David Weber does space opera. Very good space opera. Lots of fun to read and reread. And he has a lot of different worlds that he switches between.
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Another collection of shorter stories set in the Honor Harrington Universe. Three of the stories are by David Weber, the fourth is by Eric Flint. Nothing extremely exciting, all three of the Weber stories filling back story from the novels. Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington covers Honor's middy cruise and her first encounter with the future Admiral Santino. Changer of Worlds is a treecat story which tells us just how the decision to move treecats to Grayson is made. Nightfall is the coup attempt by McQueen that was missing from Ashes of Victory. From the Highlands, the Eric Flint story, is about a couple of minor characters from A Short Victorious War and how their lives are going several years later.
The 3 Weber stories are okay, but not outstanding. The treecat story is the most interesting, since we find out more about treecat society in general and Sam and Nimitz in specific. The story of Honor's middy cruise is pretty standard, with Honor shining and the defeat of both her internal and some external enemies. It would be nice to see some Manticoran officers that Honor does not get along with that are not cowardly and incompetent. People complained about the McQueen coup attempt missing from Ashes, and here it is. It would not have fit in Ashes dramatically, but it does make a decent stand alone episode. Of course, I have heard complaints that there is not point to having it in this book since we know how it is going to end. You just can't please some people.
The Eric Flint story of Captain Anton Zilwicki, his daughter Helen, and their adventures on Earth at the time of Parnell's arrival there is the best part of the book. Because they are peripheral characters, we are not sure exactly how things will turn out, plus we get to learn more about intergalactic politics and what is going on in the Solarian League. And we meet some more Peeps with a sense of honor and duty, some of them in the SS surprisingly enough.
The newest book in the Honor Harrington series, this one wanders all over the place. Starting off with the execution of Honor Harrington, Weber covers everything from new weapons systems, to new strategies, to Honor trying to escape Hell. Easily the most anticipated book in the series, it is a satisfying read that moves things along and changes them around. Things happen in this book that need to be told, and Weber does a good job of telling them. Unfortunately, because he has to cover a very large war, not just one officer's career, the book is not the best of the series. Too many things are going on for him to focus on Honor and her crew the way we would like, but if he had skipped over some of the other stories being told, it would have weakened later books in the series.
All in all, Weber did a very good job. He tied up some loose ends, and set up things for later books, both on the war and political front and in the personal lives of the characters. Honor fans will not be disappointed. And if you have not yet tried the Honor Harrington books, Baen is rereleasing the first one, On Basilisk Station, at only $1.99. Try it and get hooked.
Another anthology of stories set in the Honor Harrington universe. A total of five stories, two of them by Weber, the others by Linda Evans, Roland Green, and Jan Lindskold. The Weber stories are about the first impression of a Manticoran royal heir and the first meeting of Honor and one of her supporting cast. Linda Evans looks at one of the first treecat-human pairings, and how the treecats learned something important about humanity. Jan Lindskold tells about the ascension of Elizabeth III to the Manticoran throne and the way politics can turn nasty even on Manticore. Roland Green gets away from the Manticore system and deals more directly with the Haven-Manticore conflict. Some very good stories, well written and fun to read. Not as good as a new Honor novel, but definitely a nice read to tide us over.
The newest Honor Harrington book. Starting literally hours after the end of Echoes of Honor, we get to see a lot of old friends (and enemies) and their reactions to the return of Honor. Then things start getting really busy. David has a lot of ground to cover in this book and he doesn't hesitate to really get out and cover it. This results in a lot of short vignettes, in different places, with different characters. That of course limits the amount of time we spend with Honor, but there is really not much choice.
The book covers almost two years of time and hundreds of light-years of space, with multiple battles and conversations occurring. David had the choice of a.) showing us a lot of details of Honor's medical treatments, not exactly gripping space opera, b.) completely skipping over a couple of years until Honor is back on duty, unrealistically pushing back several important happenings or telling about them retroactively, or c.) hopping around to various events and people, resulting in not much Honor, but a lot of important information directly to the reader. A lot of people have complained about David choosing option c. but I think it was the best option available. He left out some important events (Which I am sure we can look forward to seeing in the next anthology.) but he covered the the real meat of the time period, and he has set up several interesting situations for the next set of books.
We don't have any deathrides with Honor (Well OK, one small one,) the various battles are very short, and there is a lot of talking and exposition, but it is still a good book. A lot of people have said they wished they had not bought it in hardback, but I think it is a successful addition to the Honor series.
This is more space opera, set in a universe with the human Imperium alone against some very nasty aliens. Much more sweeping in scope than the Honor stories, but also less personal for the same reason. But worth picking up and reading. And then you get to hope that David will someday get back to writing more in this universe.
Only one book in this world so far. But there are supposed to be some prequels coming someday. This is almost the antithesis of the Imperium books, since it focuses almost exclusively on just 3 people. And since the three are a cyborg warrior, a greek fury, and a sentient spaceship, all linked mentally, a lot of time is spent on just how that relationship works. It does not get much more personal. A very good book.
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