DAVID WEBER

'David Mark Weber' is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952. In his stories, he creates a consistent and rationally explained technology and society. Even when dealing with fantasy themes, the magical powers are treated like another technology with supporting rational laws and principles.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He challenges current gender roles in the military by assuming that a gender-neutral military service will exist in his futures, and by frequently placing female leading characters in what have previously been seen as traditionally male roles, he has explored the challenges faced by women in the military and politics.
His most popular and enduring character is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C. S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower. Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 13 novels and four shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2006 (other works are in production).

Contents

Published works

Honor Harrington series

''Worlds of Honor'' Collections

Novels related to the Honor Harrington Series

Heirs of Empire series

War God Series

Other Novels

Safehold Series

Collaborations

Common themes

Common language

Common names

External links

Published works

Many of Weber's books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25% or third of the work). Where the links below include '/library/' in the URL, they are the whole text of the book. Weber's publisher, Baen Books, is a pioneer in the sale of books in various electronic formats and all the linked titles below can be downloaded for payment if they are not available for free.
The hardback edition of ''War of Honor'' contained "The Honorverse CD", a compilation of texts which amongst other things held electronic copies of the entire Honor series to that point (including the anthologies up to ''Changer Of Worlds''). The CD label explicitly states that the contents are freely distributable and the CD itself has been mirrored on various websites. This CD was only the first: there have now been seven other CD's released by Baen with different books.

Honor Harrington series

Main articles: Honorverse

:''(Note: External links are to online copies of the books at two sites run by Baen Books: 'baen.com' and 'webscription.net'. The complete and unabridged ebooks from the '''At All Costs''' CD are also available online.''

★ ''On Basilisk Station'' [1] (1993) ISBN 0-671-57793-X (''read online'')

★ ''The Honor of the Queen'' [2] (1993) ISBN 0-671-57864-2 (''read online'')

★ ''The Short Victorious War'' [3] (1994) ISBN 0-671-87596-5- (''read online'')

★ ''Field of Dishonor'' [4] (1994) ISBN 0-671-57820-0 (''read online'')

★ ''Flag in Exile'' [5] (1995) ISBN 0-671-31980-9 (''read online'')

★ ''Honor Among Enemies'' [6] (1996) ISBN 0-671-87723-2 (''read online'')

★ ''In Enemy Hands'' [7] (1997) ISBN 0-671-57770-0 (''read online'')

★ ''Echoes of Honor'' [8] (1998) ISBN 0-671-57833-2 (''read online'')

★ ''Ashes of Victory'' [9] (2000) ISBN 0-671-57854-5 (''read online'')

★ ''War of Honor'' [10] (October 2002) ISBN 0-7434-3545-1 (''read online'')

★ ''At All Costs'' [11] (November 2005) ISBN 1-4165-0911-9 (''read online'')

''Worlds of Honor'' Collections

Short Stories related to the Honor Harrington Series - edited by David Weber

★ ''More than Honor'' [12] (1998) ISBN 0-671-87857-3 (''read online'')

★ ''Worlds of Honor'' [13] (1999) ISBN 0-671-57855-3 (''read online'')

★ ''Changer of Worlds'' [14] (2001) ISBN 0-671-31975-2 (''read online'')

★ ''Service of the Sword'' [15] (2003) ISBN 0-7434-3599-0 (''read online'')

Novels related to the Honor Harrington Series

★ ''Crown of Slaves'' [16] (2003) ISBN 0-7434-7148-2 (''read online'')

★ ''The Shadow of Saganami'' [17] (2004) ISBN 0-7434-8852-0 (''read online'')

★ A sequel to both Crown and Shadow are currently being written and are expected early '08 with a chance of late '07.

Heirs of Empire series

★ ''Mutineers' Moon [18] ISBN 0-671-72085-6 (''read online'')

★ ''The Armageddon Inheritance'' [19] ISBN 0-671-72197-6 (''read online'')

★ ''Heirs of Empire'' [20] ISBN 0-671-87707-0 (''read online'')

★ ''Empire From the Ashes'' [21] ISBN 0-7434-3593-1 (hardcover) ISBN 141650933X (trade paperback) (''read online'') is an omnibus re-issue of ''Mutineers' Moon'', ''The Armageddon Inheritance'', and ''Heirs of Empire''.

War God Series

★ ''Oath of Swords'' [22] ISBN 0-671-87642-2 (''read online'')

★ ''The War God's Own'' [23] ISBN 0-671-87873-5 (''read online'')

★ ''Wind Rider's Oath'' [24] ISBN 0-7434-8821-0 (''read online'')

★ ''Oath of Swords and Sword Brother'' [25] ISBN 1-4165-2086-4 Sword Brother is the forth part to this series; however, Sword Brother is only a novella and was bundled with Oath of Swords.

Other Novels

★ ''The Apocalypse Troll'' [26] ISBN 0-671-57845-6 (''read online'')

★ ''The Excalibur Alternative'' [27] ISBN 0-671-31860-8 (''read online'')

★ ''Bolo!'' [28] (January '05) ISBN 0-7434-9872-0 (''read online'')

★ ''Old Soldiers'' ISBN 1-4165-0898-8

★ ''Path of the Fury'' ISBN 0-671-72147-X

★ ''In Fury Born'' [29] (April '06) ISBN 1-4165-2054-6 is an expanded reissue of ''Path of the Fury''

Safehold Series

★ ''Off Armageddon Reef'' (January '07) ISBN 0-7653-1500-9

★ ''By Schism Rent Asunder'' (currently being finished up, due early '08)

★ ''By Heresies Distressed'' (no date known, likely end of '08 early '09 the way Weber writes)

Collaborations

Steve White

These books are based on the Starfire games.

★ ''Insurrection'' ISBN 0-671-72024-4 (''read online'')

★ ''Crusade'' ISBN 0-671-72111-9 (''read online'')

★ ''In Death Ground'' excerpt ISBN 0-671-87779-8 (''read online'')

★ ''The Shiva Option'' excerpt ISBN 0-671-31848-9 (''read online'')

★
★ ''The Stars at War'' ISBN 0-7434-8841-5 (''read online'') is an omnibus hardcover re-issue of ''Crusade'' and ''In Death Ground''

★
★ ''The Stars at War II'' ISBN 0-7434-9912-3 (''read online'') is an omnibus hardcover re-issue of ''The Shiva Option'' and ''Insurrection'' with 20,000 words of connecting material and restored edits.

John Ringo

Empire of Man series.

★ ''March Upcountry'' [30] ISBN 0-671-31985-X (''read online'')

★ ''March to the Sea (novel)'' [31] ISBN 0-671-31826-8 (''read online'')

★ ''March to the Stars'' [32] ISBN 0-7434-3562-1 (''read online'')

★ ''We Few'' [33] (April '05) ISBN 0-7434-9881-X (''read online'')

With Eric Flint

In the 1632 series:

★ ''1633'' [34] ISBN 0-7434-3542-7 (''read online'')

★ preceded by ''1632'' [35] ISBN 0-671-31972-8 (''read online'')

★ '' ISBN 1-4165-2102-X (''read online'')
In the Honor Harrington series:

★ ''Crown of Slaves'' [36] ISBN 0-7434-7148-2 (''read online'')

With Linda Evans

:''(Note: The complete and unabridged ebooks from the "'Hell Hath No Fury'" CD are also available online.''

★ ''Hell's Gate'' [37] ISBN 1-4165-0939-9 (online'')

★ ''Hell Hath No Fury'' [38] ISBN 1-4165-2101-1 (online'')

Common themes

David Weber's books, especially those set in the Honorverse, frequently criticize interference by politicians in military matters. Though his commanders do make tactical errors, strategic blunders are usually blamed on interfering politicians. In particular, ''Heirs of Empire'' might imply that David Weber shares George Lucas' view that the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship. The Honorverse books, by contrast, tend to espouse a pointedly libertarian viewpoint.
It must of course be remembered that David Weber is writing fiction, and his personal views may be very different. His later books may also be influenced by the success of such themes in earlier books. Indeed, a recurring trope is the difference between a polity's official name and its actual political structure; the "Star Kingdom of Manticore", nominally a monarchy ruled by a queen, in reality is a parliamentary republic, and the "People's Republic of Haven" presented itself as a federal republic for many decades while in reality being an imperial oligarchy ruled by a hereditary upper class. The internal politics of Weber's star nations have also become more complex over the series, with a strong tendency to depict a particular mode of government as being less important, ultimately, than the motivations and character of the individuals in power within that government.

Common language

Many technical terms for advanced technology often appear in different settings. For example the word "molycirc", as a form of computing technology, appears in the Honorverse, ''The Apocalypse Troll'', and the Heirs of Empire series, as well as the anthology ''Bolo!'', and his newest book ''Off Armageddon Reef''; in addition, a number of sayings or expressions appear across series (such as "From your lips to God's ears!")

Common names

There have also been repeated use of several names across his novels. For example, a DeVries is found in both ''Path of the Fury'' and in the Honorverse series (there is a de Vries Bene Tleilaxu construct in ''Dune''). The name Hauptman is also seen, though not as a cartel or family, but as a missile system in the Fury universe. The name Foraker has also been used in the Honorverse and in the background of Starfire and the Empire From the Ashes series.
The Honorverse series is loosely based on the French Revolution and draws many names and references from that time period. A character with the last name Saint-Just figured prominently in ''Crusade'', the Honorverse and was a leader in the French Revolution. The character "Rob (S.) Pierre" plays a very similar role in the revolutionary movement in the People's Republic of Haven as the historical Robespierre in the French Revolution.
There has also been a repeated use of the same basic heroine. Honor Harrington, David Weber's most famous character, as well as the heroines in ''The Path of the Fury'', ''Off Armageddon Reef'', and ''Crusade'', a female main character of mixed Asian-European descent who is a military officer, tactical genius, was considered unattractive until maturity, and ends up being a major turning-point in history.

External links

★ Bibliography on SciFan

★ alt.books.david-weber Usenet group on Google Groups

★ Baen Books' catalogue for David Weber

★ Baen Free Library - including 8 complete David Weber titles

★ Baen CD-ROMs - books not in free library

★ Joe Buckley's InfoDump including maps, timeline and collection of Weber's posts on Honorverse

★ Weber's Words of Wisdom - random snippets, maps, 3rd party stuff, passworded to prevent searchbot abuse (use samantha/berry with site owner's blessings)

★ David's Home Placeholder

★ Artist David Mattingly's web page

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