Honor Among Enemies is a 1996 science fiction novel by American writer David Weber. It is the sixth book in the Honor Harrington series. In the book, Honor returns to active duty from her political exile on Grayson to command a Q-ship and fight space pirates.
After more than three years in exile on Grayson, several of Honor's old political enemies decide to try to kill two birds with one stone. Klaus Hauptman is able to have Honor appointed as commander of HMAMC Wayfarer, a prototype Q-ship. He believes that Honor will either deal with the piracy problems that are causing him losses in the Silesian Confederacy or die trying. Due to the war consuming the majority of skilled officers and ratings, Honor is forced to take along a large portion of problem personnel and fresh out ratings on their first cruise.
Wayfarer includes space for carrying a squadron of Light Attack Craft (LACs), a large number of missile pods that can be quickly deployed through the ship's rear cargo doors, and unusually heavy energy weaponry for the ship's intended role, but it is essentially still a merchant ship: unarmored, much slower than a regular navy vessel, and with lighter defenses.
Honor's orders are to lead a squadron of four Q-ships to fight piracy in the Silesian Confederacy. Although piracy is a chronic problem in Silesia, the Royal Navy managed to keep it somewhat in check until the war began; with the fleet needed elsewhere piracy has gone completely out of control and the powerful Manticoran merchant cartels demand that the Navy do something. There are other considerations: Silesia is something of a disputed territory between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Andermani Empire.
While Honor leads her crew in battles against various pirates, the Havenites are also conducting covert commerce raiding in Silesia, in an attempt to destabilize Manticoran trade in the region and present themselves in a more favorable light to the Andermani.
The Havenite light cruiser PNS Vaubon, under Citizen Commander Warner Caslet, had been pursuing a particularly loathsome group of raiders whose actions were repugnant to most of the Havenite officers involved. When Caslet sees some of these raiders attacking what he thinks is a Manticore merchant ship he decides to attack the raiders, despite being outnumbered. The Wayfarer destroys the raiders and Caslet is forced to surrender Vaubon to the superior vessel.
With the additional intelligence gathered by the Havenites, Honor takes the fight to the pirates led by the terroristAndre Warnecke and with a hostage gambit liberates the planet Sidemore, which had been occupied by the pirates.
A side plot during this is that of Aubrey Wanderman, a rating on his first cruise, who is brutally attacked by another rating, Randy Steilman. Terrified of Steilman's apparent untouchability, Wanderman refuses to report Steilman, and is taken under the wing of Horace Harkness, who trains Wanderman in the coup de vitesse, a form of martial arts. Later, after Steilman attempts to engineer the death of Ginger Lewis, Wanderman beats Steilman into a bloody mess, and Steilman's plot to desert is uncovered.
After her defeat of the pirates Honor goes looking for the Havenite commerce raiders. This leads to a larger-scale conflict with Havenite forces. Klaus Hauptman has traveled on the liner Artemis to see the piracy situation first hand in Silesia, and Honor encounters them just as the Havenites are closing in on the Artemis. In the ensuing battle Wayfarer is able to destroy two Havenite battlecruisers but is itself ultimately destroyed. The few surviving members of Honor's crew, along with several Havenite prisoners, are rescued and return to Andermani space. Because of Honor's bravery in saving Hauptman's life during the battle the two are reconciled.
Honor Among Enemies also depicts life in the lower ranks of the Royal Manticoran Navy, following young crewman Aubrey Wanderman through his adaptation to life onboard Wayfarer and his troubles with and eventual victory over a band of thug-like crewmen. Steilman's bullying of Wanderman echoes midshipman Simpson’s bullying of Hornblower in C.S. Forester's Mr. Midshipman Hornblower; Simpson, like Steilman was another disgruntled misfit, too old for his rank, seeking vengeance on someone better than himself.
The novel also plays up Honor Harrington's similarities with Horatio Hornblower, as one chapter shows Captain Harrington reading one of C.S. Forester's "darned good" Hornblower novels.
Like previous books in the series, a good portion of the novel is told from the perspective of People's Navy officers, including the aforementioned Warner Caslet and his tactical officer Shannon Foraker, introduced in the preceding Flag in Exile. Their motivations and characters are more fully explored and shown to be in many ways the moral equal of the Manticorans, including Caslet's determination to pursue raiders whose actions have gone beyond the pale, far outside acceptable practice under the laws of war. It also introduced Admiral Javier Giscard, commander of the Havenite raiders, and his political watchdog (and lover) Eloise Pritchart.
Reviews
Review by John C. Bunnell (1996) in Dragon Magazine, July 1996
Review by Carolyn Cushman (1996) in Locus, #425 June 1996, (1996)
Review by Pat McMurray (1997) in Vector 192
Review by Neil Jones (1997) in Interzone, #118 April 1997
External links
An excerpt of Honor Among Enemies is available for download or reading online at the Baen Free Libraryhere.
Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic Wars.
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and C. Northcote Parkinson elaborated a "biography" of him, The True Story of Horatio Hornblower.
The Honorverse is a military science fiction book series, its two subseries, two prequel series, and anthologies created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. They are centered on the space navy career of the principal protagonist Honor Harrington. The books have made The New York Times Best Seller list.
On Basilisk Station is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, first published in 1993. It is the first book in his Honor Harrington series, and follows Commander Honor Harrington and Her Majesty’s light cruiser Fearless during their assignment to the Basilisk system. Though Basilisk Station and the planet of Medusa have become a dumping ground for military officers from Honor's home star system of Manticore who are currently in disfavor, she is determined to discharge her duty regardless of the circumstances.
The Short Victorious War is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, first published in 1994. It is the third book in the Honor Harrington series.
Flag in Exile is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, first published in 1995. It is the fifth book in the Honor Harrington series. In the story, the disgraced Honor enters a self-imposed exile on Grayson.
The Honor of the Queen is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, first published in 1993. It is the second book in the Honor Harrington series.
In Enemy Hands is a military science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, first published in 1996. It is the seventh book in the Honor Harrington series and Like most novels in the series, its text is available in the Baen Free Library.
Echoes of Honor is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber. It is the eighth book in the Honor Harrington series.
Ashes of Victory is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber. It is the ninth book in the Honor Harrington series.
War of Honor is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, the tenth book in the Honor Harrington series. It was first published in 2002.
Worlds of Honor, published in 1999, was the second anthology of stories set in the Honor Harrington universe or Honorverse. The stories in the anthologies serve to introduce characters, provide deeper more complete backstory and flesh out the universe, so claim the same canonical relevance as exposition in the main series. David Weber, author of the mainline Honor Harrington series, serves as editor for the anthologies, maintaining fidelity to the series canons.
Changer of Worlds, published in 2001, was the third anthology of stories set in the Honor Harrington universe or Honorverse. The stories in the anthologies serve to introduce characters, provide deeper more complete backstory and flesh out the universe, so claim the same canonical relevance as exposition in the main series. David Weber, author of the mainline Honor Harrington series, serves as editor for the anthologies, maintaining fidelity to the series canons.
The Service of the Sword, published in 2003, was the fourth anthology of stories set in the Honor Harrington universe or Honorverse. The stories in the anthologies serve to introduce characters, provide deeper more complete backstory and flesh out the universe, so claim the same canonical relevance as exposition in the main series. David Weber, author of the mainline Honor Harrington series, serves as editor for the anthologies, maintaining fidelity to the series canons.
The Shadow of Saganami is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, published in 2004. Set in the Honorverse, it is the first in the Saganami Island series, spun off from the main Honor Harrington series. It debuted at #16 on The New York Times best seller list for hardcover fiction.
Hornblower in the West Indies, or alternately Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies, is one of the novels in the series that C. S. Forester wrote about fictional Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower.
At All Costs is a science fiction novel by American author David Weber, first published in 2005. It is the eleventh book in the Honor Harrington series.
Mission of Honor is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, published on June 22, 2010 by Baen Books. It is the twelfth novel set in the Honorverse in the main Honor Harrington series.
A Rising Thunder is a science fiction novel by American writer by David Weber, released on March 6, 2012 by Baen Books. It is the thirteenth novel set in the Honorverse in the main Honor Harrington series. The novel was originally split into two books due to its size, leading in a delay of publication.
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