(SPOILERS) Uncomprisingly good

Bluestrike2 wrote:

ywing14 wrote:I don't know that I really agree with the Alignment that "Honor should be one of them". Sure I can see the argument that she started out as an Alpha Line. But that was hundreds of years ago. Sure parts of that heritage are passed on, but that ignores the fact that Honor is just as much a product of the unaltered genes which have been added since as the Alpha Line has reproduced outside the Alignment.

I think that's more a consequence of the Alignment's own biases than anything else. For literally centuries, the MA has labored under the perception that they've been persecuted by the galaxy for their beliefs on genetic enhancement of human beings. They've labored for those same centuries to build a plan that would effectively burn the galaxy down around them so they can rise from the ashes and take over from the normals.

From everything we've seen, they've taken the idea of genetic predetermination to an insane level of zealotry that's unsupported by any scientific basis. The entire notion of distinct "genetic lines"--as if we're talking about different types of Coca-Cola--is a fantasy that's a gross oversimplification of behavioral genetics. When you look at how the MA pursued separate Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Slave lines, it's abundantly clear that their ideology is less about genetic improvement of the human species and more about a genetic caste system and power structure.

As an aside, the slave lines themselves are a pretty damned good example of just how flawed their approach is. After all, Manpower has to use repeated rape and torture to "condition" their pleasure slaves. And there are a lot of pissed off ex-slaves in the Honorverse. If the MA could use genetics to finely tune a person's personality based on genetics, Manpower would be selling slaves who are happy and content with their enslavement.

Taken together, it's really no surprise that they view Honor Harrington as someone who "should be one of them." They're predisposed to believe that genetics dictate everything, while cognitive dissonance helps them ignore any role Honor's own life experiences and environment might have played in her becoming such a competent naval tactician. They can't help but see themselves as responsible for Honor's successes, much as they'd prefer they didn't happen.

runsforcelery wrote:I'm glad you liked it.

One reason it can move as quickly as it does is that I put the building blocks in place in the earlier books. I've talked about the one thing that I would've (and should have) changed in Shadow of Victory if my health had been better (and my head had been clear), but without the work I spent on characters there, a couple of significant plot strands in Uncompromising would have had no place to stand.

I will say, quite frankly — and I've said this at conventions — that the change that was forced at the conclusion of At All Costs created major problems with my original plan for the war against the Solarian League. I mean, major problems. In a way, I found myself in the position of the producers of a successful television series who know their series is going to run for five seasons, for which they have crafted a tightly plotted story arc that comes to a full and satisfying conclusion . . . only to discover at the very end of Season Five that they've been renewed for another three seasons. Everything was set to go into limbo for twenty years after Honor's death . . . until she didn't die.

As I've said before, overall I'm delighted that she didn't, but I had to find a way to fight a hard war against a navy which was totally out-classed because it was supposed to have twenty more years in which to get a clue about its probable opposition and didn't get them. At the end of the day, at the close of Uncompromising Honor, we are very much where I originally intended to be at the close of the war against the Solarian League, except that it was going to be either Alexander McKeon or Michelle Henke having the conversation with Elizabeth in the final chapter. And, of course, the "Harrington torch" would've been passed to Raoul and any of his siblings.

I've always been aware that there were aspects of how the story changed following Alastair's death and Lester Tourville's surrender that weren't everyone's cup of tea. I was wrangling treecats at the time, however, and they have very sharp and very pointy claws.

At the end of the day, I'm satisfied with Uncompromising Honor and where it leaves the primary characters and the interstellar political and diplomatic system of the Honorverse.

Which doesn't mean that I won't go back and poke up the fire again sometime in the near future.

cthia wrote:I guess it is safe to assume that whatever snap crackle and popping Honor did in her emotional state did not rip the rice paper the Harrington Doctrine is written on.

kzt wrote:

cthia wrote:I guess it is safe to assume that whatever snap crackle and popping Honor did in her emotional state did not rip the rice paper the Harrington Doctrine is written on.

You would be wrong.

You really should read the book, it's an excellent wrap up.

kzt wrote:You really should read the book, it's an excellent wrap up.