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David Weber

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David Weber
David and Sharon Weber at CONduit 17
Weber at CONduit 17 (26 May 2007)
BornDavid Mark Weber
(1952-10-24) October 24, 1952 (age 72)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
OccupationNovelist, short story author
LanguageEnglish
EducationWarren Wilson College
Appalachian State University (MA)
GenreScience fiction (esp. military science fiction), fantasy, alternate history)
Notable worksHonor Harrington series, Safehold series, War God series
SpouseSharon Weber
Children3
Website
www.davidweber.net

David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best-known of which is the Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His first novel, which he worked on with Steve White, sold in 1989 to Baen Books. Baen remains Weber's major publisher.

Writing career

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Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 24, 1952,[1] Weber began writing while in fifth grade.[2] Some of Weber's first jobs within the writing/advertising world began after high school when he worked as copywriter, typesetter, proofreader, and paste-up artist. He later earned an undergraduate degree from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina and an M.A. in history from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.[3]

Weber's first published novels grew out of his work as a wargame designer for the Task Force board wargame Starfire.[4] Weber used the Starfire universe as a setting for short stories that he wrote for the company's Nexus magazine, and he also wrote the Starfire novel Insurrection (1990) with Stephen White after Nexus was canceled; this book was the first in a tetralogy that concluded with their final collaboration, The Shiva Option (2002), which was included in The New York Times Best Seller list.[5]

Weber was influenced by C. S. Forester, Patrick O'Brian, Keith Laumer, H. Beam Piper, Robert A. Heinlein, Roger Zelazny, Christopher Anvil and Anne McCaffrey.[2][6][7]

Weber's 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) and military science fiction with in-depth characterization.[8]

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.[9]

Weber prefers to write about strong characters. He develops a character's background story in advance in considerable detail because he wants to achieve that degree of comfort level with the character.[2] Weber has said he writes primarily in the evenings and at night.[9]

Weber says he makes an effort to accept as many invitations to science fiction conferences and conventions as he can, because he finds the direct feedback from readers that he gets at conventions extremely useful. He makes a habit of Tuckerizing people from fandom, particularly in the Honor Harrington books (see, e.g., Jordin Kare).[9]

In 2008, Weber donated his archive to the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.[10]

Personal life

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Weber and his wife, Sharon, live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs".[4]

Weber is a lay speaker in the United Methodist Church, and he tries to explore in his writing how religions (both real-life and fictional) can be forces for good on the one hand, and misused to defend evil causes on the other.[11][12]

Weber belongs to the American Small Business Administration, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), and the National Rifle Association of America.[13][14]

Published works

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Main article: David Weber bibliography

Weber's main works are contained in the following series:

References

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  1. ^ "David Weber, Author". Facebook. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Wilson, Alyse. "Interview". WildViolet.net.
  3. ^ "Biography -- David Weber". www.davidweber.net.
  4. ^ a b "Mission of Honor by David Weber". Baen Books. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  5. ^ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  6. ^ Anvil, Christopher (April 2003). "Introduction by David Weber". The Interstellar Patrol. Edited by Eric Flint, Cover art by Mark Hennessey-Barratt. Riverdale, NY: Baen Publishing Enterprises. p. 3. ISBN 0-7434-3600-8.
  7. ^ 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. Retrieved February 3, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Convergence". Convergence-Con. 2009. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009.
  9. ^ a b c Stephen Hunt (2002). "In Honor I gained them". SF Crowsnest.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  10. ^ "Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection". Ulib.niu.edu. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012.
  11. ^ An Interview with David Weber, Part 4 (YouTube Video). Blackfive TV. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  12. ^ "Blackfive video interview with David Weber". Baen. Archived from the original on August 3, 2009.
  13. ^ Suciu, Liviu. "Interview with David Weber (Interviewed by Liviu Suciu)". Archived from the original on October 12, 2009. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  14. ^ David G. Hartwell, Kathryn Cramer (2007). The Space Opera Renaissance. Macmillan, p. 145.
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