The Honor of the Queen: Honor Harrington, 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...

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.

"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.

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.

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

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

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.

This is an interesting take on what it would be like to serve in a space Navy. This is the second, and hearing the first may be helpful, but I had trouble keeping up with where we were and if the enemy was speaking, or not. Suggest you keep a list of characters as you go. The performance was good, but not great. The voice was picked for the heroine, but it didn't morph well into the other characters' personnas. Lots of death and blood and space battles, with redeeming honor.

Enjoyed it, but don't think I will get the rest of the series.

Honor of the Queen is the second of the Honor Harrington series, picking up where the last book left off (Captain Harrington assigned a new task, essentially that of protecting a planet and a diplomatic mission). The story itself is entertaining as military-SF and I recommend the book -- not, I should clarify, because David Weber writes great pose but because he tells an engaging story. The series is popcorn fiction at its best, if you know what I mean.

Allyson Johnson narrates the second book much as she did the first, so if you enjoyed the first you'll no doubt enjoy the second. For my own part though ... I have to say that I enjoy Allyson Johnson's "normal voice" reading fine -- she has a pleasant tone, clear diction, and an engaging style. Her character voices, however, I struggle with. In my opinion, she reads most of her characters with an overly expressive emotional range, and with the same affected style where she pauses mid-dialog in almost every conversation (as if none of her characters never think through what they say before they say it). To my ear the voices just do not come sound military or even particularly competent at times. I'm not sure the fault is entirely Allyson Johnson's -- some of Weber's dialog is pretty bad -- but oh how I notice the badness so much more listening to this reading than I do reading the book myself!

Anyway, if you are a Weber fan, you are going to buy it anyway, right? I mean, what choice do you have :) If you are not a Weber fan, I recommend that you read his first Book (On Basilisk Station) before listening to the audio, if that's an option for you. And hey, tastes vary -- you may even love Allyson Johnson's narration. Many do.

Maybe

Miscast. Clarity. Misplaced emphasis. That's four.

I liked the feminist twist to a sci fy story. If you like excellent description of combat between battleships, you'll like this book. The star ships maneuver like sailboats at light speed in a vast three dimensional ocean. Cool, but not really my thing.