Flag in Exile
(Honor Harrington #5)

David Weber

Riverdale: Baen, 1995. ISBN: 0-7434-3575-3. Pp. 443

Review © 2006 Branislav L. Slantchev

This is the fifth book in the Honor Harrington series, and with the possible exception of On Basilisk Station which initiated me into this space opera, possibly the best thus far. It is a lot less space and a lot more opera, but barring some minor quibbles, it is quite satisfying in its own dramatic way.

After killing the despicable Pavel Young in a duel in which he attempted to shoot her in the back, Honor was grounded by the Royal Manticoran Navy on half-pay out of political necessity. The situation with Haven being what it was, the government had no choice but placate the Opposition in the House of Lords to secure its support for the war on the People's Republic. But since Honor is also a Steadholder on Grayson, rather than pushing pencils behind some desk, she went to her adoptive planet to run her domain. The bulk of the book has her settling in her new role of a feudal aristocrat in a society undergoing profound transformation. Some people resent that change and are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to thwart it and silence the person who represents everything they abhor.

With the solid backing of the Protector, Honor manages to put her holdings in order and unleash the financial power of her offworld banking account to fund an engineering project that, if successful, will enable Grayson to farm on the planet's surface rather than on expensive orbital stations (the planet's full of heavy metals and is deadly poisonous to humans). As the enterprise expands, she receives orders from many places, including the ones run by her enemies who hatch a plot to make Honor abhorrent to the population at large which still adores her as the savior of their planet from the Masadans. Just when it is about to hit the fan, Honor is asked to join the Grayson Navy as an... admiral because the woefully understaffed navy is in the throes of a rapid expansion that has put a severe strain on manpower. All of this comes precisely at a time when the People's Republic of Haven has finally managed to stem the Manticoran advance and is planning a few daring strikes on its own, one inevitably in the exposed system of Yeltsin. Hounded by a nearly perfectly executed domestic plot, Honor must prepare to face a sizeable force of invading ships with only a pitiful contingent.

Although this novels hews to the formula of the earliest ones (a long preparation culminating in a final fierce space battle), the "fluff" is nothing of the sort. Instead, we get a particularly unnerving description of politics tinged with religious zeal that may make one wince more than once in disgust. Not at Weber, but at the thoughts some of his conspirators expound. It is all rather well done, down to the smug self-righteous assurance in one's own intimate knowledge of the will of God, whose certainty is the hallmark of any true fanatic (or a lunatic). You know the author has hit his stride when you find yourself fervently wishing to jump into the book and strangle some of the protagonists. Weber seems a sworn enemy to the Jesuit idea of the ends justifying the means, and here he has gone to some lengths to make the consequences quite odious, up to and including the slaughter of dozens of children as a result of the plot to discredit Honor.

Weber puts the readers into the uncomfortable position of knowing how Honor's enemies maneuver to sully her name but not being able to do anything about it. It is all the more frustrating when she wades straight into the traps set for her, at least on a personal level. That is, while some characters try to explain that she cannot be faulted for failing to foresee sabotage on her projects, is it really so far-fetched to insist she should have at least given the possibility a thought? I mean, when you are the female symbol of change on a male-dominated nearly theocratic society, when church figures preach damnation for your "fornication" with Paul, when you know very well how your admittance to the Steadholder Conclave was rammed through by the Protector, well, you should at least expect some resistance. And since your popularity makes you politically unassailable, you should expect it to take some underhanded form. And given how her entire life was almost ruined by such behind the scenes maneuvering, she should have seen it coming.

But that is not my major gripe. Honor's readiness to blame herself for everything seems very odd indeed given her courage and her ability to commit thousands of people to a course of action that risks their lives. But what is her reaction when she learns of Paul's death (in the previous book)? She goes nearly catatonic at first thinking it all a horrible piece of bad luck. Fine. But upon learning of Young's dastardly plot, she blames herself as if it was her fault that Paul mouthed off in her defense and let his gentlemanly (some would call them 'macho') feelings get in the way of cool thinking. I do not mean to disparage what he did for I would probably have done the same, but I would not expect Honor to react that way. At any rate, I chalked it up to her personal involvement.

But then came her reaction to the news of the collapse of the project and the killing of the children. Rather than demand an investigation to ascertain the facts, rather than suspect immediately foul play, she goes catatonic yet again, brooding over it, crying, and blaming herself for god knows what. This is not the reaction of a military officer, and especially not of one of Honor's caliber. In an attempt to feminize her, Weber has strayed too far from what his heroine is supposed to be. Now, I am not saying that she should have no weaknesses---in fact, Honor's very lack of these makes her a bit Überfrau which detracts from the realism a bit---but this sort of weakness just does not ring true. So there, I said it.

A fun aside here concerns the People's Republic and their introduction of the Havenite equivalent to the Soviet polit-commissars to accompany the military and ensure their correct patriotic behavior and loyalty to the Committee of Public Safety. This is taken directly from the Russian experience but a few remarks are in order. First, Weber forgot an important detail from Soviet history which should have happened on Haven as well. When the Soviets took over, they abolished all military ranks on logic consistent with their theory of radical egalitarianism. In fact, ranks for officers were not re-instituted until the Second World War when the army began the slow process of professionalization after the purges. Given the pervasive references to this sort of egalitarianism on Haven, this sounds like a natural step. Second, there is no way the appropriate greeting would have been "Citizen Admiral Thurston." It would have been either "Citizen Admiral" or "Admiral Thurston," or even "Comrade Admiral," but never all three. Hey, I grew up with this nonsense, so I would know.

Definitely an enjoyable read, this one even has a full-blown samurai duel. Well, a duel that looks like it came straight out of the final scene of Sanjuro with the intense preparation, the flash stroke, and the geyser of blood. It may have been an overkill (pun intended) to have Honor dispatch three foes in duels in two successive novels, but one cannot fault Weber for sheer drama. When she walked into the Steadholders' chamber after the Protector's short speech, carrying herself with dignity despite her injuries from the recent assassination attempt, even I stilled my breath. When he does it right, Weber does it right.

February 15, 2006