On Basilisk Station by David Weber. Recommended on 12/30/05.
Sci-fi readers, saddle up! On Basilisk Station is the first of ten of David Weber’s space opera novels, and he creates a whole, detailed world of people, politics, space battles, and nefarious goings-on in this one of his series of works. This is his Honor Harrington collection, throughout which we follow this gifted, charismatic leader from new academy graduate to flag rank (which is ‘admiral’ to you landlubbers!), while dealing with hostile star systems, political enemies, and a tough-to-fit-in personal life. The detail is extraordinary, hence the lengthy later works, the newest one of which runs 855 pages.

Weber takes the time to render the principals in his works more three-dimensional that these characters usually become, and wait ‘till you meet a treecat! Green eyes, empathic, loves celery! It’s interesting to note that in this series, and in Weber’s military, there is total equality of the sexes – an interesting novelty in too many cases.

Honor Harrington, Royal Manticoran Navy. We’d follow her straight into the jaws of Hell, knowing that if she didn’t like what she found there, she'd discontinue it, and bring us all out again!