In Enemy Hands (Honor Harrington Book 7)

The planet Grayson is inhospitable to humans. The air, soil, water, flora and fauna are poisonous. People have survived for a thousand years by severely limiting their population and growing sustenance in enviro-domes. Along comes Honor and she introduces a colony of carnivorous shoulder cats. The cats don’t do animal husbandry but they expect to eat meat. How smart is that? But the Grasonites are thrilled because it is Honor Harrington doing it and they LOVE her! That silliness transpires in Chapter 1 of this 7th volume. It goes on from there.

Honor’s hormones are acting up again and her suppressed emotions are a bundle of chaos. Her psychiatric counselor (the kitty) is in a quandary because he does not know how to fix her. The object of her obsession is 40 years her senior, married, and her commanding admiral. He has the hots for her too and the reader is treated to a complete psychoanalysis of him as he struggles to damp down his, uum, passion. That subplot is left dangling in this edition

Honor is no superwoman in this novel. She is in fact more than a dead weight on the rest of the staff, she is an impediment, an object of pity to others and of self-pity. Hundreds of her associates die in single-minded dedication to save her from death. She resists them at every step.

The seven volumes of this series I have read so far could be reduced to two if all the superfluous technical explanations, banter, and extraneous detail were edited out. To compound the tediousness of it, much of it is sandwiched into the few action scenes. And the author pauses every few sentences to tell the reader how each character FEELS about what is going on.

We all know Weber can carry on for WAY too many pages about political conversations, or battle plans, or internal conjectures around other people's motives, or armament, or the "history" of FTL. And that's all this book is. Skip this and go on to "Ashes Of Honor".-- that's a great read. I skimmed all of "In Enemy Hands" and it still dragged.

So - If you already read the previous HH books, you MUST read this one and the next "Echoes of Honor".
You will find different stuff and multiple scenario storylines like you could not find before in the saga.

In Enemy Hands (1997) is the seventh SF novel in the Honor Harrington series, following Honor Among Enemies. The initial volume in this sequence is On Basilisk Station.

In this novel, Honor Harrington is a Commodore in the Royal Manticoran Navy and an Admiral in the Grayson Navy. She is a commoner in Manticore and a Steadholder in Grayson. She has six battle medals and is commonly called the Salamander from her involvement in the thick of combat.

Hamish Alexander is a RMN Admiral and Earl of White Haven. He is the designated commander of the new Eighth Fleet.

Andrew LaFollet is a Major in the Steadholder's Own Guard. He commands Honor's personal guards.

Harold Clinkscale is Honor's regent. A former general in Grayson security, he is now her chief servant and in charge of the steadhold when she is away.

Miranda LaFollet is Andrew's sister. She is head of Honor's household.

Nimitz is Honor's treecat. They have a bond that allows Honor to sense his emotions.

Samantha is also a treecat and Nimitz's mate. She has recently delivered four kittens: Jason, Achilles, Cassandra and Andromeda.

Nelson, Togo, Hood, Farragut and Hipper are male treecats. Hera, Athena and Artemis are female treecats. They all accompany Nimitz and Samantha to Grayson, but even eight mature treecats cannot keep four curious kittens out of trouble.

Cordelia Ransom is a member of the Committee of Public Safety and the Secretary of Public Information. She had been an assassin and saboteur prior to the fall of the previous administration.

Thomas Theisman is an Admiral in the People's Republic Navy. He is currently the commander of the Barnett system.

Lester Tourville is a Rear Admiral People's Republic Navy. He has a reputation as a firebreathing character. He is trying his best not to be promoted.

In this story, Honor is coming back to Grayson with fourteen treecats. Four of them are the kittens of Nimitz and Samantha. Eight more are grown 'cats, including three females. Honor figures they are starting a treecat colony on Grayson.

Jason crawls under a seat on the pinnance. Finally Nimitz has a talk with the kitten and he comes out. Nimitz carries him back to Samantha by the nape on his neck. Then Hera brings back Achilles the same way. The other two are not quite as curious and adventurous, but they too venture off sometimes.

Honor is returning to Grayson because the Eighth Fleet is forming there. White Haven is staying at the Harrington Steading because it is convenient to the simulation area. Harold, Miranda and Hamish are among those who meet Honor at the port. They are rather surprised by the multiple treecats.

Honor introduces the treecats to her welcomers. While presenting Miranda, Farragut leaps at her and she catches him. The treecat has adopted Miranda.

At the welcoming party, White Haven retires to the library to escape the crowd. Honor soon appears for the same reason. They discuss Grayson and the new fleet. Later, Honor discusses the new Bureau of Weapons report.

Honor wrote the report while serving with the Weapons Development Board. White Haven starts ripping the changes within the report. She calmly points out that he hasn't read the appendices. Hamish is so shocked by being lectured by a subordinate that he notices her feminine attraction.

Honor is shocked in return by his reaction. Worst yet, she is also attracted to him. She knows that he is married to -- and deeply loves -- an invalid wife. She will not come between him and his wife.

Unfortunately, neither can repress their feelings. Honor finds an excuse to leave her steading. She reports early to her duty station as the commander of a heavy cruiser squadron. There she finds several friends and acquaintances.

CruRon 18 currently has six heavy cruisers. More are on their way, but won't be available for a month. Her staff has gotten a hint of a possible duty for the squadron. CruRon 18 escorts seventeen JNMTC freighters from Yeltsin to various planets and back again.

Meanwhile, Theisman receives notice of several reinforcements. He decides to use them to free one or two squadrons for raids on Manty systems. He sends Tourville to Adler.

This tale takes Honor and her convoy into an ambush by Tourville's squadron. She and Nimitz are captured with the surviving crew of the Prince Adrian. Tourville tries to send her to a PRN POW camp, but Ransom overrules him

Cordelia sends Honor to Camp Charon. The next installment in this sequence is Echoes of Honor.

Highly recommended for Weber fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of naval combat, political intrigue, and a bit of thwarted romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

What if Honor took a calculated risk, and was caught away from her flagship when suddenly, ambushers strike? A powerful force, able to eradicate her. What can she do?
Why is she here? Back up to that last visit on Grayson, and a visit from a man for whom she has strong feelings:

' ... Which, she reflected, wasn't surprising, given how little idea she had of what was happening inside her. All she knew with certainty was that she had become increasingly and acutely uncomfortable in Hamish Alexander's presence.
It wasn't because of anything he'd done or said, and she could hardly blame the man for what he might feel in the privacy of his own mind. But even though his actions and behavior were precisely what they ought to have been, the flicker of admiration behind them refused to go out. It never turned into anything stronger than a flicker--he, at least, had himself under control, she thought bitterly--but it was always present, as if a part of him were automatically suppressing it without quite being able to eradicate it. Yet whether he knew it was there or not, she did, and that traitor part of herself which had sensed their inner resonance longed to reach out to what he kept so well concealed even from himself.
For the first time, her link to Nimitz was as much curse as blessing, for try as she might she simply could not pretend she was unaware of White Haven's banked inner glow, and her awareness jabbed at her, unsettling her efforts to maintain a matching self-control. ' (p. 106)

She flees from his tender thoughts. This leads her into greater danger than she has ever faced before. Her Grayson armsmen will be true to their oaths.

Slow plodding read. The problem is that the sub-stories predominate and Honor falls through the cracks, if you ignore a 50 plus getting horny for a 90 plus, as I did. In the end the heroine is too damaged as is the treecat. While the rescue, per se, was exciting it was much too costly and frankly more than impossible. Most impossible aspect was the over armed ship guards, Fleschette guns with hundreds of rounds are like a huge upgrade on tommy guns in prison guards hands. Unfortunately, it would just be too much for everyone to walk around that heavily armed, not to mention the shoot up destruction of the spaceship environment. Should have had the weapons on lock up and brute force used to control prisoners. Second drag was Honor being humiliated and tortured, NOT an interest draw for me. Truth is this book is a long prelude for the next books story line. While it is more readable than most SF it still lags in the "I'll re-read this one again" area. This book will be a skip-read for Honorverse lovers as it gives too little to the reader. Thanks, Harry!

Parts of it are great. It's just a bit wordy at times. Goes on and on about things that don't interest me, but that's what the ability to turn the page comes in handy. Kinda like skipping commercials recorded on TiVo. I really enjoy these books and will be disappointed when I finish the series.

Am I done with David Weber's Honor Harrington series yet? Sadly, no. After finishing In Enemy Hands, I still have many more to go, but it's not a struggle I dread.

Fittingly, this particular installment is more about Haven than Honor or Manticore. The first half of the book is almost purely setup, and considering the title, it's not exactly a surprise that our heroine is eventually captured. But that's fine in this context, because Haven has historically received the short end of the stick. Haven's society is a precarious testament to unchecked power, the potency of directed propaganda, and delusions of grandeur. Weber paints a portrait of a society on the verge of another revolution, desperately scrabbling for scraps to maintain a war now required for public opinion.

And yet the war is currently at a lull. Sure, Haven captures a star system and transforms it into a dangerous lure, much to the chagrin of Honor and her squadron, but the political unrest threatens to revert this progress, and the Socialistic fervor of Cordelia Ransom certainly complicates matters. The point isn't that Honor is going to a prison planet, or even why this is the case, but that Haven's long obscured prison must be revealed, and all the implications involved when the Galaxy at large--including the Solarian League--discovers their duplicity.

It's clear this isn't just a war of military maneuvers, and that politics play a significant part, and the deeper insight that Weber introduces with his summary of Haven's social woes is impossible to ignore. Honor's involvement is a foregone conclusion, and the only real mystery is how she'll escape. Considering the length of the series at large, having a number of universe-building entries is necessary to maintain ambiance without it turning into a mere transcription of erratic space battles from the perspective of a somewhat empathetic heroine.

It's an interesting conundrum Weber has introduced this time, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

In Enemy Hands By David Weber (Honor Harrington Series Book 7)

As far as the honor character I really do enjoy the first three book much more than the rest. But in regards to the whole story and series this book is a pivotal part and it does have much more of depth into Honor's Character than I might have previously given it.

This is a long book and it carry's on the tradition of Political Military suspense thriller that David Weber has been building from day one. Everything that seemed extra and unnecessary begins to fold out to useful purposes. There is a lot that is going on with shifting loyalties and shifting party preferences within the military and political climate of many of the worlds that make up the Honor Universe.

We get to see Honor lose a decisive battle and we get to see the real evil of the new regime running the Peeps.

We also get a jarring chapter where through Honor's head we get introduced to the major players aboard her vessel that will ultimately go into battle. I really am not a fan of the shopping list character descriptions but I am willing to be forgiving when the book is already well beyond 500 pages, which this one is. That sense of needing to rush was probably too tempting as opposed to making many more pages and feeding us the information through the action.

There was a lot to handle here and in a small way the description, which comes from Honor's POV out of her head does help in a small way to give us more depth to Honor's character.

This Honor is more apparently vulnerable to the reader this time and I think that helps. She still makes most of the right decisions, but things go poorly and she has to face the consequences. These vulnerabilities have always been there, but her success have always managed to push them most of the way into the background.

I think at this point in the series if you are a fan of Honor Harrington that these books will stand well and be appreciated. I also can see that for someone who jumps in at this point or some future point it might become a daunting task to get into the stories.

Fans of Honor Harrington should love this one SFF Military Political Sociological and even Psychological fans might find this one and the next to be of interest.

Once again for the Horatio Hornblower fans this book parallels one of his in the sense of being a prisoner of war. But as for me any other similarities to Horatio Hornblower it goes well over my head. I have yet to get the enthusiasm to try to assemble a library of those works.

J.L. Dobias

If you have read the previous novels, then you get the score. Honor Harrington is back in action leading a multi-national force, as the war with the Peoples Republic of Haven heats up. Honor is joined by some of her old friends from previous novels, namely Scotty Tremaine, Alistair Mckenon, and good ole' Harkness.
Reading about these wonderful characters again is a real treat.
Reading about Honor Harrington Super Woman, is getting to be a real pain.
In the beginning of this book, we see the Royal Manticoran Navy gearing up for a major offensive against the PRH. We get an inside look into further "Peep" politics, and future RMN weapons.
We also get a page after page of dialogue and character insights about Honor Harrington. From these insights we learn this about Honor Harrington. Since Basilisk Station Honor is the second highest ranking officer in the Grayson Navy (second most powerful fleet in the Manticoran Alliance). She is the most important political figure on Grayson. She is also a brilliant tactical officer (then again we already knew that), and something of a genius with strategic warfare since in Flag in Exile, after surviving a pinance crash and people trying to kill her she then has a sword fight with a master of the blade (and wins of course). After all that she then commands a small yet powerful fleet of Grayson ships to defeat a PRH fleet almost three times it's size. She does this with 1 hour of sleep mind you. Honor is the greatest martial artist in the RMN, and possibly the strongest and tallest human to ever exit. Then there is here knowledge about treecats, she apparently knows more about these creatures than any other person in the galaxy. And to top it all off she is quite beautiful (though she thinks she is ugly).
That in a nutshell is Honor Harrington. She is hot, she is tough, she can do everything anyone else can, only 4 times better. And everyone loves her for it because she is "modest".
Webster continues to write with that style for adventure, and while I rather liked Harrington in the outset, she is becomming a real trial to read. The woman can basically do anything to perfection and it's getting pretty darn annoying. Anytime someone mentions Harrington in the book, they go into almost a paragraph about how awesome she is. I have no real problem with that, but tone it down. I don't need to have every character in the universe go on and on about how great she is.
What is probably worst, is that she will often talk about how great she is. But will do so in a modest way and never out loud.
It's tiresome. I would love for nothing else than for another RMN female captain come up and kick the ...out of her then toss that damn 'cat Nimitz out of an airlock.
I don't mind her being good at being a captain, or being able to fight. But when she is beating the ... out of Marines, out thinking admirals, enough is enough.
This book is more of the same, with the exception of the cliffhanger ending.
Aside from Honor, the book is great. Good plot, and great action. And if you love Chief Harkness, you will love this book.

My second Honour Harrington novel, which now has me firmly resolved to go back to the beginning and start from the first to catch up. There is a sense of dramatic irony which Weber takes full advantage of. We know from the back-cover description that Honour gets captured; it is what the novel is about after all. So as certain decisions take her closer to that end, it makes you scream "look out behind you" with a sense of exciting anticipation: "how is Honour going to get out of this one?" Action, character and plot are all handled excellently: background and motivation dealt with in an intelligent manner rather than two-dimensionally. Generally the novel goes off in new directions, away from pure space-battles of the last few novels. I can see further diversions ahead as the novels continue (as they must, please as this novel ended on a great 'to be continued...'). Recommended SF action. One note on quality: my edition fell apart during reading. Perhaps this is a one-off, but I'm going to read the next book very carefully.

There were parts of this book that were great and there were parts that dragged on for no reason except to bore the reader to death. This is the first book in the series that wasn't excellent (the next one isn't too hot either.)
Let me clear the air on what I liked and what I didn't. I like Honor and think she has been so far a great character. I don't like how every single person in the book idolizes her and thinks she is the best thing that has happens since space travel. She is coddled constantly and she acts as though it is her due. Also I am getting tired of Grayson. There is an entire universe to explore in these books and it always comes back to how special this planet is, how hard their people work compared to everyone else, how tough they are and how smart they are. Enough already Weber. We get it.
I do like how the Peeps are in this one a bit more and the political side of the war for them is explored in greater detail. (even though half the peeps seems to be starstruck by Honor as well and in love with her.....) The battles were also well done. I am going to read the 9th book Ashes of Victory and I seriously hope it is better that 7 and 8 and goes back to earlier themes and not this Honor can do no wrong theme that is currently bogging this series down.

After the superb 'On Basilisk Station,' 'In Enemy Hands' is my favorite HH novel. As the war starts turning in Manticore's favor, Honor is captured by recurring Peep admiral Lester Tourville. Cordelia Ransom, Citizen Committeewoman for Public Information, takes Honor aboard her flagship and announces that Honor will be executed for the events of OBS (remember, she was tried in absentia in the PRH). The rest of the story follows our heroes (including old series favs like McKeon, Venizelos, Tremaine, and Harkness) and Honor aboard Ransom's battlecruiser as it voyages to the secret Peep prison known as Hell... and Honor's appointment with the gallows. A good deal of the story is in character interaction, showing how the various members of Honor's crew (and Honor herself) deal with the brutality of their State Security (SS--get it?) captors. There is, though, quite the battle in the end, by far my favorite action sequence in an HH book. Longtime fans might shed a few tears as some old friends don't make it out alive, but the experience is definitely rewarding. This book ends in something of a cliffhanger, so you'll want the next one, 'Echoes of Honor,' on-hand as soon as you finish!

Here it is! The next in the exciting Honor Harrington series! Honor's orders take her into an ambush where she is outnumbered, outgunned, and unable to run, she has two options: see the people under her command die in a hopeless battle...or surrender them - and herself - to the Peeps. At least the People's Navy promises to treat their prisoners honorably. Honor finds herself bound for a prison planet aptly named "Hell"...and her scheduled execution. She is put into solitary confinement, separated from her officers and her treecat Nimitz, and subjected to systematic humiliation by her gaolers. Her future has become both bleak and short. Yet bad as things look, they're about to get worse...for the Peeps.
***I believe David Weber may be the master of sci-fi, military, and technical writing!***

Ok, Mr. Weber, you've thrown me a curve. What makes it frustrating is that the curve is one of those things that's so obvious in retrospect that you want to kick yourself in the forehead (not easy to do :-) Honor's skill, courage and luck had to meet its match sooner or later, and similarly, the Peeps sooner or later had to get the upper hand. Military campaigns of this length are *never* one-sided, after all.
I'm glad to see the contrast between the Peep 'regular Navy' officers, and the State Security thugs. It seems obvious that StateSec's goons are cast in the same spiritual mould as Hitler's SS (even the initials...) I grant that the purpose and political requirements of StateSec do not require naval expertise of the highest calibre, but I found their personnel to be just a little too 'dumb Imperial stormtrooper'-like for my taste. On the other hand, they *were* up against Chief Harkness, a personage whom even the RMN, not to mention the Marines, has had trouble dealing with on occasion.
My biggest single complaint is that this book, much like Lucas's "Empire Strikes Back" sort of leaves you hanging at the end. The general feeling I got was "So our heroes are OK for the moment, but..." Nevertheless, an excellent read, and I'm waiting with bated breath for the eight volume to come out. Keep writing, Mr. Weber!

Honor Harrington, the Lady Starship Captain who uses her skills to protect Star Kingdom of Manticore from the People's Republic (Peeps) of Haven and other menaces, is back on duty. Having sailed from victory to victory in previous books over seemingly-impossible odds, she founds it disturbing to find feelings from her superior; her mentor. He's married. And she can't reveal any of her confused emotions to White Haven as it would be against the strictest code of military. Elsewhere, her steadings at Grayson are doing well only if she hadn't been surprised by the fleet of treecats that decided to settle on Grayson; following the footsteps of Nimitz, her personal treecat, to adopt more Humans to spread their species. At a standard escort mission Honor manages to signal warning and save the freighters but is outnumbered by the Peeps firepower and forced to surrender. First time in her career. And the People's Republic know what they've got; the SS (State Security) division drools over her capture and will be making an example out of her; as publicly as possible. What will be Honor's odds this time?

The book continues to carry on a believable military model with technically descriptive tone to squelch all the details needed for impeller drive, missile pods and the hulls of battlecruisers to make them become alive. At this point of series (book 7) one either loves every detail or the details are slowly wearing one out. The military society that surrounds the main character offers very little leech to try different approaches to human relations when the writer keeps his pen on firmly on boxed square where responses are somewhat predictable.

Two (2) stars. Written in 1997, this is book 7 of Weber's Honorverse. For Honor Harrington readers this books is like standing still. Page count is hefty compared to what you get out of the story. The is hardly dialog to bring the story forward, but pages after pages of descriptions what happens in people's minds. This makes the plot too wandering and loose focus; the wanderings could work as a background, but enough is enough. The action that starts around page 400 (last page being 530) is the only link to contribute to Lady Captains's progress and make the reading barely worthwhile. Too much inner talk and spending time in characters' heads make this book a wooden read.

Honor is in command of a joint Manticoran Graysonian squadron when it is intercepted by an unusually well commanded Peep squadron. Despite her best efforts, Honor's ship is forced to surrender to the Peeps and she is placed in custody of the commanding officer who is quite preparedto accept her parole. Unfortunately, his political officer is of another mind and forces the commander to transfer Honor to 'Civilian' imprisonment where she is forced to endure all forms of degradation. Finally handed over to the Peeps head of publicity - a cold hearted woman by the name of Cordelia Ransome, she is tortured even more and her 'cat Nimitz finds himself the target of Ransome's ire. When all seems bleakest, help is offered from an apparent renegade and the Manticorans find themselves free to escape. Only trouble is that the only place they can go is their destination; the Peep's most secret prison planet!

I love Honor Harrington and the whole universe that David Weber has created. I especially like the rewards that he bestows upon the righteous endeavors and heroic activities of his leading characters. This story is only half done though. It is obviously a pre-quel to a second book in an already long saga of stories. It seems unfair to the fans to have to wait for months for the end of the story and pay double for the story. One other comment, David's villains are being drawn with to much attention to their horrid-ness. We don't need any more depravity in our recreational reading. Suffice that the bad guys are bad. Please don't go to such detail about how bad.

Many people have complained that Weber is becoming increasingly annoying in the way he describes HH. Yes she seems to be Superwoman but she has quite a few flaws - the biggest of which is the moving element of this book's plot. She can't put herself first and that is why she runs away from Hamish and straight into the Peep's hands. We've always known about her temper is a source of weakness (as well as strength). She can't sing to save her life, she grew up thinking she was ugly (something that's very hard to get over even in adulthood) and she suck's at math. She might have lesser flaws than someone else but she has the advantages to go with them. Charisma, discipline, single minded determination, love for her work and a great deal of intelligence. People worship movie stars these days for far, far less - Can you blame a planet like Grayson for worshipping her.
This book was good, particularly because it shows that Honor is human. She's imprisoned and humiliated by SS troops that everybody says are to stupid to live. But remember what their job is - They're not supposed to fight the enemy outside, they're supposed to prevent the navy from launching "another" coup. Remember also that Weber has forever told us that the Peep education system sucks, so if you're going to recruit from the Dolist ranks watch dogs for the navy this is the best you can do.
My favorite part of this book is the point where Honor is removed from the action which allows her people to take the center stage for a change (like Harkness and Alastair). It also provides us with a better look into the enemy and it's officers. We learn things about the relationship between The Navy and the SS. We finally get to meet Cordelia Ransom and we revel at her untimely demise. And finally it sets the stage for future stories. This is a good book.

A lot of fun to read. Honor is captured and sent to her death? Well, that last doesn't quite happen as planned. You know there will be a sequel in which Honor really razes Hell.

Many readers of the Honor Harrington series have caught on to the "Committee for Public Safety" run by Robert Stanton Pierre, but I wonder how many grasped the significance of Weber's choice of a name for the ship operated entirely by State Security personnel. You can enjoy a great story without understanding either of these literary touches, but they do add a nice bit of spice.

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I am a historian, and read D.F.Weber with pleasure. I find Honor to be realities compilemation of Nelson, Hornblower, Eisenhower, Truman, Golda Meier, and Bella Absug. I find hope in Honor, and D.F.W.'s, belief in the abilities of our medical people in the future, both near and far. Also I am a combat vetern and I know that sh-- happens, but I know that even so, Honor gives an understanding that belief in the sanctity of life and personal honor with the knowledge that this demands a duty to protect and fight with her all to keep and shelter those who cannot. I hope for a happy ending.

Honor finally loses bad. Not only is she captured, but she is sentenced to be executed by the head of the Peep's Bureau of Comunications. She also loses sight in one eye, and is dependent upon others for everything. What I loved about this book is how David makes the truly evil bad guys believable, and that there could be very good guys fighting for the Peep's. An excellent yarn with plenty of good sub-plots to keep you up all night. What I like about this series is David's views on politics and military stratagies.

OK, I read a lot of science fiction, especially military SF. The first few books in the Honor Harrington series were a wonderful homage to Horatio Hornblower and a nice bit of fresh air in space opera. Books 1 through 3 were quite good, 4 through 6 OK, and then I was sorely disappointed by this one.

The story was OK; the plot was OK; the development of the overarching series as a whole was OK. What was NOT ok was the fact that Weber descended into so many author filibusters that it A) felt like a full 1/3 of the book was Weber telling me I am not concerned enough with the plight of women and B) I wanted to stop reading the darn book. In the end I finished it, but Weber's ridiculous screeds almost put me off the entire series.

I just went back and re-read this to refresh my memory befor reading _Echoes of Honor_. I was surprised at how much I had to struggle to get through the first 30% of the book. It picked up steam after that, though. As a Navy brat with two brothers-in-law who are retired Navy fighter pilots, I must say that Weber has his finger on all that is noble, frustrating, and at times appalling about the military. ..bruce..

Hey it is a Honor Harrington story. I don't think it can better in general. I like the entire series and have them all in my library. They are well written and plotted. The action scenes are nicely done and there is not a lot of extra verbage in the narrative scenes.

This book is great! As with all of the books so far in this series, the beginning hundred or so pages are a little mundane while reading them. But without the background that they setup, and the emotional attachment that is their result, the remaining pages would never be so satisfying.
I have always been more into the marine aspect of the military than the navy, and this book, more that the others, has a bit more small arms fights. But who cares what the plot is... it's Honor Harrington--and she kicks some butt!

After reading the previous six books in the series I have discovered that David Weber clearly knows how to scratch the itch of the military science-fiction reader. The plot flows well and the pace is just fast enough to leave the reader wanting more. Definitely the stellar Horatio Hornblower, Honor Harrington as a character is wonderfully written.

A bit predictable at times, but reads well. Weber tends to think for the reader too much -- filling in background/motive with characters thoughts, instead of letting the reader come to his/her own conclusions. Still, the story is fun and interesting.

I love the Honor Harrington Books, but not this book. It realy left a bad taste in my mouth. Only the beginning and the end held anything good in this book. Bad enough that I had to return it so that seeing the book doesn't spoil my love of Honor Harrington.

This was my least favorite of the Honor Harrington series. The characters were even more cardboard in depth than previous novels.

Someone else's review said "everyone that is good is good and everyone that is bad is bad". I agree completely.

Now, I like the Harrington series, but maybe more for the combat scenes than I had realized (which were very few in this book)

I am a real Weber fan, but large parts of this book are somewhat dull. Never thought that I would say that about a Weber book. Large chunks are devoted to convincing you that being the head of a sucessful coup is dangerous and inconvienent, go figure. All is not lost. This book is a modified cliffhanger, and the next one should be great.

Very unlike David Weber. This book is incomplete. Most of Weber's work is both great, rollicking reading and literarily sound. Generally, if you open to the middle of one of his books you find the middle of the story it tells. Not so in In Enemy Hands. The center of this story is about 50 pages from the end, plus it doesn't so much end as simply stop. It reeks of "editor says print now, give me what you've got." DO NOT read this book unless you have the next one waiting.

I loved all the Honor books before this one, but this one was just too boring! I guess he was setting it up for future books but nothing happened until the last 15% of the book. I'll try the next in the series, hopefully it will be back to the great story it was before this one.

In Enemy Hands picks up pretty much where Among Enemies left off. Weber takes a few chapters to fill in the details. His writing is smoothe enough that new readers will jump right in and readers of the series will certainly enjoy the insightes into the characters, the Peeps and Treecats especially

Exciting action, interesting characters and social conditions along with the whiz-bang SF that is well integrated into the story made this an interesting read in spite of the author's excessive prose. I found myself skimming frequently to get to the next block of action or dialogue. This was my first read of this author and I intend to try his other work.

In this, the sixth Honor Harrington book, David Weber takes you on a great , sometimes gutwrenching adventure. Honor, now a Commodore in the MSN, is captured and sentenced to death... Honor fans have gotta read this one!! I can't wait to find out what happens next....come on David, write faster!!

OMG! This has to be one of Weber's worst of the series to date. Page after page after page of of blathering on and on about things not even remotely relevant to the story. I have read the previous 6 books in the series and was HUGELY dissapointed with this work. Save yourself the $$ and just remember the following. 1) Whitehaven has the hots (now) for Honor. 2)Honor surrenders to the Peeps 3) Some "good" Peeps help her escape. Skip this one and go on to the next book.

“In Enemy Hands” **7

Stereotype / Stock character: Mary Sue: author character, author surrogate, self-insertion

Hamish Alexander-Harrington comments on how Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington has earned the fanatical loyalty of millions of Graysons. Everybody who is good agrees with Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington about everything. She is the saint of the navy. The common public venerates her. Many politicians consider her a special advisor. Grayson culture changes whenever Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington requires change. She is incapable of doing anything wrong.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington uses her treecat’s empathy and telepathy without caring about privacy. She was once concerned about the issue of privacy, but has forgotten that concern. She no longer has to rely on trust and character judgment. This allows her to avoid the problem of making a mistake.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington is captured; of course, the good Havenites treat her with absolute respect while the evil Havenites torture her. Not only do the Manticorans get luxury food, but also the good Havenites regularly talk to them as friends. The treecat once again proves to be annoyingly cute and sickeningly sweet.

After her capture, Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington promises that her treecat will not cause problems. However, after Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington attempts to use her treecat to kill Cordelia Ransom; the good enemies forget this fact and are automatically sickened by Cordelia Ransom’s actions.

The good enemies also aid in Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s escape without considering the future actions that may result. At the end of the novel Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington remarks how the Havenites are outnumbered and will be defeated because, she and her crew have the moral superiority.

Simon Mattingly, a member of Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington’s bodyguard unit, refuses to cease guarding her quarters; despite everybody believing the Committee of Public Safety had executed her.

Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington has been given too much respect and glory. She is Manticore’s only first rate hero/heroine. Hamish Alexander-Harrington and the other admirals/captains are written as: second rate, third rate, fourth rate, fifth rate, sixth rate (rating system of the Royal Navy); officers.

The use of “moral courage” has been overused.

The treecats have been given too many privileges and exceptions, however they are not held responsible for their actions. Eventually Weber will write that the treecat’s abilities of empathy and telepathy are used for loyalty tests of everybody. This type of loyalty test is already used by the royal guard of the Kingdom of Torch (Congo, Elysium, Verdant Vista), Lara’s Own Regiment. In the Honorverse, privacy is irrelevant and the concept of trust is obsolete. Weber has forgotten what happened in the United States of America:
-- Communist Control Act of 1954
-- Communist registration act
-- Executive Order 9835 (Loyalty Order)
-- First Red Scare
-- House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA) (HUAC)
-- Joseph Raymond McCarthy
-- Loyalty Review Board
-- McCarran Internal Security Act (Internal Security Act, McCarran Act, Subversive Activities Control Act)
-- McCarthyism
-- Second Red Scare
-- States Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations
-- Subversive Activities Control Board

Weber needs to write that genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) is not evil. The ethics of genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) have always been written in good-and-evil terms. Genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology) has always been written as evil regardless of use. “Andromeda” had a balanced view of genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology).

Weber has written that technology is only evil if it is misused. He has never written about the evils of cybernetic (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) surgery. Cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) have been written as being irrelevant to a person’s morality. Weber should write that cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics) are seen as dehumanizing and Sharpton is reviled for its heavy use of cybernetics (actroid, android, bionics, cyborg, gynoid, humanoid robot, robot, robotics). In the “Star Wars” universe, cyborgs were viewed with distrust and fear since they were part machine and had been dehumanized.

The Beowulf Life Sciences Code outlaws any serious genetic engineering (biological engineering, biological systems engineering, biotechnology), even for the colonization of heavy gravity (gravitation) planets. Even though the planets in San Martin (Trevor’s Star System) and the Star Empire of Manticore (Star Kingdom of Manticore) were colonized by modified colonists, it is now outlawed by known space. Modifying colonists for different environments is not the equivalent of the genetic slavery promoted by Mesa (Mesa System, Mesa Terminus).

Everything is written in “black-and-white” morality, there are no “shades of gray/grey” morality.

The things that Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington can do without failure:
-- alternative dispute resolution
-- appropriate dispute resolution
-- arbitration
-- bravery
-- character judgment
-- common decency
-- conciliation
-- courage
-- diplomacy
-- dispute resolution
-- duels (Dreyfus Protocol, Ellington Protocol)
-- emotional control
-- ethical behavior
-- external dispute resolution
-- facilitation
-- gliding (glider)
-- honor
-- integrity
-- leadership
-- logistics
-- marksman (designated marksman, scout sniper, sharpshooter (Scharfschütze), sniper)
-- martial arts (hybrid martial arts, mixed martial arts)
-- mediation
-- moral behavior
-- negotiation
-- non biased actions
-- politics
-- strategy
-- swordsmanship (Daishō, fencing)
-- tactics

Honor Harrington
-- HH1 -- On Basilisk Station
-- HH2 -- The Honor of the Queen
-- HH3 -- The Short Victorious War
-- HH4 -- Field of Dishonor
-- HH5 -- Flag in Exile
-- HH6 -- Honor Among Enemies
-- HH7 -- In Enemy Hands
-- HH8 -- Echoes of Honor
-- HH9 -- Ashes of Victory
-- HH10 -- War of Honor
-- HH11 -- At All Costs
-- HH12 -- Mission of Honor
-- HH13 -- A Rising Thunder
-- HH14 -- Shadow of Freedom
Anthologies
-- HHA1 -- More Than Honor
-- HHA2 -- Worlds of Honor
-- HHA3 -- Changer of Worlds
-- HHA4 -- The Service of the Sword
-- HHA5 -- In Fire Forged
-- HHA6 -- Beginnings
Crown of Slaves
-- CS0 -- From the Highlands (Changer of Worlds)
-- CS0 -- Fanatic (The Service of the Sword)
-- CS1 -- Crown of Slaves
-- CS2 -- Torch of Freedom
-- CS3 -- Cauldron of Ghosts
Saganami Island
-- SI1 -- The Shadow of Saganami
-- SI2 -- Storm from the Shadows
-- SI3 -- Shadow of Freedom
Star Kingdom
-- SK1 -- A Beautiful Friendship
-- SK2 -- Fire Season
-- SK3 -- Treecat Wars
Manticore Ascendant
-- MA1 -- A Call to Duty
-- MA2 -- A Call to Arms
-- MA3 -- A Call to Vengeance
Book Companion
-- HOS -- House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion
-- HOSH -- House of Shadows: The Honorverse Companion
-- HOL -- House of Lies: The Honorverse Companion
Jayne’s Intelligence Review
-- JIR1 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 1 -- The Royal Manticoran Navy
-- JIR2 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 2 -- The Havenite Republican Navy
-- JIR3 -- Jayne’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 3 -- The Silesian Confederate Navy
Ship Book
-- SB1 -- Ship Book 1: The Havenite Sector
-- SB2 -- Ship Book 2: The Silesian Confederacy
-- SB3 -- Ship Book 3: The Short Victorious War

I am remiss in reviewing all the books in this series - so far I have read 12 of them and am about to buy the 13th - which will hopefully give you some indication as to how much I like the series. There is at least one follow up series - at least set in the same universe. So, whats it like. Often compared to the Horatio Hornblower saga of C.S. Forester, it basically tells the tale of a navel officer and her exploits as she rises through the ranks of command. You meet others in the various books - some of whom you really like. Some may (And will) die. In some ways it would be good for people in the military to read one or two from this series as Harrington leads by example and encourages her subordinates to think - and does not take credit for what they accomplish. *This is not restricted to her character but to others as well. And you will see the opposite as well - which makes a good and true contrast - and is believable because that is the way it is. (I admit I was not in the Navy but another service - but the example would be the same. Highly recommended for everyone who likes a good story, ones involving military action - or, who likes cats!

I have read this book times and i will probably read it again. David Weber is a great Arthur and will continue to read his books. The way he beings his characters to life just makes the story so much better. If you are a sfy reader who likes space Opera books this series is for you.