A True Chronological Reading of the Last 10 Honorverse Books, Part 5 @DavidWeberBooks

Diane Morrison

I’m re-reading the last ten books in the Honorverse space opera series by David Weber in true chronological order. That is to say, I am reading it all as if it were one big story, not several separate books, in the order in which the events described took place (as much as possible.) I will even be skipping around between books as necessary. If you’d like some insight into why I’m doing that, and what I recommend you read before we begin (if you’d like to follow along,) please see my other posts in this series:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Prerequisites:War of Honor, Crown of Slaves

Books Required for this Post:The Shadow of Saganami, At All Costs

Background:

The Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven. Unbeknownst to the characters, but knownst to us, Havenite Secretary of State…

View original post 2,350 more words

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Book Review: Shadow of Freedom by David Weber

Diane Morrison

Shadow of Freedom by David Weber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel has received a lot of mixed reviews. But I personally really enjoyed it!

Okay, here’s the thing: if you came here looking for Honor Harrington, you’ve come barking up the wrong tree. She’s not here, man. People quote her from time to time and refer to the things she’s done and has been doing.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for space opera… man oh man, you are not going to be disappointed!

Michelle Henke, who just handed the Solarian League the most humiliating defeat in their history, is confused when one of the leaders of a planetary resistance movement in the Verge tells her they need that promised Manticoran Navy support right now. Nobody in Manticore has heard anything about this.

But the Mesan Alignment, the conspiracy of genetic supermen Nazis who…

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Book Review: A Rising Thunder by David Weber

Diane Morrison

A Rising Thunder by David Weber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ve been trying to read the Honorverse books in chronological order. This book brings a lot of disparate storylines together. As a result, little of Honor Harrington is seen in this book, although her story is central to the action.

This book is more “space opera” in that it tries to consider a broad milieu of action. As a result, there’s not as many good space battles as in some of the other books in the series, and a lot of it is build up. I think it suffers when considered on its own, as a result. However, when considered in the scope of the entire story, it’s necessary and important. And there’s still enough tension, cloak-and-dagger, and good space battles to keep me interested. Not the best book in the series, but a good one nonetheless.

I’ve…

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Book Review: The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke

Diane Morrison

The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read for the Science Fiction Masterworks Book Club.

This is one of the great classics of science fiction by one of the Triumvirate (the others, of course, being Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein.) In a city in the far future, the human race has achieved immortality of a sort. Their personalities and memories are stored in a massive computer database, and reloaded into bodies which are also created by computer when their bodies die. However, this city is (they believe) the only one left on a dying earth, where the oceans are long gone and the moon has been destroyed because it was going to crash into the earth. And not all humans are “alive” at any one time, because, of course, they are limited to a single city. Artificial realities are created…

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A True Chronological Reading of the Last 10 Honorverse Books, Part 4 @DavidWeberBooks

Diane Morrison

I’m re-reading the last ten books in the Honorverse space opera series by David Weber in true chronological order. That is to say, I am reading it all as if it were one big story, not several separate books, in the order in which the events described took place (as much as possible.) I will even be skipping around between books as necessary. If you’d like some insight into why I’m doing that, and what I recommend you read before we begin (if you’d like to follow along,) please see my other posts in this series:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Prerequisites:War of Honor, Crown of Slaves

Suggested: “Service of the Sword” from Service of the Sword.

Books Required for this Post:The Shadow of Saganami, At All Costs

Background:

The Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven. Unbeknownst to the characters, but…

View original post 1,780 more words

Book Review: Mission of Honor by David Weber @DavidWeberBooks

Diane Morrison

Mission of Honor by David Weber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Honor! I’ve missed you!

Since I’m trying to read the Honorverse books in chronological order from On Basilisk Station, it’s been some time since I’ve seen much of Honor Harrington. The development of the overarching macroplot that is the focus of the current books started with other characters, and only starts to splash on Honor peripherally at first, such as by sending her back to war with Haven (see At All Costs.)

But now she’s in it up to her ears. Things are exploding between Manticore and the huge and powerful Solarian League in Talbott, and the war against Haven is one they really can’t afford to have in the face of such a threat. So she is sent to Haven to decide the war once and for all . . . by making peace.

What…

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A True Chronological Reading of the Last 10 Honorverse Books, Part 3 @DavidWeberBooks

Diane Morrison

I’m re-reading the last ten books in the Honorverse space opera series by David Weber in true chronological order. That is to say, I am reading it all as if it were one big story, not several separate books, in the order in which the events described took place (as much as possible.) I will even be skipping around between books as necessary. If you’d like some insight into why I’m doing that, and what I recommend you read before we begin (if you’d like to follow along,) please see my other posts in this series:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Prerequisites:War of Honor, Crown of Slaves

Suggested: “Service of the Sword” from Service of the Sword.

Books Required for this Post:The Shadow of Saganami, At All Costs

Background:

The Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven. Unbeknownst to the characters, but knownst to…

View original post 2,548 more words

A True Chronological Reading of the Last 10 Honorverse Books, Part 2 @DavidWeberBooks

Diane Morrison

I’m re-reading the last ten books in the Honorverse space opera series by David Weber in true chronological order. That is to say, I am reading it all as if it were one big story, not several separate books, in the order in which the events described took place (as much as possible.) I will even be skipping around between books as necessary. If you’d like some insight into why I’m doing that, and what I recommend you read before we begin (if you’d like to follow along,) please see my first post in this series.

Prerequisites:War of Honor, Crown of Slaves

Suggested: “From the Highlands” from Changer of Worlds, “Fanatic” from Service of the Sword.

Books Required for this Post:Torch of Freedom

Background:

The Kingdom of Manticore is once again at war with the Republic of Haven. Unbeknownst to the characters, but knownst to us, Havenite…

View original post 1,374 more words

A True Chronological Reading of the Last 10 Honorverse Books, Part 1 @DavidWeberBooks

Diane Morrison

I’ve now finished reading the Honor Harrington “Honorverse” space opera series. Mostly, as I’m sure you can tell by my reviews, I’ve been impressed. I thought some books were better than others, and like many fans, I became impatient with sections that were repeated between books.

But as a writer, I began to notice things. Like how those repeated scenes were always told from different points of view. Like how the events of one book changed the course of other books, even when those events were happening simultaneously. In the last few books of the series, not all of which directly featured Honor Harrington, Weber even started separating groups of chapters by month and date, so that you could track when simultaneous events were taking place.

I began to wonder at his process.  I started to see exactly how grand in scope the tale was that he was telling…

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Book Review: Torch of Freedom by David Weber & Eric Flint

Diane Morrison

Torch of Freedom by David Weber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I chewed through the Honorverse Saga over the last little while because a housemate is also reading the series, and I’m trying to keep ahead of him so that we can talk about it. So expect a lot of Honorverse reviews from me in the near future.

I find myself wondering at what Weber’s process was when writing this and the remainder of the series. I suspect he said to himself:

“Okay, I’ve got this huge George R.R. Martin-style saga to tell, but if I did it that way, I’d have a book so thick you could use it as a brick with a little mortar. Welp; I’m really telling three different stories, aren’t I? So which events fit into the three different stories? Story one: Honor’s perspective. Story two: Cachat and Zilwicki. Story three: Michelle Henke and…

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