Download audiobook David Weber. Space Station Basilisk
Fantlab recommended the cycle about Victoria Harrington to me so long and persistently that I began to pin certain hopes on the fascination of this space opera. Some expectations were met, but not all. At first, much to my annoyance, I accidentally read the abstract. For many years I have carefully avoided these hotbeds of spoilers, preferring to figure out the plot intricacies on my own. In this case, my prejudices have been perfectly reinforced, since here this permanent inhabitant of the back cover directly reveals the general structure of the novel.
After muttering a couple of curses to myself, I moved on to the main text and ran into a description of tedious political games. Then the author shamelessly tries (and, after all, he achieves his goal, infection!) To touch the reader with a six-legged tree cat weighing ten kilos. And then we finally get to know the main character of this novel and the whole cycle of her name - Victoria Harrington. And for a long time we admire her personality, biography and even reflection in the polished wall of the capsule. Ah, those "chocolate eyes" mentioned throughout the text, for whose euphonious naming one should thank either the translator or the editor! Immediately upon arrival on board, the senior assistant is already looking at the newly-made captain. And then such co-operation and kindergarden insults begin that I had to interrupt reading for a couple of seconds to remember if the author really had a beard. They don't take astronauts like that!
After that, the plot goes on as usual, slowing down at such obligatory stopping points as the description general position affairs in politics and government, the naval hierarchy, the structure of ships and local tricks to overcome the light barrier. Sometimes we even see what is happening in the enemy camp. If it wasn’t for all this, I would be the first to throw a slipper with a pompom in the direction of the author, but how tedious it was to read endless descriptions! Perhaps, more than twenty years ago, it was stylish, fashionable, youthful, but now it looks like nothing more than a standard disposition with a minimum distinguishing features. The presented world lacks depth and meat on the bones, everything is smoothly slick and unified, like Lego elements: both “our” kingdom, and “not our” republic, and the local non-humanoid race ... Parts easily and freely fit together, creating a banal interstellar conflict, the denouement of which can be easily predicted from the annotation.
The characters also do not contribute to the revival of the book universe. For these one-dimensional creatures, even the epithet "cardboard" is a compliment. The image of Victoria herself, although slightly more textured than all the others, is an artificially created construct of mutually exclusive personality traits: she is strong, but noble; beautiful, but does not suspect it; cannot add a couple of two-digit numbers in his head, but he lays out the most difficult courses by eye and has an intuitive talent in mathematics; self-confident, but modest; and just a genius of tactics, strategy and management. In sum, we get the most boring heroine, who simply has nowhere to grow, she already knows everything, knows everything, and even on the approach she bites through all the miserable attempts of enemies to harm the crown. I stubbornly associate such types with the jagged half of the puzzle, a head-to-head fit for the second - a plot obstacle course that must be overcome on the way to the final. Krak! And everything fell into place perfectly! Unfortunately, in this ingenious device there was no place for such trifles as a lively impulse and at least some character development.
Despite all the above grumblings, I got acquainted with the book with pleasure. Lately, I've been reading anything but science fiction itself, and therefore I simply missed the fantasy assumptions dear to my heart, tired of gloomy realism. I really wanted to enjoy the sounds of piu-piu-piu in the vacuum of space, and that's exactly what I got. David Weber even surprised me a little with the final fight, because from a certain moment I began to suspect that the crew of the Fearless KEV would come out of all the troubles only a little dusty. There is also a slight imperial pathos and a pleasant feeling of team play, although at the very end I lacked a bit of savoring the triumph. Stumbling over heavy descriptions a couple of times, the plot flies forward, allowing you to immerse yourself in the book and forget about all your worries for a couple of hours. I regret a little that I got to the cycle only now, a few years ago I would have liked it much more.
Score: 7
Call me a chauvinist, but I don't like books with female protagonists. Because women heroines (especially in women authors) often behave like complete fools in critical situations , waving their individuality like a battle banner. They do crap motivating it by the fact that “I am a woman, I feel this way”, and then they get away with it all. Forgive me, but such things annoy me, if the hero behaves like an idiot, his survival rate must tend to zero, without any excuse. It was for this reason that I did not want to take on the Honor Harrington cycle, because the main character is a female captain of a battle cruiser (sic!). I read it from nothing to do, and was pleasantly surprised! As the character of the film DMB said: "The military is sexual orientation." And in this sense, Honor is quite a military man - cold-blooded, disciplined, sets priorities very clearly, does not stick out personal, and generally behaves as befits the captain of His Majesty's cruiser. Everything related to army structures is shown in the novel just fine - subordination, personnel policy, relations between ranks, internal conflicts. Despite the abundance of military fiction on the shelves, there are very few works in which the army looks like an army. The same applies to foreign and domestic policy, to which almost half of the place in the novel is given, it looks extremely convincing. Although the number of parties to the conflict is growing exponentially, each of them, on the other hand, has clearly defined goals, motives and methods. And most importantly, politics permeates the entire narrative from top to bottom. What is the scene in which the heroes are trying to attack the enemy ship in such a way as not to cause a diplomatic scandal, and what does such scrupulousness cost them in the end. The novel has two serious drawbacks - this is the materiel, and the lack of artistry. Everything that concerns descriptions of technologies, flights in space and the construction of ships is a seasoned technobrad. The situation is saved only by the fact that the author, although he invents crazy technologies, at least sensibly describes the principle of their work and scope. In general, not a hard "sci-fi", but not Star Wars either. The second drawback of the novel is its rather mediocre literary part. Sometimes it seems that you are reading the protocol of a forensic medical expert, and not a work of art. At first it is difficult to read, because the work is overloaded with descriptions of everything and everything, which are sometimes inserted out of place. Compensates for this lack of a truly interesting plot, which, although there are not enough stars from the sky, in terms of originality, but captivates in earnest. For example - I read the novel in two evenings, although there are decent pages. As a result, we have not very even, but firmly knocked down work. The novel falls short of a masterpiece and cannot be compared to, say, Wolverton's On the Way to Paradise. But he is not a complete consumer goods pro heroic heroes, which are so steep that the nuts are pricked with their buttocks. This is a good fighting fiction, a must read for fans of this genre, if for some strange reason you have not already done so.
Score: 8
A book of amazing simplicity. No sooner will some question / interest arise in the head, as the author in a narrative form, not sparing words and pages, will describe what was, what will be, where everything came from, who thinks about what, who knows what and how it will end. Which political games, intrigue?! There is no one to weave them, because apart from Victoria there are no heroes, and she is so straightforward in everything that there is some kind of intrigue! From the very first pages of her appearance, it was clear that it was still unknown in what and whom, but she would certainly win ...
Score: 5
The first novel in the Victoria Harrington cycle is a purely genre thing. Fans of space battles will not be deterred by Weber's style, but the rest are unlikely to be lured. The fact is that some dryness of presentation is inherent in it: the text is more reminiscent of reports and statistical reports than a figurative description. Of course, I'm exaggerating a little, but Weber's pen definitely lacks some kind of liveliness. In the same way, artificiality is felt in the main character of the novel, Victoria Harrington herself. She seemed to have stepped out of the pages of some women's novel / magazine "What I want to see myself from the outside": all so-so, brave and determined, but at the same time shy and blushing. Pathetically solemn and immediately "giggling" over her cat. "Intuitive" genius, but not understanding mathematics. Pretty, but not understanding her beauty. Emphatically not loving politics and politicians, and so on and so forth. In general, a set of women's "Wishlist" (or Weber has such an idea about them) in an equally illogical combination. Many in the reviews of this novel compared the image of Victoria with Miles Vorkosigan (from the Bujold series), but in fact, Commander Harrington is still oh so far from him. The rest of Weber's characters are rather sketchy, so it's hard to say something specific about them.
The plot of the Basilisk Space Station is a mixture of border everyday life, political intrigues and space battles. The latter were made in classical style sea battle, about which Weber directly refers to Forrester's Hornblower cycle, without hiding the source of his inspiration. Nothing outstanding, but if you like the space theme, then you can try this cycle.
Score: 6
Attention!!! I apologize in advance to dear laboratory assistants for a small offtopic within the framework of this review.
For some time now, I've been wary of the space opera genre, resulting in Lois McMaster Bujold's notorious Miles Vorkosigan saga. I managed to master only half of the cycle and I do not share the opinion of many fans of Bujold's work about the masterpiece of this work, it did not hook me at all. Further more. I started reading Oleg Divov's not so famous and not so popular "The Best Crew of Solnechnaya" and was amazed by the great atmosphere and naturalness of everything that happens under the cover. It is difficult to compare these books, but for myself I realized that one should be very careful when relying on the rating of the author and the book. As they say, what is good for a Russian is death for a German.
Now about the hero of this review - David Weber's novel "The Basilisk Space Station".
But I took this book under the impression of (don't laugh) the magnificent dust jacket of the latest edition from Eksmo. They can when they want. Until the moment I bought the book, I had never heard anything about the author or this cycle, although I consider myself an admirer of this genre of science fiction. I absorbed this work slowly and tastefully while on vacation in distant hot countries. The book does not catch on right away, in the prologue it is generally quite difficult to feel the meaning of what is happening, but literally after 50 pages the book is gaining momentum like a real racing car and does not stop until the finish line. The plot is certainly not the most original, but it is built by the author quite well. I was very pleased with the so-called scientific and technical component of the book (everything is described thoroughly and interestingly). Well, where is the space opera without political intrigues? This is the basis for the novel and the whole plot is based on them. There are also negative points, but this applies mainly to translation. How can you call the heroine Victoria if her name is HONOR? Even if we don’t have the name Honor, but the meaning invested by the author in this name justifies many of the actions of the heroine.
Bottom line: a fascinating read for all space opera fans. Try it and tear you away from this book will be very difficult. Score 9 points. I want to continue.
Score: 9
I have long understood that I have a weakness for space operators. I don’t know why, but huge megaton cruisers and super dreadnoughts plowing the vast expanses of space and periodically blowing each other to dust are dearer to my heart than, for example, thousands of armies of men dressed in steel armor shredding their own kind into cabbage with improvised piercing and cutting objects. Although I will not tolerate outright hacks here either. Fortunately, David Weber, judging by this novel, does not belong to them, however, he is also not without sin.
Probably the most pleasant thing that struck me and, paradoxically, the one that caused the most complaints in the whole novel were the technical descriptions of such seemingly banal things as space travel and everything connected with them. Let's start with the sweet. Not every writer bothers to explain how a ship in his invented world performs such a simple operation as moving from point A to point B, usually everyone considers such things to be known “by default”: here is a hyperdrive, here is an ordinary one, everything is business. Weber, on the other hand, took care to equip his narrative with a really strong basis. Its impeller engines and sails of Varshavskaya are not only supported by their own scientific justifications, albeit not completely clear, but they also greatly influence the tactical setting of battles between ships in space, making them more original and interesting. However, the presentation of this material stretched throughout the book, instead of being concentrated at its beginning, causes slight bewilderment and subsequent questions about the logic of some of the events that happened earlier.
Fortunately, such trifles are not able to spoil the well-built and famously twisted, although, to be honest, the plot of the book is a bit predictable. Although at the beginning it develops slowly, but gradually more and more significant details are added to the narrative, such as, for example, a multilateral narrative that allows us to look into all corners, even the most remote from the central plot, to observe the actions of the conspirators and the funny undercover struggle in the government. And now, gradually, the narrative, gaining momentum, turns from a small plot wave into a real ninth wave, on the crest of which we are carried, not giving us the opportunity to break away from what is happening, to a very dramatic finale.
And all the characters are created by the demiurge with soul and love. Of course, I immediately want to start singing the praises of Honor (yes, that's right!) Harrington, who is really the personification of honor, determination and courage, so that our translators do not think about this. So charismatic main character was in my memory only in the saga of Miles Vorkosigan, already mentioned many times in reviews of this book. But the most important thing is that the secondary characters are not lost against her background (especially Nimitz), all of them are interesting personalities that I practically fell in love with while reading, and the death of any of them, even if briefly mentioned, becomes a real tragedy.
And now, after the last page of the novel is turned over, I want to slap a ten without hesitation and yell loudly: “Author, write ischo !!!” But still something stops it from doing so. Probably the fault of everything is small inconsistencies and plot flaws. Therefore, trying to look at things objectively, let's leave the highest score for the future, in the hope that in the next novels, novels, it will be fully deserved.
Score: 9
"Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler." Einstein's laconic dictum speaks more eloquently about Weber's debut novel from the Honor Harrington series than a review. Simple in form, simple in plot, simple in presentation. But not easier. Not sugary-sweet "simple" to be spit out like warm water on a hot day.
The author has done a good job. The universe looks like a handmade wool sweater with a fancy pattern, woven by the hands of a beloved grandmother. It's good, warm and cozy. Nothing causes rejection in a history that goes back centuries, and technologies that are not described very brightly, but in detail. Techies don't get bored.
The wealth of the world will splash out on the reader at once. The author was eager to dot the i's. Reading the family tree of a distant stellar monarchy is not very entertaining. The heroine does not become more beautiful because of this, and the character, described in fits and starts, hardly allows you to feel her whole, and not a stereotyped good girl living by the charter. It is pleasant to read novels about geniuses, "The Chosen Ones". Sometimes. About living people - always. "Basilisk" from the first.
What else to expect, if the core of her character is already immured in the name of Honor, and the leitmotif of the entire saga?! The heroine squeezed the author with an iron grip from a resident of the Sphinx. Throughout the series, he is forced - let's think with joy - to bear this terribly "correct" character.
It turns out a good fairy tale about the evil and the good. Authentic space opera. Simple space opera. And as a space opera she is good. It is even incomparable, given the development of the world and technologies (if you don’t find fault and organize pickets - tea is not the “World Ring”).
Good “girl Nina” is not a pious disposition - first of all, virginal simplicity, clear presentation, with an abundance (do not believe it) of simple sentences, and, damn it, a dynamic plot.
It is worth going through the initial curtsy with the universe, as the action becomes an order of magnitude richer. Even when it moves to the outskirts of the galaxy. Dialogues are not stupid or drawn out. Intrigue - moderately twisted. Star Wars is by no means ingenious, but to the point and size. And the characters ... oh, if they were a little more voluminous, the novel would become a sensation. But it would cease to be simple, but not banal reading matter. Why do we need another "Dune"?
Spoiler (plot reveal) (click on it to see)
Weber has a curious way of bringing people to life. So that the characters in the imagination do not stand as idols, he reports on gestures, the position of the head, the expression of the eyes, as if by the way. Three words. Doesn't seem to make any sense. But no - this trick is enough to give static scenes a touch of dynamism.
Score: 9
First of all, I do not agree with the graph of similar novels, where Zorich stands “Tomorrow is a war”. Zorich is better - brighter, more original, the world is more developed. Compared to him, Weber is too simple. Yes, there is space, empires there, technology and even war. But the accents are different, so they look different.
Some time ago I read in the World of Fantasy magazine (2003, #1) that space operas do not belong to the genre of science fiction, since there is no science in them, but only adventures in space surroundings. Then, I remember, I was very tense, trying to understand whether there was scientificity in at least some novels about space that I read. For me, such a distinction is very difficult, since I practically do not know physics, chemistry, biology and technology, only astronomy (and much has already been forgotten). Genre classifiers on this site, apparently, also do not focus on science, so space operas are perfectly defined as sci-fi as well. But for those who are still interested in this aspect (and I still get hung up on this a little), I will briefly tell you.
There are no elements in the novel that are determined by the knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology or astronomy (oddly enough for space fiction). Technique (ships and weapons, first of all) are described in some detail, but I got the impression that the author invented it all, and without relying on any specialized knowledge. His fabrications sound approximately like "big gravitsapa". We were, so to speak, on the same wavelength. If you recall A. Zorich, he loves (probably still the male part of the duet) to describe equipment - ships, weapons, spacesuits - and in such detail and convincingly, scientifically, that it gives the impression of reality (although I fully admit that this is also a blatant fiction , but it sounds like it's true!).
I was pleased with the motive for the conquests - not the Dark Lords (see Star Wars) or maniacs obsessed with power (Algebraist), but problems in the economy and the desire to solve them at the expense of the conquered territories. Here I believe, it is quite realistic and scientific, because in our world, at all times, wars were started solely for the sake of profit - economic influence, access to natural resources and cheap labor.
The author's style (exposition, descriptions) is simple, bordering on the primitive. There are no vivid pictures of the cosmos here (some kind of gravitational wave was mentioned, he talked for a long time, but there was a feeling of nonsense), distant planets or exotic living beings. It's a pity! The author simply mentions the planets without descriptions or bright lines that would allow us to imagine and remember this planet. There is an alien animal - the main character has a cat, but it is described sparingly: size, color, the presence of 6 paws and a tail. For me, personally, this is not enough to imagine. If the technique of “understatement” is used here, which the respected Oldies recently advocated (World of Fantasy 2014, No. 3), then the author obviously overdid it and the reader's fantasy simply fled in all directions. Again, the plot necessity of this cat is a complete mystery to me. Just to indulge? In Zorich / Zorich, the plot is based on mysterious alien races (Jips, Cherugs, Yagnu) - they are very interesting in themselves, and are important in the plot. Weber has indistinct stilts, savages not spelled out in any way and taking the place of cannon fodder in the plot, crumbling by the hundreds.
Heroes. Woman - GG yes from the writer - men. The experiment is dubious, but almost a success. No special blunders in psychology. But what a positive and heroic she is - she is simply taken aback. It's hard to empathize with that. The rest of the characters are also very, very wonderful, super professional... But some kind of cardboard ones. The author did not revive them to the end. True, he honestly described some emotional experiences and emotions (but somehow unconvincingly, strained and redundant). And when the characters began to die or get injured en masse at the end of the novel, nothing in my soul faltered. Apparently, for my peace of mind, the author described in detail the security measures for the cat in advance! The rest don't care. The same Zorich was able to describe his cadets in such a way that they seemed alive and attractive, it was a pity for them.
But we must make allowances for simplicity, it even seemed to me that this was a novel from the times of Norton. Modern (I read) authors did not suffer from such primitivism.
Score: 8
Maybe in my childhood I didn’t run to “Cossacks-robbers”, in adulthood I didn’t finish shooting in “Dum”, or too late in my life I saw the first “ star Wars”, but I have a weakness for space action movies.
I love, you know, from time to time to read about space battles: to stations and warships, lasers, explosions, brave guys in armor. And, in fact, the technical details and the correlation of what is happening with physical laws are not very important to me, is there any " deep study characters”, psychologism or philosophy. Much more important is what is happening for me personally or not.
Well, in this case, what was happening to me was interesting, although everything was very, very familiar. Namely, the main character is talented and smart / beautiful, smart, Komsomol member, athlete /, forced to independently make her way up the career ladder from the bottom. An unprincipled ill-wisher, ready to stab our heroine in the back. And a mandatory set: political intrigues, espionage passions, aboriginal barbarians, an impossible task, a long search for an answer, and, finally, the final battle with an insidious enemy. Missed nothing? Oh, yes, a few personal problems, although without love problems, heartache, long monologues and dialogues, like a famous writer / thanks to the author /.
And all this comes with a complete gentleman's set of space action movie. Like space cruisers, destroyers and boats, smugglers and drugs, chases, skirmishes and "cunning" tactical moves. I mean, everything is familiar. But I liked it because it was just interesting. What else do you need from a space action movie?
But, the truth was not without complaints: in vain the author tried to betray everything that was happening with a touch of “science fiction” with long descriptions of the principles of movement and technical details of the structure of ships. Since there is such an action, who cares how they fly there or how they shoot. As long as they get where they need to be.
But still, despite the fact that it was interesting and easy to read, without loading the mind, I can’t help but remember one of my favorite authors and a book that is very close in plot to this novel. About Caroline Cherry and her Last Base. And if you put both of these novels on the scales of my personal preference, then Last Base will outweigh it by a large margin, due to the well-developed world, bright characters, twisted intrigue and SURPRISING.
Score: 8
After reading it, I have mixed feelings.
Dry for my taste. Harrington herself is more like a kind of cardboard template of an ideal officer from agitation. The mind, honor and conscience of all the Manticoran people.
The military component is more reminiscent of not space battles, but naval ones. Yes, yes, yes, either submarines or hunter cruisers, and all this against the backdrop of a revolution in some kind of third world republic (read the varieties).
and all those prim “yes, ma'am”, “eat, full speed ahead”, “Well done, son!” military formalism, jingoism and icing on the cake - a stereotypical pet. The only role of which is to reflect the emotions of the captain. How else will others guess about Harrington's feelings? Poker face level 80. Hmm.
In general, I remember our own captain Derevyanko, the one who scratches the monkey, and even more famous "says A-853, please turn 15 degrees south to avoid collision with us."
Score: 6
Yes, fans of this cycle will not shower me with slippers, but almost until the very end of the novel, I was sure that Bujold was the author. The intention to get acquainted with both authors appeared almost simultaneously, the author was not indicated in the file name, so I got a little confused ... That's all I need. The fact is that for about a quarter of the book (acquaintance with Harington) I could not get rid of the feeling that in front of me was a female space opera novel and attributing authorship to Bujold seemed quite natural. At first, I saw a kind of attempt to show how cool military women can be. Take a look at Victoria: a talent, after all, about which more than once, not two, or even three is reported in plain text. Just a born tactician. Only now she doesn’t know mathematics at all, but it doesn’t matter, because this person can lay the course in the literal sense “by eye”, while missing another ship in some ten meters (!). She, as befits a true girl, considers herself ugly (the description of Victoria's opinion about her own appearance is given in great detail), but the first mate's extensive arguments about what kind of captain a Komsomol member, an athlete and just a beauty follow almost immediately ... Oh yes, there is still a cat ! I could not find any plot need in it, except for the author's "I want a cat!" All this separately, maybe not scary, but together, and even stuffed almost in a row, is somewhat ... alarming. And in the book there is a rich and noble blockhead who once terribly wanted the main character, tried to rape, was beaten and harbored evil. igor_pantyuhov, June 12, 2011
Personally, I really liked it. In my opinion, the book has the following advantages. First. I really liked the writing style of the novel. The way Weber describes space battles, meticulously describing the smallest details, I liked, so to speak. Many, judging by the reviews, do not like such scrupulousness in describing the details of the battle, considering this a drawback of the book. I think what is detailed description details only adds to the sharpness of sensations. When I read the description of the battle itself, I literally felt all the deadly power that was about to fall on the enemy. It's already breathtaking. In addition, such attention to detail certainly saturates the book. Well, see for yourself. If the car would simply describe the battle and its outcome without going into details, it would be simply boring.
The book, in my opinion, has another significant merit, as it seems to me. In addition to describing space battles, the author masterfully describes the political background of everything that happens, as if saying that sometimes wars between peoples flare up because of politicians. That the short-sightedness of individual politicians, their lust for power and profit, as well as igoism, often push entire nations to war. Just class.
No, the whole point is that all these books are about people who do their job without allowing themselves concessions. And others, however, are also not allowed.
Victoria Harrington relentlessly gives herself to her work, obeys her principles and turns disparate personalities into a team of like-minded people. And I experienced all the troubles with her, even though I understood that everything should end well (there are many more books in the cycle).
It's hard for me to say anything else. Talk about style? He did not interfere with reading.
Think about the world? That small piece that opened did not cause controversy.
Struggling with the plot? It is, in principle, quite simple, although there are a couple of highlights in it.
I can only say that the adventures of Skipper Harrington and the crew of the Intrepid several times over the past week have made me wonder if I myself always do what I have to conscientiously do.
In general, “Skipper is cool. Be like a skipper."
Score: 9
The first thing you understand when you start reading this work is that the author has very, very much outplayed strategic space simulators. Kilometers of text are devoted to a detailed description of the technical structure of spacecraft, weapons, stations, all kinds of mechanisms and robots, tactical and strategic methods of space wars, political alignments, etc. Any action of someone or something is accompanied by detailed description produced at the same time technical actions unrelated to the plot. Well, for example, not “she entered the cabin” but “she pressed the fingerprint button on the panel near the hatch, the computer processed her fingerprints and the servo opened the hatch.” Not “the cruiser turned around and flew towards the planet”, but “the cruiser made a 23-degree turn, turned towards the planet, turned on the impeller engines at 60% of thrust, and, having developed an acceleration of 80% of the maximum, flew towards the planet at a speed of 200 kilometers per second.”
In the sea of fictitious technical terms, a primitive plot is drowning, in the center of which is a woman captain of a space cruiser, against whom absolutely everything initially rebels, but she overcomes all difficulties and emerges victorious from them.
Despite the obvious meritoriousness of the protagonist, absolutely everyone around her hates her from the first meeting, simply because the author needs it so that she has difficulties that need to be overcome. But then, of course, everyone realizes her perfection and becomes her devoted friends, and incorrigible enemies are guaranteed to fall into the dust. Hatred, anger and psychosis are generally characteristic of many characters. For example, the usual discussion of everyday problems is accompanied by phrases like "her eyes were smoking with rage", "he nervously tapped the toe of his boot on the floor", "she could hardly restrain herself from the curses that choked her", "there was undisguised anger in his voice".
The author is not strong in describing bright personalities, dialogues and situations. Yes, and it seems that they are of little interest to him at all, he devoted much more time to thinking through the design of various hyperdrives and ion megablasters with supersensors and gravity spears, as well as political layouts, maneuvers and nuances. If instead he read at least one memoir of the commander of a real cruiser, then his description of the life of the ship and the captain would not look so stupid.
In general, the work is clearly designed for fans of space sims and other space technology of the distant future. Although fans will probably be unhappy, since each of them has his own idea of \u200b\u200bhow exactly space cruisers should fly on turbo-plasma hyperdrives or zero-jump ultra-boosters.
Score: 3
What did I end up with? Completely flat characters, a terribly dry manner of writing (perhaps the cost of translation, but the book seems to have been written by a robot, not a drop of emotion), an absolutely predictable plot, a tactical decision sucked from the finger.
If you like realistic combat, then read Heinlein's Starships.
If you want a well-written setting - play toys.
Need intrigue - read Dune.
Politics, plot twists, character development - just any good SF.
And in this book, everything is well, at best, on the "four".
P.S. There was also the second novel in the cycle in the book, I overcame it out of perseverance. The initial opinion only intensified.
Books enlighten the soul, uplift and strengthen a person, awaken the best aspirations in him, sharpen his mind and soften his heart.
William Thackeray, English satirist
The book is a great power.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Soviet revolutionary
Without books, we now can neither live, nor fight, nor suffer, nor rejoice and win, nor confidently move towards that reasonable and wonderful future in which we unshakably believe.
Many thousands of years ago, a book in the hands the best representatives humanity has become one of the main weapons of their struggle for truth and justice, and it is this weapon that gave these people a terrible strength.
Nikolai Rubakin, Russian bibliologist, bibliographer.
The book is a tool. But not only. It introduces people to the life and struggle of other people, makes it possible to understand their experiences, their thoughts, their aspirations; it makes it possible to compare, understand the environment and transform it.
Stanislav Strumilin, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences
There is no better remedy for refreshing the mind than reading the ancient classics; as soon as you take one of them in your hands, even if for half an hour, you immediately feel refreshed, lightened and cleansed, uplifted and strengthened, as if refreshed by bathing in a pure spring.
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher
Those who were not familiar with the creations of the ancients lived without knowing beauty.
Georg Hegel, German philosopher
No failures of history and deaf spaces of time are able to destroy human thought, fixed in hundreds, thousands and millions of manuscripts and books.
Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian Soviet writer
The book is magic. The book changed the world. It contains the memory of the human race, it is the mouthpiece of human thought. A world without a book is a world of savages.
Nikolai Morozov, creator of modern scientific chronology
Books are the spiritual testament of one generation to another, the advice of a dying old man to a young man who begins to live, an order transmitted by sentries going on vacation to sentries who take his place.
Without books, human life is empty. The book is not only our friend, but also our constant, eternal companion.
Demyan Bedny, Russian Soviet writer, poet, publicist
The book is a powerful tool of communication, labor, struggle. It equips man with the experience of the life and struggle of mankind, expands his horizon, gives him knowledge with which he can make the forces of nature serve him.
Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, Soviet party, public and cultural figure.
Reading good books is a conversation with the most the best people past times, and, moreover, such a conversation when they tell us only their best thoughts.
René Descartes, French philosopher, mathematician, physicist and physiologist
Reading is one of the sources of thinking and mental development.
Vasily Sukhomlinsky, an outstanding Soviet teacher and innovator.
Reading for the mind is the same as physical exercise for body.
Joseph Addison, English poet and satirist
Good book- just a conversation with a smart person. The reader receives from her knowledge and generalization of reality, the ability to understand life.
Alexei Tolstoy, Russian Soviet writer and public figure
Don't forget that the most colossal tool of all-round education is reading.
Alexander Herzen, Russian publicist, writer, philosopher
Without reading there is no real education, there is not and cannot be any taste, or a word, or a multilateral breadth of understanding; Goethe and Shakespeare are equal to the whole university. Reading man survives centuries.
Alexander Herzen, Russian publicist, writer, philosopher
Here you will find audiobooks by Russian, Soviet, Russian and foreign writers on various topics! We have collected for you masterpieces of literature from and. Also on the site there are audio books with poems and poets, lovers of detectives and action movies, audio books will find interesting audio books for themselves. We can offer women, and for women, we will periodically offer fairy tales and audio books from school curriculum. Children will also be interested in audio books about. We also have something to offer for lovers: audiobooks of the Stalker, Metro 2033 ... series, and much more from. Who wants to tickle his nerves: go to the section
Horror, not a book. Boring, unbearably boring and primitive gibberish, written in a dull insipid style. The abundance of fictitious technical details is very tiring, and makes you literally flip through them. At first, all this writing seems interesting, but by the third book the plot becomes completely dull and monotonous. Summary any book:
Here is a naive heroic village horse in the title role.
Here are some heroic, but naive and straightforward admirals who patronize the heroic village horse.
This is a bunch of stupid, evil admirals and politicians who think only about their pocket and career, ready for anything for this, and especially those who hate such a successful and clean village horse, which is patronized by naive and heroic admirals.
This is the queen, who is all so wise and experienced, but in fact she does not decide anything - so, a doll. She is very sympathetic to the village horse and can not stand the opposition, where the evil stupid politicians have settled.
This is Heaven, which is a totalitarian state with developed communism, which wants to capture Manticore, which is headed by a doll queen who does not decide anything, but is very sympathetic to the heroic village horse, because she obeys the parliament, where stupid, greedy and cowardly politicians have settled.
These are the admirals of Haven, who are very heroic and respect the heroic village horse, but also remain loyal to Haven, because this is their homeland. And they kill thousands of people because it's an order. But so kind and heroic that even the heroic horse respects them.
But this is the special services of Haven. They are so vile and vile that it hurts their teeth. They terribly hate everyone, and especially the heroic village fool and their generals, who cannot kill her. And yet they constantly arrange huge dirty tricks on the white and fluffy Manticore, at the head of which sits a wise doll who does not decide anything, but is terribly sympathetic to the heroic village horse, which is so terribly hated by its own politicians that the Haven secret services do not even have to do anything.
But these are the cute white and fluffy secret services of Manticore, who cannot establish the conspiracies of the opposition, who hate the heroic village horse and undermine the combat capability of the country, cannot reveal the evil and vile conspiracies of the Haven special services, because they are so vile that no one even thinks about that they can be invented.
In general, the heroic village horse is to blame for everything, although she heroically defends the Motherland, but at the same time she is pecked from all sides, because there are bastards around, freedom of speech and in general.
Sorry it's not in verse.
David Weber
Space station "Basilisk"
To C.S. Forester with gratitude for hours of entertainment, years of inspiration and a life of delight.
The antique clock in the conference room ticked deafeningly. The Crown President of the People's Republic of Haven looked around his military council intently. The Minister of Finance did not know what to do with his eyes. The Minister of War - like her subordinates - on the contrary, behaved almost defiantly.
- Are you seriously? asked President Harris.
“I'm afraid so,” Minister Frankel answered miserably, leafing through the notes and forcing himself to look the president straight in the face. “The last three quarters have fully confirmed the forecasts, Sid. He sent an angry look to his colleague, the Minister of War. “It's all the Navy's budget. We can't continue to increase the number of ships without...
“If you don’t keep increasing it,” said Elaine Dumarest sharply, “everything will go to hell. We've ridden a neotiger, Mr. President. On at least a third of the occupied planets, gangs of scumbags are operating - the so-called "liberation movements". And even if they weren't, everyone at the borders is armed to the teeth. When they deem it necessary to pounce on us, it is only a matter of time.
“I think you're exaggerating a little, Elaine. Ronald Bergren, Foreign Minister, stroked his tiny mustache and frowned. - Of course, they are armed - I would do the same in their place. However, none of them have the strength to defeat us.
"Maybe not right now," Admiral Parnell drawled ruefully, "but if we get caught up in a problem or there's a big uprising, some of them might well get up the nerve and launch a raid." That's why we need new ships. And with all due respect to Mr. Frankel,” added the commander-in-chief, and his voice did not sound very respectful, “it is not military spending that undermines the budget. The increase in basic living allowance is to blame. We should explain to the Dolists that any feeding trough is not bottomless and, until we are firmly on our feet again, we must tie up with a freebie. If we could get rid of these bloodsuckers for at least a few years ...
- I figured it out! Frankel yelled. – Increasing BJP is the only way to control the mob! They'll approve of war just to maintain their standard of living, and if we don't...
- Enough! President Harris slammed his hand on the table and, in the silence that followed, looked around again. He let the silence hang in the air for a few seconds, then leaned back in his chair and, with a sigh, continued much softer. “We won’t get anywhere by pointing fingers at each other. Let's face it: Quezin's plan didn't live up to expectations.
“I have to disagree, Mr. President,” said Dumarest. - The original plan is quite reasonable, and there is not much choice. We simply failed to ensure a satisfactory distribution of the involved capacities.
“And the income from them,” Frankel added grimly. “You can't squeeze more out of the economy of the planets than they can give. But without increasing profits, I don't see a way to simultaneously keep the cost of both BZP and troops strong enough to hold on to what we already have.
What do we have in reserve? Harris asked.
- I can't say for sure. I'll be able to patch holes for a while. Maybe even by shifting funds from one pocket to another, I will manage to create the appearance of wealth.
But unless spending curves change radically or a major new source of income opens up in the Republic, things will get worse. We live in borrowed time,” the Minister of Finance chuckled mirthlessly. “Unfortunately, the economies of most of the systems we've captured are no better off than our own.
"Elaine, are you sure there's no way to cut the Navy's costs?"
“In this case, we risk death, Mr. President,” the Secretary of War replied. “Admiral Parnell is absolutely right. Our neighbors will react to the slightest slack. She, in turn, smiled grimly. “I guess we taught them that ourselves.
“Maybe so,” Parnell said, “but something can be done. Heads turned to him, and he shrugged. - Strike first. If we move most of our forces to the borders, then perhaps we will look more like peacekeepers ...
“The Lord is with you, Admiral! Bergren snorted. - You just said that we are actually unable to save what we have, and now you are proposing to unleash a whole series of new wars? This is to the question of mysterious military thinking! ..
"Wait a minute, Ron," Harris interrupted him, and turned abruptly to the admiral. “Can you handle it, Amos?”
“I think so,” said Parnell, more cautiously. - The main thing is to choose the right moment.
He touched a button, and a three-dimensional map shone above the table. The northeast quadrant was filled with the plump sphere of the People's Republic. To the south and west, the amber and red lights of non-participant star systems burned.
“The closest multi-system power to us is the Anderman Empire,” the admiral explained. – Most monosystem states, strictly speaking, do not count. We can destroy any one of them with a single targeted strike, despite all their weapons programs. What makes our neighbors dangerous is the possibility that they can unite - if they have time.
Harris nodded thoughtfully, but reached out and touched one of the star beads, which shone with a menacing bloody light.
What about Manticore? - he asked.
- This is our headache Parnell agreed. “They are big enough to fight us as equals—if they have the guts, of course.
“Then why not leave them alone, or at least for a snack?” Bergren asked. “The inner parties of Manticore are drastically divided on what to do with us. So while they bark at each other, wouldn't it make sense to swallow a smaller fish in the meantime?
“In this case, our situation will only worsen,” Frankel objected. He pressed a button on his own remote, and two-thirds of the amber lights on Parnell's map took on an unhealthy grey-green hue. - Any of these states is in almost the same deep economic hole as we are. And capturing anyone will gobble up a bunch of real money. And the rest of the worlds are hardly break-even enterprises. Systems that can really benefit us are further south, down towards the Erevan Union, or in the Silesian Confederation in the west.
“Then why not capture them without further ado?” Harris suggested.
