On Basilisk Station takes place in the very distant future; a future thousands of years after the Earth has become too populated and polluted and people have been forced to seek refuge on distant, life-supporting planets. In the intervening years between colonization and the time period in which the book takes place, several of the colonized worlds have expanded and become more powerful. One of these is a single star system kingdom known as the Manticoran Alliance, home to the main character of the book, Commodore Honor Harrington.

Manticore rose to power due to a fortuitous discovery of a wormhole junction, which basically warps time and space to create instant transportation to any of its termini. The other powerful entity is an empire called the People’s Republic of Haven (PRH), a greedy, perpetually broke government whose only funds come from conquering other planets.

The plot of the book revolves around Harrington’s assignment to the Basilisk terminus of the Manticoran Wormhole Junction where she is shocked by the lassitude of officials already in the area. She starts to make changes in the way things are run, and almost immediately uncovers smuggling, murders, and something altogether more sinister; Manticore has become the PRH’s newest aim for conquest, and they plan to start in Basilisk.

Unfortunately for them, they didn’t count on an officer like Honor to be assigned there. On the verge of their plans coming to fruition, Harrington and her crew on the light cruiser HMS Fearless lay their lives on the line in an effort to stop them. This book is a very well written military science fiction novel in which the characters are realistic and you can’t help but be drawn into the action. The plot is smooth and seamless, yet filled to the brim with action and suspense and the writing is fluid and clear, but maybe a little too technical and wordy. Grade: A –Thomas Adair, WNHS-TV