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Honorverse
House of Steel: the Honorverse Companion
An all‑new David Weber Honorverse short novel, I Will Build My House of Steel, chronicling the early days of the Manticoran Star Kingdom and the reign of King Roger.
Have you ever finished the latest Honor Harrington novel from David Weber and wished you could linger in Weber’s Honorverse just a bit longer? Now you can with this treasure trove of tech, specs, and insights on David Weber’s mega best‑selling Honor Harrington series. Orbital characteristic of key planets, regimental order of the Royal Navy, backstory on the history and drama of the Star Kingdom’s birth and early days—you’ll find it all here, thoughtfully arranged by the Bureau 9 Weber research group, and overseen by David Weber himself.
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Have you ever finished the latest Honor Harrington novel from David Weber and wished you could linger in Weber’s Honorverse just a bit longer? Now you can with this treasure trove of tech, specs, and insights on David Weber’s mega best‑selling Honor Harrington series. Orbital characteristic of key planets, regimental order of the Royal Navy, backstory on the history and drama of the Star Kingdom’s birth and early days—you’ll find it all here, thoughtfully arranged by the Bureau 9 Weber research group, and overseen by David Weber himself.
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
478 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 15, 2013
157 people are currently reading
666 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
322 books4,549 followersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
October 6, 2023
Excellent reference book for the series and a great setup story for the 1st book in the Honor Harrington series. Very recommended
November 25, 2015
Okay I will admit I read this in entirely the wrong order so I guess this is a rather unfair review. However in my defence I have read companions to books which have actually opened up a book series/world and driven me to wanting to read more. Well in the case of this companion it utterly swamped me.
I guess I should start from the beginning, I have know of the Honor Harrington series and the universe it has around it - I didnt realise how detailed it was or how much time and effort various people have put in to it (that was my first mistake) as a result it is a rich and truly massive environment (which gives the books in the series and spin off series plenty of material) but which means there is a lot of technical information contained here that i neither understand or can relate to.
I guess my next big mistake is that there is a definite timeline - so even reading the events (and the special novella contained in this book) I quickly realised that is a lot of events and action taking place that I am missing because of course there is limited space in this companion, so I feel that I am watching the events unfold from a rapidly moving vehicle - only getting glimpses and those glimpses can be so easily over looked and missed. Yes my second mistake.
And I suppose my final one is that I am not reading the work of David Weber - dont get me wrong he has a major part to play in this book, he also wrote the books that form the Honor Harrington universe BUT he has a lot of help in the way of the BuNine a loose collective of fans and experts who have helped devise and flesh out this universe. I totally appreciate that something as detailed as this needs help (or a lifetime of dedicated work) but still you can detect the voice of others in some of the articles here and for me I felt like i was missing the work of Weber himself. So yes my third mistake
That said I have realised that there is a wealth of stories to discover and explore and that even though we appear to be covering the very lowly characters right to the very highest they are all equally and realistically portrayed and that I think is an achievement which goes so way to explaining the accolades and praise David Weber has collected. But most important of all - I will have to revisit this book at some future time.
I guess I should start from the beginning, I have know of the Honor Harrington series and the universe it has around it - I didnt realise how detailed it was or how much time and effort various people have put in to it (that was my first mistake) as a result it is a rich and truly massive environment (which gives the books in the series and spin off series plenty of material) but which means there is a lot of technical information contained here that i neither understand or can relate to.
I guess my next big mistake is that there is a definite timeline - so even reading the events (and the special novella contained in this book) I quickly realised that is a lot of events and action taking place that I am missing because of course there is limited space in this companion, so I feel that I am watching the events unfold from a rapidly moving vehicle - only getting glimpses and those glimpses can be so easily over looked and missed. Yes my second mistake.
And I suppose my final one is that I am not reading the work of David Weber - dont get me wrong he has a major part to play in this book, he also wrote the books that form the Honor Harrington universe BUT he has a lot of help in the way of the BuNine a loose collective of fans and experts who have helped devise and flesh out this universe. I totally appreciate that something as detailed as this needs help (or a lifetime of dedicated work) but still you can detect the voice of others in some of the articles here and for me I felt like i was missing the work of Weber himself. So yes my third mistake
That said I have realised that there is a wealth of stories to discover and explore and that even though we appear to be covering the very lowly characters right to the very highest they are all equally and realistically portrayed and that I think is an achievement which goes so way to explaining the accolades and praise David Weber has collected. But most important of all - I will have to revisit this book at some future time.
June 19, 2013
An Honorverse Companion revolving around the Honor Harrington military science fiction series.
My Take
It's gotta have a "5" if only for the amount of work the BuNine have put into this. House of Steel provides a tremendous amount of back history on how the People's Republic of Haven descended into the mess its in while the majority of the book is a history, a look at cultural development, wars, and an analysis of the different parts of space of Manticoran and Grayson governments (the Manticoran is in much more depth) and a detailed look at the evolution of the Manticoran Navy, Army, and Marines, and the ships with a less detailed look at the Grayson Navy's ship designs. There's a look at important people in the series---Manticoran and Grayson---and discusses the weapons. There are some briefer looks at other planetary systems and how they tie in with Manticore.
Weber provides a look at nonhuman sentient species including a terrific back history on the treecats from the earliest Manticoran discovery of them and their adoption of the Wintons through history including how they're treated, their protections, and their emigration.
He also provides a great deal more information about King Roger's grav-ski accident and the investigation's results. And I cried...
It's so frustrating to read of Roger's struggle to build up the Navy, especially when I know what's coming! And I'm just dying to re-read the series. It's been too long since I read the start of the series; I'm just gonna hafta pick up the prequel, Worlds of Weber: Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington , and start again.
Of course, I adored the story, although Roger's ending did make me cry and I did prefer the history and political bits---the huge chunk about the ships was tedious. I found myself wishing I had each book in the series by my side where I could try and pinpoint when each ship occurred in the stories and what actions they took part in, for a better sense of connection.
Between the short story and the histories and analyses is a section of color plates displaying flags, uniforms, military awards, insignia, crests, badges and pins, and starships.
Writers should consider reading the Afterword as it analyzes what went into building this world of navies and all the concerns which Weber had to take into account. The FAQs section is more of a tease; I do suggest reading About BuNine at the end where it introduces the people behind this creation of history and all. It's an interesting introduction and funny.
The Story
There is a short story at the start about the Royal Manticore Navy's build-up from Queen Samantha's encouragement of Crown Prince Roger, his courtship of Angelique and her brother's involvement in R&D, and his relationship with his children on through to his death.
There's a nice bit in here about Elizabeth's courtship with Justin Zyrr, a chem grad.
The Characters and Rest of the Story
We start in 1844 PD with Lieutenant Roger Winton; Monroe is his treecat. Sir Frederick Truman is First Space Lord and against the buildup of the Navy while Sir Abner Laidlaw, Baron of Castle Rock, is the First Lord of Admiralty and agrees with the Queen. Edward Janacek appears in this time as well, so we view his progress through the Navy and government. Sir William Spruance is Rear Admiral of the Green, Fifth Space Lord, and the head of the Bureau of Personnel. As the years go by, Murdoch Alexander, the twelfth Earl of White Haven, becomes First Space Lord---his son is Hamish Alexander, a Lieutenant Commander at this point, and we learn of his feud with Janacek (his anti-R&D stance comes up and I'm just dying to re-read his encounter with Honor about weapons improvement); Lieutenant Commander Sonja Hemphill comes onto the scene, and we learn of her, um, personality in the early days; and, Sir Thomas Caparelli.
Queen Samantha II is Roger's mother; Magnus is her treecat. Caitrin, Roger's sister, is twelve years younger than him; she marries Edward Henke, the Earl of Gold Peak. Naturally, Michelle Henke receives a mention.
Commander Jonas Adcock is in charge of Admiral Dame Carrie Lomax's secret R&D division at BuWeaps; his gift is in seeing connections and possibilities. It's impressive how accepting he is of how Roger has to treat him. It's also where the government plants Commander Winton when they can no longer tolerate his being aboard combat ships. Sebastian D'Orville is also in their R&D group. Angelique Adcock is Jonas' sister who bedazzles young Roger. She lives on Gryphon and works as a silviculturalist, a forestry expert.
Sir Casper O'Grady, the Earl of Mortenson, is the current Prime Minister, anxious for Roger to leave the Navy. Godfrey Bannister is the senior social columnist for the Landing Times who saddles Angelique with the title that becomes a barrier to Angelique saying yes.
When Roger ascends the throne, Allen Summervale, Duke of Cromarty, is the new Prime Minister. Elizabeth (Ariel, her treecat, adopts her when Elizabeth is 15) and Michael are born.
Lady Emily Alexander's accident is mentioned. Padraic Dover is a major in Palace Security. We also learn of others who are involved in Roger's assassination.
Peeps mentioned include:
Citizen Commissioner Sandra Connors shows up at DuQuesne Base with Citizen Admiral Alec Dimitri when White Haven takes it out. Thomas Theisman and Denis LePic are mentioned.
The Cover
The cover is a collage of bits and pieces from House of Steel with a proud King Roger and his treecat, Monroe; Honor Harrington in beret; skinsuited men with a treecat; and, a variety of ships.
The title is the House of Winton---it is indeed a House of Steel.
My Take
It's gotta have a "5" if only for the amount of work the BuNine have put into this. House of Steel provides a tremendous amount of back history on how the People's Republic of Haven descended into the mess its in while the majority of the book is a history, a look at cultural development, wars, and an analysis of the different parts of space of Manticoran and Grayson governments (the Manticoran is in much more depth) and a detailed look at the evolution of the Manticoran Navy, Army, and Marines, and the ships with a less detailed look at the Grayson Navy's ship designs. There's a look at important people in the series---Manticoran and Grayson---and discusses the weapons. There are some briefer looks at other planetary systems and how they tie in with Manticore.
Weber provides a look at nonhuman sentient species including a terrific back history on the treecats from the earliest Manticoran discovery of them and their adoption of the Wintons through history including how they're treated, their protections, and their emigration.
He also provides a great deal more information about King Roger's grav-ski accident and the investigation's results. And I cried...
It's so frustrating to read of Roger's struggle to build up the Navy, especially when I know what's coming! And I'm just dying to re-read the series. It's been too long since I read the start of the series; I'm just gonna hafta pick up the prequel, Worlds of Weber: Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington , and start again.
Of course, I adored the story, although Roger's ending did make me cry and I did prefer the history and political bits---the huge chunk about the ships was tedious. I found myself wishing I had each book in the series by my side where I could try and pinpoint when each ship occurred in the stories and what actions they took part in, for a better sense of connection.
Between the short story and the histories and analyses is a section of color plates displaying flags, uniforms, military awards, insignia, crests, badges and pins, and starships.
Writers should consider reading the Afterword as it analyzes what went into building this world of navies and all the concerns which Weber had to take into account. The FAQs section is more of a tease; I do suggest reading About BuNine at the end where it introduces the people behind this creation of history and all. It's an interesting introduction and funny.
The Story
There is a short story at the start about the Royal Manticore Navy's build-up from Queen Samantha's encouragement of Crown Prince Roger, his courtship of Angelique and her brother's involvement in R&D, and his relationship with his children on through to his death.
There's a nice bit in here about Elizabeth's courtship with Justin Zyrr, a chem grad.
The Characters and Rest of the Story
We start in 1844 PD with Lieutenant Roger Winton; Monroe is his treecat. Sir Frederick Truman is First Space Lord and against the buildup of the Navy while Sir Abner Laidlaw, Baron of Castle Rock, is the First Lord of Admiralty and agrees with the Queen. Edward Janacek appears in this time as well, so we view his progress through the Navy and government. Sir William Spruance is Rear Admiral of the Green, Fifth Space Lord, and the head of the Bureau of Personnel. As the years go by, Murdoch Alexander, the twelfth Earl of White Haven, becomes First Space Lord---his son is Hamish Alexander, a Lieutenant Commander at this point, and we learn of his feud with Janacek (his anti-R&D stance comes up and I'm just dying to re-read his encounter with Honor about weapons improvement); Lieutenant Commander Sonja Hemphill comes onto the scene, and we learn of her, um, personality in the early days; and, Sir Thomas Caparelli.
Queen Samantha II is Roger's mother; Magnus is her treecat. Caitrin, Roger's sister, is twelve years younger than him; she marries Edward Henke, the Earl of Gold Peak. Naturally, Michelle Henke receives a mention.
Commander Jonas Adcock is in charge of Admiral Dame Carrie Lomax's secret R&D division at BuWeaps; his gift is in seeing connections and possibilities. It's impressive how accepting he is of how Roger has to treat him. It's also where the government plants Commander Winton when they can no longer tolerate his being aboard combat ships. Sebastian D'Orville is also in their R&D group. Angelique Adcock is Jonas' sister who bedazzles young Roger. She lives on Gryphon and works as a silviculturalist, a forestry expert.
Sir Casper O'Grady, the Earl of Mortenson, is the current Prime Minister, anxious for Roger to leave the Navy. Godfrey Bannister is the senior social columnist for the Landing Times who saddles Angelique with the title that becomes a barrier to Angelique saying yes.
When Roger ascends the throne, Allen Summervale, Duke of Cromarty, is the new Prime Minister. Elizabeth (Ariel, her treecat, adopts her when Elizabeth is 15) and Michael are born.
Lady Emily Alexander's accident is mentioned. Padraic Dover is a major in Palace Security. We also learn of others who are involved in Roger's assassination.
Peeps mentioned include:
Citizen Commissioner Sandra Connors shows up at DuQuesne Base with Citizen Admiral Alec Dimitri when White Haven takes it out. Thomas Theisman and Denis LePic are mentioned.
The Cover
The cover is a collage of bits and pieces from House of Steel with a proud King Roger and his treecat, Monroe; Honor Harrington in beret; skinsuited men with a treecat; and, a variety of ships.
The title is the House of Winton---it is indeed a House of Steel.
June 11, 2017
This is for hardcore fans only. You know who you are and I probably shouldn't have to recommend this to you. The rest of you should go check out other stuff I've reviewed or maybe go try On Basilisk Station if you never have.
The novella included in here is a bit odd by Weber standards, it's more a series of illustrative incidents spread over decades than a straight narrative and it contains virtually no infodumps (since of course the other several hundred pages are nothing but, I guess he didn't feel the need). It's an interesting story, though the ending scene is a bit bittersweet to fans, who know all too well what comes next.
The story of King Rodger's build up of the RMN is moderately interesting, in part because it shows the groundwork laid out for their later technical superiority. One bit of minor interest, apparently the laser head is a much more recent development than I (and probably most other fans) had assumed.
The bulk of the book is is essentially a pretty good overview of the structure and history of Manticore, the RMN and Greyson and the GSN. I admit to expecting either more detail or more coverage of other nations (especially Haven) but it strikes a pretty good balance and even if little of the information is actually new, it's nice to have it collected in one place.
The novella included in here is a bit odd by Weber standards, it's more a series of illustrative incidents spread over decades than a straight narrative and it contains virtually no infodumps (since of course the other several hundred pages are nothing but, I guess he didn't feel the need). It's an interesting story, though the ending scene is a bit bittersweet to fans, who know all too well what comes next.
The story of King Rodger's build up of the RMN is moderately interesting, in part because it shows the groundwork laid out for their later technical superiority. One bit of minor interest, apparently the laser head is a much more recent development than I (and probably most other fans) had assumed.
The bulk of the book is is essentially a pretty good overview of the structure and history of Manticore, the RMN and Greyson and the GSN. I admit to expecting either more detail or more coverage of other nations (especially Haven) but it strikes a pretty good balance and even if little of the information is actually new, it's nice to have it collected in one place.
May 31, 2013
This book is a companion book to the Honorverse series. It has a treasure trove of facts about the Star Kingdom of Manticore, including the history of the Star Kingdom, descriptions of key planets, details of technology, illustrations and much more.
It also has the Novella "I Will Build My House Of Steel" which tells the tale of King Rodger III and how his daughter Queen Elizabeth III came into power at such an early age and the reason for her hatred of the People's Republic of Haven. A good read and a must have for true Honorverse fans.
It also has the Novella "I Will Build My House Of Steel" which tells the tale of King Rodger III and how his daughter Queen Elizabeth III came into power at such an early age and the reason for her hatred of the People's Republic of Haven. A good read and a must have for true Honorverse fans.
September 24, 2017
This is one of those challenging reviews to write. House of Steel is a mash-up of a couple different ideas, which means assessing it as a whole is more difficult than one might initially assume.
This book consists essentially of three sections: a narrative story, an encyclopedia and an essay. One is okay, the other is rather dull and the last is exceptional.
The House of Steel is a short story by David Weber profiling the career of King Roger III as a young naval officer and king as he pushes the Star Kingdom of Manticore into a major naval modernization program and build-up. Much of the breakthrough technology that defines the Manitoran ascendancy has its roots to this time period. To a certain extent it is interesting to see how the theory or initial concepts evolved into war-winning technology and tactics. The story also gives a more personal glimpse into the life of Elizabeth Winton, the current monarch in the story. It's a fine story, and more accurately puts a human face on a piece of Manticoran history that we already know.
The second encyclopedia section is just a massive information dump. The geographies, histories, militaries and personalities of the Star Kingdom/Empire of Manticore and the Protectorate of Grayson are all laid out. Some of it is interesting, such as the histories. It will, if nothing else, provide a handy reference tool for fans curious about particular questions that would otherwise be difficult to find answers to. Still, the statistics about fictional spaceships only goes so far, though the history of their development and relevance is nominally interesting.
Finally, the best part of the book and the entire reason I bought it was the essay 'Building a Navy in the Honorverse'. While the title suggests a focus on the Honorverse it really is a fantastic guide to thinking about and conceiving of 'realistic' space navies in science fiction. The author lays out how real world navies make decisions about fleet missions, size, composition, and operations. If I ever start another military science fiction story I will be re-reading that essay. It might be enough to recommend the book on its own for the right price.
This book consists essentially of three sections: a narrative story, an encyclopedia and an essay. One is okay, the other is rather dull and the last is exceptional.
The House of Steel is a short story by David Weber profiling the career of King Roger III as a young naval officer and king as he pushes the Star Kingdom of Manticore into a major naval modernization program and build-up. Much of the breakthrough technology that defines the Manitoran ascendancy has its roots to this time period. To a certain extent it is interesting to see how the theory or initial concepts evolved into war-winning technology and tactics. The story also gives a more personal glimpse into the life of Elizabeth Winton, the current monarch in the story. It's a fine story, and more accurately puts a human face on a piece of Manticoran history that we already know.
The second encyclopedia section is just a massive information dump. The geographies, histories, militaries and personalities of the Star Kingdom/Empire of Manticore and the Protectorate of Grayson are all laid out. Some of it is interesting, such as the histories. It will, if nothing else, provide a handy reference tool for fans curious about particular questions that would otherwise be difficult to find answers to. Still, the statistics about fictional spaceships only goes so far, though the history of their development and relevance is nominally interesting.
Finally, the best part of the book and the entire reason I bought it was the essay 'Building a Navy in the Honorverse'. While the title suggests a focus on the Honorverse it really is a fantastic guide to thinking about and conceiving of 'realistic' space navies in science fiction. The author lays out how real world navies make decisions about fleet missions, size, composition, and operations. If I ever start another military science fiction story I will be re-reading that essay. It might be enough to recommend the book on its own for the right price.
April 13, 2024
Thank you BuNine and David Weber!
I had misplaced this Honor verse book on my Kindle, and found it while updating my Categories on my Kindle, after finishing Toll o Honor.
Wow! First, what an incredible job of writing for the Winton (sp)? storyline! I appreciated immensely the backgrounds and alternative viewpoints of On Basilisk Station. I like that it gives the point of view from the impacted secondary and tertiary members, as well as insight to Empress Elizabeth's family backstory.
I am blown away by the sheer depth of information shared regarding so many details of the military, as well as people.
Finally, BuNine. Getting to learn about you, the roles you play in helping David Weber make the Honorverse such a fully developed and enjoyable read...Thank You! It was so nice to "meet you"!
I am a non technical, non military person, who just enjoys engaging characters and storylines. I may skip over some of that well crafted military details, but yet I appreciate that it gives these stories more reality than most.
I've never written a review on any of David's works before, and I've read them all in and out of the Honorverse. But this one felt like it tried to encapsulate, or touch on and explain so much, and it was done so very well, I just had to say Thank You to all of you.
I had misplaced this Honor verse book on my Kindle, and found it while updating my Categories on my Kindle, after finishing Toll o Honor.
Wow! First, what an incredible job of writing for the Winton (sp)? storyline! I appreciated immensely the backgrounds and alternative viewpoints of On Basilisk Station. I like that it gives the point of view from the impacted secondary and tertiary members, as well as insight to Empress Elizabeth's family backstory.
I am blown away by the sheer depth of information shared regarding so many details of the military, as well as people.
Finally, BuNine. Getting to learn about you, the roles you play in helping David Weber make the Honorverse such a fully developed and enjoyable read...Thank You! It was so nice to "meet you"!
I am a non technical, non military person, who just enjoys engaging characters and storylines. I may skip over some of that well crafted military details, but yet I appreciate that it gives these stories more reality than most.
I've never written a review on any of David's works before, and I've read them all in and out of the Honorverse. But this one felt like it tried to encapsulate, or touch on and explain so much, and it was done so very well, I just had to say Thank You to all of you.
October 16, 2017
The short story at the start of this book, I Will Build My House of Steel, focuses on Roger Winton's reign and the results of his actions after Elizabeth took the throne. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it finally gave background to the royal family of Manticore, and explained some of the hints to Elizabeth's background that appear in the main series books. It wasn't a long piece of work by any means, but it seemed to cover every major moment that I could think I wanted while giving an overview of the Star Kingdom's most recent history. Given that the last couple of pages of it spoil Ashes of Victory quite heavily I wouldn't recommend reading it before that book, but on re-reads of the series I might slip House of Steel in at the very beginning minus those last segments to properly set up the People's Republic of Haven versus The Star Kingdom of Manticore stage.
As for the technical manual like aspects of the rest of the book... I actually found myself thoroughly intrigued by the details and the snippets of history that the various ships contained, and wishing for a Peep version of it as well. They're not a necessary read unless you enjoy thinking about the ships and the evolution of those ships in the Honorverse realm, but I did like it.
As for the technical manual like aspects of the rest of the book... I actually found myself thoroughly intrigued by the details and the snippets of history that the various ships contained, and wishing for a Peep version of it as well. They're not a necessary read unless you enjoy thinking about the ships and the evolution of those ships in the Honorverse realm, but I did like it.
May 16, 2019
This is actually two books in one. It begins with a few short stories that further flesh out things that happened far before On Basilisk Station even to giving the "full story" of the foundation of both the Star Kingdom of Manticore as well as Grayson. The rest is a geek's paradise of weapons, ships & overall military structures of all the major players.
Thankfully no giant spoilers so long as you're up to the last book... Otherwise i suggest you enjoy it AFTER reading the full series!
Thankfully no giant spoilers so long as you're up to the last book... Otherwise i suggest you enjoy it AFTER reading the full series!
August 27, 2022
The best part of this entry into Honorverse was the included novella. It laid out the history of how and who were responsible for Manticore establishing their technological advantages over the Peeps. The back half the book gives a ton of technological details, a who's who of Honorverse and a great overview of Manticore and Grayson's histories. It's dry reading, but a must have canon primer for those who lover deep world building.
February 15, 2023
House of Steel
Wow! Beautifully created and wonderfully written backstory(s) for this engaging and thoroughly brilliant series. Gives us some history that had been tantalising readers since the story began. And it like the rest of the series has been creative and engaging throughout the years!
Buy it you will not regret it. Something you can read over and over!
Thank you!
Wow! Beautifully created and wonderfully written backstory(s) for this engaging and thoroughly brilliant series. Gives us some history that had been tantalising readers since the story began. And it like the rest of the series has been creative and engaging throughout the years!
Buy it you will not regret it. Something you can read over and over!
Thank you!
September 11, 2021
Definitely one for the fans only, but well worth reading if you are one. The main novella is worth the price of admission alone. The history sections and the ship listings are naturally somewhat dryer, but the interview at the end is a good conclusion.
An updated edition would be great, as there have been further developments in the Honorverse since this was written.
An updated edition would be great, as there have been further developments in the Honorverse since this was written.
December 25, 2018
Excellent companion
Well written prelude and a well crafted companion reference. Though we have seen the sketches in various books, this compendium is a handy reference as you go through out the Honor verse.
Well written prelude and a well crafted companion reference. Though we have seen the sketches in various books, this compendium is a handy reference as you go through out the Honor verse.
July 17, 2017
An excellent story and reference guide to the Honorverse.
August 25, 2024
An interesting Honorverse story and then a whole lot of background on the politics, political systems, and armed forces in the Haven Sector. Working my way through the backlog of my To-Read-Pile.
June 24, 2023
Lots of infodump style technical info. The story at the beginning was fairly decent but did have too much political maneuvering for my taste.
July 17, 2018
One short story and the rest is a reference book of all things in the Honorverse: navies, ships, characters, etc. I might have read this before but in any case it took me a while to plow my way through this and it certainly it wasn't riveting. Nevertheless, I still read on...
May 24, 2013
I liked most of the book, even though most of it outside of the mini-novel around King Roger III was only a short summary of things that had more or less been told already in some of the 20-ish novels and 5 Anthologies already published... or on 5th Empire and similar pages on the internet.
Also it's a bit disappointing that they would cut apart the companion into three separate books for Manticore/Grayson (this one), Haven and probably the rest of it?
And of course for the publication date May 2013 it's quite annoying that all the stuff put inside this book is on the level of just a few months before the end of "At All Costs" which appeared in 2005, so the most important developments of the last few novels have never been integrated and there were some major developments. For a book that calls itself a companion to the series that is a ridiculous high backlog, especially when it lauds itself on the important work those guys at "BuNine" can do around the Honor Harrington series.
Otherwise it's pretty satisfactory if you have not read much besides the books alone. Even the background infos in one or two of the anthologies provide already much of what is printed here, but i think it never has been truly collected in such a way before. The design/layout is mostly nice, the colortables with uniforms and medalbands were pretty to look at but are a hell to use even with the included examples on the uniforms they depict themselves. And i have not tried the cover image with King Roger's medals yet. A small list for the five medal wearers would have been nice.
Also i find the ship description part a lot lacking. For one it's pretty chaotic, some classes get only short paragraphs, especially with the GSN where many classes and their ships were either captured from Haven or donated/sold from Manticore... others had more than a full page and that means that often articles go around a page change and on the opposite page so you have to turn back and forth quite a lot if you want to check back what the article mentions about weapon load outs and such. A little bit more standardisation, maybe two pages with a larger table space and standardized picture, text and shiplists would have been nice.
Which brings me to the next thing i can't understand: there are not many examples for ships belonging to the classes described, a feature which i would certainly have liked. Maybe no complete list, so Weber can pull some names out of his chair whenever he likes, but would it have hurt to mention some more ships already known that took part in major campaigns or battles?
And of course there is not a single mention of the Honor's list with the all important ship names that the RMN will never allow to fall out of service. It should have been mandatory to include THAT baby here, at least as far as it was already mentioned! I think they didn't even mention the still active "flagship" Honor commands as a post of ... honor, HMS Unconquered other than in her first two roles as command of Edward Saganami and Ellen D'Orville. I'd call that a sin of omission for a complementary guide work for such a series that assumes to "explain" a space navy and its traditions.
So all in all it is a somewhat nice book with a pretty good but not too innvoative novellete included into lots of unimportant trivia stuff about a fantasy-space-navy that does not even come close to being "comprehensive" or all encompassing. The layout is that of a "professional" facts book while the content comes close to RPG materiel, two directions that don't harmonize with each other and i think in the end have diluted the texts we got to read a lot. Definitely not a Must have except for fans that must have EVERYTHING about their series. The casual HH reader is better served with an online Wiki type encyclopedia not the least because those have always the newest grade of actuality and refer to all books, not stop somewhere in the middle!
Also it's a bit disappointing that they would cut apart the companion into three separate books for Manticore/Grayson (this one), Haven and probably the rest of it?
And of course for the publication date May 2013 it's quite annoying that all the stuff put inside this book is on the level of just a few months before the end of "At All Costs" which appeared in 2005, so the most important developments of the last few novels have never been integrated and there were some major developments. For a book that calls itself a companion to the series that is a ridiculous high backlog, especially when it lauds itself on the important work those guys at "BuNine" can do around the Honor Harrington series.
Otherwise it's pretty satisfactory if you have not read much besides the books alone. Even the background infos in one or two of the anthologies provide already much of what is printed here, but i think it never has been truly collected in such a way before. The design/layout is mostly nice, the colortables with uniforms and medalbands were pretty to look at but are a hell to use even with the included examples on the uniforms they depict themselves. And i have not tried the cover image with King Roger's medals yet. A small list for the five medal wearers would have been nice.
Also i find the ship description part a lot lacking. For one it's pretty chaotic, some classes get only short paragraphs, especially with the GSN where many classes and their ships were either captured from Haven or donated/sold from Manticore... others had more than a full page and that means that often articles go around a page change and on the opposite page so you have to turn back and forth quite a lot if you want to check back what the article mentions about weapon load outs and such. A little bit more standardisation, maybe two pages with a larger table space and standardized picture, text and shiplists would have been nice.
Which brings me to the next thing i can't understand: there are not many examples for ships belonging to the classes described, a feature which i would certainly have liked. Maybe no complete list, so Weber can pull some names out of his chair whenever he likes, but would it have hurt to mention some more ships already known that took part in major campaigns or battles?
And of course there is not a single mention of the Honor's list with the all important ship names that the RMN will never allow to fall out of service. It should have been mandatory to include THAT baby here, at least as far as it was already mentioned! I think they didn't even mention the still active "flagship" Honor commands as a post of ... honor, HMS Unconquered other than in her first two roles as command of Edward Saganami and Ellen D'Orville. I'd call that a sin of omission for a complementary guide work for such a series that assumes to "explain" a space navy and its traditions.
So all in all it is a somewhat nice book with a pretty good but not too innvoative novellete included into lots of unimportant trivia stuff about a fantasy-space-navy that does not even come close to being "comprehensive" or all encompassing. The layout is that of a "professional" facts book while the content comes close to RPG materiel, two directions that don't harmonize with each other and i think in the end have diluted the texts we got to read a lot. Definitely not a Must have except for fans that must have EVERYTHING about their series. The casual HH reader is better served with an online Wiki type encyclopedia not the least because those have always the newest grade of actuality and refer to all books, not stop somewhere in the middle!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2018
This book gets 4 stars because it's the companion to my favourite ever book series (so far).
It is, however, a strange book, and should not be read until at least you've read up to Mission of Honor in the honorverse series. Start with On Basilisk Station, you won't regret it.
The book is split into two parts. The first is a novella about the life of King Roger III (prior to On Basilisk Station a number of years) set over a period covering most of his life through a series of dialogues. As a stand alone story it's a little hard to get into but as background on the Star Kingdom it's a great piece. The second part (2/3 of the book) takes the form of an in world encyclopaedic piece on the worlds and armed forces of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Protectorate of Grayson. As such it's like reading non-fiction about something that isn't real! Nevertheless it's an impressive and very interesting work. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who's enjoyed the Honorverse so far.
It is, however, a strange book, and should not be read until at least you've read up to Mission of Honor in the honorverse series. Start with On Basilisk Station, you won't regret it.
The book is split into two parts. The first is a novella about the life of King Roger III (prior to On Basilisk Station a number of years) set over a period covering most of his life through a series of dialogues. As a stand alone story it's a little hard to get into but as background on the Star Kingdom it's a great piece. The second part (2/3 of the book) takes the form of an in world encyclopaedic piece on the worlds and armed forces of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Protectorate of Grayson. As such it's like reading non-fiction about something that isn't real! Nevertheless it's an impressive and very interesting work. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who's enjoyed the Honorverse so far.
September 15, 2013
The first 180 pages is a novella with vignettes in the life of Roger Winton, first as a naval officer and heir to the throne, and then as King Roger III of Manticore. I enjoyed the story, but was disappointed with the ending which overlapped (and, I believe quoted verbatim) a previously published material. . I especially liked learning Queen Angelique's (Elizabeth's mother's) backstory.
After 8 glossy pages with color illustrations, the remainder of the book is the Honorverse Companion. The portion appears most relevant for anyone trying to set a story in the Honorverse. Originally I had not planned to read it, but changed my mind after reading one of the reviews here which mentioned something which I had been unaware of.
This section includes background on both the Star Empire of Manticore and on Grayson. It includes history and government issues as well as the largest part on military development. The military part describes the various classes of ships used by both navies, somtimes with illustrations. Although I already knew a lot of the information as a result of reading the Honor Harrington novels, this mostly held my interest. (I skimmed the military section; this was most like the infodumps in the novels.)
The authors are planning to create similar volumes for the other entities in the Honorverse (Haven, Solarian League, Andermani Empire, etc.)
The final section, called an Afterword, has an essay by David Weber and Christopher Weuve about what background is needed to create a realistic space navy, and a series of questions answered by Weber. They are called FAQs, but I think it is more likely that they are the questions which were not answered in the previous section, rather than being the most central or most frequently asked.
Overall I was very impressed by this book and am considering buying a copy after having read it from the public library. I would not recommend it to someone who did not already like the Honor Harrington books or other books set in that Universe.
After 8 glossy pages with color illustrations, the remainder of the book is the Honorverse Companion. The portion appears most relevant for anyone trying to set a story in the Honorverse. Originally I had not planned to read it, but changed my mind after reading one of the reviews here which mentioned something which I had been unaware of.
This section includes background on both the Star Empire of Manticore and on Grayson. It includes history and government issues as well as the largest part on military development. The military part describes the various classes of ships used by both navies, somtimes with illustrations. Although I already knew a lot of the information as a result of reading the Honor Harrington novels, this mostly held my interest. (I skimmed the military section; this was most like the infodumps in the novels.)
The authors are planning to create similar volumes for the other entities in the Honorverse (Haven, Solarian League, Andermani Empire, etc.)
The final section, called an Afterword, has an essay by David Weber and Christopher Weuve about what background is needed to create a realistic space navy, and a series of questions answered by Weber. They are called FAQs, but I think it is more likely that they are the questions which were not answered in the previous section, rather than being the most central or most frequently asked.
Overall I was very impressed by this book and am considering buying a copy after having read it from the public library. I would not recommend it to someone who did not already like the Honor Harrington books or other books set in that Universe.
May 5, 2013
(Note: If you don't want some cursing and blasphemy mixed in with your reviews, sail on past this one, folks.)
I'm generally of the opinion that if David Weber has to choose between a politics scene or a military scene, he should go with the military one. And this book has done nothing to sway that opinion. The "nonfiction" portion of it was, overall, meh. I was okay with learning more about the canon of the Honorverse, but not too excited.
It's the story (novella-length, I should think) that came before the boring part that really annoyed me, though. It's about King Roger, the father of Manticore's present monarch, and his efforts to put together a decent navy before the Havenites can get to Manticore, and blah blah blah... It's mostly meh, too, to be honest. But at somewhere past the halfway mark, I came across a character who stopped me clean in my tracks and made me yell, "Jesus H. Christ on a balance beam, Weber, what the fuck were you drinking when you wrote this shit?"
Ladies and gents, meet... Hillary Palin.
You might not think a single character name could put you off an entire book, but that one did it for me. I skipped through much of the portion containing that character, but what I did read, I couldn't help but picture coming out of Sarah Palin's flapping gums.
Okay, David, I know you're trying to inject "currency" into your series, which has lasted 20 years at this point (congratulations on that anniversary, BTW), but picking one of the most annoying people on the current political stage short of an outright conspiracy nutter... that's not going to make me think, "Wow, what a topical series about giant space battles with lasers!" It's going to make me want to throw something, which might end up being my computer, and that wouldn't be good.
Besides, as I touched on earlier, the political parts of the Honorverse have always been the most annoying to me. If Weber cut half the political nonsense and focused on blowing more things up, I wouldn't miss a single goddamn thing.
I chose three stars because of my lingering affection for the series as a whole, even as it slides into a deeper and deeper morass, but if this shit is what we can expect from the next book in the series, I may have to decline the invitation.
I'm generally of the opinion that if David Weber has to choose between a politics scene or a military scene, he should go with the military one. And this book has done nothing to sway that opinion. The "nonfiction" portion of it was, overall, meh. I was okay with learning more about the canon of the Honorverse, but not too excited.
It's the story (novella-length, I should think) that came before the boring part that really annoyed me, though. It's about King Roger, the father of Manticore's present monarch, and his efforts to put together a decent navy before the Havenites can get to Manticore, and blah blah blah... It's mostly meh, too, to be honest. But at somewhere past the halfway mark, I came across a character who stopped me clean in my tracks and made me yell, "Jesus H. Christ on a balance beam, Weber, what the fuck were you drinking when you wrote this shit?"
Ladies and gents, meet... Hillary Palin.
You might not think a single character name could put you off an entire book, but that one did it for me. I skipped through much of the portion containing that character, but what I did read, I couldn't help but picture coming out of Sarah Palin's flapping gums.
Okay, David, I know you're trying to inject "currency" into your series, which has lasted 20 years at this point (congratulations on that anniversary, BTW), but picking one of the most annoying people on the current political stage short of an outright conspiracy nutter... that's not going to make me think, "Wow, what a topical series about giant space battles with lasers!" It's going to make me want to throw something, which might end up being my computer, and that wouldn't be good.
Besides, as I touched on earlier, the political parts of the Honorverse have always been the most annoying to me. If Weber cut half the political nonsense and focused on blowing more things up, I wouldn't miss a single goddamn thing.
I chose three stars because of my lingering affection for the series as a whole, even as it slides into a deeper and deeper morass, but if this shit is what we can expect from the next book in the series, I may have to decline the invitation.
April 2, 2025
Este libro está formado por dos obras completamente diferentes:
La primera es una novela corta en la que se cuenta la vida del rey Roger y cómo consiguió preparar al reino para la guerra que él veía venir, pero en la que casi nadie creía. Los hechos generales son sabidos por libros anteriores, aunque aquí se amplía la historia contando muchos detalles desconocidos. Interesante, muy en la línea del autor, aunque con un ritmo demasiado rápido ante todas las cosas que quiere contar en tan poco espacio.
La segunda es una enciclopedia. Todos los datos que cualquiera pueda necesitar sobre el armamento o el ejército que se citan en los libros están ahí, y mucho más. Es algo interesante para tener a mano y consultarlo al leer los demás libros del Honorverso. Pero como lectura, es tan amena como cualquier otra enciclopedia.
La primera es una novela corta en la que se cuenta la vida del rey Roger y cómo consiguió preparar al reino para la guerra que él veía venir, pero en la que casi nadie creía. Los hechos generales son sabidos por libros anteriores, aunque aquí se amplía la historia contando muchos detalles desconocidos. Interesante, muy en la línea del autor, aunque con un ritmo demasiado rápido ante todas las cosas que quiere contar en tan poco espacio.
La segunda es una enciclopedia. Todos los datos que cualquiera pueda necesitar sobre el armamento o el ejército que se citan en los libros están ahí, y mucho más. Es algo interesante para tener a mano y consultarlo al leer los demás libros del Honorverso. Pero como lectura, es tan amena como cualquier otra enciclopedia.
July 23, 2014
House of Steel is the first Honorverse companion out of three planned, it has a short novel about King Roger's reign and the start of the buildup of the Manticoran Navy, information about Manticore and Grayson, quite a few schematics, a presentation of the BuNine group who is the back-office so to speak of the series technically and answers to a few questions by DW; a must for any Honorverse fan, the e-arc is available to buy now, the hc will be published in May
Volume 2 (House of Lies) will cover Heaven, and probably the Andermanni Empire and Silesia and volume 3 (House of Shadows) will cover the Solarian League and Mesa
the short novel I Will Build My House of Steel is excellent - starts with lt. commander Roger Winton, Heir to the throne and still unmarried at 41 (though it's early as he is 1st generation Prolong) who is transferred from ship command to BuWeapons as the Prime Minister is concerned about his traipsing in Silesia when the succession is not fully settled, considering his younger sister Caitrin, the only other child of Queen Samantha, has a reputation for being hot-headed; his uphill fight to change Navy culture and focus on the Havenite threat rather than on commerce protection seems to have stalled at least for now, but BuWeapons has some interesting personnel...
Jumping every few years to important events during his times, we get to see the established characters of the Honorverse (Hamish Alexander, Sonja Hemphill, Jancek, High Ridge etc) as young people and the early tussles between Sonja Hemphill and Hamish are a delight to read; many hints for the future and a superb 200 page story
The companion per se is quite detailed about Manticore, its histoyr, notable people, navy, type of ships etc while the Grayson part is shorter but a decent compendium too. The last part with an essay and a few q/a by DW are also outstanding
Highly recommended for fans of the series and as the compendium stops in early 1921 PD so just before the first battle of Manticore, there are no real spoilers for the current part of the series so it's a good "get up to date" for people who want to jump in but do not want to read 20+ books and tons of short stories
FBC review (polished version of the above):
http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com...
Volume 2 (House of Lies) will cover Heaven, and probably the Andermanni Empire and Silesia and volume 3 (House of Shadows) will cover the Solarian League and Mesa
the short novel I Will Build My House of Steel is excellent - starts with lt. commander Roger Winton, Heir to the throne and still unmarried at 41 (though it's early as he is 1st generation Prolong) who is transferred from ship command to BuWeapons as the Prime Minister is concerned about his traipsing in Silesia when the succession is not fully settled, considering his younger sister Caitrin, the only other child of Queen Samantha, has a reputation for being hot-headed; his uphill fight to change Navy culture and focus on the Havenite threat rather than on commerce protection seems to have stalled at least for now, but BuWeapons has some interesting personnel...
Jumping every few years to important events during his times, we get to see the established characters of the Honorverse (Hamish Alexander, Sonja Hemphill, Jancek, High Ridge etc) as young people and the early tussles between Sonja Hemphill and Hamish are a delight to read; many hints for the future and a superb 200 page story
The companion per se is quite detailed about Manticore, its histoyr, notable people, navy, type of ships etc while the Grayson part is shorter but a decent compendium too. The last part with an essay and a few q/a by DW are also outstanding
Highly recommended for fans of the series and as the compendium stops in early 1921 PD so just before the first battle of Manticore, there are no real spoilers for the current part of the series so it's a good "get up to date" for people who want to jump in but do not want to read 20+ books and tons of short stories
FBC review (polished version of the above):
http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com...
February 5, 2014
House of Steel
By David Weber and BuNine
Publisher: Baen
Published In: Riverdale, NY, USA
Date: 2013
Pgs: 565
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
This is a compendium of errata on the Honorverse including a short novel chronicling the rise of King Roger and his reign.
Genre:
fiction, science fiction, space, militaria
Why this book:
I have a deep love for David Weber’s writing. I’ve, also, always been fascinated by the Honor Harrington books though I’ve never cracked the spine of one. I’ve been more in on the Starfire novels that he wrote.
This Story is About:
duty, courage, doing the right thing, sadness, family
Favorite Character:
Crown Prince, re: King, Cmdr Roger Winton
Least Favorite Character:
The stick in the mud Admirals and Space Lords who replayed the role of many in the British Navy prior to World War One.
The largely faceless Peeps, re: People Republic of Haven
Character I Most Identified With:
Cmdr Roger Winton
The Feel:
Duty, honor, and the determination to not leave what you love helpless before the wolves.
Favorite Scene:
When the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth of Manticore shows her steely resolve in the face of her familial tragedy. Wish she could have more directly taken vengeance.
Settings:
Planet Manticore, the royal grounds, the halls of government
Pacing:
The pacing is awesome as expected from Mr. Weber’s writing.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Not that I found.
Last Page Sound:
This is tempered by the errata and worldbuilding detail included in the compendium following the short novella. But still cool. I love this kind of crap.
Author Assessment:
More. I want more.
Editorial Assessment:
Very well edited.
Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:
The collage quality of the image covers both the story and the errata in good fashion.
Hmm Moments:
When the Queen exposits to Uncle Jonas about what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. Woof!
Knee Jerk Reaction:
really good book
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
Why isn’t there a screenplay?
Without a huge series of Honor Harrington movies, I doubt this one will ever be made. Though, I doubt that movie could hold a candle to the stories told here and in the Harrington series.
Casting call:
N/A
Would recommend to:
genre fans, people who read and liked the Starfire books should give this a try.
By David Weber and BuNine
Publisher: Baen
Published In: Riverdale, NY, USA
Date: 2013
Pgs: 565
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
This is a compendium of errata on the Honorverse including a short novel chronicling the rise of King Roger and his reign.
Genre:
fiction, science fiction, space, militaria
Why this book:
I have a deep love for David Weber’s writing. I’ve, also, always been fascinated by the Honor Harrington books though I’ve never cracked the spine of one. I’ve been more in on the Starfire novels that he wrote.
This Story is About:
duty, courage, doing the right thing, sadness, family
Favorite Character:
Crown Prince, re: King, Cmdr Roger Winton
Least Favorite Character:
The stick in the mud Admirals and Space Lords who replayed the role of many in the British Navy prior to World War One.
The largely faceless Peeps, re: People Republic of Haven
Character I Most Identified With:
Cmdr Roger Winton
The Feel:
Duty, honor, and the determination to not leave what you love helpless before the wolves.
Favorite Scene:
When the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth of Manticore shows her steely resolve in the face of her familial tragedy. Wish she could have more directly taken vengeance.
Settings:
Planet Manticore, the royal grounds, the halls of government
Pacing:
The pacing is awesome as expected from Mr. Weber’s writing.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Not that I found.
Last Page Sound:
This is tempered by the errata and worldbuilding detail included in the compendium following the short novella. But still cool. I love this kind of crap.
Author Assessment:
More. I want more.
Editorial Assessment:
Very well edited.
Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:
The collage quality of the image covers both the story and the errata in good fashion.
Hmm Moments:
When the Queen exposits to Uncle Jonas about what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. Woof!
Knee Jerk Reaction:
really good book
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
Why isn’t there a screenplay?
Without a huge series of Honor Harrington movies, I doubt this one will ever be made. Though, I doubt that movie could hold a candle to the stories told here and in the Harrington series.
Casting call:
N/A
Would recommend to:
genre fans, people who read and liked the Starfire books should give this a try.
October 3, 2015
The bulk of this book is a compendium of the technical and historical minutia pertaining to the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Graysons. It covers their political, historical, astrographical and military details as well as brief bios of their most important figures. There is also an excellent discussion on how to build, and use, a science fiction space navy. In fact, this might have been my favorite part of the book had their not been a new novella penned by David Weber in the beginning third of the book.
And it is that excellent novella, which lends its name to the title of the book, that really made this such a joy to peruse and devour.
Without saying much about it, because spoilers, the novella covers King Roger's attempts to first convince his politicians that the People's Republic is a threat, and then what he'll do to actually confront him and how he has to build his forces from the ground up to do just that. There's also, at least to me anyway (been a couple of years since I read any of the Harrington novels, so this slipped my mind) a surprising reveal in the novella concerning the length of bitter hatred between the 'Peeps' and the Star Kingdom that I can't remember reading in the original novel line.
All in all this is a treasure trove of technical data about the Star Kingdom and the Graysons. My only complaint, now knowing that the 'Peep's'/Havenite's are getting their own companion with the Solarian League as well, it made me wish that there could have been a Grayson centric story penned for this volume as well.
Oh well, it was good stuff regardless.
Definitely recommended if you're into the Honor Harrington series or you want to study some space naval military doctrine and technology.
And it is that excellent novella, which lends its name to the title of the book, that really made this such a joy to peruse and devour.
Without saying much about it, because spoilers, the novella covers King Roger's attempts to first convince his politicians that the People's Republic is a threat, and then what he'll do to actually confront him and how he has to build his forces from the ground up to do just that. There's also, at least to me anyway (been a couple of years since I read any of the Harrington novels, so this slipped my mind) a surprising reveal in the novella concerning the length of bitter hatred between the 'Peeps' and the Star Kingdom that I can't remember reading in the original novel line.
All in all this is a treasure trove of technical data about the Star Kingdom and the Graysons. My only complaint, now knowing that the 'Peep's'/Havenite's are getting their own companion with the Solarian League as well, it made me wish that there could have been a Grayson centric story penned for this volume as well.
Oh well, it was good stuff regardless.
Definitely recommended if you're into the Honor Harrington series or you want to study some space naval military doctrine and technology.
September 30, 2013
I LOVE David Weber. He is my favorite living science fiction author. I have read everyone of his books but I am a bit disappointed in this latest submission. As the honor Harrington universe has expanded Weber has become more involved with the political weather than the military aspects of his civilization.
I am a recovering politician, and Weber does a better job than most modern authors in presenting political reality. The problem is he has too many characters. Besides, I have trouble getting interested in the politics of an artificial world and I see too much conflict. It is true that there has never been a leader who did not have his backbiting adversaries.
However, truly great leaders do not face significant opposition at home, that's part of what makes them great leaders. Franklin Roosevelt was thoroughly hated by segment of the American population, but during the war the opposition was muted and not politically significant.
I am old enough to remember the start of the Vietnam war. I was a military brat and very conscious of when and how the antiwar movement got started. As we now know based on Soviet records, that opposition was fueled,guided, and encouraged by the Soviet Union, at least to the extent that they were able. In no way am I impugning the people who opposed the war as some sort of communist puppets. They were not, but the movement did receive foreign support. Even so, the opposite to the War was not significant until the toxic brew of casualties and the draft collided.
I am a recovering politician, and Weber does a better job than most modern authors in presenting political reality. The problem is he has too many characters. Besides, I have trouble getting interested in the politics of an artificial world and I see too much conflict. It is true that there has never been a leader who did not have his backbiting adversaries.
However, truly great leaders do not face significant opposition at home, that's part of what makes them great leaders. Franklin Roosevelt was thoroughly hated by segment of the American population, but during the war the opposition was muted and not politically significant.
I am old enough to remember the start of the Vietnam war. I was a military brat and very conscious of when and how the antiwar movement got started. As we now know based on Soviet records, that opposition was fueled,guided, and encouraged by the Soviet Union, at least to the extent that they were able. In no way am I impugning the people who opposed the war as some sort of communist puppets. They were not, but the movement did receive foreign support. Even so, the opposite to the War was not significant until the toxic brew of casualties and the draft collided.
March 13, 2014
The ultimate guide and companion to the New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series.
A new short Honorverse novel, plus a compendium of tech, specs, and history to accompany the blockbuster series.
An all-new David Weber Honorverse short novel, I Will Build a House of Steel, chronicling the early days of the Manticoran Star Kingdom and the reign of King Roger.
Have you ever finished the latest Honor Harrington novel from David Weber and wished you could linger in Weber’s Honorverse just a bit longer? Now you can with this treasure trove of tech, specs, and insights on David Weber’s mega best-selling Honor Harrington series. Orbital characteristics of key planets, regimental order of the Royal Navy, backstory on the history and drama of the Star Kingdom’s birth and early days—you’ll find it all here, thoughtfully arranged by the Bureau 9 Weber research group, and overseen by David Weber himself.
About David Weber and the Honor Harrington series:
“. . .everything you could want in a heroine….excellent…plenty of action.”–Science Fiction Age
“Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!”–Anne McCaffrey
“Compelling combat combined with engaging characters for a great space opera adventure.”–Locus
“Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice . . .”–Publishers Weekly
**
February 22, 2016
I think this is a weak offering by Weber.
Don't get me wrong - I love the Honorverse. Books one to six were the perfect blend of pulp and lightness. After the sixth book things start to go terribly wrong, but pleasant memories allow me to patina nostalgia over the latest books. "House of Steel", however, typifies for me how these books have gone off the rails; I think Weber reveals here a that not only may he actually believe his own hype, but he also possesses his fair share of avarice.
"House of Steel" is a bloated wreck; the single short-story thrown in there to entice the buyer just isn't up to the price-tag. The encyclopedia will entertain only the most committed of fans, and I abandoned it quickly. Lucky readers, it is not even the whole thing; two more are planned. Goodie.
Politics has never been Weber's strong suit (at times reading Weber feels like being beaten with a ham-fisted political shovel). But the short-story (the only potential reason to buy this book) is pretty much solely centered about politics, in which the saintly King Roger II builds his space navy for the war which only he can foresee. Honestly, I don't mind two-dimensional characters so long as there is enough action to turn frustration to delight. There is no delight in this novel; only smug self-congratulation.
I echo some of the other ambivalent reviews when I say because of my lingering affection for the series as a whole I gave the book one more star than it should have, even as overall the works begin to collapse under their own weight.
Don't get me wrong - I love the Honorverse. Books one to six were the perfect blend of pulp and lightness. After the sixth book things start to go terribly wrong, but pleasant memories allow me to patina nostalgia over the latest books. "House of Steel", however, typifies for me how these books have gone off the rails; I think Weber reveals here a that not only may he actually believe his own hype, but he also possesses his fair share of avarice.
"House of Steel" is a bloated wreck; the single short-story thrown in there to entice the buyer just isn't up to the price-tag. The encyclopedia will entertain only the most committed of fans, and I abandoned it quickly. Lucky readers, it is not even the whole thing; two more are planned. Goodie.
Politics has never been Weber's strong suit (at times reading Weber feels like being beaten with a ham-fisted political shovel). But the short-story (the only potential reason to buy this book) is pretty much solely centered about politics, in which the saintly King Roger II builds his space navy for the war which only he can foresee. Honestly, I don't mind two-dimensional characters so long as there is enough action to turn frustration to delight. There is no delight in this novel; only smug self-congratulation.
I echo some of the other ambivalent reviews when I say because of my lingering affection for the series as a whole I gave the book one more star than it should have, even as overall the works begin to collapse under their own weight.
June 26, 2013
As usual, David and the BuNine delivers a great product that manages to fill a lot of gaps that I, for one, didn't realized existed, mainly how Manticore managed to get the MDM, the SD-P or the LAC lines in service in such a short period of time. It also shows us a little more of Beth's character, wich I for one love. The story's very short too, wich is great when you're going over things that have already been covered in previous books; just a glimpse at Beth, as I said, and another one at Roger, and how he came to be the force behind the naval build-up.
Honestly, the thing that bothered me the most was that there was no mention of Hamish's tongue lashing to Janacek :p I was dying to read some of THAT. Still, it was pretty nice to read about the beginnings of the Hamish-Sonia feud, and to see her being analyzed by someone who didn't had any bias, one way or the other.
All in all, I think it's a worthwhile read, with all the marks of a good Honorverse novella except naval combat. And the stuff at the end was great for me, too, because I'd never read anything about the story of Saganami, D'Orville or Saint-James except what was in the main books, so finding out exactly how Mesa came to play a part at Saganami's death was a really fulfilling moment.
Honestly, the thing that bothered me the most was that there was no mention of Hamish's tongue lashing to Janacek :p I was dying to read some of THAT. Still, it was pretty nice to read about the beginnings of the Hamish-Sonia feud, and to see her being analyzed by someone who didn't had any bias, one way or the other.
All in all, I think it's a worthwhile read, with all the marks of a good Honorverse novella except naval combat. And the stuff at the end was great for me, too, because I'd never read anything about the story of Saganami, D'Orville or Saint-James except what was in the main books, so finding out exactly how Mesa came to play a part at Saganami's death was a really fulfilling moment.
October 6, 2014
A fantastic return to form by Mr Webber.
Divided in two, the book's first half is a prequel which deals with the life and legacy of Roger Winton; the King who a Royal Navy that could defend Manticore against Haven. It's a tale obviously close to David Webber's heart and he makes a tale of corresponding passion. The resulting story of politics and interpersonal relationships (which can be weak topics) is fantastic, is moving and is as highly polished as his work gets. The technical background of an RMN building up and canvassing every for technical edge, of its people and its leaders is just a great tale, fantastically executed. More fun than any Grav Sled ride.
The second half of the novel covers Military tech, ship specs and background for the for RMN and GSN, including specs of their SD(P) ships and smaller, all the way down to LACs; if you know what all those acronyms are you'll love this section. Whilst it is written as of a 'couple of books back' technologically speaking, it's still a fascinating read. Also included are some of the thoughts underpinning strategy and the various navies in the Honourverse.
Divided in two, the book's first half is a prequel which deals with the life and legacy of Roger Winton; the King who a Royal Navy that could defend Manticore against Haven. It's a tale obviously close to David Webber's heart and he makes a tale of corresponding passion. The resulting story of politics and interpersonal relationships (which can be weak topics) is fantastic, is moving and is as highly polished as his work gets. The technical background of an RMN building up and canvassing every for technical edge, of its people and its leaders is just a great tale, fantastically executed. More fun than any Grav Sled ride.
The second half of the novel covers Military tech, ship specs and background for the for RMN and GSN, including specs of their SD(P) ships and smaller, all the way down to LACs; if you know what all those acronyms are you'll love this section. Whilst it is written as of a 'couple of books back' technologically speaking, it's still a fascinating read. Also included are some of the thoughts underpinning strategy and the various navies in the Honourverse.
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