A Hero." Both are excellent, fast-paced space opera in a well-designed universe.

Elizabeth Moon and Lois McMaster Bujold are two writers whom I'd like to be able to catheterize, chain to a word processor and feed through an IV so they wouldn't have to stop writing to eat or go to the bathroom. Also James Schmitz except that he's long dead, unfortunately. But check him out. If you've never read "The Witches of Karres" you are in for a huge treat!

enthusiastically,
Bright