Echoes of Honor (Honorverse) [Hardcover]

This is number eight in David Weber's main series of novels about Honor Harrington. It is the only "Honorverse" book describing events in the heroine's career which so closely correspond to the events of a particular "Horatio Hornblower" novel by C.S. Forester that an exact match can be given; this book is equivalent to "Flying Colours."

If you have not read any of David Weber's other books about Honor Harrington: this book is part of a series of space opera novels set two thousand years in the future. If you want to start reading these books, "Echoes of Honor" is not the best place to begin: these stories work best if read in sequence, so start with the first book, which is "On Basilisk Station (Honorverse)."

Despite the futuristic setting, there are strong parallels with Nelson's navy. Assumed technology in the stories imposes constraints on space navy officers quite similar to those which the capabilities of fighting sail warships imposed on wet navy officers two hundred years ago. Similarly, the galactic situation in the novels has distinct similarities to the strategic and political situation in Europe at the time of the French revolutionary wars.

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

The Honor Harrington series (sometimes nicknamed the "Honorverse") has developed a number of spin-off storylines. Stories set in this Universe fall into five groups, although they link together in a reasonably consistent manner.

There is the main sequence, currently of 12 novels, which follow the career of Honor Harrington herself and give a top level view of the wars between her home nation, "The Star Kingdon of Manticore" and hostile nations such as the People's Republic of Haven (or "Peeps"). The main Honor Harrington sequence is:

1) On Basilisk Station
2) The Honor of the Queen
3) The Short Victorious War
4) Field of Dishonour
5) Flag in Exile
6) Honor among Enemies
7) In Enemy Hands
8) Echoes of Honor
9) Ashes of Victory
10) War of Honor
11) At All Costs
12) Mission of Honor

There are currently five collections in the "Worlds of Honor" series of short stories by Weber and co-authors set in the same universe, and featuring a range of characters, some from the main series of books, others new.

A spin off series is about to be lauched set a few hundred years earlier, in which the main character is Stephanie Harrington, a member of an earlier generation of Honor Harrington's family. The first book in this series will be A Beautiful Friendship which is a greatly extended version of a short story by the same name in the first "Worlds of Honor" book.

Weber has produced a pair of books called "Crown of Slaves" and "Torch of Freedom," co-written with Eric Flint, which brings together several of the most prominent spies from the novels and short stories and tell the story of the battle against slavery.

"The Shadow of Saganami" and "Storm from the Shadows" feature some younger officers in the Grayson and Manticoran navies such as Helen Zilwicki and Abigail Hearns and tell the story of events in a part of the galaxy known as the Talbott quadrant.

The prologue to "Echoes of Honor" begins with Honor Harrington's horrified family watching an enemy broadcast purporting to show her execution. It's not really a spoiler, however, to say that this video has been faked, because the fact that she is actually still alive won't come as a surprise to anyone who has seen the cover of the book, especially if they have read the previous one, "In Enemy Hands."

The People's Republic of Haven is under the impression that Honor and her companions were killed when the battlecruiser on which she was being taken to a place of execution blew up. The "Peeps" thought using computer technology to fake her hanging would be better propaganda than admitting that Honor and friends had blown up a battlecruiser while attempting to escape. Things are even worse for the Peeps than they realise - the escape was successful.

In "Flying Colours" Horatio Hornblower, who had been captured after a heroic fight in the previous book, escaped while en route to execution by Napoleon, accompanied by his first lieutenant Bush and his coxwain, Brown. Their enemies and families alike think they're dead. Horatio Hornblower and his companions have a long road home through enemy territory - and meanwhile Hornblower has some important family news waiting for him if he makes it home.

In "Echoes of Honor", Honor Harrington, who had been captured at the end of a heroic fight in the previous book, has then escaped while en route to execution by the People's Republic, accompanied by her former first lieutenant Alistair McKeon and a small number of her other crew including Andrew LaFollett, Scotty Tremaine, and Horace Harkness. Their enemies and families alike think they're dead. Honor and her companions have a long road home through enemy territory - and meanwhile Honor will also have some important family news waiting for her if she makes it home ...

Some editions of this book have the subtitle "Conquer Hell or die." That's because the planet on which Honor has landed with a few companions and two shuttles is a prison planet called Hell, and it is aptly named.

The character development, as ever for David Weber, is well done, and makes you care about the people in the book. He includes references to the strengths of some of his evil characters and the weaknesses of his heroes and heroines so that the people in the book are usually believable and most of their actions and motives plausible.

Most of the battle scenes are gripping, and the particular tactical situations in this story are such that Weber's greatest weakness - the tendancy to write and think too much like a wargamer - does not apply this time. The one significant flaw in some of the other books in this series is that Weber gives his characters too much of the wargamer's willingness to treat warships up to and including capital ships as expendable to a far greater extent than is ever possible to real world commanders. That does not happen this time.

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 = Revolutionary France (with some of the worst features of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia added.)
Rob S. Pierre = Robespierre
Former Haven legislaturist regime = the Bourbon monarchy and aristocrats
Haven's S.S. (security service) = Hitler's SS (but working for Robespierre)

Star Kingdom of Manticore = Great Britain
Gryphon = Scotland
Prime Minister Alan Summervale = Pitt the Younger
Hamish Alexander, Earl White Haven = (1) Admiral Edward Pellew
and (2) Lady Barbara Wellesley
Honor Harrington = Horatio Hornblower
Alistair McKeon = William Bush

Crown loyalists and Centrists = Tory supporters of Pitt
Conservative Association = hardline High Tories
New Kiev Liberals = Whig Oligarchists
Cathy Montaigne Liberals = Whig Radicals

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

Overall, "Echoes of Honor" is one of the most moving books of the series. If you enjoyed the previous episodes in the story, you will almost certainly enjoy this.

After escaping from the clutches of Insec at the end of "In Enemy Hands" only to wind up having to land on Hell, things look pretty bleek for Honor and friends. Stuck on a planet where there's nothing to eat except what they've brought with them, down to one arm and one eye, Honor needs to get hold of a ship that can take them off planet & back to safety. On the upside though, they are on a planet full of people who have every reason to hate the current regime...

Meanwhile, Esther McQueen, the rising star on the Peeps Committee, hatches a plan to regain the initiative for the Havenites with a daring series of raids on several systems - including Basilisk. Fortunately, despite a couple of severe setbacks, the introduction of the "Harrington" class LAC carriers (the space Aircraft Carriers that Honor helped approve before being captured - despite plenty of official opposition) and Admiral White Haven's prompt action prevent the raids turning into a complete disaster.

In fact, for an Honor book there's remarkably little of her in it and those bits where she is are easily the weakest bits. Pretty much all the stuff on Hell (except the take over itself) is rather dull and very far fetched (do they really run a prison planet where the prisoners can roam free with no supervision or security cameras? I know they can't eat without their wardens providing them with food, if that's all they rely on then a well executed ambush could allow the prisoners to get hold of a shuttle - as indeed happens). In a book of over 700 pages, there's rather too much padding for my liking (having just re-read it, it's a much better book if you simply cut out most of the bits on Hell until she gets into space).

Overall, rather like the comment about Wagner's operas - it has it's moments, but some bloody awful quarter hours.

Honor and her colleagues are stuck on the Peeps' prison planet with limited food and in an ecology where they can't eat the food. But they have a big advantage - there are scads of prisoners who really *hate* the Peeps. Although still with plenty of action by Honor and her colleagues,this book also concentrates on those who have been touched by Honor, and their commands as Manticore fights off the latest Peep assaults.