Honor Harringgton – My First Exposure

I’m about to do something I HATE, which is to write an ultimately unfair review of a book. I never do that, and I’ll try to keep this one honest about why I think I’m being unfair. (also, please remember that I am just a reader who enjoys giving his opinion, not a paid reviewer!)

The book in question is David Weber’s Uncompromising Honor, a climactic book in a long-running series which has spawned its own universe, and has sold uncountable number of copies.

Now, before giving my review of this book in particular, I need to explain this “unfairness” thing. Uncompromising Honor does not appear to be a book designed to be read by someone at random unless they’ve read many of the previous volumes. By dropping in at this point, I entered at a point where the characters are well-developed and they act a certain way that will be cheered on by the readers who share their history. Also, readers of the series will be deeply invested in what their old friends are doing.

In my own case, the first three-quarters or so of this volume were a slog. The characters were doing things that felt a little long-winded (possibly because I wasn’t yet invested enough in their well-being to care about some of the details). The action scenes in that first section consist of a series of massacres in which one faction kills hundreds of thousands of members of the other in a few space battles.

The battles are well written, and I’m certain that readers who’ve been reading along would have cheered wholeheartedly to see the good guys win in decisive fashion… but I was left a little cold, and in consequence, it took me a long time to get through this one. The final quarter, I will admit, went quickly, and I really, really was rooting for the good guys to win by the end. There is nothing wrong with Weber’s writing – he obviously knows how to grip the readers once they understand what’s going on.

My conclusion on the strength of having read this one is that those readers who want very well-written space war action would be well-served to start at the beginning of the Honor Harrington series. Millions of readers enjoy it already, and I can totally see why. I probably did myself a disservice by starting where I did (I only read this one because it was in my big pile of Baen books). So if you like straight up space warfare, this series should be on your list.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest novel is entitled Lost Island Rampage. It’s a tropical romp with cannibals and monsters, which means that you will not be bored. If that’s you’re idea of fun, you can check it out right here.