"On Basilisk Station" by David Weber [Review]

On Basilisk Station by David Weber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On Basilisk Station is about Honor Harrington, the new commander of a future warship called Fearless. On her first command, Honor discovers her ship has been fitted with an experimental weapon that she's forced to use in wargames which leaves her humiliated. For her failure, she's banished to a supposed backwater post called Basilisk Station where Honor and her crew uncover a conspiracy that threatens her government.


First of all, I have to say that Weber has done an amazing job at world-building. On Basilisk Station has the most detailed and fully-developed world I've seen in a science fiction novel since Dune. Not only is the galaxy divided between warring governments, but each of those governments has their own rules, laws and even political parties within them. Honor spends almost as much time negotiating the conflicts and warring factions of her own government than enemy nations and aliens. There are also moments where we see protocols and superstitions, and mention of other events happening in the past and present of the Honorverse. All the futuristic technology they work with have rules to how they function and feel real. There's even a lot of detail about Honor's empathic pet alien Nimitz, including his love of celery.

Next, let's talk about the actual story, which is compelling. It starts out as a story of a new and uncertain commander trying to earn the respect of her frustrated crew. As she begins learning about her new post, Honor and her staff discover Basilisk is rife with corruption and the aliens on a nearby planet seem to be involved somehow. The story shifts to a mystery about what's really going on at Basilisk and why. By the end, the novel becomes more of an adventure novel as Honor's enemies turn to murder to try to stop her. The story climaxes with a long and nail-biting space battle between the Fearless and a far more powerful force.

The characters aren't fully developed, but they are good. We don't learn much about who the crew is and where they came from, but they're not the strong, heroic cookie-cutter crew we often see on "Star Trek" either. The executive officer is bitter about losing command of the Fearless to Honor, the doctor is lazy and wants to give all her work to someone else, etc.

The only flaws in On Basilisk Station are those common to a lot of "Star Trek" and other space combat stories. For one, the novel is heavy on people sitting around talking about things instead of actually doing something. I'd say 90 percent of the novel consists of two or more characters sitting or standing in a room having a conversation. While there's a lot of drama and tension to be had there, if you're looking for an action-packed thrill ride, you'd be sadly mistaken. Also, the novel is heavy on technobabble where people talk about impellers and magnetic bottles as if their life depended on it and as if we know what they're talking about.

Another critique is that the novel spends an unnecessary amount of time talking about how unattractive Honor is. Needless to say, no other characters (particularly males) get as much time devoted to their appearance. It's a minor point, but it stands out because it's the only flaw in the otherwise excellent depiction of strong female characters.

On Basilisk Station is the first in the Honorverse series, a long-running epic which revolves around Honor and the coming war. After reading this excellent book, I'm looking forward to reading more of her adventures.

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