Degrees of Affection

*5+ Stars*

It's done! Again! I've read this three times and each time it's better than the last.

*The Gush*

There is so much to put in here. I could write a book about how good this book is. The characters are AWESOME! The writing is brilliant! The plot never drags or loses your interest. The science is prevalent but remains interesting and (a great complement) I don't skip those sections in this book. As a series intro book, it rocks but it works just as well as a stand alone.

Characters:

Weber creates perfect characters because they are so human. You understand and empathize with their personal struggles as well as watching them grow and develop in their military positions. This is perhaps Weber's genius. I don't really care much for military fiction and even less for sci-fi military if it's not Star Trek (which is as close to non-military as you can get). But I latched onto these characters and avidly watched as they gained confidence in themselves because of Honor. She leads people and teaches them how to be leaders. Alister McKeon, who has been stuck in his rank, finally gets what he's wanted-a command-because he recognizes what true leadership is and finds it in himself. 

Honor Harrington. She is one of the best heroines I've ever read. She is strong, articulate, committed to duty and honor, believes in herself and her crew, shows true leadership abilities-and yet has faults. She has doubts, she is growing as a person as well. Honor is still finding herself, finding confidence in herself and her decisions. She is no wonder woman and I really like that. Her relationship with Nimitz is intriguing but is really one of the few things that is left to later books to develop. The idea of the treecats, however, was one of the first reasons I fell in love with the book. I had to know more. Honor reminds me so much of Horatio Hornblower, the protagonist of Forrester's navel series these books are basically an homage to. The same strength and awkwardness, determination and self-consciousness.

But it is not just his main character that shines. Many of the multiple characters that pepper his universe are just as memorable and amazing as his main one. McKeon, Montoya, Cardones, Venizelos, Admiral Hamish Alexander, and many other good guys. His bad guys are just as memorable-'Horrible' Hemphill, Pavel Young, and the People's Republic of Haven as a whole. However, watch who you get attached to: Weber kills off better characters than many writers create.

Universe:

Though not obvious at first, the Manticorian nation, and the nations surrounding it come from the Sol system (thus this is technically a future of Earth and its offspring sci-fi rather than a whole new people). Hyperspeed, ship designs, military strategy, colonizing of strange worlds, alien races (including treecats): all play a part in this book as well as the larger series. Weber is very careful to explain everything. I can see where some might find it too much information-I myself have often thought the same in other series, but not this one. He explains things on a level everyone can understand. He makes it interesting. I feel like I'm almost reading a historical fiction book the way he handles discussing space travel, etc. As a history lover, this helped keep my interest in the more technical parts. One of the most interesting parts of this series is the idea of 'Prolong treatment'. At the time of this book, Honor is twenty-four years old (forty of our years) but she looks like a teenager. Humans live three times longer than we do and both the good and bad are discussed in this series. Honor, who was very awkward looking when she was young, remains that way for a long time and has to deal with a deep insecurity centered around how she looks. It is not until much later, when she finally starts to mature, that she gains a real beauty and even longer before she believes this. Imagine teenage years being extended for multiple decades! *shudder*

Plot:

Weber knows how to keep his reader entertained. Even when he is setting up for the next point, there are enough other threads either coming together or unraveling to keep interest high. The story, as nearly all the stories in the series that I've read, is of national if not universal importance, but is told from the POVs of a few individuals with the wider consequences often being addressed by either short "meanwhile, back on the ranch" type chapters or in the final chapter. This makes the events mean much more to the reader than 'epic space battles' between ships with no human faces to connect us to them. This is what made the original Star Wars series work (and the Prequels not so much). I wouldn't care about the Empire or the Rebellion or the fate of the Jedi; but I do care about the fate of Luke, Leia, Han, etc. Through these characters, I then begin to care about the larger issues that are so disconnected to me. This is where many sci-fi books have failed with me as well, but Weber has made me care about Manticore, care about the politics of Haven because this affects Honor and her people. (And let me tell you, getting me to care about basically pre and Revolutionary France-that's a miracle.) One of the best complements I can give an writer is that they can write themselves into a corner and extract themselves with completely believable circumstances (no deus ex machinas, obvious plot devices, or something they 'forgot' to mention and made up on the spur of the moment). This it does and brilliantly.

Overall:

I have already recommended this book to my father, a life-long Hornblower lover. I don't recommend many to him; he's pickier about his books than even I am.

*The Negative*

While the series does have a female protagonist, there are a lot of women out there that I know tend to stay away from sci-fi series, particularly military ones. I use to be one of them, so I know they do exist. While anyone who feels this way should give this book a try to prove them wrong, I do think this will turn off some readers. There is a great deal of technical information, some that is easier to understand after a second read through. Consulting the wiki of the series might also help.

The biggest complaint for me is the sheer number of characters. There are so many names thrown at you in a very short time frame that I often got them confused at first. Also, Weber likes to bring back characters. This is good, because you quickly grow to love many of them and want to see them again and again. However, they are often not reintroduced with a brief 'remember when' blurb and I sometimes had trouble connecting characters to their previous appearance. The wiki, I believe, has lists, or you could list them out yourself. I wish I had done that the first time I read the book. That is the only thing missing from the book: a list of characters and their positions. (Note: I read A LOT of books and I have never had the trouble keeping characters straight that I did in this book and the sequels. This tells me that it most likely is a common occurrence for many readers. A simple list would really help.)

Summary:

READ THIS BOOK! If you like good, human heroines; great sci-fi; Horatio Hornblower; a long series full of thickly written books to sink into: you really need to check out this book. An excellent opening book that will send you straight out to the bookstore for the next volume.