Book Review: On Basilisk Station by David Weber

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington #1) by David Weber

Honor Harrington is an up-and-coming captain stuck with an impossible task during training exercises. The Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN) has invested in a new sort of weapon that only works at short range but is devastating. After a brilliant first use of the weapon, her ship, the Fearless, is targeted for the rest of the exercise, taking a moral pounding in addition to the virtual pounding. If that wasn't bad enough, the initial victory humiliated a politically-connected higher up who has Harrington assigned to Basilisk Station. It is a backwater system with iron-age natives. Basilisk System is important, however, as a jumping-off point for interstellar travel, so a good deal of commerce passes through. The RMN is supposed to work with the local government to keep an eye on things. But everyone in the RMN knows it's a hellhole where incompetent commanders are punished. Those commanders have shirked their duties and let a lot of enforcement slide. The current commander at Basilisk sees his opportunity to dump the duties on Harrington and promptly departs with his ship for a refit back on the homeworld.  She is left as ranking officer of the RMN at Basilisk.

The situation changes as Harrington is not an incompetent commander and sets about restoring order in the system. Her crew prepares some limited defenses and traffic monitoring. They actually start inspecting cargoes, discovering a lot of smuggling and other illegal activities going on. The local government is delighted that someone is taking them seriously. But the smugglers and people from other star systems using the station are much less enthused. Also, there's a mysterious conspiracy involving the natives.

The story is a science fiction military drama focused on Harrington has a heroic young officer. She is an admirable character, clever and compassionate. She reads situations well and has the intestinal fortitude to win out the day. The combination of sci fi and military means there's a lot of detailed descriptions of the made-up technologies and planetary systems. The overarching political situation also weighs in on the story, giving a lot of background information that is less engaging than the present-day story. Harrington is so likable and the action, when it picks up in the second half, is so exciting, I enjoyed the book a lot and will try more in the Honor Harrington series.

Recommended.