David Weber

[Moggle]

Something about the Safehold series rubs me the wrong way. I've read quite a number of stuff Weber has written and pretty much enjoyed them all, but I abandoned Safehold after the lead robot character changed their sex from a woman to a man. It was too much for me, lol.

Btw, I nabbed me a hardcover copy of "On Basilisk Station" at a used book store today for $6.

It appears that A Beautiful Friend will be out in October and then on 03/06/2012 will come A Rising Thunder which appears to cover at least the start of war with the Sollies. Anticipation is a good thing!

He is also bringing out the 5th book in the Safehold series in September so it looks like the next 6 months will bring a sumptuous feast of Weber.

The blurb for, "A beautiful friendship" confuses me. I read an earlier story written by Weber also titled, "A Beautiful Friendship" and it did not match the story written in the synopsis for this upcoming book at all, yet the lead character's name is exactly the same.

 

[Timba]

Something about the Safehold series rubs me the wrong way. I've read quite a number of stuff Weber has written and pretty much enjoyed them all, but I abandoned Safehold after the lead robot character changed their sex from a woman to a man. It was too much for me, lol.

Btw, I nabbed me a hardcover copy of "On Basilisk Station" at a used book store today for $6.



The blurb for, "A beautiful friendship" confuses me. I read an earlier story written by Weber also titled, "A Beautiful Friendship" and it did not match the story written in the synopsis for this upcoming book at all, yet the lead character's name is exactly the same.

I am thinking this book is an expansion of that short story or at least more from that timeframe, perhaps a continuation so we can watch Stephanie's relationship with her treecat grow. I could not remember the name of the short story (I admit the new book title seemed familiar to me but it never occured to me that, that might be the short story title ). I am up for anything that provides more background on the treecats and a glimpse of HH's ancestors is alright with me also. The blurb at Bain Books tied it all together for me.

As far as Merlin changing sex, seemed like a natural extension of what the android body was all about. Certainly if you are going to use an android body to enjoy dangerous activities without endangering your life what could be more dangerous than trying on the other gender for awhile. Weber provides a spot or two of humor with that particular fact through the course of the series.

 

[Vertigo]

Moggle, I tend to agree with you on the sex changing bit. Whilst as Timba says he does have some fun with it occasionally in the stories, for the most part it is an unnecessary twist that I never felt achieved very much. Yes it was necessary for Merlin to be a male in the Safehold society, but was it necessary to make the original character female?

I almost wonder if for some strange reason Weber is a little "scared" of writing male POVs (there aren't really that many of them in his other books) and this twist allowed him to have a male POV but with female attitudes.

 

[Parson]

Moggle, I tend to agree with you on the sex changing bit. Whilst as Timba says he does have some fun with it occasionally in the stories, for the most part it is an unnecessary twist that I never felt achieved very much. Yes it was necessary for Merlin to be a male in the Safehold society, but was it necessary to make the original character female?

I almost wonder if for some strange reason Weber is a little "scared" of writing male POVs (there aren't really that many of them in his other books) and this twist allowed him to have a male POV but with female attitudes.

Hm! I'd always thought that one of the underlying reasons for this sex twist was that this would allow Merlin to come back as a woman as the years start mounting and Merlin continues to be unchanged in strength and ability. It is unlikely that anyone other than the inner circle would ever believe that the old Merlin and this "Guinevere?" would be the same person.

The idea of Weber being "scared" has never occurred to me. I would wager the real reason for so many female leads wavers between the fact that so many more books are bought by females then males, and the undeniably good press that comes from having a completely egalitarian society. (Something we in the Western Cultures feel is a deep need and truth. If he were trying to sell this work in large numbers in the Middle East or Far East it is likely Honor Harrington would be male, and Merlin would have been male from the beginning.)

 

[Vertigo]

Interesting take on it Parson and you may well be right! I must admit I have never been at all clear just how far he plans to tke the whole series. For example; I wonder if he eventually plans to take the battle back to the aliens?

 

[Timba]

Interesting take on it Parson and you may well be right! I must admit I have never been at all clear just how far he plans to tke the whole series. For example; I wonder if he eventually plans to take the battle back to the aliens?

I certainly hope he intends to take the battle on to the aliens, I do not see much point in trying to move the culture forward if that is not the longterm goal. As badly as the church needs to be reamed out and restored to some semblence of decency it would seem to me that could be done without pushing the technology limits and risking a bombardment, after all down through history it has been ideas that have been the most effective weapon of change, not weapons.

 

[Parson]

I certainly hope he intends to take the battle on to the aliens, I do not see much point in trying to move the culture forward if that is not the longterm goal. As badly as the church needs to be reamed out and restored to some semblence of decency it would seem to me that could be done without pushing the technology limits and risking a bombardment, after all down through history it has been ideas that have been the most effective weapon of change, not weapons.

Sigh! sadly Weber is on record as having no intention of bringing the battle back to the aliens. I can't begin to recollect where I read that, but I know I was well and truly bummed when I read that interview. But.... He also intended to have Honor die earlier in the HH series, and she lives on. So there is still reason to hope. (finger crossed!!)

 

[Vertigo]

To be fair he makes the point early on in the series that such a paranoid suppression of technology would no longer be necessary as they would have long since stopped searching for humanity. Also since ordinary (not tight beam style) radio communications is pretty much undetectable beyond around a light year it would be a very lucky alien to stumble on them. So it would be reasonably safe for the Safehold residents to begin developing higher technology without much fear of discovery.

Then you have to consider that the aliens thoroughly trashed humanity the first time around and they now have several centuries additional advance in technology whilst the humans have gone several centuries back. Even Merlin's high tech is no higher than at the time of the extermination by the aliens. So really it would be a little ridiculous to expect Safehold (a single planet) to be able to take on the aliens.

I guess he could do it but I think it would have to be a separate series set many hundreds of years further into the future for it to be even remotely plausible.

 

[Timba]

To be fair he makes the point early on in the series that such a paranoid suppression of technology would no longer be necessary as they would have long since stopped searching for humanity. Also since ordinary (not tight beam style) radio communications is pretty much undetectable beyond around a light year it would be a very lucky alien to stumble on them. So it would be reasonably safe for the Safehold residents to begin developing higher technology without much fear of discovery.

Then you have to consider that the aliens thoroughly trashed humanity the first time around and they now have several centuries additional advance in technology whilst the humans have gone several centuries back. Even Merlin's high tech is no higher than at the time of the extermination by the aliens. So really it would be a little ridiculous to expect Safehold (a single planet) to be able to take on the aliens.

I guess he could do it but I think it would have to be a separate series set many hundreds of years further into the future for it to be even remotely plausible.

Geez, I am bummed out. You make a good point about the technology although I thought the way Merlin was introducing concepts and letting the locals come up with ways of applying them had already produced some approaches he would not have thought of. It would seem to me that would be true throughout the process of dragging them to his technology level and I thought that might be the genesis for enough advancement to get us to where we need to go.

I would be fine with a very extended time line though and if he wants to do that in another series that would be just fine with me. I suppose I will adjust but somehow the undercurrent of eventually getting past the tech restrictions and kicking some alien butt added a bit of edge for me. Good thing I find the church so disgusting since that should provide enough need for righteous retaliation to keep me going.

 

[Parson]

Then you have to consider that the aliens thoroughly trashed humanity the first time around and they now have several centuries additional advance in technology whilst the humans have gone several centuries back. Even Merlin's high tech is no higher than at the time of the extermination by the aliens. So really it would be a little ridiculous to expect Safehold (a single planet) to be able to take on the aliens.

I guess he could do it but I think it would have to be a separate series set many hundreds of years further into the future for it to be even remotely plausible.

Of course one of the reasons the smallish earth confederation was able to make a dent in the Aliens in the first place was because there was no progress being made. It wouldn't be an unlikely scenario to find them maintaining the status quo even after an out of proportion response from a minor power.

First my prejudice: I much prefer space battles to sailing ships and cannon fire. Added to this: I like stories with sweeping sagas more than i like to follow a simple hero. So remember that as I say:

I always thought (before I read Weber's quote) that these first books would show the development of Safehold until they were able to defeat the interdict, and then we would jump some millenia into the future. It could be done and want it desperately to be done.

 

[Timba]

Of course one of the reasons the smallish earth confederation was able to make a dent in the Aliens in the first place was because there was no progress being made. It wouldn't be an unlikely scenario to find them maintaining the status quo even after an out of proportion response from a minor power.

First my prejudice: I much prefer space battles to sailing ships and cannon fire. Added to this: I like stories with sweeping sagas more than i like to follow a simple hero. So remember that as I say:

I always thought (before I read Weber's quote) that these first books would show the development of Safehold until they were able to defeat the interdict, and then we would jump some millenia into the future. It could be done and want it desperately to be done.

Yes Parson, it rings a bell that the aliens were a bit static and I agree that seems unlikely to have changed. After all, they won, no need to change our view on anything would be a pretty easy mindset to keep.

Consider me a passenger on the hope train, let the millenia pass and lets have an accounting for a nearly complete genocide.

 

[Timba]

Am in the midst of reading A Beautiful Friendship and as always I am enthralled with treecats. The book starts with the orginal short story and then grows it. To be honest since the short story chews up roughly a third of this book I am glad I picked up an e-book over at Baen for 6 bucks. I will be interested to hear others thoughts on this. Plan to dive into How Firm A Foundation as soon as I am through with this.

 

[Timba]

Well I am done with A Beautiful Friendship and I enjoyed it but it was too short and left me wanting more. I am hoping he decides to follow Stephanie a bit more, perhaps with additional short stories filling in some of the family history and genesis of man's partnership with tree cats.

I am now a bit more than half way through How Firm A Foundation and am really enjoying it. Weber has raised my hopes that the aliens will eventually be dealt with as he has Nimue Alban state that "Sooner or later, humanity is going to encounter them again. If we do that without knowing what's coming, it's highly unlikely we'll be fortunate enough to survive a second time." Hope springs eternal that we get the see the Gbaba get their just reward.

 

[Parson]

Well I am done with A Beautiful Friendship and I enjoyed it but it was too short and left me wanting more. I am hoping he decides to follow Stephanie a bit more, perhaps with additional short stories filling in some of the family history and genesis of man's partnership with tree cats.

I am now a bit more than half way through How Firm A Foundation and am really enjoying it. Weber has raised my hopes that the aliens will eventually be dealt with as he has Nimue Alban state that "Sooner or later, humanity is going to encounter them again. If we do that without knowing what's coming, it's highly unlikely we'll be fortunate enough to survive a second time." Hope springs eternal that we get the see the Gbaba get their just reward.

You're making me jealous. I am awaiting the delivery of both of these books. Probably not for another week or two --- free shipping you know. But hope for a real space war?! Yea!!!

 

[Timba]

You're making me jealous. I am awaiting the delivery of both of these books. Probably not for another week or two --- free shipping you know. But hope for a real space war?! Yea!!!

I switched over to e-books and have not looked back. Immediate delivery, easy storage and usually a bit better pricing. I highly recommend it.

 

[Parson]

Tempting.... Maybe I can buy my daughters Kindle for a seriously reduced rate. I have read a book (Campbell's last "Lost Fleet" installment) and found it quite nice. But I just have a hard time justifying the $130 it costs to save a buck or two over new, when used and even some older new are cheaper still.

But I suspect the day will come. Especially if E books go down to $5 range or so that they should be without the printing costs. (I'm not sure they are that much ecologically sounder. Paper after all is a renewal resource, and does not create plastic that will take eons to recycle.)

 

[Timba]

Tempting.... Maybe I can buy my daughters Kindle for a seriously reduced rate. I have read a book (Campbell's last "Lost Fleet" installment) and found it quite nice. But I just have a hard time justifying the $130 it costs to save a buck or two over new, when used and even some older new are cheaper still.

But I suspect the day will come. Especially if E books go down to $5 range or so that they should be without the printing costs. (I'm not sure they are that much ecologically sounder. Paper after all is a renewal resource, and does not create plastic that will take eons to recycle.)

I love Baen books for holding their e-books at $6.00 but I doubt others will follow.
I started with a Sony Reader back when my finances were flush and I liked it a lot and used it for years (the Baen site allows you to download in the format of your choice and they are not DRM protected so I did not have to buy strictly from Sony) and it handled multiple formats so was pretty good.

I have since had the good fortune to obtain an Android based tablet and for me this has been the best of both worlds. I have the software from B&N, Sony, Kindle, Kobo and a couple of generic readers on it. This allows me to shop around a bit and see if I can catch a deal at one place or the other. Right now I am looking at a Mercedes Lackey book that everyone wants $10.00 for but I took a little survey with Kobo and will be getting 20% off my next purchase so will probably get it there as these days every dollar counts. I also discovered Calibre software which allows me to reformat books to whatever I want as long as they are not DRM protected so that has helped me share books with my wife who is now using the Sony Reader.

What I really like about the tablet in addition to the software flexibility is the larger screen and the fact I can use it for other things, games, web browsing, catching my e-mail from my living room chair instead of heading to my home office, et cetera. It made the cost a little more tolerable and since my wife runs a business out of the home I was able to purchase it through the business as we thought it might provide a replacement to lugging a laptop around when I have to go to a clients site. That works out sometimes depending on what I need to do but does not always fill the bill. I expect tablets will become ever more powerful and that it will become my tool of choice for all needs.

I also think they are going to get cheaper with time although that may be wishful thinking. If I was buying today I would get the Nook Color because it has a lot of capability and the best tablet price but rumor says Amazon will be out with something this fall and they may price it at a loss and make their money on selling content, I am keeping an eye on that for sure.

I still love paper books but to be honest I am out of room and I just hate having to give them away or sell them at half-price books and then be talking books with someone and offer to loan a book to them only to remember that it is one of those I got rid of. The e-books have solved that for me, at least if they are not DRM protected.

I also like the fact I can go to the library without leaving my house and in MN where I live that is a huge factor for several months a year.

 

[Parson]

I had no idea that you could buy Baen e books on the Baen site for $6!! That's a wonderful thing to know. I need to become a more educated shopper. Amazon just said that the two Weber books are on the way. So next week.

(I'm in northern Iowa -- Minnesota is just a short hop away.)

 

[Vertigo]

I had no idea that you could buy Baen e books on the Baen site for $6!! That's a wonderful thing to know. I need to become a more educated shopper. Amazon just said that the two Weber books are on the way. So next week.

(I'm in northern Iowa -- Minnesota is just a short hop away.)

Parson, not only can you buy ebooks that cheaply on the Baen site (almost invariably cheaper than Amazon) but many ebooks from their catalog are available free as "tasters". For example On Basilisk Station, Honor of the Queen, Shadow of Saganami and Crown of slaves are all in their free ebook library. http://www.webscription.net/s-108-david-weber.aspx?CategoryFilterID=1&ManufacturerFilterID=0

However their printed books seem to retail at the same price as Amazon.

 

[Parson]

I'm flummoxed that I did not know this. I do have some CD versions of some of the later Honor Harrington books I bought in hard cover, but this is all good news -- I think. I'm contemplating the idea that anything available on the internet inevitably becomes free, and that being the death of publishing. I don't quite believe it, but there is likely some truth there nonetheless.