Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
baen (1994), Paperback, 384 pages
Description
The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent. But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power: another short, victorious war to unite the people and fill the treasury once more. It's a card they've played often in the last half-century, always successfully, and all that stands in their way is the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its threadbare allies. Enemies who in the past have always backed down. Only this time the Peeps face something different. This time they're up against Captain Honor Harrington and a Royal Manticoran Navy that's prepared to give them a war that's far from short...and anything but victorious
User reviews
LibraryThing member clong
This is the fourth Honor Harrington book that I have read. Think "female Horatio Hornblower in space" and you pretty much know all there is to know about the series. I must confess that I enjoyed the first three Honor books that I read more than I really expected. Not so with The Short Victorious
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War. I'm not sure if it's because the book really isn't as good, or because if just didn't have anything to add to the what I had already read in the other books. It certainly felt like there was a bit less action, a bit less story, and a bit too much silly, unconvincing romantic interlude. Of course, in the end Honor defies the odds to defeat the vastly superior enemy force through tactical brilliance and plain old good luck (I thought about calling this yes for spoilers, but it's really more the definition of the series). Show Less
LibraryThing member Neilsantos
I hate to admit that I read these things, but I guess this is my defination of a guilty pleasure. Although if the series continues its trend away from "Hornblower in space" and towards "Romance novel replaces horses with spaceships" I may not get any farther in the series.
LibraryThing member Kade
As a stand-alone book, The Short Victorious War is not very impressive. Interesting sights are not seen. New places are not shown. The action mostly centers around the unremarkable Hancock Station. This is however an exposition book, depicting the coup in the Republic of Haven, a budding romance,
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and the cowardice of an old enemy. Really, The Short Victorious War is more of a two-part novel. This should not be read independently of Field of Dishonor, in fact if you read Field of Dishonor already and not this, there is NO point in reading this book. Put together however, The Short Victorious War is a good first-part to the best two-part story in Honor Harrington. Show Less
LibraryThing member misericordia
Honor Harrington now a big gun in a small but loyal navy, faces space kingdom of goons and welfare lay abouts. Honor and the navy of Manticore stand fast and deal out hot plasma preventing a "Short and Victorious War"!!!
LibraryThing member LaserWraith
Ok, but I wish Honor got at least one chance to use our new ship on less powerful ships. It gets boring when she keeps getting a new one, only to find that her opponents are always better too.
LibraryThing member raypratt
More Honor Harrington by one of the masters of military sf. Thoroughly enjoyable.
LibraryThing member BobVTReader
The writing improves yet more. The story is interesting and some of the people in earlier sotires are reappearing. This series of books definitely should be rea in order. In this book Honor meets old antigonist and has developed a love live.
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Another grim one - well, there are some very good parts (especially with Paul), but when the war actually gets started, it gets pretty dark. And the assumptions about what the enemy (either enemy, from either side) will/won't do and does/doesn't know, versus reality, become extremely important.
Again, very strange reading this when I know Honor's future. Every bit of Paul's and White Haven's actions have strong echoes, knowing what they'll be to Honor. And others - Young, and Parnell, and so on. It makes it hard to see the events in this book alone. But it's still definitely worth reading (for the dozenth time).
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This becomes a theme throughout the Harrington books - "they can't possibly...X" while they're off doing X. Or the assumption that "they just missed the other side of the trap" when in fact there was no trap, just a lucky return at the right time... Sarnow is good people, the Admiral...isn't, though he does eventually more or less overcome his prejudice. Though not until disaster has already ensued and Honor has pulled survival out of said disaster. And Haven starts down its nasty little path into the pit, largely because of a complete accident of timing. If young Pierre hadn't died...who knows?Again, very strange reading this when I know Honor's future. Every bit of Paul's and White Haven's actions have strong echoes, knowing what they'll be to Honor. And others - Young, and Parnell, and so on. It makes it hard to see the events in this book alone. But it's still definitely worth reading (for the dozenth time).
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LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan
I swear these books are as bad as chips. Can't eat (read/listen to) just one! Johnson read this one much better. The politics got better as did the war & personal situations. Made for a great story.
Weber is still a bit repetitious & tends to obscure rather than make points through his use of
Weber is still a bit repetitious & tends to obscure rather than make points through his use of
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different units of measurement for acceleration. This is unfortunate, but I just went with it. On to the next after listening to another of London's stories. Show Less
LibraryThing member scottcholstad
I love Honor Harrington! She's a great character in a great series. And it's nice to have a strong female protagonist in a sci fi novel, which hasn't always been the case in this genre.
In this book, "Dame" Honor is given the honor of being given the top ship in the Royal Manticoran navy -- the
Meanwhile, the always broke Republic of Haven is plotting to attack Manticore and take their spoils, counting on their superiority in numbers over Manticore's smaller, but more technologically advanced armed forces. One of the things I liked about this book is we get a glimpse at the inner workings of Haven's politicians and military planners. We're kept abreast of things as they happen. Another interesting facet to the book is that there is a revolution taking place in Haven, and we get to see the beginnings of it.
Another thing I liked about this book is the character development we see in Honor, as opposed to other books. She grows and changes and adapts and becomes nearly human in this book and I appreciated that. In this book, she develops a love interest, which came out of the blue -- for me and for her -- but she's happy with it and that's good. However, she's so unused to being feminine that she needs help in putting cosmetics on and the scene in which she asks her exec for help is pretty funny.
Of course, it wouldn't be an Honor Harrington book without a huge space battle. The senior admiral has taken the bulk of the ships in the system to another place, gambling that's where the Haven ships will appear. He's wrong. Imagine the horror Honor and her colleagues feel when over 100 Haven ships, including 35 mega-ships, appear out of nowhere and start toward them and they only have some five or six to defend themselves with. Reinforcements are on the way, however, so if they can just hold them off for a few hours, the space station there might be saved, as well as Honor and her mates. Through Honor's ingenuity, they release hundreds of missiles at the Haven fleet and score some direct hits, destroying some ships in the process. The Haven commander is ticked! They go after Honor and score some hits of their own. Some of Honor's colleagues are blown up and Honor's ship is hit, but not too badly. Then, tah dah, reinforcements! And the Haven fleet takes off. And the main Manticore fleet that had been lying in wait goes to Haven's space station and destroys it and the rest of Haven's fleet. It's over. Honor has saved the day. My only complaint is we don't get to see the battle at Haven's space station with their fleet being decimated. Oh well. That would have made the book a lot bigger, I guess.
I do have one complaint with this book and with this series. It's sci fi. They have hyperspace, hyper drives. They can travel light years in a very short period of time. They can have video communications with each other within systems. But not out of the systems. They actually have to rely on courier boats to send messages to each other, like "We've been attacked," or something to that effect, and it can take 11 days or 17 days, etc. It seems utterly stupid to me. You're telling me that three or four thousand years from now with huge space ships and laser beams and hyperspace travel, you have to send messages by boats??? WTF??? That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard! I don't know what Weber was thinking when he came up with that system, but I'm not impressed. However, that complaint aside, it's still a fun read and a great series and I'm already looking forward to the next one. Definitely recommended.
In this book, "Dame" Honor is given the honor of being given the top ship in the Royal Manticoran navy -- the
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Nike. She's sent out to Hancock to be the flag ship for a junior admiral who turns out to be a great guy and a great supporter of hers. However, when she gets there, her ship has suffered damage on the way and has to be docked to be fixed, which will take many weeks.Meanwhile, the always broke Republic of Haven is plotting to attack Manticore and take their spoils, counting on their superiority in numbers over Manticore's smaller, but more technologically advanced armed forces. One of the things I liked about this book is we get a glimpse at the inner workings of Haven's politicians and military planners. We're kept abreast of things as they happen. Another interesting facet to the book is that there is a revolution taking place in Haven, and we get to see the beginnings of it.
Another thing I liked about this book is the character development we see in Honor, as opposed to other books. She grows and changes and adapts and becomes nearly human in this book and I appreciated that. In this book, she develops a love interest, which came out of the blue -- for me and for her -- but she's happy with it and that's good. However, she's so unused to being feminine that she needs help in putting cosmetics on and the scene in which she asks her exec for help is pretty funny.
Of course, it wouldn't be an Honor Harrington book without a huge space battle. The senior admiral has taken the bulk of the ships in the system to another place, gambling that's where the Haven ships will appear. He's wrong. Imagine the horror Honor and her colleagues feel when over 100 Haven ships, including 35 mega-ships, appear out of nowhere and start toward them and they only have some five or six to defend themselves with. Reinforcements are on the way, however, so if they can just hold them off for a few hours, the space station there might be saved, as well as Honor and her mates. Through Honor's ingenuity, they release hundreds of missiles at the Haven fleet and score some direct hits, destroying some ships in the process. The Haven commander is ticked! They go after Honor and score some hits of their own. Some of Honor's colleagues are blown up and Honor's ship is hit, but not too badly. Then, tah dah, reinforcements! And the Haven fleet takes off. And the main Manticore fleet that had been lying in wait goes to Haven's space station and destroys it and the rest of Haven's fleet. It's over. Honor has saved the day. My only complaint is we don't get to see the battle at Haven's space station with their fleet being decimated. Oh well. That would have made the book a lot bigger, I guess.
I do have one complaint with this book and with this series. It's sci fi. They have hyperspace, hyper drives. They can travel light years in a very short period of time. They can have video communications with each other within systems. But not out of the systems. They actually have to rely on courier boats to send messages to each other, like "We've been attacked," or something to that effect, and it can take 11 days or 17 days, etc. It seems utterly stupid to me. You're telling me that three or four thousand years from now with huge space ships and laser beams and hyperspace travel, you have to send messages by boats??? WTF??? That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard! I don't know what Weber was thinking when he came up with that system, but I'm not impressed. However, that complaint aside, it's still a fun read and a great series and I'm already looking forward to the next one. Definitely recommended.
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LibraryThing member Jean_Sexton
This is another good military science fiction book. The reader gets to learn some of what goes on behind the scenes to make a squadron of ships function as one. I also liked bringing more of the Havenite side of things into the narrative as a balance to the Manticorian viewpoint.
The battle scene
If you like military science fiction, start at the beginning of the series. It is well worth the read.
The battle scene
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really got my heart going (literally -- it went up over 20 beats a minute!). I wasn't sure who would live or die and I cared about the characters. I have to admit the appendix about the technical aspects of the Manticorian ships made my eyes glaze, but at least it was easily skimmed. If you like military science fiction, start at the beginning of the series. It is well worth the read.
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LibraryThing member gilroy
This continues the reread of the series as we continue to follow Honor and her exploits.
Ah right. This is the book that we meet Michelle Henke, who ends up getting her own spin off series of books.
This book does move, but you have to keep up with all the military and other political moves being
This has been expanded since I read it, because I don't remember so many chapters that were asides as I'm hearing now. Do they really hurt the plot? Not really because you still have a focused line on the heroine. Is she a touch of a Mary Sue? Mayhaps. But she's fun to read and Nimitz is an awesome character.
This series continues on my recommended list at this point, as the first few books are still pretty strongly focused and Honor remains the primary focal point. From here, we do get more and more chapters that seem to go outside the focal point. These are mixed blessings as they break up the action and military jargon, but they also bring in more exposition and description that may or may not be necessary.
Ah right. This is the book that we
This book does move, but you have to keep up with all the military and other political moves being
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made. This has been expanded since I read it, because I don't remember so many chapters that were asides as I'm hearing now. Do they really hurt the plot? Not really because you still have a focused line on the heroine. Is she a touch of a Mary Sue? Mayhaps. But she's fun to read and Nimitz is an awesome character.
This series continues on my recommended list at this point, as the first few books are still pretty strongly focused and Honor remains the primary focal point. From here, we do get more and more chapters that seem to go outside the focal point. These are mixed blessings as they break up the action and military jargon, but they also bring in more exposition and description that may or may not be necessary.
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LibraryThing member JalenV
I am so annoyed with myself that it wasn't until I was listening to the information about the navy in the Honor Harrington Universe that it occurred to me that "Rob Pierre" was similar to "Robespierre". I suspect that Haven will be in for some interesting times.
LibraryThing member humouress
Having made a good impression at Basilisk Station and Yeltsin, and despite having enemies in influential places, Honour is climbing the ranks of the Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN). She has just been given a brand new ship, the Nike, with a long tradition behind it to uphold - and then thrown into the
The hereditary government of the People's Republic (which it's not) of Haven desperately needs an external crisis to distract the attention of the masses from the fact that they don't have the resources to pay the Basic Living Stipend. If they can use their military might to make a short, swift strike at Manticore and her allies, a quick victory would improve moral and they could loot the conquered systems for resources.
The intergalactic war that has been threatening from the first two books finally arrives and it is up to the outnumbered RMN and the weaker forces of Manticore's allies to prevent the war machine of Haven from rolling over them.
But in Haven itself, Rob Pierre may be leading a Revolution. Vive la République!
I found the action in this book less intense than in the previous two. Considering that we have been aware of the threat from the prologue to the first book, On Basilisk Station, the war seemed to be over very quickly; faster, in fact, than the two skirmishes we've already been in with Honor. As usual, the distances, in terms of millions of kilometres or in lightyears, were fairly incomprehensible to me, though that didn't affect my enjoyment of the story, though the fact that it could take a week for a message to reach it's destination, and be out of date by then, is a bit startling. It seems old-fashioned in a time of faster than light ships; though obviously it would take time for information to cross the vast distances.
The science seems plausible. I'm just reading the appendix where it is explained, and (don't ask me to explain it to you afterwards though) it seems to make sense to me.
And it's nice that, at the equivalent of 45 Terran years, Honor finally finds romance, though this is not a focus of the book. I also liked seeing that this time Honor isn't fighting on two fronts; the physical battle against the Havenites and a psychological one against people in authority who dislike her. This time, she has proved herself and has the support of her superiors as well as her own crew.
Overall, I enjoyed this story, though it may be a bit lighter than the first two.
Four stars.
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front line of battle.The hereditary government of the People's Republic (which it's not) of Haven desperately needs an external crisis to distract the attention of the masses from the fact that they don't have the resources to pay the Basic Living Stipend. If they can use their military might to make a short, swift strike at Manticore and her allies, a quick victory would improve moral and they could loot the conquered systems for resources.
The intergalactic war that has been threatening from the first two books finally arrives and it is up to the outnumbered RMN and the weaker forces of Manticore's allies to prevent the war machine of Haven from rolling over them.
But in Haven itself, Rob Pierre may be leading a Revolution. Vive la République!
I found the action in this book less intense than in the previous two. Considering that we have been aware of the threat from the prologue to the first book, On Basilisk Station, the war seemed to be over very quickly; faster, in fact, than the two skirmishes we've already been in with Honor. As usual, the distances, in terms of millions of kilometres or in lightyears, were fairly incomprehensible to me, though that didn't affect my enjoyment of the story, though the fact that it could take a week for a message to reach it's destination, and be out of date by then, is a bit startling. It seems old-fashioned in a time of faster than light ships; though obviously it would take time for information to cross the vast distances.
The science seems plausible. I'm just reading the appendix where it is explained, and (don't ask me to explain it to you afterwards though) it seems to make sense to me.
And it's nice that, at the equivalent of 45 Terran years, Honor finally finds romance, though this is not a focus of the book. I also liked seeing that this time Honor isn't fighting on two fronts; the physical battle against the Havenites and a psychological one against people in authority who dislike her. This time, she has proved herself and has the support of her superiors as well as her own crew.
Overall, I enjoyed this story, though it may be a bit lighter than the first two.
Four stars.
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LibraryThing member 3j0hn
Mostly okay, but pretty thin.
LibraryThing member kmartin802
The People's Republic of Haven is in trouble. Their economy is tanking because so many of their people are on public assistance. They can only support their economy and the privileges the wealthy enjoy by continually adding new star systems to their Republic. So they have the wonderful idea to
Honor Harrington has completed her long complicated recovery from the injuries sustained in the previous book and has been assigned as Flag Captain to a new ship named Nike and sent with a task force to a frontier repair base. The only problem is that that Admiral in charge of the task force doesn't like Honor whom he sees as hot-tempered and reckless which causes some problems for her despite the support of her immediate superior who is also in the Admiral's bad books.
Since the Peeps are conducting all sorts of feints into neighboring star systems, the Admiral decides that he needs to defend one of the more populous systems and leaves Honor and her boss to defend the repair facility with very little help.
Haven has been secretly watching the whole area with stealth ships and knows when the largest part of the force leaves the repair facility and knows that it is time to take it and bring the war into official existence. It should be easy as their ships and armaments vastly outnumber those left with Honor. But Honor and her boss have done all the tricky planning they can to get their system as safe as it can be and can hope to hold out until help arrives to support them.
Meanwhile on Haven, Rob Pierre is planning a revolution which will take down the current government and put himself and his own supporters in control. And he is planning to use part of the Navy he hates to accomplish his goals.
This was another exciting episode in the Honor Harrington series. It was filled with action and adventure.
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start, or pretend to start, a war with Manticore.Honor Harrington has completed her long complicated recovery from the injuries sustained in the previous book and has been assigned as Flag Captain to a new ship named Nike and sent with a task force to a frontier repair base. The only problem is that that Admiral in charge of the task force doesn't like Honor whom he sees as hot-tempered and reckless which causes some problems for her despite the support of her immediate superior who is also in the Admiral's bad books.
Since the Peeps are conducting all sorts of feints into neighboring star systems, the Admiral decides that he needs to defend one of the more populous systems and leaves Honor and her boss to defend the repair facility with very little help.
Haven has been secretly watching the whole area with stealth ships and knows when the largest part of the force leaves the repair facility and knows that it is time to take it and bring the war into official existence. It should be easy as their ships and armaments vastly outnumber those left with Honor. But Honor and her boss have done all the tricky planning they can to get their system as safe as it can be and can hope to hold out until help arrives to support them.
Meanwhile on Haven, Rob Pierre is planning a revolution which will take down the current government and put himself and his own supporters in control. And he is planning to use part of the Navy he hates to accomplish his goals.
This was another exciting episode in the Honor Harrington series. It was filled with action and adventure.
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Language
Original publication date
1994
Physical description
384 p.; 6.7 inches
ISBN
0671875965 / 9780671875961
Local notes
Honor Harrington, 03
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Weber |