…maybe a little too on the nose with channeling Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, there’s some truly problematic stuff with the native Medusans that goes all but uncommented upon, there’s some reactionary politics that may just be de rigeur for 20th century military sci-fi (I don’t know… would be happy to be educated), and the characterizations are almost beside the point, I guess.
On the plus side, the world-building is starting out pretty meticulous in a satisfying way (except for Manticoran dates, which is there for good in-universe reasons, but Weber seems to be using it to be the one ongoing reminder that this the distant future and not exactly England in Space), there’s a nice hyper-competence problem-solving ship’s crew vibe that will feel familiar to Star Trek fans, and the descriptions of actual shipboard action are very engrossing. Stylistically, there’s nothing to write home about, but it’s clear prose and allowing for the aforementioned weak characterizations, there’s nothing egregious either.
I am cautiously optimistic going forward, and if you had the budget (or could get an animated series greenlit), it seems to me that the universe and Honor herself could be spruced up and modernized into a really compelling space opera franchise that would be well-paced for TV.
I love Aubrey-Maturin, and Honor has been on my radar for a while but I haven’t tried it. I’ll give it a go!
I got a few chapters into Master and Commander, I want to say right about the time they first headed out on the Sophie, but can’t for the life of me remember why I stopped. I don’t recall disliking it, and I liked the movie, which I gather to be kid of “impressions of the sort of stuff that happens in the books.” Maybe I’ll pick it back up.
The movie has bits of the first, I want to say, three books, but it does capture the vibe extremely well.
The audio books are great too. I’m a fan of the Patrick Tull narration, but Simon Vance has his supporters too!