~post by Tommy
So, I’m a bit of a history nerd and one of my favorite periods in military history is the Napoleonic Wars. I’m a particular fan of that era’s naval combat, so when my father told me about a book series that he called “the Napoleonic Wars in space,” I was immediately hooked. Since then, I have read everything David Weber has written in the universe of one of science fiction’s greatest naval heroines: Honor Harrington.
The Honor Harrington series begins with the book On Basilisk Station, in which readers meet Commander Honor Harrington, a bright young officer of the Queen’s Navy. We are also introduced to the basics of the intergalactic political situation that sets up Honor’s home planetary system of Manticore as the good guys. While the decadent Republic of Haven, as the villains. Or, in Napoleonic terms, Space England and Space France respectively.
The first thing that hooks you in the opening book of the series is the focus on the naval combat that, despite it’s technological disparity, captures the feeling of 19th century naval combat. The missiles and lasers of modern combat translate well to the historical feel of the Napoleonic Wars as well as the gruesome deaths and massive destruction that characterized naval combat of the time.
On Basilisk Station sets the tone for Honor’s character going forward in the series. She is presented as a duty bound warrior who will always discharge her responsibilities and damn the consequences. This gets her into trouble over the course of the series, but it also makes her a larger than life hero who anyone would follow into battle. The book ends with Harrington defeating the opening battle strategy of the Havenites in what will become a fifteen year war.
As the series progresses, more and more of Honor’s world is introduced. The more you understand of her world, the more it comes to resemble Europe in the early 1800s.
In the second novel, The Honor of the Queen, is set on the planet of Grayson whose inhabitants loosely represent Holland. And, it’s there that Honor Harrington looses an eye. Now this detail may seem inconsequential, but it becomes more important several novels down the line when she looses an arm as well. Though modern medical technology replaces them, the losses symbolically fit with the historical figure that Weber decided to base his heroine on: Admiral Horatio Nelson, the hero of the battle of Trafalgar and England’s most famous naval officer.
As the serie
s progresses, Harrington’s career parallels Nelson’s. In the third and fourth books, The Short Victorious War and Field of Dishonor, Weber digs into the history of the French Revolution, as dissidents overthrow the hereditary president and the Republic of Haven becomes the People’s Republic of Haven.
Another fascinating point of the Honor Harrington series is the focus on the lives of the characters. No character is too small to make a re-appearance and characters who were first introduced as bit parts have gone on to become some of the more important characters in the series. With each character that he creates, Weber does his best to instill in them the sense that they are an actual living person with their own details and lives. They’re not just a person there only to say a few lines of dialogue and progress the plot.
Weber also loves to explore some of the theoretical science behind the series and will wax poetic for a whole chapter on the technical aspects of faster than light travel or exactly how a missile works in the non gravity of space. While this sounds like it may be too dry or long winded for an sci-fi action novel, Weber makes the reader feel as though the battles in his books may some day have a chance to be real.
So, if you are a lover of history, a reader of military science fiction, or simply someone looking for a good book grab a copy of On Basilisk Station and enjoy.
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Sci Friday is a weekly post focusing on all things Sci Fi. Tommy is your intrepid leaders on this journey through awesome new books; the best and worst of what’s come before; Sci Fi film adaptations and more. Check back next Friday for more!
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