Honor Among Enemies

Mutiny for Lt. Commander Colin MacIntyre, it began as a routine training flight over the Moon. For Dahak, a self-aware Imperial battleship, it began millennia ago when that powerful artificial intelligence underwent a mutiny in the face of the enemy. The mutiny was never resolved—Dahak was forced to maroon not just the mutineers but the entire crew on prehistoric Earth.

Dahak has been helplessly waiting as the descendants of the loyal crew regressed while the mutineers maintained control of technology that kept them alive as the millennia passed. But now Dahak’s sensors indicate that the enemy that devastated the Imperium so long ago has returned—and Earth is in their path. For the sake of the planet, Dahak must mobilize its defenses. And that it cannot do until the mutineers are put down. So Dahak has picked Colin MacIntyre to be its new captain. Now MacIntyre must mobilize humanity to destroy the mutineers once and for all—or Earth will become a cinder in the path of galactic conquest.

 Colin MacIntyre had an orderly but exciting life as a NASA astronaut. But then he is kidnapped by an ancient, self-aware starship; drafted as its captain to suppress a 5,000-year-old mutiny; and forced to declare himself Governor of Earth in order to mobilize the planet against alien attack. And that’s the easy part Original.

The war with the Republic of Haven has resumed … disastrously for the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Admiral Lady Dame Honor Harrington, Steadholder and Duchess Harrington, the single victorious Allied commander of the opening phase of the new war, has been recalled from the Sidemore System to command Eighth Fleet. Everyone knows Eighth Fleet is the Alliance’s primary offensive command, which makes it the natural assignment for the woman the media calls “the Salamander.” But what most of the public DOESN’T know is that not only are the Star Kingdom and its Allies badly outnumbered by the Republic’s new fleet, but that the odds are going to get steadily worse. Eighth Fleet’s job is to somehow prevent those odds from crushing the Alliance before the Star Kingdom can regain its strategic balance. It’s a job which won’t be done cheaply. Honor Harrington must meet her formidable responsibilities with inferior forces even as she copes with tumultuous changes in her personal and public life. The alternative to victory is total defeat, yet this time the COST of victory will be agonizingly high.

 As guilty pleasures go, the sequel to The Armageddon Inheritance probably isn’t the equal of a cholesterol-laden hot fudge sundae?but it’s close. In this installment, Humanity’s Emperor Colin has to deal with subjects who want to overthrow him and a superbomb so powerful it makes an atomic weapon look like just another Fourth of July sparkler. Meanwhile, the heirs to the throne are marooned on a distant planet, where, in addition to worrying about how to get home, they somehow have to remedy a religious conflict they’ve managed to set off. Weber combines science fiction, fantasy and a sly sense of humor into a novel that may be a tad silly but is definitely a whole lot of fun.

“Bolos. For a millennium and a half, they have been humanity’s warriors. They have fought Man’s battles, died in Man’s wars, battled to save Man’s children, even from his own kind. They have guarded Man’s worlds … and avenged Man’s defeats.” “Tireless, infinitely patient, infinitely deadly, Bolos are the most fearsome fighting machines ever developed. The most lethal artificial intelligences in history. Yet they are more than that. They are not merely the weapons of their Human commanders, but their comrades. Brothers and sisters in arms, who all too often die together.” But Bolos and their commanders do not die easily. Mankind’s enemies have learned the price of a Bolo’s death. And if Bolos and their commanders do not always die in victory, this much has always been true. They do not surrender. And they never-ever-quit.

Lady Dame Honor Harrington—starship captain, admiral, Steadholder, and Duchess—has spent decades defending the Star Kingdom of Manticore against all comers. Along the way, she has become the legend known as "the Salamander" from her habit of always being where the fire is hottest . . . and also a national bestseller (: #7, ).

But it’s a big universe, and Honor’s actions affect a lot of lives, not all of them human. And actions affect —a lesson learns years before rising to command rank when a desperate battle against "pirates" who aren’t quite what they seem begins her brilliant career.

Closer to home, in a secret that the alien treecats have kept from their human friends for hundreds of years is about to come out . . . and completely change the relationship between the two species forever.

Meanwhile, weighs in with Honor can’t be everywhere, so when the People’s Republic of Haven tries to stage a political assassination on Earth, Anton Zilwicki—husband of one of the Star Kingdom’s most revered military martyrs, and father of a young woman who is clearly a chip off the old block—steps into the breach . . . and takes the opportunity to settle some old scores along the way.

And finally, Esther McQueen and Oscar Saint-Just square off for their final confrontation in Noveau Paris in

REPORTS OF MY DEATH HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED . . .

The People’s Republic of Haven made a tiny mistake when it announced the execution of Honor Harrington. It seemed safe enough. After all, they knew she was already dead.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. Now Honor has escaped from the prison planet called Hell and returned to the Manticoran Alliance with a few friends. Almost half a million of them, to be precise . . . including some who know what really happened when the Committee of Public Safety seized power in the PRH.

Honor’s return from the dead comes at a critical time, providing a huge, much-needed lift for the Allies’ morale, for the war is rapidly entering a decisive phase. Both sides believe that victory lies within their grasp at last, but dangers no one could foresee await them both.

New weapons, new strategies, new tactics, spies, diplomacy, and assassination. . . . All are coming into deadly focus, and Honor Harrington, the woman the newsies call “the Salamander,” once more finds herself at the heart of them all.

But this time, the furnace may be too furious for even a salamander to survive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Undeniably the science fiction phenomenon of the decade, David Weber is often compared to C.S. Forester (the celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower) and is the recipient of critical praise worthy of Heinlein or Asimov. His hordes of voracious fans clamor for more and more Weber. Fortunately for them, Weber keeps steadily producing book after book with first printings that sell out almost immediately, then go back into printing after printing after printing.

His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God’s Own) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, The Armageddon Inheritance) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the celebrated and awesomely popular Honor Harrington series, Ashes of Victory being the latest installment).

Reviewers call Weber

“highly entertaining,” (Booklist). “

“outstanding . . . superb . . . excellent” (Wilson Library Bulletin),

“remarkable” (Kliatt), “the best” (Dragon),

“worth shouting about” (Philadelphia Weekly Press),

“great” (Locus),

“the best writer around today” (FosFax).

Readers call Weber similar things, but mostly they call the Baen offices several times a week demanding more from their main man. Weber lives in Greenville, SC and, in spite of having gotten married last year, shows no sign of slowing down. . . .