The Short Victorious War (Honor Harrington #3)

This is the last Honor Harrington book I'll read. The first 300 pages have NO STORY. Nothing happens until the last three chapters, and then it's predictable and uninteresting. This book was a complete waste of my time and money, except that it really did solve my insomnia a few times (and I'm serious--I fell asleep EVERY TIME I tried to read it).

Book One was good despite the long, ponderous history lessons and techno/military exposition. Honor and her fellow characters were interesting and the action was intense.

Book Two was amazing, a great read without the flaws of the first book. I was surprised to get so emotionally involved, and some of the climactic scenes are among the finest I've ever read in science fiction. From first page to last, it was an exciting, interesting, fun, emotional read, and well worth the money and time.

Then we get this drivel, the "Dull Ponderous War." I wish I could get my money back, but more importantly I wish I could get my time back.

This book ended my interest in Honor Harrington and in David Weber.

Another exception book by David Weber in the Honor Harrington series. I love the female heroine, which is not common in the sci-fi genre of this type, and she is totally believable, totally relatable, and simply amazing! I have read each and every book of this series and except for one, I found them all to be equally compelling. Now, I want one of those cats! (read the book to find out what I mean!)

The fierce enemies of Manticore, the people's Republic (Peeps), are concerned about the costs of war. A meeting between high government officials is arranged to discuss interstellar economic and strategic realities. The Ruling class of the People's Republic of Haven need to decide what strategy they can afford without starving and collapsing the economy to fund the war. In the upcoming battle against Peeps, Lady Captain Honor Harrington is left to make a gallant last stand against overwhelming odds while desperately awaiting reinforcements. In what will turn out to be a momentous event for everyone involved, Pavel Young -- Honor's fierce enemy -- finally reveals his personal cowardice as he breaks off from the formation in the middle of the fight and refuses to return despite direct orders to the contrary. This nearly causes the collapse of Honor's strategy. Will Honor survive the ambush?

The writer takes it slow, establishing the foundation of his narrative piece by piece. A romantic interlude is inserted in between and Honor falls in love for the first time in her life with Paul Tankersley. She finds womanhood in herself letting her hair grow, learning to put on make-up. For the battles, the details are exact, engagement distances calculated, and acceleration expressed in gravities or meters per second squared; these all give good a three-dimensional feeling.

Two (2) stars. Written in 1994, this is book 3 of Weber's Honorverse. Although there is a clear climax at the end of the book the path leading to is paved by dialogues that almost reach into a psychoanalytical session. The love affair of Dame Honor -- the leading figure of planet Grayson, a multi-billion millionaire -- is a bit abruptly introduced. Suddenly, in months, She is in love and head over heels on Paul. Having learned to know Harrington in previous books being a bit reserved and unexperienced on this field the 180 degree shift, like the romantic vacation on an island, is a bit creamy. In some ways all the naval officers and royal officials have a cookie-cutter quality without a context if book is read stand-alone. Having a glimpse on the political angle of Peeps is good but there is a little too much occasional frivolity in the book. Now new worlds are introduced in this book and the action mostly centers around the unremarkable Hancock Station leaving a clear footprint for the sequel [[ASIN:0743435745 Field of Dishonor]].

David Weber builds a universe that's plausible with a heroine that you cant help but root for.
It's been described as "Hornblower in space". If you love Hornblower, and amenable to space opera give this a try and vice versa. Having space battles that give you a sense of the vastness of space is a refreshing change from other popular sci-fi franchises.
In addition, the characters aren't two dimensional and motives and are well thought out. The Graysons/Masadan conflict could have taken cheap shots in a cultural conflict, but treats sensitive subjects with grace and complexity.
In addition, seeing the character develop through the books was a satisfying experience and one that can be read and reread (like CS Forester's books or the Aubrey/Maturin novels).

This is one of my favorite in the series. I hope you enjoy.
(also the book came quickly and as advertised)

The Short Victorious War (1994) is the third SF novel in the Honor Harrington series, following [[ASIN:0671721720 The Honor of the Queen]]. The initial volume in this sequence is [[ASIN:0743435710 On Basilisk Station]].

In the previous volume, the Fearless was undergoing yard maintenance. She had a flaky beta node that needed replacement. The yard officers preferred to defer such an expensive and difficult job. Honor was not going to leave without a replacement.

When the Fearless left the yards, Honor hosted a recommissioning party. She had learned how to handle such social affairs, but she still wasn't comfortable in that role. She was mingling with her guests.

Ally teased Honor about Andreas. She mentioned that Honor was missing a great opportunity for an affair with her XO. Honor pointed out the regulations forbidding such affairs with others in her line of command. Alfred agreed with Honor.

Courvosier cut Honor out of the herd for some private time. He provided more information on her next mission. He also chided Honor about her aversion to diplomacy.

In this novel, Honor Harrington is a Captain (Senior Grade) in the Royal Manticoran Navy. She had commanded of a heavy cruiser -- the HMS Fearless -- in combat against the Peeps. Yet Honor was badly injured in battle.

Nimitz is a treecat, a native of Sphinx. He is bonded with Honor.

Alfred and Allison Harrington are Honor's parents. Alfred is a retired RMN medical officer. Ally is a genetic surgeon. They are both respected physicians on Sphinx. He is Honor's primary surgeon.

MacGuiness is a Senior Chief Steward in the RMN. Mac has been Honor's steward for some time and believes that nothing should interrupt her meals.

James Bowie Webster is a fleet Admiral in the RMN. He is the first space lord, but is being rotated in two months.

Hamish Alexander is the Earl of White Haven and an Admiral in the RMN. He is probably the most experienced admiral in the RMN.

Jim Parks is a Vice Admiral in the RMN. He is a thinker and sometimes talks himself into a situation.

Michelle Henke is a Commander in the RMN. Mike is Honor's Executive Officer on the Nike. She is a cousin of the queen and fifth in line for the throne. Yet she never makes use of her connections.

Fritz Montova is a Surgeon Commander in the RMN. He had saved Honor's eye until her father could replace it with a biotechnical version.

Ivan Ravicz is a Commander in the RMN. He is the engineering officer aboard the Nike.

Chandler is a Commander in the RMN. She is the tac officer on the Nike.

Monet is a Lieutenant Commander in the RMN. He is the com officer on the Nike.

Odelli is a Lieutenant Commander in the RMN. He is the astrogator on the Nike.

Jasper is a Lieutenant Commander in the RMN. He is the logistic officer on the Nike.

Klein is a Lieutenant Colonel in the RMN. He commands the Marines on Nike.

Pavel Young is a Captain in the RMN. He has been pulling punishment details for years.

Sidney Harris is the Hereditary President of the Republic of Haven. He is the most hated man in Haven.

Constance Palmer-Levy is Secretary of Security for the People's Republic of Haven. She is in charge of investigating and disappearing people.

Elaine Dumarest is Secretary of War of the People's Republic. She would like to arrest everybody in the Citizens' Rights Union.

Walter Frankel had been Secretary of the Economy for the People's Republic. He has recently been assassinated.

Robert Stanton Pierre is the most powerful Dolist Manager in the Republic. Rob is the current speaker of the People's Quorum.

In this story, Harris has a short staff meeting. Constance reports the lack of progress on the Frankel assassination. Elaine is deeply disgusted with her report. The CRU is suspected in the murder.

Constance is worried that Rob has been talking with the CRP, the political wing of the CRU. He probably was not involved in the assassination, but may have known of the planning. Harris ordered Palmer-Levy to check for his involvement.

Honor is taking medical leave to cure the wounds and to get acclimated to her new eye. This is the third eye she has tried. It is a marvel of biotechnology and her father tells her that it will provide most of the functions of her lost eye. It just takes practice to get used to it.

She is comes in from hang-gliding to discover that Mac has been trying to contact her, but she has intentionally left her com at home. She has a letter from the Navy. Honor opens the letter to find that BuMed has been cleared her for active duty. She tells Mac to open a bottle of her father's scotch.

Honor is assigned to the battlecruiser HMS Nike. She is worried about commanding the new ship. She, Nimitz and Mac report to the ship nearing completion on HMSS Hephaestus. Honor is pleased to see Mike already onboard.

Montova is among Honor's officers. Mike introduces Honor to Ravicz, Chandler, Monet, Odelli, Jasper, and Klein as she comes aboard. These are Honor's staff. She invites them to dine with her that evening.

Webster is meeting Hamish for his recommendations on replacements among the station commanders. Given the situation with the Peeps, Webster wants the best commander at each station. They concentrate on the the command of Hancock Station and decide on Parks.

After deciding who will command Hancock station, Hamish brings up Honor. She has a problem with the psychs. They are afraid that she has survivor guilt. But the space lords are throwing her back into action.

Honor has some problems. Pavel is out to get her. And the House of Lords are against her.

This tale has Rob assassinating Harris. Everybody else thinks the PR Navy did it. Rob easily slides into rule of the People's Republic. He immediately purges the Navy of the worst -- and best -- admirals and starts preparing for war.

Honor is already prepare for war. The next installment in this sequence is [[ASIN:0743435753 Flag in Exile]].

Highly recommended for Weber fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of naval combat, political intrigue, and incompetent officers. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

The vast majority of this novel is devoted to development. The characters on one side, the Havenites, are preparing a massed attack against the Republic of Manticore. Their hope is for a devastating strike that quickly forces the Republic to sue for peace. Complete with feints, spying, deception, strategies and counter-strategies, the plot becomes unwieldy.

Meanwhile Dame Honor has been promoted and given command of one of Manticore's newest ships. Unfortunately her ship is damaged during its first trial and requires several months worth of repairs. The months in dock allows her to pursue her first ever romantic relationship, which comes as a bit of an odd note for an attractive woman in her 40s.

The leadup to the action consumes too much of the novel. There are seemingly hundreds of minor characters who appear and disappear. Characters that haven't been encountered appear, participate in a brief space battle, and then disappear back into the fictional ether. The author attempts to describe the viewpoint of both sides' command structure in excruciating detail.

The actual climax of all this plotting and maneuvering is too short. The space battle which has been looming takes place within the span of a chapter or two. After the battle the Manticoran forces quickly repulse the Haven navy with hardly a description of any engagements.

The plot develops too slowly, there are too many minor characters with no purpose, the climax is too brief, and the romance which is supposed to humanize the main character is poorly described and unrealistic. This novel barely managed to hold my interest enough to complete. Also in what military does a commanding officer go everywhere on their vessel with a pet in tow? Two stars.

The third installment of the Honor Harrington series, although not as good as the first, is a marked improvement over the second. The gratuitous techno-babble that made The Honor of the Queen nearly unreadable was almost entirely absent from the narrative and confined to the appendices--just as it should be. There is also a well thought out and very engaging military drama going on. The book held my interest all the way through.

However, there is one glaring weakness, namely Honor Harrington. The depiction of the series title character failed in two important ways:

1) Honor Harrington was NOT the central character of this book. She appeared in very few scenes and had very little to do with the main action of the book. There were no central characters in this novel, it lacked an emotional focal point. If you don't find political intrigue or battle narratives interesting in and of themselves, you'd have absolutely no reason to care about anything happening in the story.

2) The scenes that did feature Harrington land somewhere between offensive and ridiculous. The vast majority of them deal with Harrington's self-esteem issues and ugly duckling complex. A male character of similar age and experience would NEVER be depicted angsting about how he's not pretty. Weber attributing this to a supposedly strong female character is at least wildly implausible and could be construed as insulting to women.

Basically, if you're looking for big space battles and some political wrangling, but not much in the way of character development, you might enjoy this one.

If you're looking for a character driven book or one with a strong female character--stay far, far away.

This is the third installment of David Weber's Honor Harrington series. That being established, The Short Victorious War is not the best book in the series. Much like a hammock, it holds up well at both ends and sags in the middle. Spoilers follow.

The overall premise of the book (summed up nicely by the summary on the back of the book) is interesting, if not a bit predictable. The People's Republic of Haven, facing a possible revolution by the disgruntled masses, has decided to unite its people under a victorious war. Unfortunately, they choose the Star Kingdom of Manticore as their opponents...not a particularly wise idea on their part since Manticore is superior to them in many ways. The war that is started is hardly victorious and most likely won't be short.

The beginning of the book is fantastic. We get to see how everything is being set up and planned for from both sides of this war. We also get to visit some of our favourite characters and see what they're up to. Honor is in command of the HMS Nike, one of the best ships in the Royal Manticoran Navy, and ends up becoming the Flag Captain for Admiral Sarnow. Some intriguing new characters are introduced as well, such as Michelle "Mike" Henke and Paul Tankersley. The end of the novel is also a pleasure to read with action packed space battles and a back-and-forth style of writing that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat throughout these battles.

The middle of the book, however, lagged a great deal. Most of it is taken up with the characters anticipating the big event (the offensive strike the "Peeps" are predicted to deliver) and the political goings-on of the Republic of Haven. While these things are important, they don't make for exciting reading. In fact, it was rather difficult to get through at times. However, the struggle ended up being worth it.

The Short Victorious War seems different from the previous two books of the series. This might be because, unlike the first two books, Honor isn't the focus of the novel. Yes, she probably receives more "screen-time" and character development than any other character, but the main focus of the book is the political inner workings of Haven and Manticore and the brutal war that is on the horizon.

Character development wise, we get to see Honor Harrington evolve into a real, able to relate to character. She gains a love interest in the form of Paul Tankersley and is forced to face old memories with the return of Lord Pavel Young (who, despite his dishonourable actions on Basilisk Station, doesn't seem to be too interested in advancing his career). As in previous books, Nimitz and his relationship with Honor added a certain "fun" dimension to the parts of the story that concerned Honor. Like in the previous books, Honor manages to defy the odds and gain another victory for Manticore, which will most likely aid her in climbing the naval career ladder.

I have a few complaints regarding the book. The first is that there are far too many characters to remember. I was constantly having to flip back to see what this character had done previously or what that character had to do with anything. A character list with names and a brief description either at the end or beginning of the book would be really helpful, as trying to remember all of the characters can be both confusing and distracting. On that same line of thought is the constant use of acronyms. Like with the characters, it's almost impossible to remember what all of the acronyms stand for...a list of those included somewhere would also be helpful. On another, slightly less important note, the actual romance between Honor and Tankersley reminded me of the kind found in a young adult novel. Romance definitely isn't Weber's strong point, as the whole thing was just a little too convenient. However, since this isn't a romance based book, I suppose it really isn't that important.

Overall, I would recommend that fans of David Weber and/or of the Honor Harrington series read this book, as it contains information and events that I'm sure will play and important role in future books. But, if you're new to the Honorverse, I'd suggest starting with On Basilisk Station.

The third book in the series, this book keeps up the tradition set by the first two. Although it does have some points where it drops off, it is an all around good read.

Honor continues to be one of the strongest and most interesting female characters I have read in a long time. With the addition of a love interest (from a rather unexpected location), they have fleshed her out from more then just a futuristic warrior into something more human. Most of the characters who have been kept are equally as interesting to read about.

One of the problems this series has is the incompetent ally/enemy. There are times when characters like, like Young and several others, make un-believable actions. It is hard to believe that these people would be this foolish and petty. Not that I am being naive, I do know how petty people can be, but these people make near fatal and equally obvious mistakes. Weber has a problem making his black hats a bit to blatantly evil, and way to dumb.

It was nice to see the Haven political intrigue. A marvelous updating of "the tennis court" plot, Weber continues to use interesting pieces of our history to punch up his story. I still think this is one of the strengths of this series.

The two major Weber problems both creep into this book as well. Characters spend long periods of time explaining things to each other, and there is a tremendous amount of background, digressions, and explanations in technical areas of combat that are better skimmed then read.

All that being said, this is an excellent book and both it and the series are well worth the read.

"The Short Victorious War" is the third book in a wonderful space opera series set some three thousand years in the future and featuring David Weber's best fictional heroine, "Honor Harrington." The books are best read in sequence and I strongly recommend that you start with "On Basilisk Station" which is the first one.

The title is, of course, highly ironic. Weber explains at the start of the book that it comes from a comment from the Russian Minister of the Interior to their Minister of War in 1903, "What this country needs is a short victorious war to stem the tide of revolution."

So the Russians attacked Japan, got their backsides well and truly kicked by the Japanese Navy, and set off the 1905 Russian Revolution.

However, the main parallels in this book are not with the Russo-Japanese war, but with those of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. In particular, the Royal Manticoran Navy in which the heroine services is clearly based on the Royal Navy at the time of Nelson.

The technology of space travel and naval warfare in the Honor Harrington stories has been written so as to impose tactical and strategic constraints on space navy officers similar to those which the technology of fighting sail imposed on wet navy officers two hundred years ago. Similarly the galactic situation in the novels contains many similarities to the strategic and political situation in European history in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

This seems to be quite deliberate: many thinly veiled (and amusing) hints in the books indicate that they are to some extent a tribute to C.S. Forester, while the main heroine of the books, Honor Harrington, appears to owe more than just her initials to C.S. Forester's character "Horatio Hornblower."

During the first two books in the series it was made clear that Honor Harrington and most of the other sympathetic characters in Manticore expect within their lifetimes to have to fight a war against the People's Republic of Haven or "Peeps" - an agressive superpower which has been gradually conquering the small nations on it's borders in bitesize chunks. In the first chapter of this book, the Peep government decides it's time to launch that war.

Meanwhile Honor Harrington is given command of the Battlecruiser HMS Nike and made Flag Captain to an admiral who is second in command of the fleet at Hancock, one of the most important points in Manticore's defensive alliance. So when the war starts she is bound to be in the thick of the action. This is also one of the few books when she finds a little time for a romance.

A few more important characters are also introduced in this book. One of the early Havenite attacks is commanded by an Admiral Pierre, whose father, Rob S. Pierre is to be an important figure in future books. Another is directed against a convoy whose escort is commanded by Captain Helen Zilwicki. Her husband Anton and four year old daughter, also called Helen, are on board one of the ships of the convoy and also play important roles in future Honorverse books.

Another great story with strong and believable characters, brilliantly described space battles, and good explanations of how the tactical situations in which the characters find themselves relate both to the technology their ships use and the political dynamics which set up the conflicts between them.

Many people read Weber for the space battles, and most of the battles in "The short victorious war" are excellent. Dave Weber sometimes writes a bit too much like the wargame designer he once was, and this book starts to demonstrate that problem, but in general the battles are grippingly described and plausible.

One other feature in this book is a 16 page annex at the end with a lot of technical detail about how the assumed space travel and technology works in the series, with such details as how big a battlecruiser as opposed to a superdreadnaught is. Space warfare anoraks, or anyone interested in understanding how, for example, a single dreadnaught wipes out four battlecruisers in a quarter of a second during the course of the book, can read it: those who are not particularly interested in that sort of detail can give it a miss.

At the time of writing there are thirteen full length novels and four short story collections in the "Honorverse" as the fictional galaxy in which these stories are set is sometimes known. The main series which tells the story of Honor Harrington herself currently runs to eleven novels; in order these are

On Basilisk Station
The Honor of the Queen
The Short Victorious War
Field of Dishonour
Flag in Exile
Honor among Enemies
In Enemy Hands
Echoes of Honor
Ashes of Victory
War of Honor
At All Costs

The four collections of short stories set in the same universe, not all of which feature Honor Harrington herself, are

More Than Honor
Worlds of Honor
Worlds of Honor III: Changer of Worlds
Worlds of Honor IV: The Service of the Sword

The two spin-off novels are "Crown of Slaves" (with Eric Flint) which is a story of espionage and intrigue featuring a number of characters, including Anton and Helen Zilwicki, first introduced in earlier Honor Harrington books such as this one, and "The Shadow of Saganami" which is a kind of "next generation" novel featuring a number of younger officers in the navies of Manticore and her ally Grayson.

For amusement, if you want to try to look for the parallels to nations and individuals from the French revolutionary period and the Hornblower books, one possible translation would be:

People's Republic of Haven = France
Star Kingdom of Manticore = Great Britain
Gryphon = Scotland
Grayson = Portugal

Prime Minister Alan Summervale = Pitt the Younger
Hamish Alexander, later Earl White Haven = Admiral Edward Pellew
Honor Harrington = Horatio Hornblower
Alistair McKeon = William Bush

Crown loyalists and Centrists = Tory supporters of Pitt
Conservative Association = isolationist/hardline High Tories
New Kiev Liberals = Whig Oligarchists
Progressives and traditional liberals = Whig radicals

Legislaturist rulers of Haven = Bourbon monarchy and nobles in France
Rob S. Pierre = Robespierre
Committee of Public Safety = Committee of Public Safety

Anderman Empire = Kingdom of Prussia
Silesia = Poland
Solarian republic = United States of America

Wall of Battle = Line of Battle
Ship of the Wall = Ship of the Line
Battleship = "4th rate" sailing warship (in each case too small to form part of the main force in a fleet action, but powerful enough to defeat anything else.)
Battlecruiser = frigate (5th rate)
Cruisers and destroyers = 6th rate and smaller warships.