"A Grand Tour", written by David Drake, is the second short story in the first Honorverse anthology More Than Honor, first published in 1998.

Plot Edit

Lord Sir Hakon Nessler, 14th Earl of Greatgap, travels to the planet Hope with Edith Mincio, his university tutor and occasional gambling teacher, to do research on an ancient race known as the Alphanes, when he hears of the destruction of HMS L'Imperieuse by the Havenite cruiser Rienzi.

He then plots to gain control of the Melungeon light cruiser Colonel Arabi and crew it with the survivors of the Manticoran crew and Melungeon workers, with himself commanding the vessel he renamed HMS Ajax. They manage to bluff the crew of Rienzi into abandoning and than scuttling the ship.

Background Edit

This is a story with few links to any other in the Honorverse setting. Careful reading may reveal similarities to the first novel in David Drake's RCN Series, in the characters, style, and attitude. Both were published in 1998. Indeed Drake confirmed that "A Grand Tour" is in fact the conceptual antecendant of the first RCN novel, With the Lightnings, with Lord Nessler in the position of Lieutenant Leary and Edith Mincio in that of Adele Mundy.

While the Honor Harrington novels were influenced by C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series, Drake's RCN series is based on the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.

References Edit

Characters Edit

Arlemont | Beresford | Bowen | Carabus | Carswell | Dawtry | DeKyper | Dismore | Gedrosian | Leona Harpe | Holdt | Kalpriades | Kapp | Denise Kawalec | Larrup | Edith Mincio | Hakon Nessler | Orloff | Rovald | Royston | Baruch Singh | Lalita Singh | Sharra Singh

Starships Edit

• Colonel Arabi a.k.a. HMS Ajax
• Jerobahm
• HMS L'Imperieuse
• PNS Rienzi

Planets Edit

• Air
• Hope
• Krishnaputra
• Tellico

Nations Edit

• People's Republic of Haven
• Grand Duchy of Melungeon
• Star Kingdom of Manticore
• Solarian League
• Teutonic Order

Other Edit

Alcohol catalyzer | Alphanes | Air System | Bakersfield Cordillera | Kuepersburg | poker | Republic of Haven Navy | Royal Bank of Manticore | Royal Manticoran Navy | Sector 12 | Skanderbeg University | Survey of the Alphane Worlds | Teutonic Order