Worlds of Weber : Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington and other stories

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. This hefty and moving reprint collection of nine novellas written between 1995 and 2007 fills in the corners of Weber's celebrated Honor Harrington series (most recently 2005's At All Costs ) and offers several other variations on political and military themes. In the title story, 20-year-old Honor joins the crew of War Maiden , bound for interstellar antipiracy duty as the Royal Manticoran Navy builds up for confrontation with the People's Republic. The Captain from Kirkbean, a rousing alternate naval-history yarn, and Sword Brother, wherein U.S. Marines are pulled into a parallel universe's sword-and-sorcery battlefield, focus on the responsibilities and price of leadership and the necessity of cooperation despite intrinsic differences. Miles to Go observes interstellar conflict and politics from the unusual perspective of a war robot that learns human compassion. With restraint and good taste, Weber tempers his mourning for war's destruction with heartfelt celebrations of the honorable men, women, creatures and machines of the armed forces. (Sept.) Copyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist The creator of Honor Harrington explains this volume�s heft by admitting that he likes to tell long stories, hence his many long novels and the fact that even his short stories aren�t very. The shortest piece here portrays an alternate John Paul Jones, fighting for the British; the longest depicts the peril and promises of the first cruise of �Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington.� Other entries show how treecats and humans learned to bond, how medieval archers saved a band of space-traveling Romans, how Bolos (the sentient tanks invented by late Keith Laumer; see Weber�s Bolo! 2005) handle ethical dilemmas, how an armored car crossing dimensions from Iraq can be a useful weapon in a magical realm once both dimensions� denizens get used to one another, and how the United State of Europe of Eric Flint�s 1632 (2000) started acquiring a navy. Many of these pieces have appeared before in anthologies, yet they constitute a sampling of what a genius-level storyteller does between novels that is worth adding to most sf collections. --Roland Green

A mammoth volume (over 250,000 words) of the many facets of one of science fiction’s most popular talents. Here are treecats, starships, dragons, alternate history, self-aware Bolo supertanks, wizards, sailing ships, ironclads—and, of course, Weber’s fantastically popular starship commander, Honor Harrington. For nearly two decades, David Weber has been taking enthralled readers to destinations strange and fantastical, from his best-selling Honor Harrington novels and short stories to the heroic fantasy of Bahzell of the Hrandai, and the shared universe stories set in worlds of his own creation, and those of others, such as Eric Flint’s best-selling Ring of Fire series, the popular Bolo series of Keith Laumer and more.

            Visit 17th-century Magdeburg for the creation of the United States Navy a hundred and fifty years early, and go with John Paul Jones as he wins the Revolutionary War—For George III. Fight dragons and demons with U.S. Marines in a most unexpected campaign, find out how humans and treecats first met and share Honor Harrington’s very first battle. But once you step into the worlds of Weber, you may not want to go home again.

Publishers Weekly

This hefty and moving reprint collection of nine novellas written between 1995 and 2007 fills in the corners of Weber's celebrated Honor Harrington series (most recently 2005's At All Costs) and offers several other variations on political and military themes. In the title story, 20-year-old Honor joins the crew of War Maiden, bound for interstellar antipiracy duty as the Royal Manticoran Navy builds up for confrontation with the People's Republic. The Captain from Kirkbean, a rousing alternate naval-history yarn, and Sword Brother, wherein U.S. Marines are pulled into a parallel universe's sword-and-sorcery battlefield, focus on the responsibilities and price of leadership and the necessity of cooperation despite intrinsic differences. Miles to Go observes interstellar conflict and politics from the unusual perspective of a war robot that learns human compassion. With restraint and good taste, Weber tempers his mourning for war's destruction with heartfelt celebrations of the honorable men, women, creatures and machines of the armed forces. (Sept.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Find out how Giles Habibula really joined the Legion of Space. Go with John Paul Jones as he wins the Revolutionary War ... for George III. Fight dragons and demons with the U.S. Marines, and share Honor Harrington's very first battle Presents a volume that features the fantastical alternate history adventures of starship commander Honor Harrington, which are rife with treecats, dragons, self-aware Bolo supertanks, wizards, and ironclads. A Certain talent In the navy The Captain from Kirkbean Sir George and the dragon Sword brother A Beautiful friendship Ms. midshipwoman Harrington Miles to go The Traitor.