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David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952. In his stories, he creates a consistent and rationally explained technology and society. Even when dealing with fantasy themes, the magical powers are treated like another technology with supporting rational laws and principles.

Many of his stories have militaristic, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He challenges current gender roles in the military by assuming that a gender-neutral military service will exist in his futures, and by frequently placing female leading characters in what have previously been seen as traditionally male roles, he has explored the challenges faced by women in the military and politics.

His most popular and enduring character is Honor Harrington whose story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 13 novels and four shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2006 (other works are in production).

Published works

Many of Weber's 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 or third of the work). Where the links below include '/library/' in the URL, they are the whole text of the book. Weber's publisher, Baen Books, is a pioneer in the sale of books in various electronic formats and all the linked titles below can be downloaded for payment if they are not available for free.

The hardback edition of War of Honor contained "The Honorverse CD", a compilation of texts which amongst other things held electronic copies of the entire Honor series to that point (including the anthologies up to Changer Of Worlds). The CD label explicitly states that the contents are freely distributable and the CD itself has been mirrored on various websites. This CD was only the first: there have now been seven other releases.

Honor Harrington series

(Note: External links are to online copies of the books at two sites run by Baen Books: baen.com and webscription.net. The complete and unabridged ebooks from the "At All Costs" CD are also available online.

Worlds of Honor Collections
Short Stories related to the Honor Harrington Series - edited by David Weber

Novels related to the Honor Harrington Series

Heirs of Empire series

War God Series

Other Novels

Collaborations

Steve White
These books are based on the Starfire games.

John Ringo
Empire of Man series.

With Eric Flint
In the 1632 series:

Common themes

David Weber's books, especially those set in the Honorverse, frequently criticize interference by politicians in military matters. Though his commanders do make tactical errors, strategic blunders are usually blamed on interfering politicians. In particular, Heirs of Empire might imply David Weber might share George Lucas' view that the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship.

It must of course be remembered that David Weber is writing fiction and his personal views might be very different. His later books may also be influenced by the success of such themes in earlier books.

Common language

Many technical terms for advanced technology often appear in different settings. For example the word 'molycirc', as a form of computing technology, appears in the Honorverse, and Heirs of Empire series, as well as the anthology Bolo!; in addition, a number of idiosyncratic phrases appear across series (such as "From your lips to God's ears!")

Common names

There have also been repeated use of several names across his novels. For example, a DeVries is found in both Path of the Fury and in the Honorverse series. The name Hauptman is also seen, though not as a cartel or family, but as a missile system in the Fury universe!

External links

American science fiction writers | Living people

David Weber | David Weber | デイヴィッド・ウェーバー | David Weber | David Weber | Вебер, Дэвид Марк | David Weber

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "David Weber".

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