[ 
Mood: Hypnotized ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
It is many thousand years in the future, humans have spread out among the stars. And as humans are won’t to do, they have formed themselves into federation and kingdoms. Honor Harrington is a citizen of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and a member of the Navy.
Harrington has just assumed command of the Manticore navy ship Fearless, and although young, she has every confidence that she will succeed. That is until she finds out that naval command has gutted her ship’s armaments to install a new weapon that is all but useless.
This is proven after the ship takes a beating during war games, and the Fearless is exiled to the remote Basilik Station. A very important transit point, it should be an important posting. Instead it has become a dumping ground for the imcompetant and the lazy.
One such person is Pavel Young, who is captain of the Warlock and has an old hatred of Harrington. He uses his position to take his ship off for repairs, leaving Fearless alone to police this outpots and the space around it. Given that Pavel is lazy and a screw-up, the Basilisk system has become full of smugglers, spies and insurrectionists.
Unbeknowst to the Manticorians, the People’s Republic of Haven is planning to invade and take over the Basilisk system as part of its expansionist plans.
So with a demoralized crew and a bitter XO, Honor must now deal with policing a system that has become a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" while dealing with an invasion and the politics of the kingdom.
David Weber’s Honor Harringtion series is an SF classic and after reading this book I can see why. There are parts where the technobabble is heavy and requires the reader to slog through, but if you can persevere the story is fabulous, the characters are vibrant and the battles are gripping.
Worth picking up. And you can download it for free.