Honor Harrington
Honor Stephanie Harrington is a fictional character, the eponymous heroine of a series of science fiction books set in the "Honorverse", written by David Weber and published by Baen Books. An officer in a star fleet known as the Royal Manticoran Navy, Harrington bears a striking professional resemblance to both the real life Admiral Lord Nelson, Captain Thomas Cochrane, and the composite character Horatio Hornblower. Like Nelson, she loses an eye and an arm in combat; her initials are the same as Hornblower's; and like all three officers, she has a genius for tactical command throughout the series and becomes a living legend by utilizing those skills in several major engagements—battles for which the press dubs her The Salamander— for always seemingly to be at the heart of crucial desperate battles. As the series reached the tenth main-line novel the Ashes of Victory Honor emerges as a strategist of note as well, and takes on the rank of full Admiral in both the Manticoran and Grayson space navies. Other parallels with real history include the political situation. During much of Harrington's career her native Star Kingdom of Manticore is at war with the neighboring People's Republic of Haven, a conflict that bears more than passing resemblance to the antagonism between the British Empire and France during the Napoleonic Wars. Last but not least, Weber references the author of Hornblower within the series on at least one occasion, a light case of breaking the fourth wall for a homage.
Early life
Honor was born on October 1, 3961 AD on Sphinx, one of two inhabited planets of the Star Kingdom of Manticore's Manticore A. She is the daughter of neurosurgeon Alfred Harrington and physician/geneticist Allison Benedict-Ramirez y Chou Harrington. By virtue of her father, she is socially a yeoman -- one who is descended from the second wave of settlement of the Star Kingdom and not a member of the nobility, who are essentially all descended from the first Manticoran colonists. Her paternal ancestors were "genies," people genetically engineered to survive in high gravity conditions. In particular, she carries the Meyerdahl Beta modification which was intended to adapt ordinary humans for life on planets with slightly higher gravity than Terra. She was raised in the Third Stellar Missionary Communion (Reformed), but is not significantly religious.
Honor is one of the few people adopted by a Sphinxian treecat (whom she has named Nimitz after a Terran wet-navy Admiral), and she has devoted considerable research to them. She has become one of the foremost experts on treecats as a result.
Career
Harrington attended the Royal Manticoran Naval Academy on Manticore's Saganami Island, and became an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy. She is one of the RMN's best tacticians, and while she can make effective tactical evaluations, often quickly, and intuitively; her formal mathematical skills are dismal, despite high aptitude scores, though her navigational skills are excellent. The gap between her anticipated mathematical performance and her actual work caused her much irritation and not a few problems while at the Academy. At Saganami Island, her roommate was Michelle Henke, cousin of Queen Elizabeth III of Manticore. Shy and lacking in self-confidence, Harrington learned much from "Mike" Henke during those years.
Harrington has an eighth-degree black belt in the martial art of coup de vitesse, and set a sailplane record at the Naval Academy (for combined altitude, time spent aloft, and acrobatics) which (as of the latest book) seems to have remained unbroken.
During her time at the Academy, Harrington unwittingly became the target of a perverse, boorish midshipman, Lord Pavel Young, heir to the Earldom of North Hollow. When Young attempted to rape her in a shower, she defended herself, and put him into a hospital. Nimitz was not present, having been administered a sedative. Academy administrators were sure that Young had tried to assault Harrington, but her own misplaced sense of shame kept her from reporting the real truth behind Young's injuries. Young thus escaped with a reprimand rather than dismissal from the Academy, and in the following decades did his best to sabotage Harrington's RMN career. Despite his efforts, Harrington advanced in the service, if erratically. Because of her outstanding abilities, which had been early recognized by Captain (later Admiral) Raoul Courvoisier while one of her academy instructors, the Young clan's enmity wasn't enough to derail her career entirely.
While a Commander, Harrington graduated from the RMN's celebrated Advanced Tactical Course, and immediately thereafter assumed command of the light cruiser HMS Fearless. Her exploits while posted at Basilisk Station as Fearless's Captain brought her widespread fame in the service, and placed her firmly on the fast track to more senior rank. During subsequent assignments, she proved to have something akin to the Nelson touch, earning widespread public fame for her exploits. Being dedicated to her duty and an exemplary officer, she usually gained more than merely respect from her junior officers and enlisted personnel, as well as the high regard of both Manticore's allies (especially the citizens of the planet Grayson, which she saved from Masadan or People's Republic conquest more than once), and her military opponents. But, despite her best efforts, she also made new political enemies and suffered more than one personal loss at their hands.
In the course of her career, Honor Harrington has become a Duchess of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, a Grayson Steadholder, and an Admiral in both the Grayson Space Navy and the Royal Manticoran Navy. She has also earned several medals for bravery and performance. She refused the Manticoran Parliamentary Medal of Valor after escaping from the prison planet Hades, but was compelled to accept it after her actions during the assassination of the Manticoran Prime Minister. She has also received the Monarch's Thanks for lifesaving aboard HMS Manticore early in her career. She is the only living holder of the Star of Grayson, with two awards of the decoration.
Honor Harrington's rank and titles as of the end of the events in At all Costs include (Acting) Fleet Admiral and Captain H.M.S Unconquered Lady Dame Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington, Steadholder Harrington, Duchess Harrington, Countess White Haven. Her claim to "Countess White Haven" is unclear but arguable, but in any event is not held in her own right. Legally, Steadholder Harrington and Duchess Harrington are simultaneously two different persons, which together with some intervention by the Manticorean Foreign Office, with the backing of the Queen, allows Steadholder Harrington's Armsman bodyguards to accompany her on RMN vessels.
Honor Harrington is regarded as a military genius and has been given the nickname "The Salamander" by newsies for always being in the "heat of the action" and emerging (relatively) unscathed.
The People's Republic of Haven once tried Harrington in absentia on trumped-up charges of murder, convicted her, and sentenced her to death. She did not take this seriously for many years, until she was captured by its successor's Navy. The sadistic PRH Public Information (ie, propaganda) Secretary, Cordelia Ransom, personally transported her to the PRH's secret prison planet. Honor was rescued by her fellow captive crewmates, and Ransom's ship (along with the Secretary) was blown up to mask their escape.
To avoid embarrassment, Ransom's subordinates concocted a video recording of Honor's supposed execution. A state funeral was held for her on Manticore, and also on Grayson. Her empty coffin was buried next to the similarly empty graves of Ellen D'Orville and Edward Saganami in the cathedral in Landing City on Manticore. The Grayson Space Navy named a starship class after her while she was believed dead, and despite her protests, found it impossible to rename it after she returned — much to Honor's embarrassment.
As of the opening of At All Costs, Honor is appointed commanding officer of the cruiser Unconquered. This is the RMN's equivalent of HMS Victory or USS Constitution - the oldest ship still in commission. In its active service, it was commanded by both Manticoran naval legends Edward Saganami and Ellen d'Orville, the only ship to claim that distinction. Appointment to the crew is a largely ceremonial honor bestowed on serving personnel, with the commanding officer always being a serving officer chosen by the Monarch from a list submitted by serving officers in the RMN. Unconquered's CO is the only RMN flag officer permitted to wear the white beret of a captain of a hyper-capable starship, rather than the prescribed black beret of the standard officer's uniform.
During her career Honor Harrington has held the following posts:
- Midshipwoman, heavy cruiser HMS War Maiden
- Sailing Master, frigate HMS Osprey
- Commanding Officer, Light Attack Craft HMLAC 113
- Executive Officer, heavy cruiser HMS Broadsword
- Tactical Officer, superdreadnought HMS Manticore
- Commanding Officer, destroyer HMS Hawkwing
- Commanding Officer, light cruiser HMS Fearless (CL-56)
- Commanding Officer, heavy cruiser HMS Fearless (CA-286)
- Commanding Officer, battlecruiser HMS Nike (BC-413)
- Commanding Officer, GSN's First Battle Squadron
- Commanding Officer, armed merchant cruiser HMAMC Wayfarer
- Commanding Officer, Commanding Officer RMN Cruiser Squadron Eighteen (CruRon 18)
- Commanding Officer, "Elysian Space Navy"
- Commandant, Saganami Island Advanced Tactical Course and Tactical Instructor RMN Naval Academy.
- Commanding Officer, GSN's Protector's Own Squadron (1)
- Commanding Officer, RMN Sidemore Station
- Commanding Officer, RMN Eighth Fleet (1)
- Commanding Officer, HMS Unconquered (1)
- Commanding Officer, Admiral of the Fleet, RMN Home Fleet (2)
(1) simultaneous commands held at time of At All Costs (2) acting commander and rank at the conclusion of At All Costs
Character trademarks
She owns and practices with a replica Colt M1911 .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol, a weapon considered to be an anachronistic "hand cannon" by her contemporaries who prefer pulsers, which fire small-calibre darts at extremely high velocity using a gravitic propulsion system. She was taught how to fire her Colt by her uncle, Jacques Chou, who is an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
She also wears an eyepatch from time to time, due to the loss of her left eye while defending Protector Benjamin Mayhew (the ruler of Grayson) from an assassination attempt. Normally she uses a prosthetic eye, though on occasion it has been disabled (as when she was on Hades).
Honor practices a fictional martial art known as Coup de vitesse (French: blow of speed). It is a fusion of several Western and Oriental martial arts, developed primarily as a hard style where emphasis is placed on offense, sometimes at the expense of defense, resulting in a very brutal and effective skill. Coup de vitesse lacks the elegance of judo or aikido. As of War of Honor, Honor has earned an eighth level black belt.
Honor Harrington in other media
An Honor Harrington movie was announced by Echo Valley Entertainment.[1] However, later information suggested that it would actually be a television series, to be written and produced by Peter Sands. [2]
References
- ^ "Honor Harrington". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2006-04-28.
- ^ VisionFire Films. "Peter Sands: Biography". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2006-04-28.
External links
- Series list at Baen Books' website
- Honorverse Art Gallery
- Honor Harrington artwork at cover illustrator David Mattingly's website