Beginnings

Worlds of Honor #6

By: David Weber, Charles E. Gannon, Timothy Zahn, Joelle Presby

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson, David Marantz, Kevin T. Collins, Lauren Fortgang, LJ Ganser

Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The hottest military science fiction series of all time continues.

The mission: to boldly explore David Weber's Honorverse; to deliver all the action, courage, derring-do, and pulse pounding excitement of space naval adventure with tales set in a world touched by the greatness of one epic heroine: Honor Harrington.

This sixth volume in the popular Worlds of Honor series includes stories by best seller Jane Lindskold, New York Times best seller and Star Wars phenomenon, Timothy Zahn. It's rounded out with an all new David Weber authored novella featuring a young Manticoran Royal Navy commander who goes by the name Harrington.

©2013 Words of Weber, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

overall good stories.

overall good stories. wanted to listen to it straight through. liked the last story best.

History of Gender Relations Written into the Futu

Fun future tale that considers the past, the present, and the future and gives voice to a new generation of adequately strengthened and supported females.

History Before Manticore & NIMITZ

I was thrilled to learn some Pre-History, the story Honor's parents meeting & the bonding of Honor and Nimitz.

two of the stories are worth listening to

the only stories I seriously enjoyed were the ones about Honor and Nimitz and to a lesser extent the story about her parents. the male performers were mostly dull but Allyson hit it out of the park as always. It's a shame the story I enjoyed the most (Honor and Nimitz "The Best Laid Plans") was the shortest.

Honor’s parents backstory

I loved the backstory of how LT Alfred Harrington and Allison y Chou met and fell in Love.
I also loved learning how Honor and Nimitz became bonded.

Exceptional

Story by story review and ratings:

By the Book, Charles E. Gannon - Set in the earliest days of the Diaspora, this is novella begins with a hijacking and becomes a book about covert action within the unified government of Earth. Decent characterization, solid plot with interesting twists, and an intriguing look at the politics of the early Sol government. 4 stars.

A Call to Arms, Timothy Zahn - This novelette (or very short novella) is the genesis of what would become the Manticore Ascendant series. It feels very much like one of Weber's pieces, with a strong tactical sense, a strong protagonist and several solid supporting characters, and an excellent plot (within the limits of the length, of course). 5 stars.

Beauty and the Beast, David Weber - A novella covering the meeting between Honor Harrington's parents, which was, of course, rather exciting. Excellent characterisation, solid plot (with no cheating by the auther), and a very satisfying conclusion. 5 stars.

The Best Laid Plans, David Weber - This novelette describes the meeting between Honor and Nimitz. It's entertaining, but there's not much surprising here. 3.5 stars.

Obligated Service, Jodie Presby - Another short novella, this describes the experience of a female Grayson Ensign who is more typical of the society than most of the stars of other Honorverse characters. It's an interesting choice that almost works really well but is limited by both its length and an ending that is weaker than the core of the story. 3.5 stars.

Unlike nearly all anthologies, there are no bad stories here, and two of the stories are exceptional. The best book in this series so far. Since it kept me reading past midnight on a workday, this can't be anything other than highly recommended.

A Young Honor

The first story in the collection is “By The Book” by Charles Gannon is set earlier in the Honoverse than other stories about 1609 years before Honor’s birth. It is a story about Lt. Lee strong of the Custom Patrol of the Earth Union. “Call to Arms” by Zahn gives background behind the attempt takeover of the Manticore Binary system by the Axelrod Corporation. Lead character is Lt. Travis Long. “Beauty and the Beast” by Weber is one of the stories I enjoyed the most and is about the meeting of Honor’s parents when they were students in medical school on Beowulf. It also gives some background information about both Alfred Harrington and Allison Chou. “Best Laid Plans” by Weber is the other story I enjoyed the most is about how 14 year old Honor meets and bonds with Nimitz. “Obligated Service” by Joelle Presby is about Clair one of the first women of Grayson to graduate from Saganami Island Academy. The story is mainly about the resistance of Grayson men to accept women in the Grayson Navy. Each story had a different narrator who did a good job narrating the stories.

Uneven

In an anthology of this sort I guess it's to be expected that some writers will please more than others. I resented the story that was just a thinly veiled libertarian polemic, but the rest were pretty good.