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Honor Harrington #5
Flag in Exile
Struggling to deal with her lover's murder and a forced retirement, Captain Honor Harrington assumes the role of Steadholder on the planet Grayson, but a threatening uprising calls her back into duty as head of the Grayson Navy. Originally in paperback.
443 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
475 people are currently reading
1924 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
322 books4,547 followersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 425 reviews
January 21, 2014
I have a love/hate relationship with the Honor Harrington books. Why do I like them? Massive space battles and lots of action. Why do I want to throw them across the room? Almost everything else. OK. Maybe that's a little harsh, but still ... Flag in Exile is more of the same.
Honor Harrington is left to cool her heels on Grayson. She is exiled from Manticore and reduced to half pay. For her, the war is over. But events conspire to keep her busy. Reactionary conservatives on Grayson who can't imagine a woman in a man's world hatch a plot to disgrace her and, ideally, remove her from office. At the same time, a Havenite task force is set in motion for a blitzkrieg attack on Grayson that will knock the Manticore ally out of the war and strike a terrible blow against the alliance. Great stuff! When it was "on" it was "on" and I couldn't put the book down.
Unfortunately, outside of the action, the book threatened to make me stop reading it altogether. The author borrows shamelessly from history. The Honor Harrington books are basically the 1789-1815 period in space. I've reconciled myself to that. In this book the author seemed to be advocating a political position. When Rob S. Pierre the leader of the revolutionary Haven's Committee of Public Safety ruminates about how the republic fell into such bad straights I cringed. He indicated that in the desire to provide a safety net for all the people of the republic, Haven had lost it's vital essence. "Not the equality of opportunity, but of outcomes." I felt as if I was reading chapter and verse from Ayn Rand. Maybe that shouldn't bug me so much. People can believe what they want. But it bugged me. It felt simplistic.
Bottom line I give the book three and a half stars. The books are what they are. Fun at times, but aggravating at others.
Honor Harrington is left to cool her heels on Grayson. She is exiled from Manticore and reduced to half pay. For her, the war is over. But events conspire to keep her busy. Reactionary conservatives on Grayson who can't imagine a woman in a man's world hatch a plot to disgrace her and, ideally, remove her from office. At the same time, a Havenite task force is set in motion for a blitzkrieg attack on Grayson that will knock the Manticore ally out of the war and strike a terrible blow against the alliance. Great stuff! When it was "on" it was "on" and I couldn't put the book down.
Unfortunately, outside of the action, the book threatened to make me stop reading it altogether. The author borrows shamelessly from history. The Honor Harrington books are basically the 1789-1815 period in space. I've reconciled myself to that. In this book the author seemed to be advocating a political position. When Rob S. Pierre the leader of the revolutionary Haven's Committee of Public Safety ruminates about how the republic fell into such bad straights I cringed. He indicated that in the desire to provide a safety net for all the people of the republic, Haven had lost it's vital essence. "Not the equality of opportunity, but of outcomes." I felt as if I was reading chapter and verse from Ayn Rand. Maybe that shouldn't bug me so much. People can believe what they want. But it bugged me. It felt simplistic.
Bottom line I give the book three and a half stars. The books are what they are. Fun at times, but aggravating at others.
March 9, 2018
At this point in the Honor Harrington franchise, the question for readers is: “Can Weber maintain the momentum of his previous novels, or is this the start of a spiral down to formulae and predictability?”
If the following is what has kept you a reader, then you will find more of it in Flag in Exile:
“The two formations slid broadside towards one another at just under forth thousand kilometers per second while the missiles went out with an acceleration of eighty-five thousand gravities. At their closure rate, the two formations had only two hundred and twenty-six seconds before they interpenetrated. Not passed each other but interpenetrated, for Honor had deliberately turned directly across TG 14.1’s base course to give her energy weapons the best possible field of fire for the bare twelve seconds it would take the Peeps to shoot clear across their effective range envelope.”
Flag in Exile starts with Harrington having become a steadholder on the planet Grayson as both a reward for saving their leader from assassination and as a way to provide her with time and space to recover from the injuries she suffered while doing so.
One of the annoying aspects of Weber’s series is his contrived drama between two political world views: the monarchists and the “communists.” He could have chosen to create more realistic issues for the far future but his Republic of Haven is almost entirely two-dimensional from its painful “entitlements” to its new leader, Robert Stanton Pierre (or Rob S Pierre), chairman of the Committee of Public Safety.
The novel is further bloated by Weber’s determination to give us his thoughts (only slightly veiled) on communism, liberalism, progressivism and their deleterious effect on: freedom; the true function of the military; and, the dignity of the individual in society.
If you can stagger through over 100 pages of this at the beginning, you are rewarded with some thoughtful, complex and interesting plot and strategy as Harrington, now a Grayson admiral, takes a raw fleet out to save the bacon for Grayson, Manticore and mankind in general. There are a myriad of subplots that Weber delights in, ranging from plots on Grayson to discredit/disenfranchise Harrington to plots among the military and politicians of the Republic, to the actual strategies and tactics of fighting a massive war in many places at the same time.
Weber creates and maintains a many-layered plot that is astoundingly well-laminated. But, in adding more bits and pieces (at each opportunity) throughout these books, he is creating a behemoth. Just like the Seawise Giant that was almost a third of a mile long, this plot has such mass and momentum that it has lost any ability to maneuver gracefully. The deft plot shifts that were present in the earlier books are no longer possible. We plunge onward but more pages are needed to describe everything going on at each level and more pages must be devoted to providing a plausible way to fit them together.
Rather than an exhilarating ride over the seas of fortune we are left ponderously plunging and striving to rise ahead of the next swell of plot. A bit sad.
If the following is what has kept you a reader, then you will find more of it in Flag in Exile:
“The two formations slid broadside towards one another at just under forth thousand kilometers per second while the missiles went out with an acceleration of eighty-five thousand gravities. At their closure rate, the two formations had only two hundred and twenty-six seconds before they interpenetrated. Not passed each other but interpenetrated, for Honor had deliberately turned directly across TG 14.1’s base course to give her energy weapons the best possible field of fire for the bare twelve seconds it would take the Peeps to shoot clear across their effective range envelope.”
Flag in Exile starts with Harrington having become a steadholder on the planet Grayson as both a reward for saving their leader from assassination and as a way to provide her with time and space to recover from the injuries she suffered while doing so.
One of the annoying aspects of Weber’s series is his contrived drama between two political world views: the monarchists and the “communists.” He could have chosen to create more realistic issues for the far future but his Republic of Haven is almost entirely two-dimensional from its painful “entitlements” to its new leader, Robert Stanton Pierre (or Rob S Pierre), chairman of the Committee of Public Safety.
The novel is further bloated by Weber’s determination to give us his thoughts (only slightly veiled) on communism, liberalism, progressivism and their deleterious effect on: freedom; the true function of the military; and, the dignity of the individual in society.
If you can stagger through over 100 pages of this at the beginning, you are rewarded with some thoughtful, complex and interesting plot and strategy as Harrington, now a Grayson admiral, takes a raw fleet out to save the bacon for Grayson, Manticore and mankind in general. There are a myriad of subplots that Weber delights in, ranging from plots on Grayson to discredit/disenfranchise Harrington to plots among the military and politicians of the Republic, to the actual strategies and tactics of fighting a massive war in many places at the same time.
Weber creates and maintains a many-layered plot that is astoundingly well-laminated. But, in adding more bits and pieces (at each opportunity) throughout these books, he is creating a behemoth. Just like the Seawise Giant that was almost a third of a mile long, this plot has such mass and momentum that it has lost any ability to maneuver gracefully. The deft plot shifts that were present in the earlier books are no longer possible. We plunge onward but more pages are needed to describe everything going on at each level and more pages must be devoted to providing a plausible way to fit them together.
Rather than an exhilarating ride over the seas of fortune we are left ponderously plunging and striving to rise ahead of the next swell of plot. A bit sad.
May 22, 2011
This is the fifth in the series. I read these 5 back to back and do plan to follow up with the next...though not right away.
I had some gripes with this one, as I did with the last (Field of Dishonor). The plots are quite similar and the flaws I noted in the last (or what I found to be flaws) are present here to.
I think that some of the reactions we get from Honor in this volume don't ring true to the character as established. This is of course one of those cases where you'll want to read the book and see if you agree with me. (I figure if you're this far into the series, like me you'll see the flaws as "overall" minor and plan on reading the book anyway). At one point (and this may be "unkind of me") Honor seems almost whiny.
In the end the problems are fairly minor (as I said) and the story ties up (with the traditional semi-cliffhanger ending. A sort of "this battle is over, but the war goes on" and "that enemy is handled but plenty more wait to destroy our heroine" kind of ending).
I was glad to see us (eventually) get back to the space navy, military science fiction/space opera story which I like much better than the "personal tragedy and intrigue almost soap-opera" story that we were bleeding into.
I was not glad to see that I'm going to have to get through still more religious fanatic rhetoric (and Weber has a certain type down pat). He does make it clear that he doesn't consider all religious people wild eyed fanatics...but he does paint the fanatics in the book with vibrant colors.
Oh well.
So in the end, flawed, but I'll still go 4 stars.
I had some gripes with this one, as I did with the last (Field of Dishonor). The plots are quite similar and the flaws I noted in the last (or what I found to be flaws) are present here to.
I think that some of the reactions we get from Honor in this volume don't ring true to the character as established. This is of course one of those cases where you'll want to read the book and see if you agree with me. (I figure if you're this far into the series, like me you'll see the flaws as "overall" minor and plan on reading the book anyway). At one point (and this may be "unkind of me") Honor seems almost whiny.
In the end the problems are fairly minor (as I said) and the story ties up (with the traditional semi-cliffhanger ending. A sort of "this battle is over, but the war goes on" and "that enemy is handled but plenty more wait to destroy our heroine" kind of ending).
I was glad to see us (eventually) get back to the space navy, military science fiction/space opera story which I like much better than the "personal tragedy and intrigue almost soap-opera" story that we were bleeding into.
I was not glad to see that I'm going to have to get through still more religious fanatic rhetoric (and Weber has a certain type down pat). He does make it clear that he doesn't consider all religious people wild eyed fanatics...but he does paint the fanatics in the book with vibrant colors.
Oh well.
So in the end, flawed, but I'll still go 4 stars.
April 22, 2024
Wow this series just keeps the intense storytelling pace. Great book and wonderful character and universe building. Very recommended
September 8, 2018
Another brilliant instalment of the Honor Harrington series. I was a bit sceptical about Honor being stuck on Greyson after the events of the previous book, mostly because of the misogynistic views of Grayson's population. These religious views and the deep rooted fear of change are the main drive behind the opposition Honor faces. This is an older book written in the times when we still thought that we have a bright future ahead of us - one free of bigotry, religious persecutions and sexism. I bet that when it came out some readers had thought that the setting is unrealistic as so many centuries into the future humanity must have evolved beyond these problems. Fast forward two decades and I can see how a society such as the ones on Grayson and Masada could evolve. We're dangerously close to sliding back in time regarding those very issues and that makes this story that much more powerful. I loved how Honor dealt with her attackers and I admire her courage and perseverance cause I know I would have cracked under such pressure.
As in any other proper space opera book there's a space battle. I especially love them and this one got my blood pumping. I could picture it in my head and it was delicious! The way Honor outmaneuvered the Peeps was incredible and I love how her brain works. Too bad that it seems she won't be able to bask in the glory of her victory long enough.
As in any other proper space opera book there's a space battle. I especially love them and this one got my blood pumping. I could picture it in my head and it was delicious! The way Honor outmaneuvered the Peeps was incredible and I love how her brain works. Too bad that it seems she won't be able to bask in the glory of her victory long enough.
June 13, 2023
Once again, David Weber delivers a fantastic military sci-fi novel that blends political intrigue and military sci-fi action! And some of the character development is pretty good as well.
There are basically 2 major plotlines in this book. The main plotline follows the planet Grayson as they try to modernize like their Manticoran allies and also build up their military. But they need a head of their navy. If only they had an experienced military commander who also is very much loved by the people. Enter: Honor Harrington. But now Honor Harrington must balance being a military leader as well as a Steadholder of a significant amount of land and people. But not all people love their Honor, and several fanatical religious and political leaders plot to overthrow Honor and hopefully return their society to where they believe it should be.
Also, the People's Republic of Haven is slowly moving its navy to attack Manticore and its allies, but that plotline happens more towards the end of the book. Can't give discuss this one too much without spoilers, but the military action in this sequence was incredibly close to the action in other HH books.
I, obviously, loved the political intrigue plotline. I absolutely hated the villain. HATED HIM! He was detestable and really gave religious characters a bad name, but he was such an effective villain. And Weber isn't afraid to pull punches and produce a dark book. Honor must deal with some of the most difficult things she's ever dealt with.
With all that said, this is a most excellent novel. It doesn't quite match up to "Field of Dishonor", which was really lean and quick and fast paced and the themes were on point there. However, this is much superior to all of the other Honor Verse books I've read. Really well done. I'll give this one a 9 out of 10!
There are basically 2 major plotlines in this book. The main plotline follows the planet Grayson as they try to modernize like their Manticoran allies and also build up their military. But they need a head of their navy. If only they had an experienced military commander who also is very much loved by the people. Enter: Honor Harrington. But now Honor Harrington must balance being a military leader as well as a Steadholder of a significant amount of land and people. But not all people love their Honor, and several fanatical religious and political leaders plot to overthrow Honor and hopefully return their society to where they believe it should be.
Also, the People's Republic of Haven is slowly moving its navy to attack Manticore and its allies, but that plotline happens more towards the end of the book. Can't give discuss this one too much without spoilers, but the military action in this sequence was incredibly close to the action in other HH books.
I, obviously, loved the political intrigue plotline. I absolutely hated the villain. HATED HIM! He was detestable and really gave religious characters a bad name, but he was such an effective villain. And Weber isn't afraid to pull punches and produce a dark book. Honor must deal with some of the most difficult things she's ever dealt with.
With all that said, this is a most excellent novel. It doesn't quite match up to "Field of Dishonor", which was really lean and quick and fast paced and the themes were on point there. However, this is much superior to all of the other Honor Verse books I've read. Really well done. I'll give this one a 9 out of 10!
July 31, 2022
In which Honor moves to Grayson and deals with politics there (and also the Peeps).
This series keeps getting better. I appreciate that (at least thus far) in addition to politics, space battles, action, and excitement, there is a character arc for Honor.
Weber strikes a nice balance (for me; I realize others might not like this): we are able to understand the motivations of the villains and other antagonists, but we still find it satisfying when they lose, often spectacularly. There's definitely no ambiguity here--it's pretty easy to distinguish the villains from the people who do bad things because they are misled, from the people who are cogs in a machine that is doing bad things. So there are shades of enemies/ antagonists and shades of justice/ possible redemption.
And in the meantime, I love seeing Honor confronting a variety of obstacles and overcoming them--some slowly, some partially, some spectacularly.
This series keeps getting better. I appreciate that (at least thus far) in addition to politics, space battles, action, and excitement, there is a character arc for Honor.
Weber strikes a nice balance (for me; I realize others might not like this): we are able to understand the motivations of the villains and other antagonists, but we still find it satisfying when they lose, often spectacularly. There's definitely no ambiguity here--it's pretty easy to distinguish the villains from the people who do bad things because they are misled, from the people who are cogs in a machine that is doing bad things. So there are shades of enemies/ antagonists and shades of justice/ possible redemption.
And in the meantime, I love seeing Honor confronting a variety of obstacles and overcoming them--some slowly, some partially, some spectacularly.
August 10, 2019
While Weber has always been too detailed in his explanations, the data dumps rehashing the previous books history in this one was positively awful. It wasn't nearly as bad in the last few books, but he pulled out all the stops on this one. I suppose that means a person could start with this book & still be up to speed on the story to this point, but it is painful for anyone who has read this far & has to listen to it as an audiobook. It's probably worth reading these in text so that such long winded explanations can be skipped.
I really liked the underlying stories in all 5 books so far, but I think reading them in text & being able to skim is why. She's a wonderful heroine & the world is fairly complex without being overwhelming. There's a lot of obvious historical parallels that make it even better. He also writes action scenes very well & there are several of them in every book. Still, I can't take any more in audio.
In this book, the action is definitely ramped up to high levels & Honor shines. Weber really pushed the limits of hyperbole with this one, though. I've always liked the way it takes so long for ships to make contact in space, but this time he compressed that time too much & gave Honor way too little sleep before hand plus some other things. It just became a bit too much. Fun, though.
Still, I had to listen to another book in between because of all the data dump drivel & skip forward more than a few times for sanity's sake. I do NOT recommend listening to this as an audiobook. Same narrator, just as good. Still, I'm dropping this from a bare 3 stars into 2 star territory for all the data dumps.
2014 Review: Another fun adventure. Poor old Honor is pushed to the max this time & it was well done. Info dumps got pretty old, though.
While my library has more of the series in audio, they're missing the next 3, so I'm going to quit listening to the series now. 6 were plenty, but it was a fun romp even though I'd read them all in paper before. There weren't any surprises, but it was still fun. Congrats to Weber for creating such heroine.
I really liked the underlying stories in all 5 books so far, but I think reading them in text & being able to skim is why. She's a wonderful heroine & the world is fairly complex without being overwhelming. There's a lot of obvious historical parallels that make it even better. He also writes action scenes very well & there are several of them in every book. Still, I can't take any more in audio.
In this book, the action is definitely ramped up to high levels & Honor shines. Weber really pushed the limits of hyperbole with this one, though. I've always liked the way it takes so long for ships to make contact in space, but this time he compressed that time too much & gave Honor way too little sleep before hand plus some other things. It just became a bit too much. Fun, though.
Still, I had to listen to another book in between because of all the data dump drivel & skip forward more than a few times for sanity's sake. I do NOT recommend listening to this as an audiobook. Same narrator, just as good. Still, I'm dropping this from a bare 3 stars into 2 star territory for all the data dumps.
2014 Review: Another fun adventure. Poor old Honor is pushed to the max this time & it was well done. Info dumps got pretty old, though.
While my library has more of the series in audio, they're missing the next 3, so I'm going to quit listening to the series now. 6 were plenty, but it was a fun romp even though I'd read them all in paper before. There weren't any surprises, but it was still fun. Congrats to Weber for creating such heroine.
May 28, 2016
3.5 stars, but with a Great space battle at the end. Weber does do these amazingly well.
The book starts well, but quickly slides into dull, idiotic religious politics. Some threadbare technical sabotage in the middle of the book is very long-winded.
But the final scene with Honor on planet, and then the battle in space is superb.
The book starts well, but quickly slides into dull, idiotic religious politics. Some threadbare technical sabotage in the middle of the book is very long-winded.
But the final scene with Honor on planet, and then the battle in space is superb.
July 3, 2019
This series has always had it's faults, but to me it's getting to a point where the bad outweighs the good. My biggest complaint is the amount of time devoted to the backstories and viewpoints of minor, mostly irrelevant characters. It really bogs down the narrative and ruins the pace. A good editor could solve this problem pretty easily because so much of it really is superfluous information. (Plus it gets melodramatic very quickly.) Another big problem lies in the character of Honor. The first book was so good in part because she was such an underdog. You rooted for her and were even a little surprised that she was able to pull it of. By book five you just have to accept that there is nothing she can't do, there is no one who is better than her at anything, and that despite all of the evidence that she is without fault she will have an "aww shucks" attitude about it and will never believe that she is superhuman. Also, don't get me started on that cat. Anyway, sorry to say I think this is where I get off the train. Bummer.
We discuss this series further in a special Sci-Fi episode of the All the Books Show.
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
We discuss this series further in a special Sci-Fi episode of the All the Books Show.
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
November 3, 2011
The proportion of historic data dump to new material is growing, but his book actually had a story . . . and a good one. Giving Weber the benefit of my previous downgrade.
Written as it was, just prior to the Oklahoma City bombing, this tale's tragedy is all the more poignant.
Written as it was, just prior to the Oklahoma City bombing, this tale's tragedy is all the more poignant.
May 1, 2024
Following on from book 4, the story here follow Harrington as she is exiled from the Manticore Navy and posted away from the main war on half pay. The majority of the book focuses on political intrigue and the plotting of various factions against her. There was a bit of the usual space battle stuff at the end, but for me that was more of a background subplot. Some of this is a bit predictable, but as usual, Weber is a master of pacing and keeps you wanting more right up until the last page.
April 14, 2010
At this rate, I may actually finish the Honor Harrington series before the heat death of the universe. Having just finished Flag in Exile by David Weber only fifteen years late, I think I'm getting the hang of this series.
Though a friend at work recommended the series, and due to the length, I was suspicious it would be throw-away pulp; I'm willing to admit now that that my fears were mostly unwarranted. Weber clearly enjoys the universe he constructed, and has spent significant time developing it. In Flag in Exile, Honor retires to Grayson as steadholder after losing her commission thanks in no small part to Pavel Young. This allows Weber to expound on the changes Harrington has influenced in their society as they struggle to accept her. As expected, this is much easier said than done.
This is thanks to a number of developments that complicate the plot, again, into a snarl of politics with the added zing of religious zealotry. Poor Honor. Her new venture in Sky Domes promises to make her even more wealthy, she's been requested to act as Admiral to a squadron consisting of half a dozen super dreadnaughts and other lighter attack craft, and considering her pseudo-exile, things are progressing swimmingly. Until accounting for the concerted effort to undermine Sky Domes, assassinate her credibility through righteous manipulation of the population, outright murder to further these aims, and an oncoming attack from Haven that doesn't even allow her an hour of sleep in the interim. The final half of the book is unrelenting. Even knowing Honor would win in the end never stopped me from cringing as circumstances stacked against her.
The thing that really affected my sensibilities however, was that Benjamin Mayhew's iron reign on the other steadholders is essentially the only thing standing between Honor and the indignant conspirators. If an accident of birth had created Mayhew more in the image of the zealots seeking to destroy her, things would have taken a disastrous turn. Weber even included an afterward describing his own concern over the blindness that sometimes overtakes men and women, so utterly convinced of their own virtues that the ends justify any means, no matter the human fallout. These crusades appear constantly in our own history, and sickeningly, Honor's struggles are hardly an exaggeration; if anything, they're nothing compared to the atrocities committed in the name of holiness.
I wouldn't say Weber is a master of this kind of subject matter, but he definitely understands the underlying complexities inherent in a government that seeks to subjugate such intolerance. The machinations are believable and compelling despite the mundane nature plotting and scheming might otherwise suggest. And once again, the naval battle almost necessary in any Harrington novel, only really plays a bit part toward the end of the book. Much like Field of Dishonor, this novel provides vital background and motivation that will flesh-out the rest of the series.
I like where this is going!
Though a friend at work recommended the series, and due to the length, I was suspicious it would be throw-away pulp; I'm willing to admit now that that my fears were mostly unwarranted. Weber clearly enjoys the universe he constructed, and has spent significant time developing it. In Flag in Exile, Honor retires to Grayson as steadholder after losing her commission thanks in no small part to Pavel Young. This allows Weber to expound on the changes Harrington has influenced in their society as they struggle to accept her. As expected, this is much easier said than done.
This is thanks to a number of developments that complicate the plot, again, into a snarl of politics with the added zing of religious zealotry. Poor Honor. Her new venture in Sky Domes promises to make her even more wealthy, she's been requested to act as Admiral to a squadron consisting of half a dozen super dreadnaughts and other lighter attack craft, and considering her pseudo-exile, things are progressing swimmingly. Until accounting for the concerted effort to undermine Sky Domes, assassinate her credibility through righteous manipulation of the population, outright murder to further these aims, and an oncoming attack from Haven that doesn't even allow her an hour of sleep in the interim. The final half of the book is unrelenting. Even knowing Honor would win in the end never stopped me from cringing as circumstances stacked against her.
The thing that really affected my sensibilities however, was that Benjamin Mayhew's iron reign on the other steadholders is essentially the only thing standing between Honor and the indignant conspirators. If an accident of birth had created Mayhew more in the image of the zealots seeking to destroy her, things would have taken a disastrous turn. Weber even included an afterward describing his own concern over the blindness that sometimes overtakes men and women, so utterly convinced of their own virtues that the ends justify any means, no matter the human fallout. These crusades appear constantly in our own history, and sickeningly, Honor's struggles are hardly an exaggeration; if anything, they're nothing compared to the atrocities committed in the name of holiness.
I wouldn't say Weber is a master of this kind of subject matter, but he definitely understands the underlying complexities inherent in a government that seeks to subjugate such intolerance. The machinations are believable and compelling despite the mundane nature plotting and scheming might otherwise suggest. And once again, the naval battle almost necessary in any Harrington novel, only really plays a bit part toward the end of the book. Much like Field of Dishonor, this novel provides vital background and motivation that will flesh-out the rest of the series.
I like where this is going!
November 2, 2015
This fifth book felt like a return to to the promise of the early series for David Weber. With her lover murdered in the previous novel, and her own exile from Manticore as a direct response to the resulting duel,
Flag in Exile
leaves Honor heartbroken and moping about on her steading on Grayson. With the rising of hostilities between Manticore and Haven, it's only a matter of time before the ships protecting Grayson have to be redeployed. Grayson will no doubt need a new leader for their own fledgling navy to take of the slack.
This novel is the continuation of Honor's Grayson story. The same prejudices are at work as in the previous book. While her own people are behind her, but there are other factions that still see her as a threat to both their religious and their male hegemony. Can she defend the planet from the Havenites, and defend her steading and the political leadership that supports her from an emerging terrorist group? Short answer is no, and that's kinda why it works. Honor can't sort both the 'a' plot and the 'b' plot entirely by herself. She needs help and the two stories sit comfortably alongside each other without feeling like their competing to be the 'a' plot, or overly competing for Honor's attention.
The bad guys still suffer from being a little too shallow – religious and misogynist bigots will do what religious and misogynist bigots do (and pretty much only that). And the supporting good guys are all a little too consistently honourable and upright. Weber isn't big on depth in his supporting characters. Really only Honor herself has any real development or depth lavished upon her. But that doesn't really matter, these are fun military science-fiction stories, and the next one in the series is already added to my to-read list...
This novel is the continuation of Honor's Grayson story. The same prejudices are at work as in the previous book. While her own people are behind her, but there are other factions that still see her as a threat to both their religious and their male hegemony. Can she defend the planet from the Havenites, and defend her steading and the political leadership that supports her from an emerging terrorist group? Short answer is no, and that's kinda why it works. Honor can't sort both the 'a' plot and the 'b' plot entirely by herself. She needs help and the two stories sit comfortably alongside each other without feeling like their competing to be the 'a' plot, or overly competing for Honor's attention.
The bad guys still suffer from being a little too shallow – religious and misogynist bigots will do what religious and misogynist bigots do (and pretty much only that). And the supporting good guys are all a little too consistently honourable and upright. Weber isn't big on depth in his supporting characters. Really only Honor herself has any real development or depth lavished upon her. But that doesn't really matter, these are fun military science-fiction stories, and the next one in the series is already added to my to-read list...
August 4, 2023
This is my 3rd re-read of the Honor Harrington series and this book is one of my least favorites. It's not because it isn't well-written; it's because it gets so dark. Author David Weber really believes in putting his heroine Honor through the wringer--and horrible things happen to her and around her.
That's just on the Grayson, where she's been exiled by the Star Kingdom since she's become a political liability. (Check book #4 for why) You'd think as a hereditary Steadholder, a lord of Grayson, she'd be on easy street.
Nope. There's a political faction on Grayson that hates her guts because--she's a woman.
Meanwhile, she's been promoted to admiral of the Grayson space navy and has to get it into shape to face Haven, the conquering empire next door. Manticore is off fighting and is withdrawing its protective fleet.
Haven has its own politics, since the empire was taken over by revolutionaries, every starship has a political commander as well as a military commander. Political commanders have the last word.
I guess I didn't like all the politics either. It's still worth reading, just for the battles.
That's just on the Grayson, where she's been exiled by the Star Kingdom since she's become a political liability. (Check book #4 for why) You'd think as a hereditary Steadholder, a lord of Grayson, she'd be on easy street.
Nope. There's a political faction on Grayson that hates her guts because--she's a woman.
Meanwhile, she's been promoted to admiral of the Grayson space navy and has to get it into shape to face Haven, the conquering empire next door. Manticore is off fighting and is withdrawing its protective fleet.
Haven has its own politics, since the empire was taken over by revolutionaries, every starship has a political commander as well as a military commander. Political commanders have the last word.
I guess I didn't like all the politics either. It's still worth reading, just for the battles.
December 18, 2018
I found this difficult to read in parts. There were large parts of the book that dealt with sickeningly bigoted misogynistic villains, and their rhetoric, reasoning and *actions* shocked me to my core. However, the action started out slowly, which was understandable given the actions of the fourth book of the series, but very soon picked up. It also seemed like we had two climaxes, one of which felt rushed, but was rather more satisfying. There was no real resolution to speak of, which was disappointing, so I am going to have endeavour to read the next in the series soon.
October 23, 2014
This book is dedicated to Roger Zelazny. I guess he died about the time it was originally published.
More of the same as the rest of the series. I don't recall that the info dumps were terrible in this one & it was fun. Honor ascends to new levels, of course. Fun.
More of the same as the rest of the series. I don't recall that the info dumps were terrible in this one & it was fun. Honor ascends to new levels, of course. Fun.
August 23, 2019
Another amazing addition to what has become one of my favorite series of all time. I love the change of pace and the retention of what made me love the series from the beginning; awesome space battles and nail-biting intrigue. This series is on par with the Dresden Files, Dragonlance, Redwall, Legend of Drizzt, Chronicles of Prydain, and so many others I love and keep coming back to.
June 22, 2008
The fifth book in the "Honor Harrington" series is just as good as the others. I'm genuinely interested in what is happening in the universe of the series... both on a personal and on a political level. Despite now having read five books in five days... no signs of boredom yet.
March 6, 2021
2018 re-read. A really good blend of planetside and space adventures.
August 3, 2019
It’s appropriate that Honor Harrington, protagonist of David Weber’s flagship series, is a flag officer. Indeed, anyone who read the first few books in the Honor Harrington knows that the tradition of “fighting sail” novels continues in this far-future, space navy version of the genre. Honor constantly runs afoul of those with powerful or fanatic patrons and one knew that her naval career would be stunted as a result. After the legal and political machinations toward the conclusion of Field of Dishonor, the set-up for Flag in Exile seemed inevitable (and intriguing).
To make matters bound even tighter to those classic naval series (Hornblower, Lewrie, Bolitho, Ramage, Aubrey, and yes, to a certain extent, even the fantasy novels with Naomi Novik’s Temeraire), there is a monarchy with a proud naval tradition fighting off a sometimes, republic. Since the primary member of the ruling triumvirate in Flag in Exile is one Robert Stanton Pierre (Rob S. Pierre?) who came to power on the back of a Committee of Public Safety and is aligned with a politician named Saint-Just. That was almost as entertaining as the realization that a religious crusade had been launched from a planet named Masada in an earlier novel (although the civilization on Masada mirrored Islamic practice more than even the practices of the Jews martyred at the historic Masada).
For those who haven’t read any of my previous reviews from the series. I have come to the series late because I perceived it to be a Young Adult series. And, though I had read many novels with female protagonists, I had a feeling that Honor was targeted toward teen-aged girls. Well, I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with my daughters reading these books, even if they were still pre-teen or teen-aged (even though both are far beyond those years and are as likely to introduce me to new authors as I am to them). In fact, I’d be thrilled. Honor deals with the superficiality of appearances, the injustice of sexism, the dangers of religious fanaticism, and the perils of judgmental self-incrimination. Flag in Exile hits on all cylinders (to use a metaphor quite archaic to the “Honorverse.”).
Similar to Weber’s other series of novels, there is some hypocrisy tied to certain religious positions of power to be found in the “Honorverse.” Yet, also congruent with Weber’s brilliant Safehold series, there are genuine and positive aspects of faith presented (alongside the evil manipulation of some). I particularly enjoyed a Trinitarian reference in Flag in Exile when a cleric ends his prayer with: “In the name of the Tester, the Intercessor, and the Comforter. Amen.” (p. 51) In addition, I appreciated his imaginary religion’s holy book, The New Way, an interesting choice in that Christianity was described as “The Way” in the New Testament. Or again when the same prelate preached about the society having difficulty with certain cultural changes: “Not always pleasant and comfortable, no, but God never promised the Test would be comfortable.” (p. 98) There is even a brief reference to the U.S. Navy hymn (“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”) on p. 252 where there is a discussion about a hymn by Whiting which had to be “updated” to be inclusive of space travel and navies. The very pivotal pastor/prelate who made the observation about the hymn also makes this statement about God’s love: “I know He loves us, but we must be a terrible disappointment to Him from time to time.” (p. 256)
But with all these positive faith notes, Weber is aware of the inhumane horrors that can be perpetrated (falsely) in the name of religion. A horrific catastrophe is orchestrated by forces who believe they are doing “God’s” work by discrediting, disgracing, and exposing Honor as a tool of Satan. I don’t even want to describe the 9-11-esque event (which Weber penned years before the real-life horror) in the novel, but I do want to briefly comment on one of the most powerful sickening scenes in the book. At that point, the conspirators are confronted with a massive loss of life from their terrorist action and the ringleader asks what they have done in killing so many innocent people. To which the sanctimonious, self-righteous, and vile cleric of the conspiracy asserts, “’We killed no one, My Lord,’ he said in a soft persuasive voice, ‘It was God’s will that the innocent should perish, not ours.’” (p. 265) Whether one declares Deo voluit or “Inshallah” regarding terrorist actions, such cynicism wrapped in a warped piety demonstrates the perversity and malice of love and devotion twisted inward rather than expressed outward.
Okay, I’ll stop preaching and simply say that Flag in Exile is a far cry from the “space opera” in which I once ignorantly ascribed this popular science-fiction series. The “Honorverse” is as sophisticated, cerebral, socially astute
To make matters bound even tighter to those classic naval series (Hornblower, Lewrie, Bolitho, Ramage, Aubrey, and yes, to a certain extent, even the fantasy novels with Naomi Novik’s Temeraire), there is a monarchy with a proud naval tradition fighting off a sometimes, republic. Since the primary member of the ruling triumvirate in Flag in Exile is one Robert Stanton Pierre (Rob S. Pierre?) who came to power on the back of a Committee of Public Safety and is aligned with a politician named Saint-Just. That was almost as entertaining as the realization that a religious crusade had been launched from a planet named Masada in an earlier novel (although the civilization on Masada mirrored Islamic practice more than even the practices of the Jews martyred at the historic Masada).
For those who haven’t read any of my previous reviews from the series. I have come to the series late because I perceived it to be a Young Adult series. And, though I had read many novels with female protagonists, I had a feeling that Honor was targeted toward teen-aged girls. Well, I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with my daughters reading these books, even if they were still pre-teen or teen-aged (even though both are far beyond those years and are as likely to introduce me to new authors as I am to them). In fact, I’d be thrilled. Honor deals with the superficiality of appearances, the injustice of sexism, the dangers of religious fanaticism, and the perils of judgmental self-incrimination. Flag in Exile hits on all cylinders (to use a metaphor quite archaic to the “Honorverse.”).
Similar to Weber’s other series of novels, there is some hypocrisy tied to certain religious positions of power to be found in the “Honorverse.” Yet, also congruent with Weber’s brilliant Safehold series, there are genuine and positive aspects of faith presented (alongside the evil manipulation of some). I particularly enjoyed a Trinitarian reference in Flag in Exile when a cleric ends his prayer with: “In the name of the Tester, the Intercessor, and the Comforter. Amen.” (p. 51) In addition, I appreciated his imaginary religion’s holy book, The New Way, an interesting choice in that Christianity was described as “The Way” in the New Testament. Or again when the same prelate preached about the society having difficulty with certain cultural changes: “Not always pleasant and comfortable, no, but God never promised the Test would be comfortable.” (p. 98) There is even a brief reference to the U.S. Navy hymn (“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”) on p. 252 where there is a discussion about a hymn by Whiting which had to be “updated” to be inclusive of space travel and navies. The very pivotal pastor/prelate who made the observation about the hymn also makes this statement about God’s love: “I know He loves us, but we must be a terrible disappointment to Him from time to time.” (p. 256)
But with all these positive faith notes, Weber is aware of the inhumane horrors that can be perpetrated (falsely) in the name of religion. A horrific catastrophe is orchestrated by forces who believe they are doing “God’s” work by discrediting, disgracing, and exposing Honor as a tool of Satan. I don’t even want to describe the 9-11-esque event (which Weber penned years before the real-life horror) in the novel, but I do want to briefly comment on one of the most powerful sickening scenes in the book. At that point, the conspirators are confronted with a massive loss of life from their terrorist action and the ringleader asks what they have done in killing so many innocent people. To which the sanctimonious, self-righteous, and vile cleric of the conspiracy asserts, “’We killed no one, My Lord,’ he said in a soft persuasive voice, ‘It was God’s will that the innocent should perish, not ours.’” (p. 265) Whether one declares Deo voluit or “Inshallah” regarding terrorist actions, such cynicism wrapped in a warped piety demonstrates the perversity and malice of love and devotion twisted inward rather than expressed outward.
Okay, I’ll stop preaching and simply say that Flag in Exile is a far cry from the “space opera” in which I once ignorantly ascribed this popular science-fiction series. The “Honorverse” is as sophisticated, cerebral, socially astute
December 24, 2020
There are two things happening in this story, and both of them are taking a long time to build up. First of all, Honor goes into exile, starts a new business building domes on Grayson, and everyone hates her for that except the people. At the same time, the French... I mean Haven attack two different systems so that they can attack Grayson without scouting first.
Since some religious nuts want to discredit and kill Harrington and they are fine with killing a ton of people, including some children. Funny enough, the author chooses to get rid of her bodyguards in a similar manner, probably bored with the concept that he created for the steadholder. I wonder if he'll remember that the steadholder *has* to have a bodyguard in the next book. Looking at the name, it looks like he doesn't.
Ok, so, the religious nuts take their sweet time, and try to kill her just a few seconds before the French attack. This is seriously slow-paced stuff, I mean the author fills a lot of pages with what he calls suspense and what I call complete boredom. The point of view of Haven is absolutely useless, it would've been a lot better to simply discard that insight in the mind of the Havenite fleet. Also, they are bad at scouting and information gathering.
When it comes to battles, Weber is obsessed with tonnage, klicks and gs and other things that are simply a bore to read. The final quarter of the book can be summed as „religious nuts try to kill Honor, they kill the high priest instead, Honor cuts the head of a guy, then she leads a fight where she's badly hurt, and quotes Clausewitz to justify a game of chicken”. By now, Honor is a casual killer, but hey, tradition and shit.
It's kind of a mess of a book, but honestly? It's a natural continuation of what Weber wrote so far, so I can't really hold it against him. The character is fine, but seriously, Weber writes himself in corners and he's bad at avoiding them. By now, Honor is the kick-ass-est officer in any fleet she goes in, and really, there's no place to climb. In book 1 she was a newly-minted captain, in book 5 she's an admiral of the fleet (albeit, a foreign fleet). That's a tough spot to be in. He still wrote at least 10 more books after this one.
The same goes for religious sentiment, and the quotation of that silly thing where „people killed themselves more in the name of religion”. No, they didn't. Caesar didn't go genocidal in the name of religion. Neither has Gengis-Khan. Nor Hitler. Nor Stalin. Anyway, Weber is an American and there's all kind of nuts there - he wrote this while the FBI was fighting at Waco, and finished it right before the Oklahoma bombings, so he gets a free pass for his short-sighted view on religion.
All in all, a mediocre book. Stuff happens, people get killed. The end.
Since some religious nuts want to discredit and kill Harrington and they are fine with killing a ton of people, including some children. Funny enough, the author chooses to get rid of her bodyguards in a similar manner, probably bored with the concept that he created for the steadholder. I wonder if he'll remember that the steadholder *has* to have a bodyguard in the next book. Looking at the name, it looks like he doesn't.
Ok, so, the religious nuts take their sweet time, and try to kill her just a few seconds before the French attack. This is seriously slow-paced stuff, I mean the author fills a lot of pages with what he calls suspense and what I call complete boredom. The point of view of Haven is absolutely useless, it would've been a lot better to simply discard that insight in the mind of the Havenite fleet. Also, they are bad at scouting and information gathering.
When it comes to battles, Weber is obsessed with tonnage, klicks and gs and other things that are simply a bore to read. The final quarter of the book can be summed as „religious nuts try to kill Honor, they kill the high priest instead, Honor cuts the head of a guy, then she leads a fight where she's badly hurt, and quotes Clausewitz to justify a game of chicken”. By now, Honor is a casual killer, but hey, tradition and shit.
It's kind of a mess of a book, but honestly? It's a natural continuation of what Weber wrote so far, so I can't really hold it against him. The character is fine, but seriously, Weber writes himself in corners and he's bad at avoiding them. By now, Honor is the kick-ass-est officer in any fleet she goes in, and really, there's no place to climb. In book 1 she was a newly-minted captain, in book 5 she's an admiral of the fleet (albeit, a foreign fleet). That's a tough spot to be in. He still wrote at least 10 more books after this one.
The same goes for religious sentiment, and the quotation of that silly thing where „people killed themselves more in the name of religion”. No, they didn't. Caesar didn't go genocidal in the name of religion. Neither has Gengis-Khan. Nor Hitler. Nor Stalin. Anyway, Weber is an American and there's all kind of nuts there - he wrote this while the FBI was fighting at Waco, and finished it right before the Oklahoma bombings, so he gets a free pass for his short-sighted view on religion.
All in all, a mediocre book. Stuff happens, people get killed. The end.
August 7, 2015
Flag in Exile is the fifth book in the Honor Harrington series. It takes a different approach than the earlier books, and it makes me wonder what direction the series aims to travel.
Honor is essentially exiled from Manticore. Although she is still an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, based on outcomes of previous events, she has been forced to give up her post. She returns to Grayson and begins earnestly carrying out her duties as Steadholder.
Steadholders appear to be something akin to a high-ranking lord that goes everywhere with armed guards. A Harrington City is built, and then people in her Steading are called Harringtons. Definitely something to boost an ego, but Honor takes it all in stride, of course.
Her business of building special domes on the planet initially goes well. However, because Honor is the female in a position of power, there are many Graysons that are against her, due to religious beliefs. The Graysons aren’t as strict as the Masadans from The Honor of the Queen, but many have prejudices. Some Graysons are accepting of Honor, so it’s not a female hate party the entire time.
Of course, something goes wrong and Honor feels culpable. She experiences a lot of depression and sadness in this book, and displays a severe lack of confidence. I wonder if she’s going to have persistent psychological issues throughout the series?
Being an Honor Harrington book, the “bad guys” are one-dimensional. I won’t spoil anything, but if you know this series, you know that Honor always wins in the end.
There is a great sword duel between Honor and another character that is really intense. The rest of the book is a lot of info-dumping about the culture of Grayson. There’s not much Nimitz action unfortunately.
The last three chapters do feature a space battle, thank goodness! Other than that, it’s all planet bound. I wasn’t too interested in Grayson and their religious issues. I missed the space action and even the political ramblings of the Havenites.
Honor is essentially exiled from Manticore. Although she is still an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, based on outcomes of previous events, she has been forced to give up her post. She returns to Grayson and begins earnestly carrying out her duties as Steadholder.
Steadholders appear to be something akin to a high-ranking lord that goes everywhere with armed guards. A Harrington City is built, and then people in her Steading are called Harringtons. Definitely something to boost an ego, but Honor takes it all in stride, of course.
Her business of building special domes on the planet initially goes well. However, because Honor is the female in a position of power, there are many Graysons that are against her, due to religious beliefs. The Graysons aren’t as strict as the Masadans from The Honor of the Queen, but many have prejudices. Some Graysons are accepting of Honor, so it’s not a female hate party the entire time.
Of course, something goes wrong and Honor feels culpable. She experiences a lot of depression and sadness in this book, and displays a severe lack of confidence. I wonder if she’s going to have persistent psychological issues throughout the series?
Being an Honor Harrington book, the “bad guys” are one-dimensional. I won’t spoil anything, but if you know this series, you know that Honor always wins in the end.
There is a great sword duel between Honor and another character that is really intense. The rest of the book is a lot of info-dumping about the culture of Grayson. There’s not much Nimitz action unfortunately.
The last three chapters do feature a space battle, thank goodness! Other than that, it’s all planet bound. I wasn’t too interested in Grayson and their religious issues. I missed the space action and even the political ramblings of the Havenites.
September 5, 2023
3.5 Stars
There are parts of Flag in Exile that I really enjoyed (e.g. the battle scenes, the sword fight, and the investigation into sabotage), but there were parts that really wore me out. One of these is that the villains in this book are really flat evil characters for the most part. Unfortunately, the narrative often focused on them which is not that much fun when the characters are flat and one dimensional. The other thing that I really did not enjoy is how much time was spent on Honor's self-doubt and perceptions of guilt. Maybe it is over done a little bit, or maybe it is realistic. I don't know, but I don't enjoy spending so much time in that psychological realm.
Overall, this is a decent story, but it is my least favorite in the series so far. Looking forward to the next one and plan to kind of forget about this one.
There are parts of Flag in Exile that I really enjoyed (e.g. the battle scenes, the sword fight, and the investigation into sabotage), but there were parts that really wore me out. One of these is that the villains in this book are really flat evil characters for the most part. Unfortunately, the narrative often focused on them which is not that much fun when the characters are flat and one dimensional. The other thing that I really did not enjoy is how much time was spent on Honor's self-doubt and perceptions of guilt. Maybe it is over done a little bit, or maybe it is realistic. I don't know, but I don't enjoy spending so much time in that psychological realm.
Overall, this is a decent story, but it is my least favorite in the series so far. Looking forward to the next one and plan to kind of forget about this one.
July 13, 2010
Flag in Exile is the fifth book in the popular, Honor Harrington series, by David Weber. This is the second book of the series set primarily on the planet Grayson. Unlike The Honor of the Queen, Honor is not a stranger to the planet. She is one of its nobles and has been accepted whole-heartedly by her subjects.
Unfortunately, not everyone on the planet accepts her. Grayson is a patriarchal society; women are viewed as less than capable to perform tasks that are solely the domain of men such as military service and politics. Honor is a direct challenge to this view and many people on the planet feel threatened by her. Not only are they threatened by her, they view her ascension to Steadholder as an affront to God and she must be purged.
In this book, Honor has to fight many internal and emotional demons. She is still healing from the loss of her lover in the previous book and the punishment from her native navy that came with her actions. Even so, the Grayson navy has expanded many times and has a severe shortage of experienced personnel. Not only that, but she must face the man responsible for the death of her beloved mentor whom everyone else around her has forgiven. Can she forgive him too?
The High Admiral dragoons her into service to pick her brain and have her impart her deep combat experience to his navy so that it may grow into the modern military world. Unlike the previous books, she is not given a single ship, but a squadron of the largest military ships in space and made second in command of the entire Grayson navy.
Even though there is a lot of politics in this book, there is plenty of action for those craving it. Not only are there space battles, but also some ground action to go with it. It creates a nice blend that doesn’t get stale.
Grayson is a very powerful emotional vehicle throughout the entire Honorverse series. The people illicit strong emotional responses whenever they appear. This book is full of powerful emotional scenes, it is not as hauntingly beautiful as The Honor of the Queen, but it is more raw and dark. We are shown more of the history of Grayson and it helps us learn more about its people and understand them better, and understand why Honor is such a threat to their way of life.
This is a solid addition to the series and its focus upon Grayson really gives depth to the planet that features so prominently in the series. Honor’s personal and professional growth in this book is quite remarkable and as with each previous and future book, you learn to respect and admire her immensely. It’s Geektime gives this a respectable 9 on the d10 of evaluation.
Unfortunately, not everyone on the planet accepts her. Grayson is a patriarchal society; women are viewed as less than capable to perform tasks that are solely the domain of men such as military service and politics. Honor is a direct challenge to this view and many people on the planet feel threatened by her. Not only are they threatened by her, they view her ascension to Steadholder as an affront to God and she must be purged.
In this book, Honor has to fight many internal and emotional demons. She is still healing from the loss of her lover in the previous book and the punishment from her native navy that came with her actions. Even so, the Grayson navy has expanded many times and has a severe shortage of experienced personnel. Not only that, but she must face the man responsible for the death of her beloved mentor whom everyone else around her has forgiven. Can she forgive him too?
The High Admiral dragoons her into service to pick her brain and have her impart her deep combat experience to his navy so that it may grow into the modern military world. Unlike the previous books, she is not given a single ship, but a squadron of the largest military ships in space and made second in command of the entire Grayson navy.
Even though there is a lot of politics in this book, there is plenty of action for those craving it. Not only are there space battles, but also some ground action to go with it. It creates a nice blend that doesn’t get stale.
Grayson is a very powerful emotional vehicle throughout the entire Honorverse series. The people illicit strong emotional responses whenever they appear. This book is full of powerful emotional scenes, it is not as hauntingly beautiful as The Honor of the Queen, but it is more raw and dark. We are shown more of the history of Grayson and it helps us learn more about its people and understand them better, and understand why Honor is such a threat to their way of life.
This is a solid addition to the series and its focus upon Grayson really gives depth to the planet that features so prominently in the series. Honor’s personal and professional growth in this book is quite remarkable and as with each previous and future book, you learn to respect and admire her immensely. It’s Geektime gives this a respectable 9 on the d10 of evaluation.
August 16, 2022
DNF at 50%. Haven't been reading this in two weeks now and there's no way in hell I'm going too go back to it. This book has everything I hate about the series: politics, religious fanaticism, no action and Honor who's gotten even less personality than before. There's not one thing I liked about "Flag in Exile", not one thing I was looking forward to story-wise, and I'm furious that I wasted my time on it. I'd rather read a summary and then we'll see if I ever go back to the series as a whole :/
EDIT: I've actually managed to finish this and the second half is admittedly slightly better than the first, but still, the amount of both religious preaching and religious fanaticism is staggering and absolutely awful. Honor's lack of spine doesn't help things at all; I actually can't even count the number of times I rolled my eyes at her self-loathing, which was simply ridiculous. When will she stop acting like she's the only one allowed to feel sad about the bad things that happen? Oh my god!
I can't even believe I still want to stick with this series, I guess I'm too much of a sucker for space battles, but honestly, these books are only readable when Honor's not in it. I'm really hoping book 5 is when we're getting past the non-action stories, but please please please let it just stop with Honor's personal crap...
EDIT: I've actually managed to finish this and the second half is admittedly slightly better than the first, but still, the amount of both religious preaching and religious fanaticism is staggering and absolutely awful. Honor's lack of spine doesn't help things at all; I actually can't even count the number of times I rolled my eyes at her self-loathing, which was simply ridiculous. When will she stop acting like she's the only one allowed to feel sad about the bad things that happen? Oh my god!
I can't even believe I still want to stick with this series, I guess I'm too much of a sucker for space battles, but honestly, these books are only readable when Honor's not in it. I'm really hoping book 5 is when we're getting past the non-action stories, but please please please let it just stop with Honor's personal crap...
October 1, 2014
This is really enjoyable space opera. There's never any doubt that Honor will win the battle and destroy her enemies, but the climax is no less enjoyable for that certainty. The body count is always high and the author isn't afraid to kill off characters you've become attached to, so there is a nice amount of tension concerning who will survive each round.
The Honor-worship does get a little thick sometimes, particularly in the early part of this book. While she is not as morose as Horatio Hornblower, from whom her character is derived, once in a while Honor does become consumed with grief and self-doubt. All those people she couldn't save, you know. When this happens we have to sit through a few pages of heartfelt speeches from various people declaiming on how brave and fierce and honorable she is.
While the big bad of the series, the People's Republic of Haven, is a complex and interesting adversary, Honor's personal enemies are uniformly venom-spewing, misogynistic nutcases. Well, they'd have to be in order to despise Honor Harrington, right?
The Honor-worship does get a little thick sometimes, particularly in the early part of this book. While she is not as morose as Horatio Hornblower, from whom her character is derived, once in a while Honor does become consumed with grief and self-doubt. All those people she couldn't save, you know. When this happens we have to sit through a few pages of heartfelt speeches from various people declaiming on how brave and fierce and honorable she is.
While the big bad of the series, the People's Republic of Haven, is a complex and interesting adversary, Honor's personal enemies are uniformly venom-spewing, misogynistic nutcases. Well, they'd have to be in order to despise Honor Harrington, right?
February 24, 2016
I think banishment to Grayson has been good for Honor. But she is definitely a trouble magnet!
February 10, 2018
Long, long ago, I was part of a role playing group within an MMO. For seven years, that group ran like a sort of multi-author story, twisting together the plotlines of all our characters, and it was quite fantastic. That group produced at least two published authors that I know of. Great. But there was a point where it nearly died, and the reason was ANGST. Some people seemed to just love creating heartrending plotlines to keep their characters in a constant state of misery. Enough of that, and you start suffering from a terrible form of emotional fatigue. My view on it ended up being: I do this for fun, I like my characters, so why would anyone make characters they appear to like and then act like they hate them with a fiery vengeance?
And that's where this and Field of Dishonor take us. It's like Weber is annoyed with Honor Harrington and wants to punish her. Give her a love life and rip it away in the cruelest way possible. Destroy her career. And when she finds a way to survive that, let's pile on the shit until it's up to her chin. Of course, we know she's going to dig her way out and be really badass doing it, but it's almost physically painful to see happening.
Weber's habit of giving us villain's eye views of what they're up to does not help. I got sick of listening to pseudo-religious bullshit being spewed by the bad guys as they justified horrendous acts in the name of God. I'm not religious myself, but the anti-religious slant of these diatribes, which go on for pages (or minutes; it's an audiobook) and come pretty frequently was becoming kind of noxious by the end of the book. I get the feeling the addition of the planet Grayson was made just to trot out the rather tired notion that religious fundamentalism tends to be bad.
So... Mixed feelings about this one. As I said, it's an audiobook and I kept getting the urge to fast-forward through the rants, or the long periods of self-recrimination (ANGST) Honor suffers through (though it felt more like I was the one suffering). The performance... I don't actually like the reader's accent that much, but she makes up for it with the character voices and I really can't fault her. When Honor was doing instead of moping, she was great, and Nimitz got to rip someone's face off, so that's great. Condense the story into what actually happened, and it's a good read, but listening to it was kind of tiring. Hence three stars
Afterthought: Barring some Iain M. Banks books I've read, the Honor Harrington books have to have the greatest death toll of anything in my library.
And that's where this and Field of Dishonor take us. It's like Weber is annoyed with Honor Harrington and wants to punish her. Give her a love life and rip it away in the cruelest way possible. Destroy her career. And when she finds a way to survive that, let's pile on the shit until it's up to her chin. Of course, we know she's going to dig her way out and be really badass doing it, but it's almost physically painful to see happening.
Weber's habit of giving us villain's eye views of what they're up to does not help. I got sick of listening to pseudo-religious bullshit being spewed by the bad guys as they justified horrendous acts in the name of God. I'm not religious myself, but the anti-religious slant of these diatribes, which go on for pages (or minutes; it's an audiobook) and come pretty frequently was becoming kind of noxious by the end of the book. I get the feeling the addition of the planet Grayson was made just to trot out the rather tired notion that religious fundamentalism tends to be bad.
So... Mixed feelings about this one. As I said, it's an audiobook and I kept getting the urge to fast-forward through the rants, or the long periods of self-recrimination (ANGST) Honor suffers through (though it felt more like I was the one suffering). The performance... I don't actually like the reader's accent that much, but she makes up for it with the character voices and I really can't fault her. When Honor was doing instead of moping, she was great, and Nimitz got to rip someone's face off, so that's great. Condense the story into what actually happened, and it's a good read, but listening to it was kind of tiring. Hence three stars
Afterthought: Barring some Iain M. Banks books I've read, the Honor Harrington books have to have the greatest death toll of anything in my library.
April 6, 2020
This one showed up on my library desk and since I had read a number of the Honor Harrington novels I grabbed this one. Sounded a bit familiar and by about halfway through it was , oh yes have read it before. But is was good so I kept going (made sure it was now on my last of read books). So Honor is on the planet Grayson and is now a Steadholder despite some old guard objections and is soon to be appointed to head the fledgling Grayson space fleet as Admiral. With and empending battle with a long time foe the fleet is rushing to get battle worthy and Honor is having to deal with a fanatic Steadholder who is violently opposed to her. Plenty of action in this one for SF fans. Its a good series.
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