David Weber

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David Weber

David and Sharon Weber at CONduit 17.
Born 1952
Cleveland, Ohio
Occupation Novelist, short story author
Genres Science fiction (esp. military science fiction), fantasy, alternate history
Notable work(s) Honor Harrington series

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 11 novels, four shared-universe anthologies, and two sub-series. The series has over 3 million copies in print, and Weber has had over thirteen of his titles on the New York Times Best Seller list.[5]

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

David Weber has said he started writing in fifth grade.[2] Weber's 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. He develops 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]

[edit] 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 25-33% of the work).

The first edition hardcover releases by Baen Books of War of Honor, Wind Rider's Oath, At All Costs and Hell Hath No Fury each contained a CD, holding electronic copies of all books of David Weber up to that moment. The CD labels explicitly stated that the contents are freely distributable. The CD's have been mirrored on various sites.[9][10]

[edit] Honor Harrington series

[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] Dahak series

[edit] War God series

Sword Brother is the fourth part to this series; however, Sword Brother is a novella and was bundled with Oath of Swords.

[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 on 18 January 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. pp. p. 3. ISBN ISBN 0-7434-3600-8. http://www.baen.com. "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 (07). "David Weber takes readers on a tour Off Armageddon Reef and discusses writing, religion and responsibility". SCI FI Weekly. SciFi.com. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw15625.html. Retrieved on January 22, 2009. "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 d WebScription.net
  6. ^ Convergence 2009
  7. ^ a b c Stephen Hunt (2002). "In Honor I gained them". SF Crowsnest.com. http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/sfnews2/02_july/news0702_1.shtml. Retrieved on January 22, 2009. 
  8. ^ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection
  9. ^ BaenCD at The Fifth Imperium
  10. ^ Text of all of the Baen CD-ROM labels
  11. ^ Torch of Freedom
  12. ^ Editor's website

[edit] External links

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