Honorverse favorite one-liners

Invictus wrote:

For reasons that made no sense in ideological terms- in the past, if anything, they'd tended in the direction of being Havenite apologists- the Progressives where now taking a stance of sharp opposition to the rapprochement between Manticore and Haven.
Why? nobody outside the Progressives' own leadership really knew, but theories abounded.
One school of thought believed that the PP was on the Mesan Alignment's payroll. Anton thought that was unlikely, although he didn't rule it out completely. He leaned more toward the second school of thought, which was that-
The Progressives were a pack of fumble-witted loons whose incompetence at politics seemed to have no bottom.

And from the same chapter

Cathy almost sprang out of her seat in excitement. "Yes! Go for it, Mack! Gut the fucking asshole!"
Cathy proceeded to issue several more sentences which, though grammatically impeccable, transgressed the bounds of propriety. Pretty much the way piranhas transgress the bounds of dining etiquette.

And last one..

He considered and then discarded the idea of actually taking control of Lower Radomsko. That was certainly possible. Victor couldn't have done it on his own. But with Thandi available, it was by no means out of the question. Still, even with her, the project would take too much time.

I just love how the only real objection to the idea of taking over a section of the city that even the other crime lords stay away from is the timeframe.

Hutch wrote:A couple from Honor of the Queen before I get to work today (warning to Cthia and roseandheather--there may be even be tears.

"but Security got several assassins alive, mainly thanks to your treecat. Aside from the first one he attacked, he seems to have settled for blinding his opponents. I'm afraid only one of the ones you hit survived."

--Benjamin Mayhew on why you don't piss off Honor Harrington.

"Because—" Theisman started sharply, then stopped and looked away. "Because they deserve better than getting nuked by their own people, Captain."

Regarding Blackbird Station

"Honey, you've got to let us have her," someone was saying softly, gently. "Please. We've got to take care of her.

-Captain Susan Hibson to Mai-Ling Jackson on Blackbird

"Please, Mai-ling. Let us help her."

-Honor in the same scene

"Take care of her," she told the senior Marine medic, and the woman nodded, her own face wet with tears.

Honor nodded back, then turned towards the door of the cell. As she stepped through it, she drew her sidearm and checked the magazine.

And you just knew then what was coming next.

"Skipper! Skipper, you can't!" Scotty Tremaine half-sobbed, holding her face between his hands while tears ran down his cheeks. "Please, Skipper! You can't do this—not without a trial!"

-Scotty Tremaine saving Honor's career.

cthia wrote: [Simply had to revisit this post. These had to be some of the tenderest moments in the Honorverse. Cry lots I did. I recall a poster once saying something to the effect that RFC couldn't be a romance writer. I disagreed then I disagree now. I am not a betting man but considering these passages as a benchmark, put me down as an all-in on that bet.

Regarding these passages, RFC's tactics were unfair. He stopped writing when it came to these passages. He simply stopped writing. Words anyway. He used some ancient form of communication, more than words, but not quite hieroglyphics, evidenced by the lack of words jumping off the page but the proliferation of pictures. Images vividly jumped out at me. As I read on dazzlers activated and more tears appeared, more than I could handle. I persevered and even more tears appeared. I read on and dragons teeth lit off and the threat axis became impossible for my counter measures of kleenex.

I could see Mai-Ling, trembling, trying to speak. Mouth working but words a blackhole unto herself. I could feel her. As a reader RFC didn't ask me to stand in her shoes. He smacked me with them.

Every time I wander down this corrider of Blackbird, I can hear Captain Hibson's pleading words echoing off the deckheads to join Mai-Ling's sobbing to indistinquishably blend with my own.

I cried when they shot Old Yeller. I cried when Free Willy jumped that wall, I cried when E.T. phoned home. I remember my very first literary cry when A Little Princess was reunited with her father.

RFC has continued a most exhaustingly loving tradition.
I would get lost in these moments, save for Scotty Tremaine's comforting voice pulling me back from the brink.

Thanks RFC. A man isn't supposed to kiss another man but somehow a handshake or a hug just won't do. So let's simply pretend we're both British for a spell and take one for the team.


Thanks Hutch, once again, for the post.

cthia wrote:Are there any resident tac-witches available that can give me proper coordinates on these bogeys? We'll designate them post1, post2, post3. Interesting, but can't place them.

NortonIDaughter wrote:I'm assuming CoG, since I didn't recognize the first few words of each...

What is it, one more week? I'm dying over here! (It's paper or bust with me...)

MaxxQ wrote:Yeah... those bits are from Cauldron, and should really have been labelled with a spoiler tag.

"Even if I didn't have the stomach in the end to turn you in to the Ballroom, I don't have to. I found the middleman you used to contact Denver Summervale. I have his deposition, too. I doubt very much that it would stand up in a court of law, but it wouldn't have to. I'd simply send it to Duchess Harrington."

NortonIDaughter wrote:I'm assuming CoG, since I didn't recognize the first few words of each...

What is it, one more week? I'm dying over here! (It's paper or bust with me...)

And a line of narration that always speaks to me...

"but the options were different for a kamikaze"

We nearly lost Tom before we had him!

Hutch wrote:

MaxxQ wrote:Yeah... those bits are from Cauldron, and should really have been labelled with a spoiler tag.

Didn't post them, but I don't think they gave away anything too important to the novel--but I concur, people should have know where the quotes were from.

cthia wrote:

NortonIDaughter wrote:I'm assuming CoG, since I didn't recognize the first few words of each...

What is it, one more week? I'm dying over here! (It's paper or bust with me...)

And a line of narration that always speaks to me...

"but the options were different for a kamikaze"

We nearly lost Tom before we had him!

Alright, what is this "one more week" stuff all about?
What am I behind on this time?
Well come on...give...give...give dammit!

please

MaxxQ wrote:
One more week until Cauldron of Ghosts is released in hardcover. Although it's actually two weeks - according to Amazon, April 8th.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” the captain challenged. “This is Solarian space!”
“Really?” Magellan replied. “Imagine that.”

“Actually, Captain, I’m quite aware of where I am. And I’m quite aware that the Solarian League claims sovereignty over this terminus. Unfortunately, things like that are subject to change.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?!” the captain managed to get out after another three or four seconds of rage-inspired muteness.
“I mean that jurisdiction over this terminus has just changed hands from the Solarian League to the Star Empire of Manticore,” Magellan told him flatly.