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Exploring David Weber’s Honor Harrington Series
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy book series, the best-known of which is the Honor Harrington science-fiction series.
David Weber’s writing style is highly technical, indicating that a mountain of research has gone into his books. I enjoy the technical qualities of his work because they are always spot on accurate regardless of the subject matter. You learn things while reading and only realize you’ve been enriched later.
I’ve recently started reading the book Flag in Exile which is a part of the Harrington series. The protagonist is a woman named Honor Harrington who is helped by her six-legged tree cat named Nimitz. I found it interesting that Nimitz, although looked at as Honor’s pet, is actually sentient, highly intelligent, and gives Honor a close look at the people she meets because of the cat’s high level of empathy.
Honor is the captain of a spaceship and hugely successful at her job. A tall woman who has never thought of herself as good looking, she keeps her hair short and is a bit awkward in social settings. Her misadventures are colorful while usually somewhat reckless, but always on the moral side of the compass.
If you’re a highly technical person, this is the book for you. On the other hand, if technical stories give you grief, you might want to look for another author. I have enjoyed every book by David Weber that I’ve read so far and would have no problem recommending each and every one of them.
I plan on finishing the series before moving on to another author.
Solitaire
Mutineers’ Moon – Book One in the Dahak Series by David Weber
Author David Weber says the genesis for this book began with a question. “Assume that earth doesn’t actually have a moon, but rather a giant starship disguised as our moon which has been there for at least fifty or sixty thousand years. Where did it come from, why did it come here, and why hasn’t it left?”
Weber says the answer to those questions built the foundation for this book and its sequels.
Imagine that an alien race came to earth fifty thousand years ago, had a civil war between two factions of their government and was beaten by their advanced AI ship, Dahak. This ship is also the celestial entity we call the moon and during their last battle for supremacy they find themselves stranded on earth with no way to regain access to Dahak.
The two factions of the crew keep themselves young by using cryo-sleep to maintain their lives. Fifty thousand years later they have influenced the earth to gain space flight to re-enter Dahak, although the human population has no knowledge of the moon’s real purpose.
During one of the first flights to the moon, a human is kidnapped by Dahak and convinced to help get the moon back in readiness for a journey to the alien’s home world.
Dahak also wants information about the original crew and whether all of them were part of the mutiny that caused their present dilemma. Another alien race has been spotted closing in on earth’s solar system and only Dahak’s original crew can stop them.
Dahak’s communications system is unable to contact their home world and that means no help is forthcoming to help save the earth.
The lead characters, Colin MacIntyre, Dahak, and what is left of the original crew will have to find a way to co-exist long enough to defeat an alien fleet with nothing more than a ship the size of a moon, and a handful of humans to supplement the crew.
I quite literally could not put this book down, and was excited to know there were two more installments beyond Mutineers’ Moon. If you’re looking for classic science fiction, Mutineers’ Moon is a great choice for your next read.
Solitaire
Solitaire Parke - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books 