Customer Reviews

Field of Dishonor (Honor Harrington Series)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

David Weber's books just keep getting better and better! Here's the fourth book of the series, and Honor Harrington must fight on a different battlefield.

Honor returns from Hancock Station (The Short Victorious War), transporting Captain Lord Pavel Young, who stands accused of cowardice in the face of the enemy. If found guilty, the sentence is death. However, through surprising twists and turns, someone else dies first.

Honor takes a sabbatical for a while, as her command, HMS Nike, is in the slips for major overhaul and refitting following the pounding she received at the hands of the Peeps. She returns to Grayson to take up her duties as Steadholder. When her former executive officer stops by, she receives news that causes her to hot-foot it back to Manticore. What happens next is the tale of her courageous fight for justice in the face of political intrigue and compromise, and how that same compromise winds up treating her even more unfairly than any enemy action.

Read it. Honor's legend keeps growing, and it is well justified. What keeps me reading, more than anything else, is that she continues to be a very real and sometimes vulnerable person, despite a record of achievement that is reaching mythic proportions. Did I say read it? No, absorb it, dwell in it. In an earlier review I said that, speaking as a sailor myself, Honor is the kind of CO I want to work for. I'll go farther - Honor's the kind of CO I'd kill for and die for. 'Nuff said.

While the previous three Honor novels are driven by battles and the PRH, Field of Dishonor is planted firmly in Manticore's political arena. The characters are the same, but the fighting takes on a different direction. This novel shows Honor finally growing up as a public person.

Honor is thrown in the deep end of the shark tank when her long term adversry Pavel Young is court martialed. His smallness and obsession to destroy Honor move the book forward. In contrast, Honor's people stand in the gap for her, in order to level the playing field. Class warfare is in definite evidence here.

This book, more than the previous ones has a strongly "British" flavor. At times, it is anachronistic, but somehow works.

As part of the series, it's a "must read". Some men may find it to be too much of a "Chick" book.

But, for all of us women who have screamed at the movie screen for the girl to kill the thug attacking her boyfriend, this book is a true validation of our full femininity. We can be powerful both professionally and physically. We can beat the ones that come after our loved ones. But we still bleed.

If you have been reading the series up to this point (good idea), this will be a departure from the spaceship combat and naval operations focus we've had so far.

To my mind, this is the book where Honor finally becomes a fully developed character: we see how she behaves when pushed to personal extremis. It is a story of transition for her; her naval career will never be the same. Readers cynical about politics and politicians will find themselves scowling a lot as the story unfolds; those who are not yet cynical will probably be nudged that direction. Honor's stolidly loyal Grayson armsmen, very important characters through the rest of the series, are first developed here.

Strong drama, good characters, and a willingness to radically change the circumstances of the protagonist are all Weber strong points, and all are present. I can honestly say that none of the books so far has been the same as any other. Highly recommended.

After the last book, I thought this series would be winding down. I gave it only 4 stars. This one is back up to five only because six is not an option. I consider it the best so far.

Unlike the previous book, this one is driven much more by the strong characters and motivations. It is hard to have that kind of drive with task force level confrontation (the last volume) but is is here in plenty. What could be more personal than the ugly world of politics and duelling?

As usual, Weber did a superb job of adapting Napoleonic era customs and naval practice to space opera. This time, however, the fighting sail of the line have not been transposed into the "wall of battle". Instead, the villainy and corruption of court politics and petty intrigue have been transposed by a thousand years and have been found to be just as sickening. The heroine does the right thing, always the right thing, and does so only because all of the institutions of her society have failed her. As a result, she continues to do the "right thing" and is pilloried for it. When she comes back, as she doubtless must do (judging by the books I have yet to read), she is going to come back with blood in her eye and I think Manticore and "the peeps" had better watch out.

My only regret is that the next volume in the series is sitting on a table at home and is not with me. I have to wait 4 more days to return home and begin it. It will be a slow 4 days.

This one is a one sitting read.

Sure, this wasn't one of the best Honor books, but it was still good. In case some of you people don't know....this is the fourth part of a series. A series. I hate it when people pick a volume dead center between the first book and the most current book, then tear it apart saying how they don't get it, and how stupid it was. I mean, you talk about bad characterization. The readers are supposed to know the characters. We've been with them for 3 previous adventures. ~rolls eyes~ If you want to start with Honor, Great! But, start with Book #1.

I was disheartened about this book before even picking it up. My first port of call was Amazon to read the reviews on the book. Numerous reviews made mention of the lack of Space Battles in the forth of the Honor Harrington saga. I'm reading these books for a Sci Fi, lasers flash'n, ships exploding, the good guys always win, fix.

I knew I wasn't going to get it with this installment.

This was the first book in 15 years that I read in a day. I couldn't put it down (having to surrender myself to the wrath of my disgruntled ignored wife afterwards).

This book starts to really show how much the characters are developing in the series, and how much the reader starts to care for the main players.

Might have to read the thing again whilst I wait for the 5th book to arrive from the States :)

David Weber provides great space opera once again in Field of Dishonor, the fourth offering in his highly entertaining Honor Harrington series. This book moves from space battles to the political arena. Honor's old naval nemesis, Captain Lord Pavel Young, is court martialed for cowardice in the face of the enemy. Yet Young remains to determined to seek vengeance for every indignity he feels he has suffered because of Honor. He plans the death of her lover. The events which unfold have a significant impact on the Honor Harrington series as they change the course of Honor's life and career. FoD provides a solid plot with strong characters and delivers 416 pages of solid space opera. I thoroughly enjoyed Field of Dishonor, and I am now enjoying Flag in Exile (Book Five), and look forward to reading yet further adventures of David Weber's Honor Harrington series.

This is certainly my favorite book of the entire series. One of the things that I love about this series is that the author doesn't pull his punches when it comes to dealing blows to the main character. And this book shows that more than any other! This book had me in tears more than a few times. A truely excellent read, and one I had trouble putting down!

Excellent book, great read. Space version of Horatio Hornblower. This book is probably the Darkest of the series and I would say Honor really hits bottom in this book. It shows how cold a hero can get when they hit bottom and the friends who will walk through hell for them just to help even the score. Again good book, and a great read.

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, I found them all to be equally compelling. I must say though, that this novel in the series was probably my least favorite of them all. Now, I want one of those cats! (read the book to find out what I mean!)