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kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
Five short stories in the sixth in the Worlds of Honor military science fiction anthology series which is a part of the Honorverse.
My rating on this would have been a "5", except that Presby's story brought it down a point.
The Stories
Charles E. Gannon's "By the Book" is a clever story of betrayals, sabotage, and terrorism as sidelined members of a universe-wide government struggle to achieve their own respect and battle the arrogance and callous indifference of those in power.
And man, the powers-that-be must be really bad as there are so many dissidents including their own leaders as well as the downtrodden. An interesting possibility of what could occur if terrified Greenies should rise to power, and much too 1984 and Brave New World for me to want to live there: revising history, destroying books, a terrifying use of propaganda, and the manipulation of the system to punish (or destroy) the unwanted. And, LOL, the manipulation of the system by the "rebels" to achieve their own ends is priceless. It's incredible how very much information and world building Gannon manages to pack into a mere 94 pages! I gotta find out if this is part of a series, 'cause I wanna read more.
Timothy Zahn's "A Call to Arms" is part of the Honorverse and provides a window on some of the earlier issues the navy experienced. It's sad that most of the navy is more concerned with weaseling their way up the promotion ladder than in being prepared, although I suppose that's reasonable since said navy hasn't experienced a battle of any sort in over 100 years. Still there's no reason to treat Long as the captain did, jerk. Reading this had my heart in my mouth! The battle tactics, the suicide thrust…! Egads… Weber or Zahn might want to change that first Epilogue to a Prologue, though. It was irritating that Zahn left me hanging about the fate of the Phoenix! I liked Brad.
"A Call to Arms' Story
Lyn is hiring a mercenary group to destroy the minor and unprepared Royal Manticoran Navy, and luckily, Lieutenant Long has just been transferred to the Casey.
The Characters
Yeah, I know, I don't normally track the characters of short stories, but I want the information for myself since this plays directly into the Honorverse with the Royal Manticoran Navy, and I didn't see much point in holding it back from y'all.
The Royal Manticoran Navy
Lieutenant Travis U. Long, a.k.a., Travesty, is gung-ho on military and maintenance procedures. A fact that is not welcomed by those over and under him on HMS Phoenix which is commanded by that jerk, Captain Castillo. I mean, no one has threatened their navy in, well, a century. Ensign Locatelli is onboard through nepotism---his uncle is Admiral Carlton Locatelli, and he expects this to grease his way upward. Lieutenant Commander Bajek is the ship's weapon's officer. Senior Chief Fire Control Tech Lorelei Osterman is sympathetic but realistic. Brad Fornier is one of the capable ones and also sympathetic. Commander Vance Sladek is the Phoenix's executive officer.
The HMS Casey is captained by Commander Rudolph Heissman with Commander Celia Belokas as his exec. Lieutenant Commander Alfred Woodburn is the ship's tactical officer. Lieutenant Rusk. Captain Shapira is part of Heissman's task force.
King Edward is the current ruler of Manticore.
Jeremiah Lyn is short and unassuming in appearance and works for the Axelrod Corporation; he's hiring the Volsung Mercenaries for his employer's ambitions. Self-styled Admiral Cutler Gensonne leads a mercenary band, the Volsung Mercenaries. Captain Sweeney Imbar is the commander of the Odin. Captain Blakeley is a scrappy if snarky fighter. McConnovitch is a data scavenger. Captain Olver's ship, the Naglfar, is playing the dying "swan".
David Weber's "Beauty and the Beast" is a look at how Alfred Harrington met and fell in love with Allison Chu. Which of course, I loved. I do adore getting the backstory on characters I love. And Weber provides both humor and dramatic tension in this.
The Characters
Lieutenant Karl Alfred Harrington has just been promoted from sergeant and received the Osterman Cross for his very hush-hush action on Clematis. Upon accepting his promotion, Harrington requested a transfer into the Navy and to attend the Ignaz Semmelweis University of Beowulf in Grendel, the most prestigious medical school in the galaxy.
Allison Carmena Elena Inéz Regina Benton-Ramirez y Chou has been passing at the university. She wants to carve her own way, on her own merits and is studying gene therapy and surgery.
Jacques Benton-Ramirez y Chou is both Allison's twin and older brother---and the Benton-Ramirez y Chou family is Beowulf, almost royalty. He portrays a dilettante but is actually in an undercover role with the Biological Survey Corps (BSC), which is actually more of a black ops military unit that coordinates frequently with the Audubon Ballroom. Sojourner X is a genetically modified slave who escaped; he's now a professor at the university, an informer with Jacques, and a member of the Ballroom. Colonel Sean Hamilton-Mitsotakis is Jacques' superior.
Captain Howard Young is related to the North Hollows; in this story, he's the Manticoran military attaché on Grendel. Franz Iliescu is a jerk of a Manticoran with a huge chip on his shoulder studying at the university and very annoyed with Harrington's presence. Dr. Penelope Mwo-chi is probably the most highly qualified neurosurgeon in the galaxy and the reason why Harrington wants to attend this school.
Giuseppe Ardmore and Tobin Manischewitz are Manpower agents on Beowulf; their cover is as employees of Black Mountain Security. Manpower is an extremely wealthy private corporation which manufactures genetically modified slaves and is located on Mesa.
The Solarian League is Earth.
David Weber's "The Best Laid Plans" is the tale of how Honor bonded with Laughs Brightly. And it all begins with an illicit field trip into dangerous territory for a bouquet of her mother's favorite tulips. Lucky for Honor, that Laughs Brightly and Sharp Nose are there inspecting the promise, or lack thereof, of the pods that are important as part of the treecats' winter diet.
The Characters
Honor Harrington (the treecats call her Dances on Clouds) is thirteen years old and quite adventurous---very like her ancestress, Stephanie Harrington. Laughs Brightly, descended from Climbs Quickly, is a mischievous scout with the Bright Water Clan of treecats, and he has no intention of bonding with a human. Sharp Nose is his younger brother; Songstress is the clan's newest memory singer and the daughter of their mother's sister. Death Fang's Bane Clan is how the treecats refer to Stephanie's descendants.
Commander Alfred Harrington is her dad (Deep Roots), and he's currently stationed on Hephaestus; Dr. Allison Harrington is her mother.
Ranger McIntyre is the Sphinx Forestry Service ranger Honor contacts for help.
Joelle Presby's "Obligated Service" was terrible. Oh, it was, um, emotional enough, but Presby didn't keep it together enough for me to understand the subplots going on. It took forever before I figured out that the Grayson Navy officers were trying to scare off the Grayson women. I still don't understand what Claire's underlying reason was for staying in the navy. Oh, it was easy enough at the very end, thank god, but I struggled throughout the story. It read more like Presby had ideas that she dropped in place but forgot to connect and smooth out. It was just too disconnected for me.
It takes place in the early days of the Grayson Navy's cooperation with Manticore.
The Cover
The cover is Baen-proud with brilliant colors and dramatic action as a fleet of spaceships hover over an armor-clad man racing through flames with an unconscious woman over his shoulders as the bad guys are firing at him.
The title reflects the time period in which the short stories are set; they are Beginnings and take us back in time.
My rating on this would have been a "5", except that Presby's story brought it down a point.
The Stories
Charles E. Gannon's "By the Book" is a clever story of betrayals, sabotage, and terrorism as sidelined members of a universe-wide government struggle to achieve their own respect and battle the arrogance and callous indifference of those in power.
And man, the powers-that-be must be really bad as there are so many dissidents including their own leaders as well as the downtrodden. An interesting possibility of what could occur if terrified Greenies should rise to power, and much too 1984 and Brave New World for me to want to live there: revising history, destroying books, a terrifying use of propaganda, and the manipulation of the system to punish (or destroy) the unwanted. And, LOL, the manipulation of the system by the "rebels" to achieve their own ends is priceless. It's incredible how very much information and world building Gannon manages to pack into a mere 94 pages! I gotta find out if this is part of a series, 'cause I wanna read more.
Timothy Zahn's "A Call to Arms" is part of the Honorverse and provides a window on some of the earlier issues the navy experienced. It's sad that most of the navy is more concerned with weaseling their way up the promotion ladder than in being prepared, although I suppose that's reasonable since said navy hasn't experienced a battle of any sort in over 100 years. Still there's no reason to treat Long as the captain did, jerk. Reading this had my heart in my mouth! The battle tactics, the suicide thrust…! Egads… Weber or Zahn might want to change that first Epilogue to a Prologue, though. It was irritating that Zahn left me hanging about the fate of the Phoenix! I liked Brad.
"A Call to Arms' Story
Lyn is hiring a mercenary group to destroy the minor and unprepared Royal Manticoran Navy, and luckily, Lieutenant Long has just been transferred to the Casey.
The Characters
Yeah, I know, I don't normally track the characters of short stories, but I want the information for myself since this plays directly into the Honorverse with the Royal Manticoran Navy, and I didn't see much point in holding it back from y'all.
The Royal Manticoran Navy
Lieutenant Travis U. Long, a.k.a., Travesty, is gung-ho on military and maintenance procedures. A fact that is not welcomed by those over and under him on HMS Phoenix which is commanded by that jerk, Captain Castillo. I mean, no one has threatened their navy in, well, a century. Ensign Locatelli is onboard through nepotism---his uncle is Admiral Carlton Locatelli, and he expects this to grease his way upward. Lieutenant Commander Bajek is the ship's weapon's officer. Senior Chief Fire Control Tech Lorelei Osterman is sympathetic but realistic. Brad Fornier is one of the capable ones and also sympathetic. Commander Vance Sladek is the Phoenix's executive officer.
The HMS Casey is captained by Commander Rudolph Heissman with Commander Celia Belokas as his exec. Lieutenant Commander Alfred Woodburn is the ship's tactical officer. Lieutenant Rusk. Captain Shapira is part of Heissman's task force.
King Edward is the current ruler of Manticore.
Jeremiah Lyn is short and unassuming in appearance and works for the Axelrod Corporation; he's hiring the Volsung Mercenaries for his employer's ambitions. Self-styled Admiral Cutler Gensonne leads a mercenary band, the Volsung Mercenaries. Captain Sweeney Imbar is the commander of the Odin. Captain Blakeley is a scrappy if snarky fighter. McConnovitch is a data scavenger. Captain Olver's ship, the Naglfar, is playing the dying "swan".
David Weber's "Beauty and the Beast" is a look at how Alfred Harrington met and fell in love with Allison Chu. Which of course, I loved. I do adore getting the backstory on characters I love. And Weber provides both humor and dramatic tension in this.
The Characters
Lieutenant Karl Alfred Harrington has just been promoted from sergeant and received the Osterman Cross for his very hush-hush action on Clematis. Upon accepting his promotion, Harrington requested a transfer into the Navy and to attend the Ignaz Semmelweis University of Beowulf in Grendel, the most prestigious medical school in the galaxy.
Allison Carmena Elena Inéz Regina Benton-Ramirez y Chou has been passing at the university. She wants to carve her own way, on her own merits and is studying gene therapy and surgery.
Jacques Benton-Ramirez y Chou is both Allison's twin and older brother---and the Benton-Ramirez y Chou family is Beowulf, almost royalty. He portrays a dilettante but is actually in an undercover role with the Biological Survey Corps (BSC), which is actually more of a black ops military unit that coordinates frequently with the Audubon Ballroom. Sojourner X is a genetically modified slave who escaped; he's now a professor at the university, an informer with Jacques, and a member of the Ballroom. Colonel Sean Hamilton-Mitsotakis is Jacques' superior.
Captain Howard Young is related to the North Hollows; in this story, he's the Manticoran military attaché on Grendel. Franz Iliescu is a jerk of a Manticoran with a huge chip on his shoulder studying at the university and very annoyed with Harrington's presence. Dr. Penelope Mwo-chi is probably the most highly qualified neurosurgeon in the galaxy and the reason why Harrington wants to attend this school.
Giuseppe Ardmore and Tobin Manischewitz are Manpower agents on Beowulf; their cover is as employees of Black Mountain Security. Manpower is an extremely wealthy private corporation which manufactures genetically modified slaves and is located on Mesa.
The Solarian League is Earth.
David Weber's "The Best Laid Plans" is the tale of how Honor bonded with Laughs Brightly. And it all begins with an illicit field trip into dangerous territory for a bouquet of her mother's favorite tulips. Lucky for Honor, that Laughs Brightly and Sharp Nose are there inspecting the promise, or lack thereof, of the pods that are important as part of the treecats' winter diet.
The Characters
Honor Harrington (the treecats call her Dances on Clouds) is thirteen years old and quite adventurous---very like her ancestress, Stephanie Harrington. Laughs Brightly, descended from Climbs Quickly, is a mischievous scout with the Bright Water Clan of treecats, and he has no intention of bonding with a human. Sharp Nose is his younger brother; Songstress is the clan's newest memory singer and the daughter of their mother's sister. Death Fang's Bane Clan is how the treecats refer to Stephanie's descendants.
Commander Alfred Harrington is her dad (Deep Roots), and he's currently stationed on Hephaestus; Dr. Allison Harrington is her mother.
Ranger McIntyre is the Sphinx Forestry Service ranger Honor contacts for help.
Joelle Presby's "Obligated Service" was terrible. Oh, it was, um, emotional enough, but Presby didn't keep it together enough for me to understand the subplots going on. It took forever before I figured out that the Grayson Navy officers were trying to scare off the Grayson women. I still don't understand what Claire's underlying reason was for staying in the navy. Oh, it was easy enough at the very end, thank god, but I struggled throughout the story. It read more like Presby had ideas that she dropped in place but forgot to connect and smooth out. It was just too disconnected for me.
It takes place in the early days of the Grayson Navy's cooperation with Manticore.
The Cover
The cover is Baen-proud with brilliant colors and dramatic action as a fleet of spaceships hover over an armor-clad man racing through flames with an unconscious woman over his shoulders as the bad guys are firing at him.
The title reflects the time period in which the short stories are set; they are Beginnings and take us back in time.
chazzychax's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
A mixed bag of five short stories. The lead off "By the Book" by Charles E. Gannon was just plain awful. The worst kind of trash-talking of current day politics in a story set in the Earth solarsystem early in the Honorverse. "A Call to Arms" by Timothy Zahn wasn't bad - a simple young ensign battle story set in early Manticore. "Beauty and the Beast" by David Weber was a good story but a bad premise in that I don't believe the super connection between Honor's parents. And having Honor's dad be a super-commando didn't make any more sense. "Best Laid Plans" by David Weber was an early story of Honor and her treecat seemed way to much like a retread of the Stephanie Harrington stories. "Obligated Service" by Joelle Presby was kind of a weird standout dealing with oddness of early female military service in the Grayson Navy. All and all, not bad but not great.
kejadlen's review against another edition
3.0
An enjoyable read overall, with the first story being the weak link of the bunch.
sjlee's review against another edition
3.0
Another one of the short story anthologies set in the Honorverse universe. This book is the sixth collection and features the authors David Weber, Charles E. Gannon, Joelle Presby and Timothy Zahn. I enjoyed this "Worlds of Honor" book more than others in the series, however, these books are only only good as the stories within.
'Obligated Service' is probably my favourite story from the collection because it expands the universe and fleshes out how its complications interact with each other. The story follows the life of a young enlisted woman in the Grayson Navy. The young commoner exposes the sexism and classism that troubles Grayson society that Weber has previously minimized.
'By the Book' is very unusual. It takes place centuries before the core stories and reveals some of the politics of Earth in the early exploration period. The story is steeped in politics and offers a criticism of Green/anti-technology. The mystery/conspiracy at the heart of the story helps drive the unfamiliar story.
I didn't care for 'The Best Laid Plans'. The story tells the fateful meeting of Honor Harrington and Nimitz. I've never cared for the stories from the tree-cats perspective and as the series has moved forward I have become annoyed at Honor's Mary-Sue status. She might be the least interesting character in the series by the later books.
'Beauty and the Beast' is really bad. It is the entirely saccharine story of how Alfred and Allison Harrington met. It's over the top and way too long. The problem with prequels/backstory is that they need to show something new. Allison Chou's abduction is meaningless because we know she gets free and is in no real danger. I'd happily recommend skipping this one.
'A Call to Arms' isn't too bad. It's set early in Manticore's history when an early Solarian plot is launched to conquer the kingdom. It probably gets simple pass for having some naval combat and politics in the story.
So as you can see some highs and some lows. Read at your own discretion.
'Obligated Service' is probably my favourite story from the collection because it expands the universe and fleshes out how its complications interact with each other. The story follows the life of a young enlisted woman in the Grayson Navy. The young commoner exposes the sexism and classism that troubles Grayson society that Weber has previously minimized.
'By the Book' is very unusual. It takes place centuries before the core stories and reveals some of the politics of Earth in the early exploration period. The story is steeped in politics and offers a criticism of Green/anti-technology. The mystery/conspiracy at the heart of the story helps drive the unfamiliar story.
I didn't care for 'The Best Laid Plans'. The story tells the fateful meeting of Honor Harrington and Nimitz. I've never cared for the stories from the tree-cats perspective and as the series has moved forward I have become annoyed at Honor's Mary-Sue status. She might be the least interesting character in the series by the later books.
'Beauty and the Beast' is really bad. It is the entirely saccharine story of how Alfred and Allison Harrington met. It's over the top and way too long. The problem with prequels/backstory is that they need to show something new. Allison Chou's abduction is meaningless because we know she gets free and is in no real danger. I'd happily recommend skipping this one.
'A Call to Arms' isn't too bad. It's set early in Manticore's history when an early Solarian plot is launched to conquer the kingdom. It probably gets simple pass for having some naval combat and politics in the story.
So as you can see some highs and some lows. Read at your own discretion.
peregrineace's review against another edition
3.0
Stories were good, even interesting but nothing that truly stood out. The best of the stories was Weber's second entry, about a young Honor Harrington and everyone's favorite treecat, with some strong overtones of the fortuitous meeting of their ancestors Stephanie Harrington and Climbs Quickly. Charles Gannon's opening story "By the Book" was remarkably well matched in tone to most of Weber's work and had some good backstory on the early diaspora period. Zahn's "A Call to Arms" was the most readable of the five stories in this collection and filled in a perspective that the early Honorverse books talked about but didn't show in any detail. Weber's first entry "Beauty and the Beast" was the most disappointing. While Weber gave some good insight into Honor's father, Alfred, and her Uncle Jacques, that same insight was entirely lacking for her mother, Alison, by far the most interesting of the Harrington clan to me. It also featured an insta-love story and I despise that trope, even with the not-subtle almost-telepathy angle, which was more plot device than good storytelling. Joelle Presby's "Obligated Service" had potential but was confusing for the varying degrees of not-well-described backwater thinking in all her characters, who didn't even all conform to the same legal system or seem to have any clue that this was the case.
Recommended for Honor Harrington fans as fun but not necessary for the larger series. Not the place to start with the expansive Honorverse; if you're curious, On Basilisk Station is your best bet.
Recommended for Honor Harrington fans as fun but not necessary for the larger series. Not the place to start with the expansive Honorverse; if you're curious, On Basilisk Station is your best bet.
bethmitcham's review against another edition
4.0
Does what it says on the tin. The first story is super political, with lots of resonances with the anti-science, anti-protest Trump administration, although from the date (2013) and the names of the bad guys (Greens) that clearly not what it's aimed at. Once we get away from Sol the fun gets going.
leons1701's review against another edition
3.0
Certainly not the best of the Honorverse short story compilations, but not quite as weak as the first either. Certainly nothing in here to compare with "From the Highlands", though I suppose that's an unfairly high bar to set.
betsychadwell's review against another edition
4.0
I only read three of these five stories. I generally don't care much for short stories, but I make an exception for anything about Honor Harrington or her family, or which affects the storyline of the Honorverse series.
The three that I read (the three longer ones) were good. Two by Weber himself and one by Timothy Zahn. Well written, gripping action, effective characterization. Even a love story.
The three that I read (the three longer ones) were good. Two by Weber himself and one by Timothy Zahn. Well written, gripping action, effective characterization. Even a love story.
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