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On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington #1) Hardcover – February 1, 1999

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David Weber (Author)
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David Weber (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 1,124 customer reviews
Book 1 of 14 in the Honor Harrington Series
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Baen; 1st hardcover ed edition (February 1, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 067157793X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0671577933
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,124 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #555,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsKicks off a truly magnificent series - read this one first
By Marshall Lord TOP 1000 REVIEWER on November 16, 2006
Format: Mass Market Paperback
"On Basilisk Station" is the first book in a truly wonderful space opera series about a space navy set 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 this one.

Despite the futuristic setting, there are strong parallels with Nelson's navy, particularly during the first few books in the series. The assumed technology in the first five Honor Harrington stories imposes constraints on space navy officers similar to those which the technology of fighting sail imposed on wet navy officers two hundred years ago. And the galactic situation in the first eleven novels contains strong similarities to the strategic and political situation in European history at the time of the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

This seems to be quite deliberate: a number of 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 be a mix of Admiral Horatio Nelson and C.S. Forester's character "Horatio Hornblower."

As we go through the series the pressure of conflict spurs technological advance and the introduction of new weapos and ship types so that the parallels with Nelson's navy are gradually repaced by similarities with later periods: and after a huge battle in book eeven, "At All Costs" which has parallels with Trafagar, the "Nelson v. Napoleon in space" plot is gradually succeeded by an entirely different storyline with new allies and enemies.

In this first book of the series, the newly promoted Commander Honor Harrington takes up her first command of a significant fleet unit, the old light cruiser "H.M.S.Read more ›
6 Comments 130 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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4.0 out of 5 starsA series you may like
By Andrew X. Lias on February 20, 2001
Format: Hardcover
Rather than review this particular book, I thought that I'd give a capsul review of the series, as a whole. Given that, if you do like this one, you're in for a long haul, I thought that this would be fair.
First of all, the Harrington series stands at the intersection of two genres: space opera and military SF. Space Opera is a style of story with interstellar vistas, larger than life characters and situations, and (typically, and especially in this case) more than a dash of melodrama. Military SF is a sub-genre of science fiction that concentrates its focus on the details of high-tech conflict -- think Tom Clancy in space. The first warning is that if either of these styles of fiction turn you off, you probably won't like these books.
The writing style of Mr. Weber is servicable for the type of story he's telling. He's very good at writing action sequences, and providing you villains to hate, and jerking a tear or two, and at compelling you to keep turning the pages of his stories. His work, however, does not constitute high art. It's not what I would call low-brow, either, but I think that it is fair to describe it as relatively unsophisticated. In particular, he writes characters that are, on the whole, somewhat flat, often substituting emotional charge for true characterization. If you want more than that out of a book, these aren't for you, either.
I should note that the books are deliberately written to echo the Horatio Hornblower stories and that there are many clever parallels between the future kingdoms of the novels and the historical conflict between France and the allied nations during the Napoleonic era. History a literature buffs may get a kick out of this, but it should be noted that it isn't an exceptionally sophisticated set of parallels.Read more ›
4 Comments 204 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsSuccess is its own Punishment
By John A Lee III on April 28, 2005
Format: Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase
What happens when you are given command of a ship that has been "gutted" in a naval experiment and are sent out to wargame against the big boys? Furthermore, what happens when you use your new system to take them all by surprise, ONCE, and then get demolished each time after that because everyone is now ready for the trick? Just to make matters worse, you embarass the admiral who came up with the one time gimmick. The answer is that you get sent off to a post no one wants where you will be out of sight and out of mind. That's what happens to Honor.

Honor's task is virtually impossible and her enemies want her to fail. She dissapoints them in that she succeeds magnificnetly. Along the way, she becomes a naval hero in the tradition of Horatio Hornblower.

Weber does a great job adapting the institutions of the Royal Navy from the Napoleonic wars into space opera. This is true in terms of politics and culture as well as in strategy and tactics. In its context, it is believable and fun.

No one should expect a lesson in physics. That is not what this story is about. Instead, it is about, courage, leadership and, yes, Honor. It is a fun read and I am looking forward to the reset of the series.
Comment 41 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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3.0 out of 5 starsMilitary SF for the technology-minded readers
By A. Ryan on November 21, 2002
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Disclaimer: I am a reader who heavily prefers her SF to focus on humans over hardware(this is simply a reflection of my status as an impoverished low-techie who can't afford good stuff in this universe, either, and so would rather not pine for otherworldly stuff in her reading). I have come to understand in the last few years that a third broadly generalized type of SF fan exists, who loves the military/space battle aspect of SF -- which I am also not, due to ignorance of military matters in this century. So, you are now well-equipped to see where my point of view is coming from in my rating here.
On Basilisk Station is the first in the Honor Harrington series, of which I have currently read three. Honor is a newly promoted captain, beautiful, athletic and talented, whose first posting on the ship HMS Fearless at the disreputable Basilisk Station is a punishment for causing a high-ranking officer to lose face. The punishment is really in the impossible situation, in which the Fearless is to be responsible for singlehandedly guarding the entire system there, where there should be several such ships to do that job. In a nutshell, Honor rises to the challenge and makes the best of a bad situation by some innovative patrol scheduling. Her deft handling of other tricky problems and unexpectedly saving the Manticoran fleet from losing a war gains her honor and respect among her crew and her far-off superiors.
I have heard the Honor Harrington series compared to other SF series dealing with space battles, but the reason I picked up On Basilisk Station is that Weber's books were often recommended for those who like Bujold's Vorkosigan novels. Not likely.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsTimeless Space Opera...

...with amazing military action and details. Fans of military fiction will appreciate the nuances. This entire series is well worth the read.

Published 1 day ago by Miki
5.0 out of 5 starsonly better. Honor Harrington is the Naval Officer that ALL ...

David Weber takes C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and sets him amongst the stars, only better. Honor Harrington is the Naval Officer that ALL Naval officers only dream of... Read more

Published 2 days ago by Cheryl I. R. Ano
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

excellent story and character development. love the whole series along with the spinoffs.

Published 3 days ago by BENNY NASH
4.0 out of 5 starsYou don't have to have read the one to enjoy the other

Mr Weber has obviously been deeply inspired by CS Forester's valiant hero, Hornblower.
The similarities are all over, even down to the initials of both heroes ( heroine),... Read more

Published 4 days ago by Johan Leufstadius
5.0 out of 5 starsThe best space si-fi naval action ever

The best space si-fi naval action ever. Empire building at the personnel level. You read the stories and you wish you had leaders like this in real life. Read more

Published 9 days ago by Karl B Soderholtz
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent story. Not too political like he gets in ...

Excellent story. Not too political like he gets in his later works. Good action, well written, good character development. Recommended.

Published 9 days ago by Patti
5.0 out of 5 starsthis book has been issued more than three times I know because its...

Here you will find a FEMALE character in Sci-fi novel worthy of a movie series. Yes we know she will win in the end,get over that. Read more

Published 10 days ago by kevin huber
5.0 out of 5 starsMarvelous kickoff for a good series.

This is not the first time through this book. Good writing makes for great reading. The ONLY criticism of this series is the author's pushing of a forced morality statement later... Read more

Published 15 days ago by James H. Hood
5.0 out of 5 starsthis was recommended by a friend

The first in the Honor Harrington series, this was recommended by a friend, and now I am hooked. I've read the first three stories and still have the feeling of needing to know... Read more

Published 16 days ago by Cindy C.
5.0 out of 5 starsAwesome

Honor Harrington is believable. She is someone I would like to know. I can't wait to continue the series. Best space series I've read

Published 17 days ago by April Mosier

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