Rating: 
Summary: Overindulgence
Review: This book, like the first, is a gross display of self-indulgence by the author. His desire for a dominatrix does not make good reading for the rest of us. His untouchable perfect beauty fixation is quite disturbing. This book is certainly science fiction, with an emphasis on fiction. The author watched much too much Star Trek; page after page is dedicated tolaborious descriptions of the spaceship's mechanical workings. The problem is that these descriptions are merely techno-babble with no science whatsoever. I regret Amazon's grading system does not allow a zero star score.
Rating: 
Summary: OldSciFiDog
Review: This episode (the second) in the Honor Harrington series, introduces us to the Grayson planet and society. I find this author's imagination both interesting and thought provoking (not to diminish any action drama for you action addicts). This Grayson society will make you think regardless of you own belief structure. Being a "heathen" I enjoyed the idea of "God the Tester". Honor's character continues to evolve through out this series and does so in this episode along with others collected along the way. We also are introduced to some Peep characters which we will find in other stories of this space saga. I have read reviews of David Weber criticizing this series covers. While I tend to agree that the covers could make readers wonder if this is a typical "cheesy" work, let me unequivocally state that this author is incapable of cheese (write your complaints to the editor, not the author). For all those "wantabescientist - like me (my expertise is in embedded software)" this author takes the time and (no small amount) of effort to define his science in this universe. For me I respect that in a Sci-Fi author. In summery (in case you haven't noticed) I enjoy reading this author and this series and would have rated this as 4 1/2 stars if it was available (five if I already did not know there are better to follow).
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent focus on small detail and combat!
Review: This is one of the finest books I've read in my life! Well written, and even better, it gives such great detail that you can actually see it happening as you read it. It makes you form a bond with the character, and that's the best thing about any book! Awesome work, Mr. Weber!
Rating:
Summary: Male Chauvinism Can't Maintain Itself with Honor
Review: This is the second book about Honor Harrington, and it is a worthy successor to "On Basilisk Station." Honor saves the male chauvinist population of Grayson from being conquered by its long-time enemy, Masada, but nothing can save the male chauvinist culture of Grayson from being conquered by Honor. That conquest is begun in this book, but will not be completed until many books later, all of them great fun to read. Buy and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: The series gets better in book 2
Review: This sequal is entirely up to the original. Weber's fully realized future space-navy military tactics and strategies play out within the complex politics of both allies and adversaries. A geo(astro)politically logical plot line carries sympathetic characters along to the emotionally charged conclusion. The battles are described vividly, and in a manner that compels believability. This series accomplishes the science fiction author's task of providing the wealth of detail and background that allows the "suspension of disbelief", without cluttering the narrative. The type of book one reads in one sitting.
Rating:
Summary: Further adventures of Honor Harrington
Review: Thus is the 2nd volume of the lengthy Honor Harrington sage, now up to 10 volumes and still far from complete. Honor is a Captain (later Admiral) in the space Navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, which is under attack by the larger Republic of Haven. The series is based to a large extent on the popular Horatio Hornblower novels, and the background history accordingly based on the Napoleonic wars. 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".
Rating:
Summary: Further adventures of Honor Harrington
Review: Thus is the 2nd volume of the lengthy Honor Harrington sage, now up to 10 volumes and still far from complete. Honor is a Captain (later Admiral) in the space Navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, which is under attack by the larger Republic of Haven. The series is based to a large extent on the popular Horatio Hornblower novels, and the background history accordingly based on the Napoleonic wars. 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".
Rating:
Summary: First-rate space opera.
Review: Weber's second saga of Honor Harrington is a fitting follow-up to Basilisk Station. After reading only the first two books in this series I'm hooked on Honor. She is a top-notch character: very likeable, highly capable, yet vulnerable. One of the unique features of Weber's stories is a more detailed and more believable rationale for high-speed combat between space-ships. Unlike most authors, he concerns himself with such things as speed, distance, acceleration, and detection of other ships and how these affect tactics and manuevering. I haven't checked his math, but it all sounds plausible. My only gripe with Weber so far is that, like Jerry Pournelle, he has a "thing" for monarchy. Being a died-in-the-wool democrat and republican (both with lower-case letters) all this bowing and scraping to someone's son and heir sometimes rankles, but so far he has made the baddies, the People's Republic of Haven (the ultimate wellfare state) sound repulsive enough to keep me rooting for the Stellar Kingdom of Manticore. (Weber's universe in these books is a human-dominated one. There are a few sentient aliens, but none with space-faring technology so far.
Rating:
Summary: Good way to rile and rivet a reader
Review: Well, if Honor keeps going through ships at this rate, she'll be a large chunk of the Manticoran Navy's expenses. Not like that would stop anyone involved from showering her with very well deserved titles and awards. This books sees Honor going to Grayson, a planet settled by a bunch of Old Earth Christian fundamentalists, who want to live "as God intended". Needless to say, they've managed to get way behind in technology. They've also managed to develop a splinter group that settled another planet in their system called Masada. The Masadans want to destroy the "Apostate" any way they can, and have enlisted the Havenites to help them do it. Once again, we get to see Honor against enormous odds, with a good chance that she, and her ship, won't make it to the last page. I won't give away the ending, but I'll say this. Weber managed to push a lot of the right buttons with this woman regarding the attitudes of the Masadans and the Graysons, as well as keep me glued to the final battle till I finished it. I'm looking forward to The Short Victorious War.
Rating:
Summary: Females are NOT Subservient!
Review: When Honor is given the duty of contacting the newly discovered civilisation on Grayson's Star, she has to doubt the wisdom of her superiors for the planet is highly patriarcal. Not only that, the women are highly protected for the native soils are highly poisonous to human kind and not all babies were brought to term. But the Graysonians are not so stiff necked as to fail to recognise the virtues of Honor when their traditional enemies on the planet of Masada launch yet another Final War. This time they have back up from a more powerful enemy though as the People's Republic of Haven turns its eye upon the domes o Grayson.
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