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 BOOK REVIEWS:
   by Jack Hillman
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   Welcome to the Book Reviews. The books are rated on a ten star 
 scale. Anythig in the seven to ten star range is a particularly 
 good suggestion for your reading list.
 
 
 
 FLAG IN EXILE  by David Weber,
 Baen Books, Paperback 442 pages;
 Science Fiction: $5.99; Nine Stars
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   The time is the far future. Mankind has leapt out into the 
 galaxy, using wormhole technology to span the light years. But 
 along with them, mankind has taken the same prejudice and lust 
 for power that made Earth such a difficult place to live. In the 
 Kingdom of Manticore, a naval officer has risen through the ranks 
 by sheer force of effort and skill. Placed in many dangerous 
 situations, often by other officers who would prefer to see her 
 fail, Honor Harrington has proven that a good officer fights with 
 and by her crew. 
 
   But now, just when Honor has received the praise of both the 
 Queen and the High Admirals of the Royal Manticoran Navy, her 
 career has been halted by the actions of a peer of the realm who 
 seeks the power of the throne. Honor defeats the noble in a duel 
 only to find herself stripped of her rank and cast out of the 
 Navy.
 
   Honor still has many friends and supporters. On the planet 
 Grayson, Honor Harrington has been made a Steadholder, a 
 landholder responsible for the lives of hundreds of people, and 
 also Protector of Grayson, the champion of the people. Honor once 
 saved Grayson from the attack of the nearby Peoples Republic of 
 Haven, a socialist government that survives by conquering 
 neighboring planets and draining their resources to feed the 
 lower social class masses in their realm.
 
   On Grayson, Honor will have time to heal her wounds: wounds of 
 the flesh from her battles in space and the final duel with the 
 peer of  Manticore; wounds of the soul as she mourns for the 
 loss of her love, killed by an assassin trying to draw her into 
 the open; wounds of the spirit as Honor tries to find a purpose 
 worth living for, other than the Navy. Honor takes to her role as 
 Steadholder with all the grace and power she held as a Naval 
 Officer. Her people soon learn to stand behind her and fight for 
 her just as her crews have done over the years. And, Honor uses 
 her own personal fortune to try and better the plight of her 
 people since they live on a planet high in heavy metals that must 
 be processed from their food and water before consumption.
 
   Even on Grayson, the fires of prejudice and hatred run hot. 
 For generations, Grayson has been a male dominated planet, ruled 
 by men and giving women there proper respect as homemakers and 
 childbearers. Now a new factor has entered the game. Honor has 
 not only been made a Steadholder, a hereditary title for men, 
 but also named Protector of the planet, a title once held by 
 the members of the house of Burdette. However, Burdette wants 
 the title back, as well as the power of the government to back 
 his plan to drive out this alien menace hiding in the halls of 
 their government. Honor must die, Burdette claims, the only way 
 to cleanse their planet.
 
   Now Honor finds herself fighting not only the environment of 
 the planet, but the hatred of generations of men trying to stop 
 change before it destroys their power. And in the distance, the 
 People's Republic of Haven begins to build anew for another 
 attempt at takeover in the Kingdom of Manticore.
 
   Here is the fifth book in a growing series by one of hard SF's 
 new masters. David Weber has built a strong female character,
 Honor, who you can respect and follow -- blazing trails into space 
 encountering the carnage of interstellar war, as well as the 
 personal combat found in the Dueling Chamber. Known for other 
 science fiction and fantasy works, Weber is competing with the 
 likes of David Drake for the title of Master of Future Warfare. 
 And this work, FLAG IN EXILE, will soon be known as a masterpiece 
 of this genre. If you haven't read Weber, you're missing some of 
 the best SF on the market today.
 
 Copyright 1995 Jack Hillman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 Jack is an avid reader of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Sword and 
 Sorcery and Horror and has been for over thirty years. Raised on 
 tales of King Arthur and Buck Rogers, Jack has seen science fiction 
 go from the fantastic to part of everyday life. A writer in his own 
 right, Jack tries to follow the footsteps of Robert Heinlein, the 
 Dean of Science Fiction, as well as the trail of the Knights of The 
 Round Table, with a little Dean Koontz (in his science fiction era) 
 thrown in for spice. Email: jhillwtr@aol.com
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