The Honor of The Queen - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Three years after the events in On Basilisk Station, Captain Honor Harrington returns to the Star Kingdom after a long anti-piracy campaign in the Silesian Confederacy. While her ship, the heavy cruiser HMS Fearless, has her first refit, new orders arrive. Fearless is to lead a small Manticoran squadron supporting a diplomatic mission to the planet Grayson. The diplomatic mission is to be led by Admiral Raoul Courvosier, Honor's mentor and personal friend. With the long-awaited war with Haven looming close, Manticore is working to form an Alliance with many small nations. Grayson is critical to this effort, as it would close a flank of advance for a possible Havenite invasion fleet. Adding to the pressure, Haven is negotiating its own alliance with Masada, Grayson's historical rival.

The Manticoran ships arrive at Yeltsin's Star, the system where Grayson is located, and are greeted by the small Grayson Navy. However, the welcome is soured by sexism in the Graysons, for whom the notion of a woman in uniform is intolerable. After the Graysons and the Manticorans rub each other the wrong way despite the best of intentions, Honor leaves the system to escort a convoy of freighters, even though Courvosier tries to convince her not to do so.

After Honor leaves with three of the four Manticoran warships sent to Grayson, Admiral Courvosier meets with Admiral Bernard Yanakov (the commander of the Grayson Navy), and the officers begin to work their way through their cultural differences. We get an explanation for the Grayson rivalry with Masada: Long ago, an extremist faction called "the Faithful" left Grayson (founded by religious Luddites) after a civil war and settled on Masada. For centuries, the worlds threatened each other with nuclear weapons, with Masada vowing to reclaim Grayson from the hands of the "Apostate". If Grayson is considered to be religiously conservative, Masada is nothing short of a fundamentalist theocracy.

Everything is cut short when a Masadan fleet approaches Grayson and begins attacking space stations throughout the system. Admiral Courvosier accepts Yanakov's offer to join his fleet in chasing the Masadans. However, Masada's fleet (already numerically superior) has two powerful warships "bought" from Haven, and they make quick work of Grayson's outdated fleet and the Manticoran destroyer Madrigal. Both Courvosier and Yanakov die during the battle.

Honor's ships return to Grayson and are attacked by Masadan light attack craft, which merely damage one of her ships. After entering Grayson's orbit, they are apprised of the critical situation following the battle and the death of Admiral Courvosier. Honor strong-arms the Grayson government to allow her to take a leading role in the defense of Grayson. The attitude against women in uniform is shattered in most Graysons when Honor saves Protector Benjamin Mayhew IX, the Grayson leader, and his family from an attempted assassination by traitors loyal to Masada.

Coercing and perhaps torturing information from the surviving traitors, the Graysons and Manticorans find that Masada has built an advanced base within Grayson's star system. Leading her ships and the remnants of the Grayson fleet, Honor battles a group of Masadan warships (including a Havenite destroyer masquerading as a Masadan ship) and devastates the Masadan fleet. A captured Havenite officer tells Honor that there are survivors from Madrigal at the base, and that the Masadans are torturing and raping them. An assault by Fearless' Marines follows, and the Masadan base is captured. The Manticoran survivors are found, and Honor nearly shoots the Masadan commander after finding out the brutal treatment inflicted upon the Manticorans.

On Masada, the Havenite "advisors" see that Masada's bid to conquer Grayson is doomed and try to pull out. However, the Masadans find out and seize control of Thunder of God, the Havenite battlecruiser they "bought". Armed with this ship, far more powerful than any of Honor's, the Masadan fanatics launch their final attack on Grayson.

With little choice, Honor dispatches the light cruiser Apollo to Manticore for reinforcements and prepares her last two ships, Fearless and Troubadour to fight the Masadans. The Manticorans' superior tactical skills allow them to inflict damage on Thunder of God, but their enemies' firepower seriously damages Fearless and destroys Troubadour. Manticoran reinforcements enter the system, confusing the Masadan captain and allowing Honor to terminate the enemy ship.

With Grayson secured, a joint Manticore-Grayson fleet attacks Masada and occupies the planet, finding the Havenite survivors, (most of which defect to the Star Kingdom). Honor recovers from the wounds sustained during the many battles and the attack on the Mayhew family. Protector Benjamin decorates her with the Star of Grayson and appoints her as Steadholder (governor) of a new district of Grayson. The idea is to speed up Benjamin's planned social reforms on Grayson. The novel ends with the Manticoran government creating Honor Harrington a Countess.