• The Honor of the Queen

  • Honor Harrington, Book 2
  • By: David Weber
  • Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
  • Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (3,864 ratings)

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The Honor of the Queen  By  cover art

The Honor of the Queen

By: David Weber
Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
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Publisher's summary

It's hard to give peace a chance when the other side regards conquest as the only option and a sneak attack as the best means to that end. That's why the Kingdom of Manticore needs allies against the Republic of Haven, and the planet Grayson is strategically situated to make a very good ally indeed. But Her Majesty’s Foreign Office overlooked a “minor cultural difference” when they chose Honor Harrington to carry the flag: women on the planet of Grayson are without rank or rights and Honor’s mere presence is an intolerable affront to every male on the planet.

At first Honor doesn’t take it personally. But, in time, such treatment becomes taxing and she makes plans to withdraw until Grayson’s fratricidal sister planet attacks without warning. Now, Honor must stay and prevail, not just for her honor, but for her sovereign’s, for the honor of the Queen.

A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.

Listen to another Honor Harrington adventure.
©2002 David Weber (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Following in the best tradition of C.S. Forester, Patrick O'Brian and Robert A Heinlein! These hugely entertaining and clever adventures are the very epitome of space opera." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Honor of the Queen

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    2,411
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Following on in the series - Book 2

In this book the character and history of Honor Harrington is further developed and a lot of background that is referred to in later books is laid down. The story flows well and the reading is excellent. I am not sure why or if there was some logic for the particular accents selected by the narrator, but it does serve well to help keep the characters organized. Highly recommended as a follow on to On Basilisk Station...

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Honor Harrington Universe book 2

"Expanding"

This book expands HHU, New characters, new planets, some politics.
I consider this book to be a page out of feudal Japan history, this book also lays the principal blocks for the future grandiose actions and plots,it helps to move beyond just space battles.

Old "Fearless" will be scuttled, Honor receives a new ship just out of docks, She accompanies a diplomatic mission to Yeltsin star, where she encounters religiously conservative, sexist world Grayson, assassination plots and human cruelty.

PS
There are lots negative reviews of Allyson Johnson's narration, Despite what people say I think she is a perfect fit.
She uses enough different voices and tones, that you can easily separate and identify any of the characters, her way of reading is unobtrusive, you don't get any of readers personal feelings on the subject, so you have freedom to make your own decision.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Voices just wrong

I love this book in its written form which is why a purchased the audio version. Unfortunately the narrator doesn't seem to have paid attention to the characters and has given the lead character, Honor, a girly, whiney voice which is a complete turnoff

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Honor's honor

The second book in the series introduces the planet Grayson, and its misogynistic people. But not as misogynistic as the Masadans! Honor once again saves the day, several times, and manages to make some powerful enemies as well as some good friends. The narrator did an excellent job, even with all the different characters she has to voice.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

People of Grayson please meet Honor Harrington!

Once I started to read the series, now I feel obligated to reread the whole series in English.

This book is very important in the series as Honor gets introduced to the Graysons for the first time and vice versa. The way the misogynist society perceives women in military as an abomination and then how they start to grudgingly accept Honor was interesting. On the other side the abuse her crew suffer in the prison camp is just horrible and it almost made me cry listening to it. The narrator was just that good. The number of people dying is horrific as with any kind of military war stories but still the series is very entertaining and I am looking foward to rereading and read the more recent ones for the first time too.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars

I want to love this series

I would like to LOVE this series but the narrator is not very good at this type of narration. She makes the battle scenes boring and reminds me of a newscastor rather than an actor. She would probably be perfect for some other type of series but this is sci-fi with tech heavy dialogue and intricate descriptions of battle in space. She also seems flat and emotionless during romantic moments, tragic moments and periods of self reflection. The stories come off as one dimensional and at first I thought the problem was with the writer. but, sorry, no. It's the reader. Compare her narration with those of the "Lost Fleet" narrator and see what I'm getting at.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Could have been awesome but ...

STORY - This story has such an exciting, dangerous, complicated plot, I hate to criticize it. There are many characters with ulterior motives that make things interesting and keep the plot twisting. But there are two really big problems, IMHO, with this book. First, Honor is so honorable, brave and perfect that she's not "human." There's not anything specifically to dislike about her but there's also nothing to really make you care about her either. Second, there is way too much information about interplanetary politics, ship capabilities, speeds, weaponry, etc. Yes, that's what makes this type of story interesting, but I became bored as it drug on and on multiple times in the book.

You will have to keep many characters and their motivations straight. This is not an easy listen. There are also some pretty bad things which happen in this book to Honor and many of her crew. The last two hours are very, very tense and the ending is emotional. If I had been more emotionally involved with Honor, I'm sure I would have cried. (But you may chuckle every time they talk about a pennis, which is like a shuttle, but then my mind may just be in the gutter).

I listened to Book 1 and now Book 2. They don't need to be heard in order, but there is mention of some events and characters from Book 1 in this book.

PERFORMANCE - She does a pretty good job with Honor's "soprano" voice, as it's called multiple times in the story, as well as male voices and a few accents. Overall, though, I didn't really care for her basic reading style. This book is about a dangerous military mission, and she sounds like she's reading a classic novel. I think a different reader, perhaps even male, would have been much better.

OVERALL - Recommended for men and women who enjoy interplanetary politics and battles. Not for children.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book, well narrated

I loved this series when I first read it, and am enjoying a second time on audio. Another great piece of work by David Weber with all the space battles, politics, and theoretical physics you could want. The narrator does an excellent job of voicing the characters as they are described in the books, particularly the main character's clipped feminine soprano. The narrator has also picked up on the fact that the Republic of Haven bears a great deal of resemblence to the French (their capitol is even named New Paris), and the Kingdom of Manticore to the British, and capitolized on it by giving the characters from each star nation the correct accents. This really helps highlight when the story has changed viewpoints and makes for a more interesting narration.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the Best in the Series

I've read all of the series over the years, and listened to two Audible versions. If you are new to the series, and don't want to start with the first chronologically in the life to the heroine, Honor Harrington, then I suggest you start here. The later books get a little wordy and could have used better editing. By contrast, the here the character is developed well and the action scenes come along at a tolerable pace.

Well narrated.

One of the things I like most about Honor is that she is a strong, self-possessed person. That comes throught well here.

The

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Performance ruins the story

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator's cadence was distracting. It felt like there were inappropriate pauses after the articles, making it sound as if she was putting the words in "quotes." The narration was distracting enough that I stopped listening to the book.

Any additional comments?

I look forward to reading this book, as the story seemed interesting even though I could not listen to it.

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5 people found this helpful