kejadlen's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 - As with the other anthologies, they're fun reads, but I'm not sure short stories are the best medium for Honorverse tales.
katmarhan's review against another edition
3.0
Short stories in the Honorverse...
I really like the stories featuring treecats--a great opportunity to learn more about them, their abilities, their society and culture, and their relationships with humans.
I also enjoyed the rather predictable story featuring Honor that takes place before [b:On Basilisk Station|35921|On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington, #1)|David Weber|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168651292s/35921.jpg|965345].
The last story was confusing and rather pointless, I thought. I guess it told us a little about Erehwon.
I know I will look at the treecats and their interactions with humans differently, having read these stories.
I really like the stories featuring treecats--a great opportunity to learn more about them, their abilities, their society and culture, and their relationships with humans.
I also enjoyed the rather predictable story featuring Honor that takes place before [b:On Basilisk Station|35921|On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington, #1)|David Weber|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168651292s/35921.jpg|965345].
The last story was confusing and rather pointless, I thought. I guess it told us a little about Erehwon.
I know I will look at the treecats and their interactions with humans differently, having read these stories.
leons1701's review
3.0
So the second Honorverse collection pretty much follows the rules set out in the first one. We get a treecat story (two of them actually) a story by Weber (again, two of them) a story with a Havenite point of view and a story that doesn't really fit.
The Stray is the first of two treecat stories, set shortly after A Beautiful Friendship (from the first collection) but using none of the same characters. It's not a bad piece, but it does seem a bit off at points, Scott's psychic abilities seem to contradict some of the things Weber established elsewhere, though that can be explained by anyone who had such abilities keeping them very much a secret.
What Price Dreams by Weber is the next treecat story, a tale of the first member of the House of Winton to be adopted by a treecat. Some nice typically Weber action, might be the best story in this collection.
Queen's Gambit by Jane Linskold reads pretty much like it was written by Weber (though with less infodumping). A tale of the very beginning of Elizabeth's reign and how she dealt with the assassination of her father. A bit of rarity in these collections as a non-Weber story that uses known characters extensively. Worth noting that Linskold is one of the few authors that gets to play in the Honorverse again, two more short stories and the second and third books of the YA series spun off of A Beautiful Friendship. Obviously, I'm not the only one who noted how well her style fits. :)
The Hard Way Home is the second Weber story, a tale of disaster and courage, though marred a bit by some of Weber's least necessary infodumps ever. Honor must coordinate rescue attempts after a massive avalanche buries a ski resort, but an interfering noble ally of Pavel Young's makes things difficult. Meanwhile, Susan Hibson, years from becoming a Marine, is one of the victims of the avalanche, buried in a lift car with her brother and several other survivors, she is the only one who can possibly escape to get help. Not a bad story at all, though a bit slow in starting due to infodumps about the social opportunities on an asteroid mining facility. Not kidding.
Deck Load Strike is by Roland Green, and fills out the traditional requirements by including a Havenite POV and not really working at all as part of the Honorverse. The best thing I can say about it is that it fits a lot better than A Grand Tour did. Unfortunately, there's no evidence elsewhere in the series for the sort of proxy warfare depicted here. And the depiction of Erewhon seems a bit off. But what's worse is that it isn't even particularly well written (there's a reason I never really got into Green's own works). They should have passed on this one.
The Stray is the first of two treecat stories, set shortly after A Beautiful Friendship (from the first collection) but using none of the same characters. It's not a bad piece, but it does seem a bit off at points, Scott's psychic abilities seem to contradict some of the things Weber established elsewhere, though that can be explained by anyone who had such abilities keeping them very much a secret.
What Price Dreams by Weber is the next treecat story, a tale of the first member of the House of Winton to be adopted by a treecat. Some nice typically Weber action, might be the best story in this collection.
Queen's Gambit by Jane Linskold reads pretty much like it was written by Weber (though with less infodumping). A tale of the very beginning of Elizabeth's reign and how she dealt with the assassination of her father. A bit of rarity in these collections as a non-Weber story that uses known characters extensively. Worth noting that Linskold is one of the few authors that gets to play in the Honorverse again, two more short stories and the second and third books of the YA series spun off of A Beautiful Friendship. Obviously, I'm not the only one who noted how well her style fits. :)
The Hard Way Home is the second Weber story, a tale of disaster and courage, though marred a bit by some of Weber's least necessary infodumps ever. Honor must coordinate rescue attempts after a massive avalanche buries a ski resort, but an interfering noble ally of Pavel Young's makes things difficult. Meanwhile, Susan Hibson, years from becoming a Marine, is one of the victims of the avalanche, buried in a lift car with her brother and several other survivors, she is the only one who can possibly escape to get help. Not a bad story at all, though a bit slow in starting due to infodumps about the social opportunities on an asteroid mining facility. Not kidding.
Deck Load Strike is by Roland Green, and fills out the traditional requirements by including a Havenite POV and not really working at all as part of the Honorverse. The best thing I can say about it is that it fits a lot better than A Grand Tour did. Unfortunately, there's no evidence elsewhere in the series for the sort of proxy warfare depicted here. And the depiction of Erewhon seems a bit off. But what's worse is that it isn't even particularly well written (there's a reason I never really got into Green's own works). They should have passed on this one.
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