As an alternative view, I read "On Basilisk Station" on paper and didn't think much of it. It's good military SF, but good military SF tends to be somewhat stock, characterwise, and I found the protagonist to be a bit bland. She's good, everyone else is unimaginative, evil, or obedient, and she triumphs over impossible odds. A lot. I do not wish in any way to imply that this is inherently bad, but it is not my personal cup of tea. That said, I'm very interested in what kind of RPG develops from it, because I thought that the science of ship-to-ship combat was very well thought out.
(I probably wouldn't like reading Horatio Hornblower either, although I am enjoying watching the episodes on A&E.)