[YAWN] The Honorverse

Is it me, or is David Weber’s Honor Harrington series contain a heavy dose of valium within its pages?

I’m struggling to slog through the second book in the series, Honor of the Queen, after managing to successfully navigate On Basilisk Station. I’d picked up several of these books at a recent library book sale after hearing several friends go on (and on and on and on) about how great they were, so I was a bit expectant and excited.

Instead, I’ve been bored. They have, at least, helped me fall asleep at night.

I get the fact that Honor is an amalgamation of Lord Nelson and the fictional Horatio Hornblower, among other real and fictional British Navy characters. But honestly….[yawn]

The narrative bogs down a lot in the detailing of the universe’s various political factions, factions-within-factions, and the sci-fi science of faster-than-light travel and fictional physics. While I’m all for political intrigue, if I wanted this level of modulated monotony I’d go up the street and wander the halls of the Senate. And I’ll pass on the science lessons, thanks. I really don’t care how impeller wedges work and “riding the gravity waves” caused a revolution on FTL theory.

It’s sad – I had high hopes after sucking down Weber’s trilogy he co-wrote with Steve White in the Starfire universe. But honestly, the Harrington series reads more of a plodding one-off of those books (Insurrection, Crusade, In Death Ground) than anything really and truly interesting.

Unless someone can really sell me on the series, I’m most likely going to give up on it. I can’t get excited about the series at all; when I cast about looking for a Star Wars or Crichton novel to re-read, that’s a Big Red Flag in my book. So, if you want to save Honor from defeat at my hands, have at it in comments. I’m willing to listen.