HVT-003 The Short Victorious War

Honorverse Today

Welcome to the third book in the Honor Harrington main series. Let’s continue our journey into the Honorverse!

“The Short Victorious War” is 376 pages of pure military adventure. It was published by Baen Books in 1994. The events in this story take place approximately a year after the events that occurred in “The Honor of the Queen”.

Of note, the title of the book is a historical reference to the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. The quote the title originated with Russia’s Minister of the Interior V.K. Plehve, on the eve of the war, who stated, “What this country needs is a short, victorious war to stem the tide of revolution.”

For the history fans out there, at times it’s also attributed to Czar Nicholas the Second, although most references attribute it to Plehve. For fans of military history, you’ll see similarities to the war in this book as compared to the real war between Russia and Japan. Don’t look for a tight coupling though; Manticore and Haven aren’t directly mirroring Japan and Russia. This isn’t a history book. David Weber is clearly using Russia’s historical error to fuel the context of his own story. An authoritarian government manufactures a war to justify assuming a tighter control of the population, and to blame the crisis for the discomfort of the people, who may otherwise be poised for revolution. These people lack basic freedoms, they’re oppressed subjects rather than citizens, and things are going from bad to worse with their economy after hundreds of years of abuse by the authoritarian government.

In this story, the People’s Republic of Haven is suffering a self-inflicted economic disaster based on how they’ve set up their economy. We would recognize the economy as a picture of the old Soviet Union’s (or Russia’s) approach to their domestic economy’s role in how to handle their domestic population. In this case, Haven is a welfare state. With their inflation and debt causing domestic economic problems, unrest is erupting and growing worse among the people living on the government’s dime, or on the dole (bluntly called “Dolists” by their own government). With discontent on the rise, and the threat of domestic instability or even violence, the government decides what they need is a short (and assuredly victorious, because they’ll control the circumstances) war they can point at and blame for the economic crisis and related domestic problems the Dolists are experiencing. Easy! Problem solved.

Or is it?

This isn’t a new situation. Haven has been preparing for an eventual war with Manticore. However, for all the reasons major powers don’t go to war in the real world, they continue to work for the necessary advantage they feel they need to win. This includes some very discrete (and some not so discrete) military actions that the Havenites conduct to shape the posture of Manticore’s Navy, gather intelligence, and then provoke the Manticorans to strike. With Manticore throwing the first punch, they now have their justification for the short victorious war and believe they can stand on the moral high ground publicly. Manticore sees the Havenite posturing and sends a diplomatic mission in an effort to establish an alliance.

As the Manticorans and Graysons work through significant cultural differences while acknowledging they share a common problem, the war breaks out. Honor Harrington and her unit follow the direction and intent of the Queen and defend Haven at great expense, including the apparent death of Admiral Sarnow and Haven’s senior Admiral as well. In the midst of the battle, Captain Pavel Young, also a ship’s captain within the assembled task force, flees the battlefield against orders. As a result, Honor’s ship the HMS Nikeis severely damaged, and Honor almost loses her life. With Manticoran reinforcements arriving at the battle, Haven’s navy ultimately suffers unacceptably heavy losses and retreats.

Three important things wrap the book up, setting the stage for future stories within the Honorverse: First, Pavel Young will face a court martial resulting from his apparent dishonorable actions. Second, three Havenite revolutionaries take advantage of the domestic unrest, and now military losses, to stage an overthrow of their own government. They do so making it look like the Navy itself is responsible for the coup. They consolidate power and begin what appears to be a purge of other government and military leadership—removing the greatest threats to their seizure of power. Third, Commander Paul Tankersley (Honor’s new and genuine love interest) also survives the war. He is promoted to Captain and is appointed to be the deputy constructor of the Hephaestus Station in orbit around Manticore. HMS Nike will limp to this station for repairs.

If you want space combat and broad, sweeping fleet battles, this is a book you’re going to truly enjoy. Just remember, as amazing as the storytelling is in this regard, the story isn’t really about combat.

We rated “The Short Victorious War” with a 5 (Stealth Surveillance Platforms), a 5 (White Berets) and a 5 (Sticks of Celery) out of 5, for an overall rating of 5 from your hosts. (Yes, we’re trying to decide what our rating scale will be called. Feel free to contribute your ideas!)

Next, we’re reading “Field of Dishonor”. Read or refresh, and as always, we look forward to having you join in the conversation and the adventure!

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Now, let’s be about it!