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Title: The Service of the Sword: Worlds of Honor 4 by David Weber ISBN: 0743435990 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: April, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Honor universe story with (thankfully) no cats
Comment: Women escape from the religious tyrrany of Masada, the Manticore navy pursues pirates and develops new allies, naval losers congregate on a single ship, Manticore spies pursue love and beer in an enemy capital, Haven secret police find a new role for complete fanaticism, and the Manticore navy pursues pirates once again--in a nutshell, IN THE SERVICE OF THE SWORD gives readers a series of new insights into the universe of Honor Harrington. Written by David Weber and a variety of Baen authors. As a pleasant surprise, all of the stories are good with Fanatic, by Eric Flint, especially standing out.
Fans of the Tree Cats will be disappointed--they are pretty much non-starters in this story of human players in the game of space. For me, this is a plus. While the 'cats can add to the story, their insipid cuteness gets old fast (Tree-cat fans should, however, definitely check out CHANGER OF WORLDS which is pretty intensively 'cat-centered).
The Honor Harrington series is a huge (and deserved) success and fans will enjoy seeing how different authors play with the universe that author David Weber has created. Honor herself appears in only one of these stories (although she is mentioned in most) and the stories are not essential to the continuity of the series. On the positive side, THE SERVICE OF THE SWORD can be read independently and creates a fine introduction to the series for those who have not yet discovered Honor and her friends.
Rating: 3
Summary: Better than I expected
Comment: This collection has six stories in it, three of which are pretty much standalone and three of which I expect to be background for future Honor novels.
I've been very disappointed in Weber's last few novels. Weber has concentrated on things he is very bad at writing about (political intrigue, character development, romance) instead of the things he is good at writing about (swashbuckling action, mainly). He has also fallen farther and farther into his bad habit of telling us stuff instead of showing it to us.
But this time, the Weber story in the collection is surprisingly good. He takes a bunch of his stock characters (young female officer, less-talented but high-born young male officer, Marine non-com from San Martin, high-born and foppish captain) and deliberately plays slice and dice with the stereotypes. He actually tells a different story, for a change. Plus, there is only one three page long pointless lecture on star system political alliances.
Eric Flint also bends the stereotypes of State Sec in his story. I think the next Honor novel is actually going to be co-written by Weber and Flint.
The two John Ringo stories are played for humor, and are only nominally set in the Honorverse.
Timothy Zahn's story is unusual in that Weber apparently allowed him to write a backstory featuring the main Honorverse characters. Too bad they all stayed completely in their pre-established characters, because we learn nothing new about them.
The Jane Lindskold story is somewhat interesting for the Moses references, but otherwise reads like a journeyman attempt to "do a Weber story". I believe it will set up some characters for the next Honor novel.
All in all, probably the second best of the Worlds Of Honor books, and much better than the last two full Honor novels.
Rating: 5
Summary: Even More From the Worlds of Honor
Comment: The Service of the Sword is the fourth anthology in thr Worlds of Honor series. This volume contains six stories in the Honor Harrington universe, only one of which directly involves Honor.
Promised Land by Jane Lindskold is the story of a Grayson girl who is captured by a Masadan privateer and incorporated into his family. Unfortunately for the Masadan, she can read and is computer literate.
With One Stone by Timothy Zahn recounts an incident where a Peep warship live tests a new weapon system on Manty merchanters, so ONI gathers information and Honor Harrington provides a warm reception with a little help from her friends.
A Ship Named Francis by John Ringo & Victor Mitchell tells about a madhouse of a ship where the odds and sods in the Grayson Navy are sent to keep them away from real sailors. There are real world precedents for this story, but none so surreal as the events herein.
Let's Go to Prague by John Ringo is a yarn about two Manty covert ops agents who decide to go for drinks on Prague, a Peep planet, and find plenty of fun and games there. Personally, I believe this story to be not totally fictitious; a goodly number of the covert ops types are adrenaline junkies, not quite sane by normal standards (somewhat like fighter pilots).
Fanatic by Eric Flint is the tale of a man who believes in his oath of office and confounds the normal run of hypocrites while purifying the Security service.
The Service of the Sword describes the middy cruise of the first Grayson Midshipwoman, the unexpected expenditure of munitions involved, and the example she sets for her successors.
Although I enjoyed the first story the most, this opinion is subject to change without notice. I believe that most of these stories will meet with your approval, for they are excellent reading by great writers. Enjoy.
Recommended for Honor Harrington fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of naval/marine life, combat and frolics in a SF setting.
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Title: Crown Of Slaves by David Weber, Eric Flint ISBN: 0743471482 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Hell's Faire by John Ringo ISBN: 0743436040 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Empire From the Ashes by David Weber ISBN: 0743435931 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: March to the Stars by David Weber, John Ringo ISBN: 0743435621 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: December, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: The Course of Empire by Eric Flint, K. D. Wentworth ISBN: 0743471547 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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