The Review:
So first and foremost, one thing all science fiction stories have in common, is that they are filled with science. This means that the author spends a good chunk of time trying to download fictional scientific information which is probably very close to what we currently know into your head. In that way this book is true to its genre. The story takes place in a system far far away, approximately 512 light years from earth in the year 4003 CE (although the story uses a different Calendar). Humans have expanded far into space and have divided themselves into separate Space Nations around the systems they have colonized.On Basilisk Station is the first book in a long running series that follows the exploits of one Honor Harrington a member of the Royal Manticoran Navy, which is a space navy build around the Star Nation of Manticore. Honor Harrington has just been awarded her first captaincy of a spaceship due to her excellence over the course of 25 years of military service. However life isn't fair, her first ship has its weapons gutted, the crew starts to hate her due to the resulting failures in the ship's military performance and she is sent off to watch over the backwater system of the galaxy. Little does anyone know, that backwater system is about to be the powder keg that starts a 13 book long war that spans several star systems and Billions of lives.
As I mentioned above, the story stays true to the science fiction genre in terms of how much you have to learn about the technology and the time period. The series places a lot of emphasis on the ship capabilities and ship to ship combat, as a result there is a lot to learn about how a space ship in this universe works and how it can come apart. In addition there is a brief glimpse into the government of the Star Nation of Manticore which while not as important for this novel, becomes a much more important focus of the following books in the series.
On Basilisk Station has several supporting characters introduced who reflect the varied workforce needed within a single ship to keep it running. Having read most of the series before returning to write this review, I can say that you have to try and remember these characters as they will keep coming back throughout the series. What is most irritating to me is that like the realities of war, people can die too easily and too suddenly, Weber does an amazing job surprising you when a supporting character you have spent a fair bit of time following through the story and cheering on suddenly dies. Weber is fairly detailed on how these characters die as they don't just vanish when the ship takes a hit, He describes how a piece of the ship usually breaks apart and smashes into them or some kind of power source overloads after too much stress.
This particular book has a good chunk of time devoted to mystery solving as Harrington and her crew try to solve a conspiracy that seems to be happening in the Solar System they are in charge of protecting. Unfortunately, Weber tells the story from multiple points of view including the Antagonists' as such for you the reader the mystery is spoiled, but it is still interesting to see the strands of clues that lead Harrington and her crew to putting together the puzzle.
Overall, I found On Basilisk Station to be a great book to get my feet wet in the world of Science Fiction. You get detailed space battles, conspiracies, and a realistic interpretation what it might be like in a future society with a space navy. I give this book a 9/10 as I couldn't find too many faults with the story outside of the fact that too much of the book was spent downloading information on how this fictional universe works. I highly recommend everyone tries it, even just borrowing it from the library for a one time read.
