The service of the sword

by David Weber

Paper Book, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

813/.0876608

Publication

Riverdale, N.Y. : New York : Baen ; Distributed by Simon & Schuster, c2003.

Description

Readers and listeners can't get enough of Honor Harrington and her world, and here David Weber is again, accompanied by some of the top science-fiction writers in the field--including John Ringo, Eric Flint, and Timothy Zahn--with adventures of the best starship commander in the galaxy, and explorations of previously uncharted corners of her universe. It's a party--and you're invited

User reviews

LibraryThing member PonderousMan
An excellent collection of stories from different authors, including Timothy Zahn, Eric Flint, John Ringo, and Weber himself.
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Had to reread this after reading Shadow of Saganami, because there were so many references to Abigail Hearns' adventures. This book had the fewest stories that I really enjoyed of all the anthologies. I found Promised Land interesting - especially after meeting Ruth in Crown of Slaves; Fanatic is
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good - but why he couldn't have admitted what he was up to, long before Usher showed up... With One Stone is confusing, an excellent bad example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was up to, and oddly unmemorable. I forget its existence every time until I read it again. The same can't be said for A Ship Named Francis or Let's Go to Prague - I remember them well enough that I mostly don't reread them (only every 2-3 readings). They're both quite unpleasant and they end up with the characters pretty much where they were to start with (unlike Abigail's story, which is frequently unpleasant but ends up with her showing real growth and those around her responding to that). YMMV, but I'd just as soon skip those two. Overall, decent.
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LibraryThing member Jean_Sexton
This anthology, set in David Weber's Honorverse includes: "Promised Land" by Jane Lindskold, "With One Stone" by Timothy Zahn, "A Ship Named Francis" by John Ringo and Victor Mitchell, "Let's Go to Prague" by John Ringo, "Fanatic" by Eric Flint, and "The Service of the Sword" by David Weber. While
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a bit uneven in story quality, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Promised Land really felt like it belonged in the series. The true heroine of the story to me was Judith who had been captured by Masadan privateers when just a girl. She and a secret organization of Masadan women who didn't believe they were really property rebelled. And in youn Prince Michael Winton, on his first cruise as a midshipman and this is a cracking good story that had me reading as fast as I could.

With One Stone was a nice little mystery about a soon-to-be Havenite secret weapon which is being sold by what could be kindly characterized as a snake-oil salesman. Enter Honor Harrington and the Havenite plans start going awry.

A Ship Named Francis was amusing. What do you do with the people who are too important to flunk out of the Grayson Navy, but too incompetent to stay? Why assign them to the Francis Mueller, of course. Add in a competent Manticorian corpsman who just wants to get a bit ahead by transferring to the Grayson Navy and ... Well, you'll need to read the story.

Let's Go to Prague was sort of amusing, but not really my cup of tea. Think James Bond, but with some bumbling.

Fanatic I thoroughly enjoyed. What happens when a fanatical but honorable man is assigned to the Havenite StateSec and is given the duty to get to the bottom of a murder? It was a fascinating character study.

The Service of the Sword returns to the intersection of Grayson and Manticorian cultures. A young Grayson woman is breaking the mold for women in her society. Who would have thought a gently born Grayson woman would want to join the Navy? Abigail Hearns, the daughter of a Grayson Steadholder has succeeded in the academy and is now on her midshipwoman cruise. It should be a fairly routine cruise and it is until things go dreadfully wrong and a young woman faces the test of leadership.

For fans of the Honor Harrington series, this is a meaty anthology with something for everyone. I highly recommend it.
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Language

Original publication date

2003-04 (collection)

Physical description

688 p.; 25 inches

ISBN

0743435990 / 9780743435994
Page: 0.3762 seconds