Top Ten Honorverse Loves

Actually, I feel before I go on that I should clarify what I really
really LIKE about the books before I continue my sporking (which
should in no more be taken any seriously as a critique of Honor
Harrington than MAD Magazine).

[u]Ten things I love about Honor Harrington[/u]

1. [b]Honor Harrington[/b]

Naval Pollyanna is one of my favorite fictional heroines.  If I had to
list the fictional girls I'd most love to date and marry, it'd
probably go...

A. Aerith (FFVII)
B. Honor Harrington
C. Chun-Li (Street fighter 2)
D. Eowyn
E. Claire Redfield (Resident Evil)

Which goes to show how much a geek I am that three of them are video
game characters (I'd hate to list the Runner-Ups).  Honor Harrington
gets the number 2 spot though because she exemplifies the fun,
enthusiastic, and hopefulness of the Manticore Navy.  There's nothing
more fun than reading about how she lights up like a Christmas tree at
the prospect of commanding a starship.

Likewise, she maintains a constant vigilance against the threats
facing her homeland and strength that works very well in maintaining
my interest.  I was a big fan of MJS's Ivanova on Babylon Five and
Honor Harrington supplanted her place in the list.  I can forgive a
great deal of what "Honor Sue" can do because she's entertaining no
matter what she does.

2. [b]The People's Republic of Haven[/b]

The People's Republic of Haven are one of my favorite sets of villains
in the whole of fiction.  For me, I have no problem with deliciously
evil villains.  Daleks, Voldemort, Sauron, Emperor Palpatine, and so
on are all wonderful for me.  In the case of the PRH, it's like a
wonderful combination of every evil government of all time.

Yes, it's incompetent.  It's also murderous, cruel, vindictive,
nonsensically structured, and throws its men away like cannon fodder.
It makes them a TREAT to read about as they manage to take what is
basically canon about the Imperial Order in Richard Rahl and cross the
line AGAIN to the point that they're Over the Top evil rather than
just nasty.

Best of all, David Weber knew to eventually bring the war with the
Space Communists to an end.  So, bravo to you.

3. [b]Fantasy Counterparts[/b]

I like the constant analogues that David Weber makes.  While I despise
the Graysons, its not because they're Space Mormons.  It's the fact
that I just don't like them and feel they're overexposed.  However,
the allusions to all the various powers in the past of the world make
the world feel more organic to me and actually help illustrate the
points he's trying to make as opposed to the ones that might be loss
with a more direct fantasy creation.

4. [b]The Politics[/b]

I actually love the politics of Honor Harrington in that they're
actually fairly intricate.  The basics of them can be summarized as
(Manticore=Good, Havenºd, Mesa=Worse, Solarian League=Stupid,
Andermani=Ruritania, Silesian Confederacy=Poland) but the fact is that
so much of the story depends on intimate back and forths between the
idiot politicans and the military's own actions that the story almost
always remains unpredictable.  I enjoyed the War against Haven far
more than I ever enjoyed the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Star Wars.

5. [b]The Space Battles[/b]

It wouldn't be Honor Harrington if not for the massive numbers of
starships gathered around to pummel the Hell out of one another.
While I don't like bridges exploding, I do love that the battles show
the aftermath of the conflicts with their massive causalties and
horrific slaughters.  That really makes the Space Battles more
exciting to me and it helps that Honor routinely wins her conflicts
only by the skin of her teeth.  A streak, sadly, broken by the stupid
Ghost Rider device.

6. [b]Pavel Young[/b]

I consider Pavel Young one of the great creations of villainy and one
of David Weber's wonderful Rogue's gallery.  Right behind him is
Cordellia Ransom.  But yes, I love the fact that Pavel Young is pretty
much a combination of every repulsive quality you might find in a
human being somehow managed to be rolled all into one.  David Weber
has a knack for creating villains and its why I rather resent the
Mesans because they're such an inherently faceless group when we
usually have such a bevy of evil relishing cackling types to choose
from.  Pavel Young is the adult Draco Malfoy crossed with Jabba the
Hutt and everything I'd love to see in them.

7. [b]Space Piracy![/b]

Let's hear it for Commerce Warfare.  I almost just said "Honor Amongst
Enemies" here as it remains my favorite of the Honor Harrington
books.  Basically, for me, there's nothing better than enjoying the
battles between the Star Kingdom's ships and those dastardly pirates
of Silesia.  David Weber's pirate groups work for me because they're
such barbaric, disgusting, and wicked animals which works well because
most of his villains are of a SLIGHTLY higher calibar than this.  You
have no sympathy for them when Honor puts a pulsar through the back of
their head.  I'd love to see a whole series of Pirate Hunts in the
Confederacy.

Or perhaps Privateering by Haven.

8. [b]World Building[/b]

David Weber's world-building really is what keeps drawing me back into
the books.  The world is clearly illustrated as early as Basilisk
Station yet he's managed to expand on our knowledge of what he
presented with each passing book to reveal more about them without
diluting what we already know.  I'm honestly interested in learning
more about the Solarian League and Andermani than what we already
know.

9. [b]The Talbott Cluster[/b]

Shadow of Saganami is probably my favorite Honorverse book after Honor
Amongst Enemies.  Ultimately, the new set of faces and the no need to
give them "larger than life" heroism helps the book illustrate such a
fascinating miniature universe in the Talbott Cluster.  Plus, it's
presence away from the Peeps helps make it seem all fresh and
exciting.  Really, I laud David and say this is probably one of his
best creations.

10. [b]The Star Kingdom of Manticore[/b]

I love the Peeps more than the Manties.  Personally, I would have
ended [b]At All Costs[/b] with Honor Harrington watching her homeland
crushed and defeated with millions of Havenite soldiers landing on her
homeworld in the most shocking twist of all time.  Nevertheless, I do
love the Manties for the fact that they have layers and depths you
don't usually find in Space Opera.  It's a society with deep class
divisions and severe bigotries but also many beautiful things as
well.  Rarely do I have a kindgom in Science Fiction that I can say
"It's recognizable enough to Earth I'd want to live there."

But I'd probably love to live on Manticore or Sphinx.
[ Auf dieses Posting antworten ]