Getting Better/Worse

After reading the series, is there anything that gets better or worse as it goes on?

Late in the series there is a definite flavor of “Jeves, tell the maxim gunners teach those native spearmen a lesson they won’t soon forget. And bring me my lunch, these hard fought battles can make a man hungry.”

Also there is the problem that as Honor moves up in rank there are less hands-on stories with her.

DW tried to balance that by bringing in other lower rank characters to fill the hands-on role. That works only so so though since Honor is a once-in-a-career character for an author and other characters (even if they do the same thing she would have) just aren't as appealing to a reader. Or to me at least .

I keep wishing DW finds a way to bring her back in the hands-on role. First she'd have to get rid of her Fleet Command though I suppose. Unless he gets really inventive with the story.

Bruno Behrends wrote:Also there is the problem that as Honor moves up in rank there are less hands-on stories with her.

DW tried to balance that by bringing in other lower rank characters to fill the hands-on role. That works only so so though since Honor is a once-in-a-career character for an author and other characters (even if they do the same thing she would have) just aren't as appealing to a reader. Or to me at least .

I keep wishing DW finds a way to bring her back in the hands-on role. First she'd have to get rid of her Fleet Command though I suppose. Unless he gets really inventive with the story.

Amen.

And Amen. So do I. I'm even desperate enough to try and help.* With prolong extending the lifespan of the denizens in the Honorverse by such a large margin, it seems counterintuitive and illogical for such a short naval career. Especially for Honor, who needs to feed the fire in her furnace, basically--says textev, to help hold her demons at bay. Honor's naval career has been the control rods for that unstable nuclear reactor she shares with her father.

*Press her onto the Spaceways!

MC1560 wrote:After reading the series, is there anything that gets better or worse as it goes on?

It's almost always the case that as a series goes along (well, at least to around the midpoint with very long series like the Honorverse)

- The writer gets better at crafting prose
- The writer gets a better idea of how everything is supposed to work in their universe (this sometimes creates inconsistencies with earlier works)
- Books get longer (because more successful authors have more ability to keep things from getting cut by editors, and they've had more time to come up with ideas)
- Anything tick that bothers you will get more noticeable
- The universe will get more complex
- it's often the case an author will fall into the trap of showing the same events from different points of view in different books, which is pretty much always not worth it

Bruno Behrends wrote:DW tried to balance that by bringing in other lower rank characters to fill the hands-on role. That works only so so though since Honor is a once-in-a-career character for an author and other characters (even if they do the same thing she would have) just aren't as appealing to a reader. Or to me at least .

Eh, Terekhov definitely is a great character. Oversteegen is too. And Mike Henke's not bad. The thing is they all started (at least in the novels) at least where Honor was a few books in (and Mike wasn't a major viewpoint character as anything less than RAdm) and didn't have anyone sitting on their careers (indeed, they had the powers that be pushing them up) so the first two are already flag officers and the last one's a full-boat Admiral already and you're back in the problem zone until Abby Hearns gets a command (none of the various captains and commanders we saw in the last few books except maybe Petersen in Uncompromising Honor really stuck with readers, I think).

drothgery wrote:Eh, Terekhov definitely is a great character. Oversteegen is too. And Mike Henke's not bad. The thing is they all started (at least in the novels) at least where Honor was a few books in (and Mike wasn't a major viewpoint character as anything less than RAdm) and didn't have anyone sitting on their careers (indeed, they had the powers that be pushing them up) so the first two are already flag officers and the last one's a full-boat Admiral already and you're back in the problem zone until Abby Hearns gets a command (none of the various captains and commanders we saw in the last few books except maybe Petersen in Uncompromising Honor really stuck with readers, I think).

We met both Terekhov and Oversteegen as captains, so they were already pretty high up, even compared to how we met both Honor and Mike Henke. The next generation we're being introduced to and will be following is Abigail Hearns and Helen Zilwicki and friends.

BTW, a recently-promoted Captain takes a heavy cruiser against overwhelming odds to save a backward planet. As a reward, this captain gets to be plank owner of HMS Nike. Remind you of anyone? Or any two?

drothgery wrote:The writer gets better at crafting prose.

I suppose that could be true, though I didn't get that feeling. OBS is a masterpiece and it isn't equaled in any other book in the series, as far as crafting his prose. IMHO.

The other books do go continually uphill to greatness, but OBS remains in a league of its own. What happens is the reader gets closer and closer to Honor's personal life which is splayed open with wounds and dusted with salt. In her personal life it begins to rain cats and dogs and there's never an available litter box. Sometimes I felt like a peeping Tom, or one of the awful newsies who are always in her business. We see the kinks in her armor, and we are reminded that she is indeed human after all.

Kzt, I always thought it was more like, "Jeves, order some body bags, when you mess with the horns, you get the bull."

I always liked the reverse of that saying, and here it applies very well. There are horns on that Salamander. If you pull a dog's tail, you're gonna get bitten. Honor graduates into MVP, she matures into the role.