David Weber

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David Weber
David and Sharon Weber at CONduit 17
David and Sharon Weber at CONduit 17
Born October 24, 1952 (1952-10-24) (age 59)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation Novelist, short story author
Language English
Genres Science fiction (esp. military science fiction), fantasy, alternate history
Notable work(s) Honor Harrington series



www.davidweber.net

David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs".[5]

Previously the owner of a small advertising and public relations agency, Weber now writes science fiction full time.[1]

Contents

[edit] His writing

His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to space opera (Path of the Fury, The Armageddon Inheritance) to alternate history (1632 series with Eric Flint) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization.[6]

Many of his stories have military—particularly naval—themes. 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. In his writing, he creates a consistent and rationally explained technology and society.[2]

The most popular character he has created is Honor Harrington.[2] Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through a series of 12 novels, four shared-universe anthologies, and two sub-series. The series has over 3 million copies in print, and more than thirteen of Weber's titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list.[5]

A lifetime military history buff, David Weber has carried his interest of history into his fiction. He is said to be interested in most periods of history, with a strong emphasis on the military and diplomatic aspects of it.[7]

Weber started writing in fifth grade.[2] His first published novels grew out of his work as a war game designer for the Task Force game Starfire.[1][5] He prefers to write about strong characters, developing a character's background story in advance in considerable detail because he wants that degree of comfort level with the character.[2] He has said he writes primarily in the evenings and at night.[7]

Weber has said he makes an effort to accept as many invitations to science fiction conferences and conventions as he can because finds that the opportunities for direct feedback from readers which conventions offer is extremely useful to him. He makes a habit of Tuckerizing people from fandom, particularly in the Honor Harrington books (see e.g. Jordin Kare).[7]

In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.[8]

In a video interview, he stated that he is a Methodist lay preacher, and that he tries to explore in his writing how religions (both real-life and fictional ones) can be forces for good on the one hand, and misused to defend evil causes on the other hand.[9]

[edit] Published works

Many of Weber's books are available online,[10] 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).

The first edition hardcover releases by Baen Books of War of Honor, Wind Rider's Oath, At All Costs, Hell Hath No Fury, Torch of Freedom, and Mission of Honor each contain a CD, holding electronic copies of all the David Weber books published by Baen up to that moment. The CD labels explicitly stated that the contents are freely distributable. The CDs have been mirrored on various sites.[11][12]

[edit] Honor Harrington series

  1. On Basilisk Station (April 1993) ISBN 0-671-57793-X
  2. The Honor of the Queen (June 1993) ISBN 0-671-57864-2
  3. The Short Victorious War (April 1994) ISBN 0-671-87596-5
  4. Field of Dishonor (October 1994) ISBN 0-671-57820-0
  5. Flag in Exile (September 1995) ISBN 0-671-31980-9
  6. Honor Among Enemies (February 1996) ISBN 0-671-87723-2
  7. In Enemy Hands (July 1997) ISBN 0-671-57770-0
  8. Echoes of Honor (October 1998) ISBN 0-671-57833-2
  9. Ashes of Victory (March 2000) ISBN 0-671-57854-5
  10. War of Honor (October 2002) ISBN 0-7434-3545-1
  11. At All Costs (November 2005) ISBN 1-4165-0911-9
  12. Mission of Honor (June 2010) ISBN 1-4391-3361-1
  13. A Rising Thunder (forthcoming, March 6, 2012)[13][14] ISBN 1-4516-3806-X
  14. Shadow of Freedom (forthcoming, date to be set)[15]

[edit] Works related to the Honor Harrington series

[edit] Worlds of Honor anthologies

Short stories related to the Honor Harrington series—edited by David Weber

[edit] Wages of Sin sub-series

[edit] Saganami sub-series

[edit] Young adult series

Weber's earliest Honorverse novel, it focuses on Stephanie Harrington and the discovery of treecats.

[edit] Dahak series

[edit] War God series

[edit] Safehold series

[edit] Other novels

[edit] Collections

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] With Steve White

Starfire series (based on the Starfire games)

[edit] With John Ringo

Empire of Man series

[edit] With Eric Flint

1632 series

In the Honor Harrington series, see Wages of Sin sub-series

[edit] With Linda Evans

Multiverse series

[edit] Multi-author collections

  • The Warmasters (2002) ISBN 0-7434-3534-6, includes David Weber's Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington together with Island by Eric Flint and Choosing sides by David Drake.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Hot News from Baen Books". Baen Books. March 3, 2000. http://www.baen.com/press.htm#Ashes. Retrieved January 18, 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Interview by Alyse Wilson
  3. ^ Anvil, Christopher (First printing, April 2003). "Introduction by David Weber". The Interstellar Patrol. edited by Eric Flint, Cover art by Mark Hennessey-Barratt. P.O. Box 1403, Riverdale, NY 10471: Baen Publishing Enterprises. p. 3. ISBN 0-7434-3600-8. http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/0743436008/0743436008___1.htm. "I'm delighted that someone is making Christopher Anvil's work available once again. Especially the Interstellar Patrol stories. Vaughan Roberts, Morrissey, and Hammell have always been three of my very favorite characters, and I've always loved Anvil's . . . peculiar sense of humor.
       "I suppose, if I'm going to be honest, that Roberts' J-class ship is another of my favorite characters. In fact, although I hadn't realized it until I sat down to write this introduction, I suspect that there was a lot of the Patrol boat's computer hiding somewhere in the depths of my memory when I created Dahak for the Mutineers' Moon series. After all, Dahak is simply another self-aware ship kidnapping itself a captain on a somewhat larger scale. They even have a few personality traits in common."
     
  4. ^ John Joseph Adams (May 7, 2007). "David Weber takes readers on a tour Off Armageddon Reef and discusses writing, religion and responsibility". SCI FI Weekly. SciFi.com. http://stage.scifi.co.uk/blog/interview-1/david-weber-takes-readers-on-a/. Retrieved February 3, 2010. "It occurred to me a few years go that the person who really got me interested in world-building was Annie McCaffrey. Her world of Pern fascinated me from the day that I read the very first novel in serialized form in Analog." 
  5. ^ a b c Mission of Honor by David Weber - Baen Books
  6. ^ Convergence 2009
  7. ^ a b c Stephen Hunt (2002). "In Honor I gained them". SF Crowsnest.com. http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/articles/features/2002/In-Honor-I-gained-them-5718.php. Retrieved February 2, 2011. 
  8. ^ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection
  9. ^ Blackfive video interview with David Weber on Baen.com
  10. ^ Webscription.net
  11. ^ BaenCD at The Fifth Imperium
  12. ^ Text of all of the Baen CD-ROM labels
  13. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". David Weber. September 2010. http://www.davidweber.net/faqs. Retrieved September 16, 2010. 
  14. ^ "Books: A Rising Thunder". Simon & Schuster. August 2011. http://books.simonandschuster.com/A-Rising-Thunder/David-Weber/Honor-Harrington-Series/9781451638066. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 
  15. ^ "Shadow of Freedom". Honorverse. Wikia. August 2011. http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_of_Freedom. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 
  16. ^ Torch of Freedom
  17. ^ Davidweber.net
  18. ^ http://www.davidweber.net/posts/390-6th-safehold-book-title.html DavidWeber.net, news archive, 9 January 2012
  19. ^ http://forums.davidweber.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2727
  20. ^ Baencd.thefifthimperium.com

[edit] External links

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