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Honor Among Enemies is the sixth book of David Weber's series of novels and short stories chronicling the adventures of Honor Harrington. It was first published in 1997.
Timeframe: September 1908 PD - March 1910 PD
Cover Summary[]
- For Captain Honor Harrington, it's sometimes hard to know who the enemy really is. Despite political foes, professional jealousies, and the scandal which drove her into exile, she's been offered a chance to reclaim her career as an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. But there's a catch. She must asume command of a "squadron" of jury-rigged armed merchantmen with crew drawn from the dregs of the service and somehow stop the pirates who have taken advantage of the Havenite War to plunder the Star Kingdom's commerce.
- That would be hard enough, but some of the "pirates" aren't exactly what they seem... and neither are some of her "friends." For Honor has been carefully chosen for her mission - by two implacable and powerful enemies.
- The way they see it, either she stops the raiders or the raiders kill her...and either way, they win.
Plot[]
After more than three years in exile on the planet Grayson, several of Honor Harrington's old political enemies decide to try and kill two birds with one stone: Klaus Hauptman has Honor appointed as commander of HMAMC Wayfarer, a prototype Q-ship. He believes that Honor will either deal with the piracy problems that are causing him heavy losses in the Silesian Confederacy, or die trying.
Wayfarer includes space for carrying a squadron of light attack craft, a large number of missile pods that can be quickly deployed through the ship's rear cargo doors, and unusually heavy energy weaponry for the ship's size and intended role, but it is essentially still a converted merchant ship, much slower than a regular navy vessel and with lighter defenses.
Honor's orders are to lead a squadron of four such Q-ships to fight piracy in the Silesian Confederacy. Although pirates are a chronic problem in Silesia, the Royal Manticoran Navy managed to keep it somewhat in check until the war with Haven began; with the fleet needed elsewhere, the Silesian pirates have gone completely out of control and the powerful Manticoran merchant cartels demand that the Navy do something. There are also other considerations: Silesia is something of a disputed territory between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Andermani Empire.
While Honor leads her crew in battles against various pirates, the Havenites are also conducting covert commerce raiding in Silesia, in an attempt to destabilize Manticoran trade in the region and present themselves in a more favorable light to the Andermani. However, it is actually Honor who makes a new friend in Großadmiral Chien-lu Anderman, a cousin of Emperor Gustav XI.
The Havenite light cruiser PNS Vaubon, Commander Warner Caslet commanding, has been pursuing a particularly loathsome group of raiders whose actions were repugnant to most of the Havenite officers involved. When Caslet sees some of these raiders attacking what he thinks is a Manticoran merchant ship, he decides to attack the raiders, despite being outnumbered. The merchant is actually Wayfarer, whose crew destroys the raiders and forces Caslet to surrender Vaubon.
With the additional intelligence gathered by the Havenites, Honor takes the fight to the pirates led by the terrorist Andre Warnecke and with a hostage gambit liberates the planet Sidemore, which had been occupied by Warnecke's forces.
After her defeat of the pirates, Honor goes looking for the Havenite commerce raiders. This leads to a larger-scale conflict with Havenite forces: Klaus Hauptman and his daughter Stacey have travelled on the liner Artemis to see the piracy situation in Silesea first hand, and Honor encounters them just as the Havenites are closing in on Artemis. In the ensuing Battle of the Selker Rift, Wayfarer is able to destroy two Havenite battlecruisers, but is itself ultimately destroyed. Most of Honor's crew is killed and the survivors return to Manticoran space. The Havenite prisoners, including Caslet, are repatriated with no restrictions on their participation in the war. Because of Honor's bravery in saving Hauptman's life and that of his daughter, the two reconcile.
References[]
Characters[]
Emily Alexander | Hamish Alexander | William Alexander | Gina Alveretti | Chien-lu Anderman | Archer | Kenneth Aston | Blohm | Brancusi | Thomas Caparelli | Rafael Cardones | Warner Caslet | Chi | Jackson Coulter | Erika Dempsey | Donevski | John Edwards | Queen Elizabeth III | Shannon Foraker | Freisner | Garner | Aristophones Georgides | Javier Giscard | Gunterman | Jasmine Haines | Horace Harkness | Honor Harrington | Klaus Hauptman | Stacey Hauptman | Hauser | Oliver Hernando | Jake Herrick | Stephen Holtz | Reginald Houseman | Ed Illyushin | Genda Kuriko | Ginger Lewis | Sally MacBride | Nimitz | Odysseus | Helen Pacelot | Eloise Pritchart | Frank Reidel | Oscar Saint-Just | Samantha | Tian Schoeninger | Elizabeth Showforth | Simonson | Slattery | Randy Steilman | Marie Stellingetti | Al Stennis | Prescott Tremaine | Harold Tschu | Carolyn Wolcott | Aubrey Wanderman | Annabelle Ward | Andre Warnecke | Jerome Waters | Samuel Webster | Wicklow
Starships[]
PNS Achmed | HMS Amaterasu | RMMS Artemis | RMMS Bonaventure | IANS Derfflinger | PNS Durandel | TCMS Erewhon | PNS Falchion | HMAMC Gudrid | HMS Hawkwing | Hendrickson | Jarmon | PNS Kerebin | HMS Linnet | HMS Lord Elton | HMAMC Parnassus | President Warnecke | HMAMC Scheherazade | PNS Vaubon | RMMS Voyager | HMAMC Wayfarer | Willis
Planets[]
Nations[]
- Anderman Empire
- Protectorate of Grayson
- Republic of Haven
- Silesian Confederacy
- Solarian League
- Star Kingdom of Manticore
Other[]
Cresswell System | Imperial Andermani Navy | Hera System | Jeffries Land | near-weasel | People's Navy | piracy | Retsina | Royal Manticoran Marine Corps | Royal Manticoran Navy | Selker Rift | Battle of the Selker Rift | Totenkopf Hussars Regiment | Triangle Route
References[]
- Honor Among Enemies in the Baen Free Library
- Honor Among Enemies on Wikipedia
Honorverse Non-Fiction | |||
---|---|---|---|
Book Companions | Ad Astra Companions | ||
HOS | House of Steel Companion | SOTF | Ships of the Fleet Calendars |
HOSH | House of Shadows Companion | SITS | Saganami Island Tactical Simulator |
HOL | House of Lies Companion | ||
Jayne's Intelligence Review | Jayne's Fighting Ships of the Galaxy | ||
JIR1 | The Royal Manticoran Navy | SB1 | Ship Book 1: The Havenite Sector |
JIR2 | The Havenite Republican Navy | SB2 | Ship Book 2: The Silesian Confederacy |
JIR3 | The Silesian Confederate Navy | SB3 | Ship Book 3: The Short Victorious War |