Where have I been?

Well, I suppose I've been taking a little blog-break. I've been catching up on some reading, quilting... and house cleaning [yuk!].

One of my favorite Sci-Fi authors, David Weber, has a series based on his character, Honor Harrington.

The series starts off with On Basilisk Station, and I think he's got at least ten books on her. That doesn't even count the six or seven or so that are set in the "Honor-verse."

Weber is actually very like Tom Clancy in that he gets very detailed about battles and some technical stuff.  Generally, that's not my favorite thing to read, so I confess I just skim those sections.

But Weber draws very vivid characters, and his main characters have courage, guts, decisicness, and integrity. He is very pro-military - honorable military. There are "bad guys" who are simply despicable, and the contrast is striking.

Anyway, I like his style! So, I'm rereading the Honor of the Queen, Field of Dishonor, and Flag in Exile.

Just recently, I read two others by Weber, Bolo! and the Shadow of Saganami.

Bolo! is a collection of four short novellas based in a "universe" created by Keith Laumer. Bolos are war machines, and in this collection you meet Nike (designator "-NKE" after her serial number), the first bolo with emotions; and Benjy ("-BNJ" after his serial number), who shows honor, compassion, courage - and love.

Wonderful, wonderful universe - I'm going to have to read some of the Laumer originals.

The Shadow of Saganami is set in Weber's Honor-verse, but follows new characters: midshipmen on their middie cruise. They've graduated from the Academy on Saganami Island, and now they are sent out to learn the reality of life in the Royal Manticoran Navy. This cruise will determine if they have the courage and integrity and perseverance to be commissioned officers.

Again, Weber is occasionally heavy on techy stuff, but all in all the book was a very enjoyable read!

Finally, I also read a book, suggested by the Beloved Husband, by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth, Course of Empire.  Very, very good, and I'm hoping they'll do a sequal!

The Jao, an alien species sort of similar in looks to a walrus, have conquered Earth. The Jao clan which governs Earth has made a huge mess of things, and so another leading clan sends their most promising young, well, "prince" for lack of a better word, to take over command of the Jao and combined human-Jao military forces on Earth.

In an effort to understand humans and the culture better (and therefore lead them well), he ends up taking several humans into his personal service.

This is extremely fortunate, because this alliance proves critical in beating back the Ekhat, another alien species which is determined to wipe out humanity (among others).

There is a lot going on in this novel, and the pace is fast but not frantic. Flint and Wentworth do a good job developing their characters and crafting excellent plot twists to keep the reader entertained.

So, that's some of what I've been doing while I haven't been blogging. And now, I get to blog about it! Life is strange... LOLOLOL

Comments

[David]

1.

Heh. Another David Weber fan.

I had Shadow of Saganami in eBook format before the hardback went on sale...

Have almost all the other Honor Harrington books in hard, paper or ebook format.

And, of course, many of Webers other books.

David Drake, Eric Flint and many of the other regular Baen writers have many of the same themes in their books. (Note the Baen Free Library link on my blog, eh?), and Elizabeth Moon's Herris Seranno books are close in many ways to the Honor Harrington books.

Fun.

[David]

2.

BTW, forgot to mention: the new Honor Harrington, _At All Costs_, is on sale next month (or, via Baen's Webscriptions, a pre-publication version may still be available in eBook format for $15)

;-)