David Weber
David Weber
Weber is not a great writer. His stories are very
conventional military space opera written with a limited palette: the
good guys are truly good and the hero always triumphs in the end due to
her physical, mental and moral superiority. Given this, Weber
frequently delivers a well-paced plot that leads to a satisfyingly
schmaltzy denouement.
Honor Harrington
This is a colossal "series of series" listed below in publication order.
It starts off as Horatio Hornblower in space, following the
naval career of Honor Harrington as she assumes command of her first
starship. I particularly enjoyed the development and evolution of the
naval starship technology in the early novels. Later books get caught
up in the politics of clashing space empires and Weber too frequently
falls into telling us about events rather than showing us. Still, if
you're willing to slog through, there's usually a satisfying space
battle near the end of each book.
The main Honor Harrington series spawns two other contemporary story
lines and two prequel series. The Wikipedia article on the
Honorverse
breaks it all down.
-
On
Basilisk Station, ✓
-
The
Honor of the Queen, ✓
-
The
Short Victorious War, ✓
-
Field
of Dishonor, ✓
-
Flag in
Exile, ✓
-
Honor
Among Enemies, ✓
-
In
Enemy Hands, ✓
-
Echoes
of Honor, ✓
-
More
Than Honor (Worlds of Honor 1),
✓
-
Worlds
of Honor (Worlds of Honor 2), ✓
-
Ashes
of Victory, ✓
-
Changer
of Worlds (Worlds of Honor 3), ✓
-
War of
Honor, ✓
-
Crown
of Slaves, ✓
-
The
Service of the Sword (Worlds of Honor 4),
✓
-
The
Shadow of Saganami, ✓
-
At All
Costs, ✓
-
Storm
from the Shadows, ✓
-
Torch
of Freedom, ✓
-
Mission
of Honor, ✓
-
In
Fire Forged (Worlds of Honor 5),
✓
-
A
Beautiful Friendship, ✓
-
A
Rising Thunder, ✓
-
Shadow
of Freedom, ✓
-
Fire
Season, ✓
-
The
Treecat Wars, ✓
-
House
of Steel (The Honorverse Companion),
✓
-
Beginnings:
Worlds of Honor 6, ✓
-
Cauldron
of Ghosts, ✓
-
A Call
to Duty, ✓
-
A Call
to Arms, ✓
-
Shadow
of Victory, ✓
-
A
Call to Vengeance, ✓
-
Uncompromising
Honor, ✓
-
To End
in Fire, ✓
-
A
Call to Insurrection,
-
A New
Clan,
Empire of Man
Another conventional military space opera where the heir to a galactic
empire is stranded and has to make his way across an alien planet to the
world's only starport. Aside from the plot revolving around a point
often lost in space opera (planets are big!), this is "comfort
food" science fiction: never surprising or challenging but satisfying
nonetheless.