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kathydavie's review
5.0
Well, I just had to go and start my re-read of the Honor Harrington series. It's convenient as I can catch up to my current style of reviewing.
This is just absolutely brilliant!! Even if only two of the stories are Harrington-related, LOL.
Series:
"A Certain Talent" (Legion of Space, 0.5; originally published in The Williamson Effect)
"In the Navy" (Ring of Fire, xx.5; based on Eric Flint's 1632 series; originally published in Ring of Fire Anthology #1)
"Sir George and the Dragon" (Earth Legions, 1.5; originally published in Foreign Legions)
"Sword Brother" (War God, 1.5; as part of a reissue of Oath of Swords)
"A Beautiful Friendship" (Honorverse: Stephanie Harrington, 0.75; originally published in More Than Honor (Worlds of Honor, 1))
"Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington" (Honor Harrington, 0.5)
"Miles to Go" (Originally published in The Triumphant (Bolos, 3; Bolo, 6))
"Traitor" (Originally published in The Last Stand (Bolos, 4; Bolo 7))
The Stories
"A Certain Talent" is a Jack Williamson homage and excellent! It's a too funny introduction to the thieving, passionate, and extremely talented Giles Habibula who is tricked and then blackmailed into joining the Legion of Space.
I loved this! There's a comic turn to it but it's also full of humanity! I'll have to search this series out! I must know more about Colonel Jartha, and I am curious as to whether Jartha is correct about Ethrya Coran...hmmm...
"In the Navy" relates to an Eric Flint series for which I've had a hard time finding the starting book, and after reading this story...well, I'll just have to put my thinking cap on! Weber doesn't provide a lot of backstory on this, just enough to tease and make me want to know more about how a chunk of the U.S. gets dropped into seventeenth century Europe. I love the strategy, politics, and economic issues involved in this short. Very well thought out.
This story finds President Mike Steams realizing that the U.S. does indeed need an ironclad---or three, and he's forced to deal with his sister's father-in-law and his enemy: John Chandler Simpson.
"The Captain from Kirkbean" is my least favorite as Weber compresses time intensely, and I kept confusing the English Captain Sir John Paul with John Paul Jones. Still, it's a lovely bit of a scary naval strategy in which Captain Paul pits his much weaker force against a stronger French force in this battle in the American Revolutionary War. And he is doing this off his own initiative and against orders...eek…!
Originally published in the anthology, Alternate Generals.
"Sir George and the Dragon" is brilliant with Sir George and what remains of his company "rescued" for nefarious purposes to get around the Prime Directive.
This was later expanded into The Excalibur Option of which there only appears to be a French version.
"Sword Brother" is tense and mixes American warriors with magical ones when Wencit of Rūm teleports Gunnery Sergeant Kenneth Houghton and Corporal Jack Mashita along with "Tough Mama" to his universe to help battle demons and evil wizards.
Specifically written to go with a reissue of Oath of Swords (War Gods, 1).
"A Beautiful Friendship" explores Stephanie Harrington's encounter with Climbs Quickly, and they become the first bonded pair of human + treecat. It's a fascinating bit of backhistory of an ancestress of Honor Harrington's and the treecats.
It takes place 60 T-years after the Star Kingdom of Manticore is in place.
"Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington" finds Honor Harrington about to embark on her final test, a cruise as a midshipwoman. Now if she can just survive that idiot Lieutenant Santino and their encounter with Confederacy pirates/revolutionaries, she'll be all set.
It introduces the problems that Honor has with her treecat aboard ship, the issues with Pavel Young, and her encounter with Captain Bachfisch whom we'll meet again.
"Miles to Go" made me cry and cry and cry. Oh, god, it was so amazing with its combination of exile, home, love, friendship, and honor. The title is from a poem by Robert Frost, and just thinking about this story is making me cry again. It's friendship that develops into love between man and machine, and if you can read this and not cry, you need to see a shrink!
"Traitor" is along the same line as "Miles to Go" with a battle machine that feels honor and shame as she chases down a traitorous battle partner, only to discover how wrong she was. Keep the tissues out, 'cause you'll be crying again.
The Cover
It's a Baen cover all right and uses the complementary colors blue and orange with a pastel quality to this portrait of Honor in her helmet and skinsuit as she approaches the pirate-ravaged ship with a huge planet looming behind her.
The title emphasizes the short story I was most interested in reading as I adore all things Honor Harrington. However...Weber has intrigued me into wanting to read the series that his other short stories reference in this Worlds of Weber: Ms Midshipwoman Harrington and Other Stories.
This is just absolutely brilliant!! Even if only two of the stories are Harrington-related, LOL.
Series:
"A Certain Talent" (Legion of Space, 0.5; originally published in The Williamson Effect)
"In the Navy" (Ring of Fire, xx.5; based on Eric Flint's 1632 series; originally published in Ring of Fire Anthology #1)
"Sir George and the Dragon" (Earth Legions, 1.5; originally published in Foreign Legions)
"Sword Brother" (War God, 1.5; as part of a reissue of Oath of Swords)
"A Beautiful Friendship" (Honorverse: Stephanie Harrington, 0.75; originally published in More Than Honor (Worlds of Honor, 1))
"Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington" (Honor Harrington, 0.5)
"Miles to Go" (Originally published in The Triumphant (Bolos, 3; Bolo, 6))
"Traitor" (Originally published in The Last Stand (Bolos, 4; Bolo 7))
The Stories
"A Certain Talent" is a Jack Williamson homage and excellent! It's a too funny introduction to the thieving, passionate, and extremely talented Giles Habibula who is tricked and then blackmailed into joining the Legion of Space.
I loved this! There's a comic turn to it but it's also full of humanity! I'll have to search this series out! I must know more about Colonel Jartha, and I am curious as to whether Jartha is correct about Ethrya Coran...hmmm...
"In the Navy" relates to an Eric Flint series for which I've had a hard time finding the starting book, and after reading this story...well, I'll just have to put my thinking cap on! Weber doesn't provide a lot of backstory on this, just enough to tease and make me want to know more about how a chunk of the U.S. gets dropped into seventeenth century Europe. I love the strategy, politics, and economic issues involved in this short. Very well thought out.
This story finds President Mike Steams realizing that the U.S. does indeed need an ironclad---or three, and he's forced to deal with his sister's father-in-law and his enemy: John Chandler Simpson.
"The Captain from Kirkbean" is my least favorite as Weber compresses time intensely, and I kept confusing the English Captain Sir John Paul with John Paul Jones. Still, it's a lovely bit of a scary naval strategy in which Captain Paul pits his much weaker force against a stronger French force in this battle in the American Revolutionary War. And he is doing this off his own initiative and against orders...eek…!
Originally published in the anthology, Alternate Generals.
"Sir George and the Dragon" is brilliant with Sir George and what remains of his company "rescued" for nefarious purposes to get around the Prime Directive.
This was later expanded into The Excalibur Option of which there only appears to be a French version.
"Sword Brother" is tense and mixes American warriors with magical ones when Wencit of Rūm teleports Gunnery Sergeant Kenneth Houghton and Corporal Jack Mashita along with "Tough Mama" to his universe to help battle demons and evil wizards.
Specifically written to go with a reissue of Oath of Swords (War Gods, 1).
"A Beautiful Friendship" explores Stephanie Harrington's encounter with Climbs Quickly, and they become the first bonded pair of human + treecat. It's a fascinating bit of backhistory of an ancestress of Honor Harrington's and the treecats.
It takes place 60 T-years after the Star Kingdom of Manticore is in place.
"Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington" finds Honor Harrington about to embark on her final test, a cruise as a midshipwoman. Now if she can just survive that idiot Lieutenant Santino and their encounter with Confederacy pirates/revolutionaries, she'll be all set.
It introduces the problems that Honor has with her treecat aboard ship, the issues with Pavel Young, and her encounter with Captain Bachfisch whom we'll meet again.
"Miles to Go" made me cry and cry and cry. Oh, god, it was so amazing with its combination of exile, home, love, friendship, and honor. The title is from a poem by Robert Frost, and just thinking about this story is making me cry again. It's friendship that develops into love between man and machine, and if you can read this and not cry, you need to see a shrink!
"Traitor" is along the same line as "Miles to Go" with a battle machine that feels honor and shame as she chases down a traitorous battle partner, only to discover how wrong she was. Keep the tissues out, 'cause you'll be crying again.
The Cover
It's a Baen cover all right and uses the complementary colors blue and orange with a pastel quality to this portrait of Honor in her helmet and skinsuit as she approaches the pirate-ravaged ship with a huge planet looming behind her.
The title emphasizes the short story I was most interested in reading as I adore all things Honor Harrington. However...Weber has intrigued me into wanting to read the series that his other short stories reference in this Worlds of Weber: Ms Midshipwoman Harrington and Other Stories.
peregrineace's review
3.0
Not worth the money in hardcover, although as an introduction to Weber's major worlds, it works well. I was disappointed to find that all the Honorverse stories are collected elsewhere. It was hard to get into short stories about universes that I had no interest in reading.
However, I will say that the writing style is quality, just like all of Weber's work that I've read previously. I truly enjoyed the story about St. George and the Dragon, a very imaginative retelling of a legend. This would be a good way to find out if reading a whole series of books in one universe of Weber's is worth your time; just wish I had waited till it was out in paperback.
Note: I only read to page 168, the first four stories. Of the remaining 5 stories, 2 were Honor Harrington stories I had already read and the other 3 were from storylines I had no interest in.
However, I will say that the writing style is quality, just like all of Weber's work that I've read previously. I truly enjoyed the story about St. George and the Dragon, a very imaginative retelling of a legend. This would be a good way to find out if reading a whole series of books in one universe of Weber's is worth your time; just wish I had waited till it was out in paperback.
Note: I only read to page 168, the first four stories. Of the remaining 5 stories, 2 were Honor Harrington stories I had already read and the other 3 were from storylines I had no interest in.
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