About six months ago I got into the Baen Free Radio Hour podcast hosted by Tony Daniel. I originally got into it because for the last 15 minutes or so they play an unabridged audio book which they've serialized. They are about half way through Larry Corriea's Hard Magic and it's what prompted me to buy that some production (and the 2nd book in the trilogy) when I had the chance. However, the podcast has also introduced me to other authors and reading resources that I didn't know about before. One of these was the Baen Ebook Free Library. While I didn't really get into ebooks before I recently got a smart phone with a screen big enough to actually be able to read off of. When I realized this, I thought I would give ebooks a try. Interestingly enough I had recently borrowed Honor of the Queen from my father when I found it for free on Baen's ebook website. I didn't pick this book up on Audible because I wasn't sure if I wanted to pursue the story from On Basilisk Station. I'd learned how big the series was and after reading several book descriptions didn't know if I liked the way the series was headed. I figured borrowing the book would be a safe way to explore it. To wrap up this long introduction - I loved the book even more than the first and am glad that I have a copy that I can keep. Here is a link to Baen Ebook Free Library for the book. It was a great read and had some great suspense and showed us just how human and how awesome Captain Honor Harrington can be. For those that would like, they also have the first book in the series On Basilisk Station available in the Free Library. You could probably read the second without the first, but they don't explain the tech quite as well the 2nd time around.
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Plot: After the near disaster at Basilisk Station the Royal Manticoran Navy has realized how seriously the People's Republic of Haven was about their expansionism. With Basilisk safely protected the RMN starts looking for other ways the Peeps might get at them. This takes them to Yeltsin's Star, a two planet system with a 600 year feud. The Manticorans are looking to support the planet Grayson all the while suspecting that the Peeps will back the Masadans. While technologically less advanced and culturally very different from Manticore and Haven, Yeltsin's Star does have one thing that both powerhouses want - location, location, location. But how far are Manticore and Haven willing to go to court the Graysons and the Masadans? How much blood will be spilled before the power houses realize that they have gotten involved in one religion's jihad on the other? Honor must come to grips with all of this while she acts as diplomat to a planet where a women's place is at home and decidedly not in the military.
My persona favorites: Weber does a great job of giving us social and political intrigue with some serious kick trash space combat. As I read I watched with mounting dread as the challenges and obstacles piled up. It made the climax that much better. Weber does a really good job of showing the extent of a battle and the result of using such powerful weapons. Ships and people die at a realistic rate and the physics involved feel true and correct. I found the fanaticism of the Masadans to be believable and in some ways pitied them. Weber even got me to care about Haven at one point. All of the characters were fantastic and I enjoyed the villains and the heroes/heroines
Considerations: Like the first book, there is language and violence in this book. I found it used appropriately and wasn't jerked out of the story by it. While there is some graphic descriptions of violence, it is minimal and again, doesn't distract. I do need to mention that there is a rather intense scene where we learn about the fate of some female POWs that some may find disturbing. The scene in question is powerfully written and does not wallow in the visceral, but conveys the strong emotions that are the root of the characters' reactions.
Overall, I loved The Honor of the Queen. I was really happy with the action and the characters. I am defiantly going to borrow the next book from my father and continue to explore the free library.
Plot: After the near disaster at Basilisk Station the Royal Manticoran Navy has realized how seriously the People's Republic of Haven was about their expansionism. With Basilisk safely protected the RMN starts looking for other ways the Peeps might get at them. This takes them to Yeltsin's Star, a two planet system with a 600 year feud. The Manticorans are looking to support the planet Grayson all the while suspecting that the Peeps will back the Masadans. While technologically less advanced and culturally very different from Manticore and Haven, Yeltsin's Star does have one thing that both powerhouses want - location, location, location. But how far are Manticore and Haven willing to go to court the Graysons and the Masadans? How much blood will be spilled before the power houses realize that they have gotten involved in one religion's jihad on the other? Honor must come to grips with all of this while she acts as diplomat to a planet where a women's place is at home and decidedly not in the military.My persona favorites: Weber does a great job of giving us social and political intrigue with some serious kick trash space combat. As I read I watched with mounting dread as the challenges and obstacles piled up. It made the climax that much better. Weber does a really good job of showing the extent of a battle and the result of using such powerful weapons. Ships and people die at a realistic rate and the physics involved feel true and correct. I found the fanaticism of the Masadans to be believable and in some ways pitied them. Weber even got me to care about Haven at one point. All of the characters were fantastic and I enjoyed the villains and the heroes/heroines
Considerations: Like the first book, there is language and violence in this book. I found it used appropriately and wasn't jerked out of the story by it. While there is some graphic descriptions of violence, it is minimal and again, doesn't distract. I do need to mention that there is a rather intense scene where we learn about the fate of some female POWs that some may find disturbing. The scene in question is powerfully written and does not wallow in the visceral, but conveys the strong emotions that are the root of the characters' reactions.
Overall, I loved The Honor of the Queen. I was really happy with the action and the characters. I am defiantly going to borrow the next book from my father and continue to explore the free library.
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