On Basilisk Station

On Basilisk Station is the first of the Honor Harrington (link has spoilers) series by David Weber. It is a sci-fi setting that is inspired by the Horatio Hornblower series of Napoleonic era sea warfare. In much the same way, the Honor Harrington series follows the exploits of Honor Harrington of the Royal Manticoran Navy. She is an officer in command of the Fearless in the book.

Obviously, it is a military sci-fi book and has aspects that give the space battles a similar feel to Napoleonic era ship combat. Weber fully succeeds at evoking this feeling. While nuclear missiles are used and FTL travel is prevalent, the pacing of combat is similar to the days of wind power and cannons.

The book starts slow as it needs to set up a great deal of hows and whys things are. However, the second half of the book moves up and into overdrive.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. I've already planned to read the entire series.