Flag in Exile
Encyclopedia
Flag in Exile is the fifth Honor Harrington
novel by David Weber
. In the story, the disgraced Honor enters a self-imposed exile on Grayson.
Honor struggles with the survivor's guilt her many battles have left her with, but soon finds that she cannot afford to dwell on her emotions. With the war between Manticore and Haven still raging, the fast-expanding but still inexperienced Grayson Space Navy needs someone to put it in fighting shape. Honor is eventually given the rank of Admiral in the Grayson navy and command of a superdreadnought squadron. She conducts her squadron and the rest of her adoptive nation's fleet through several battle exercises to improve them.
Meanwhile, Haven stages a new operation capturing two planets deep in Alliance territory. A Manticore task force and half the Grayson Navy leave to liberate these planets, but Haven was banking on this and now are sending another task force to destroy Grayson's orbital infrastructure and arm Masada with modern weapons.
The events surrounding her last adventure on Grayson (see The Honor of the Queen
) have caused political turmoil on the reactionary
planet. Even though she has the support of Protector Benjamin Mayhew IX and the Grayson government and the respect and gratitude of the people of Grayson, several of her fellow Steadholders refuse to accept her and plot to bring down Mayhew's reforms by resorting to terrorism
. They sabotage a dome which was being built and financed by Honor. The dome collapses mid-construction and kills dozens of young children. When it appears that the government discovered their conspiracy, they attempt to assassinate Honor but this fails as well. Eventually the conspiracy is revealed to the public and Honor herself, acting in her official capacity as Protector Benjamin's Champion, kills its leader.
Shortly thereafter the Havenite task force arrives to destroy Grayson's orbital infrastructure, but not realizing the size of the Grayson Navy, are defeated by Honor and the ships under her command.
, which was somewhat similar to the destruction of Williard Mueller Middle School in the story and occurred after the writing of Flag in Exile, but before its publication.
Honor Harrington
Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington is a fictional character, the heroine of a series of military science fiction books set in the "Honorverse", written by David Weber and published by Baen Books....
novel by David Weber
David Weber
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
. In the story, the disgraced Honor enters a self-imposed exile on Grayson.
Plot summary
After the scandal caused by killing Pavel Young in a duel, Honor retreats to Grayson until things settle down on Manticore. She intends to oversee the development of her Steading, and overcome the death of Paul Tankersley.Honor struggles with the survivor's guilt her many battles have left her with, but soon finds that she cannot afford to dwell on her emotions. With the war between Manticore and Haven still raging, the fast-expanding but still inexperienced Grayson Space Navy needs someone to put it in fighting shape. Honor is eventually given the rank of Admiral in the Grayson navy and command of a superdreadnought squadron. She conducts her squadron and the rest of her adoptive nation's fleet through several battle exercises to improve them.
Meanwhile, Haven stages a new operation capturing two planets deep in Alliance territory. A Manticore task force and half the Grayson Navy leave to liberate these planets, but Haven was banking on this and now are sending another task force to destroy Grayson's orbital infrastructure and arm Masada with modern weapons.
The events surrounding her last adventure on Grayson (see The Honor of the Queen
The Honor of the Queen
The Honor of the Queen is David Weber's second Honor Harrington novel. In the story, Honor goes on a mission to bring the religiously conservative, sexist world Grayson onto the Manticorans' side in preparation for the inevitable war with Haven....
) have caused political turmoil on the reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
planet. Even though she has the support of Protector Benjamin Mayhew IX and the Grayson government and the respect and gratitude of the people of Grayson, several of her fellow Steadholders refuse to accept her and plot to bring down Mayhew's reforms by resorting to terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. They sabotage a dome which was being built and financed by Honor. The dome collapses mid-construction and kills dozens of young children. When it appears that the government discovered their conspiracy, they attempt to assassinate Honor but this fails as well. Eventually the conspiracy is revealed to the public and Honor herself, acting in her official capacity as Protector Benjamin's Champion, kills its leader.
Shortly thereafter the Havenite task force arrives to destroy Grayson's orbital infrastructure, but not realizing the size of the Grayson Navy, are defeated by Honor and the ships under her command.
Themes
The book's depiction of Alfredo Yu, the redeemed ex-Havenite captain, starts the series' trend towards showing many of the Havenites as decent people on a personal level.Author's note
An author's note from David Weber at the end of the book explains Weber's sorrow about the Oklahoma City bombingOklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
, which was somewhat similar to the destruction of Williard Mueller Middle School in the story and occurred after the writing of Flag in Exile, but before its publication.
External links
- An excerpt of Flag in Exile is available for download or reading online at the Baen Free LibraryBaen Free LibraryThe Baen Free Library is a digital library of the science fiction and fantasy publishing house Baen Books where 112 full books can be downloaded free in a number of formats, without copy protection...
here. - The whole novel can be found here.
- Flag in Exile article on the Honorverse Wiki