Thursday, July 17, 2014

Review: On Basilisk Station


On Basilisk Station
On Basilisk Station by David Weber

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Sci-Fi/Military Sci Fi/Space Opera
Reading Level: Adult
Diversity: multicultural, women as leaders
Tense, Person, POV: Past tense, third person, POV varies
Recommended for: fans of sci-fi, military or space opera
Trigger Warnings: violence, attempted and actual murder, historical mention of rape attempt, drug pushing, dueling
Offensive Wording: offensive wording used to label the Medusans; on character calls another “faggot” as an insult

My Thoughts: This is my 3rd time reading this excellent book; I've just never reviewed it before. It is the first book in the Honor Harrington series, of which I believe there are now 14 books, plus several books in spin-off series and anthologies. Needless to say I won't be listing the series information on these reviews, as it would just take up too much time.

Meet Honor Harrington. Her catchphrase is “Let's be about it, people.” She has a wonderful way of inspiring people to follow her example and give their fullest efforts. We meet a lot of great people in this book, people who we will see again, people we will grow to care for... people who David Weber might kill. Be prepared for a body count, this is as much military sci-fi as it is space opera. I found it bittersweet. There is a good bit of humor, however, such as:
McKeon says: “You know Hauptman is going to deny they had anything to do with it [smuggling].”

“Forty-three million in illegal peltries? Of course they will, just as
Mondragon's captain insists the space fairies must have brought them,” Honor said ironically.

Or this:
WAGs... That's a technical term we engineers use. It means 'Wild-Assed Guess'.”
If you enjoy sci-fi, whether it be military or space opera, definitely check this out. Also, those who (like me) love the idea of sentient cats (the treecats) will really enjoy meeting Nimitz! I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did!

Disclosure: This book was owned by my husband before we met. I've also acquired an e-book version. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Having made Sonja Hemphill look a fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her.

Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station.

The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens.

Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling; the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called "Republic" of Haven is Up To Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system.

But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They've made her mad.



View all my reviews