David Weber

For other people named David Weber, see David Weber (disambiguation).
David Weber

David and Sharon Weber at CONduit 17

David and Sharon Weber at CONduit 17
Born October 24, 1952
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation Novelist, short story author
Language English
Genre Science fiction (esp. military science fiction), fantasy, alternate history
Notable works Honor Harrington series, Safehold series
Website
www.davidweber.net

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

Writing career

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Weber began writing while in fifth grade.[1] 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 and M.A. in History.

His first published novels grew out of his work as a war game designer for the Task Force game Starfire.[2] Weber wrote short stories set in the Starfire universe for Task Force Games' Nexus magazine, and he wrote the Starfire novel Insurrection (1990) with Stephen White after Nexus was cancelled; this book was the first in a tetralogy that continued through their last collaboration, The Shiva Option (2002), which made The New York Times Best Seller List.[3]

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) and military science fiction with in-depth characterization.[4]

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.[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.[1] He has said he writes primarily in the evenings and at night.[5]

Weber has said he makes an effort to accept as many invitations to science fiction conferences and conventions as he can, because he finds the opportunities for direct feedback from readers which conventions offer is extremely useful. He makes a habit of Tuckerizing people from fandom, particularly in the Honor Harrington books (see, e.g., Jordin Kare).[5]

In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.[6]

Personal life

Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina, with their three children and "a passel of dogs".[2]

In a video interview (available on YouTube), he stated that he is a United Methodist lay preacher, and that 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.[7]

Weber belongs to the American Small Business Association, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America ("SFWA"), and the NRA.

Published works

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 state that the contents are freely distributable. The CDs have been mirrored on various sites.[8][9]

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).[10]

Honorverse

Works within the Honorverse fictional universe, derived from the Honor Harrington series

Honor Harrington series

This series follows Honor Harrington a young officer in the Manticoran space navy as she works her way up through the ranks. Throughout the series she encounters the many set-backs and road blocks that any underdog may face but with her extraordinary wits and determination she never lets anything get in her way of serving her queen and country to the fullest.

  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 (March 6, 2012) ISBN 1-4516-3806-6

Works related to the Honor Harrington series

Worlds of Honor anthologies
Novellas and short stories related to the Honor Harrington series. Edited by Weber.
Wages of Sin sub-series
Saganami sub-series
Young adult series
They focus on Stephanie Harrington and the discovery of treecats.
Companion
The Manticore Ascendant series

It includes a short story published in Beginnings, "A Call to Arms", and is intended to include at least three novels:[17]

Dahak series

War God series

Safehold series

The Safehold series

  1. Off Armageddon Reef (January 2007) ISBN 978-0-7653-1500-7
  2. By Schism Rent Asunder (July 2008) ISBN 978-0-7653-1501-4
  3. By Heresies Distressed (June 2009) ISBN 978-0-7653-1503-8
  4. A Mighty Fortress (April 2010) ISBN 978-0-7653-1505-2
  5. How Firm a Foundation (September 2011) ISBN 978-0-7653-2154-1
  6. Midst Toil and Tribulation[20] (September 2012) ISBN 978-0-7653-2155-8
  7. Like a Mighty Army (February 18, 2014) ISBN 9780765321565[21]
  8. Hell's Foundations Quiver (September 8, 2015[22])[23]

Fury series

Other novels

Collections

Shared universes

Bolo series

Works set in the Bolo fictional universe created by Keith Laumer

Collaborations

With Steve White
Starfire series (based on the Starfire games).
With John Ringo
Empire of Man series.
With Eric Flint
1632 series.
Multiverse series.
With Linda Evans:
With Joelle Presby:
Multi-author collections

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wilson, Alyse. "Interview". WildViolet.net.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Mission of Honor by David Weber". Baen Books.
  3. ↑ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  4. ↑ "Convergence". Convergence-Con. 2009.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Stephen Hunt (2002). "In Honor I gained them". SF Crowsnest.com. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection". Ulib.niu.edu.
  7. ↑ "Blackfive video interview with David Weber". Baen.
  8. ↑ BaenCD at The Fifth Imperium
  9. ↑ Text of all of the Baen CD-ROM labels
  10. ↑ Webscription.net
  11. ↑ Torch of Freedom
  12. ↑ Davidweber.net
  13. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Cauldron-Ghosts-Honor-Harrington-Slaves-ebook/dp/B00J1HNK3W/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396353212&sr=1-2&keywords=david+weber+honor+harrington+series
  14. ↑ "Interview with David Weber". Baen Books. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  15. ↑ "FAQs". Jane Lindskold. Archived from the original on July 2, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  16. ↑ "House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  17. ↑ http://forums.davidweber.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3552
  18. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Manticore-Ascendant/dp/1476736847/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406692871&sr=1-5&keywords=david+weber
  19. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476780846/ref=pe_340070_132548350_em_sim_3_ti
  20. ↑ http://www.davidweber.net/posts/390-6th-safehold-book-title.html DavidWeber.net, news archive, January 9, 2012
  21. ↑ "Like A Mighty Army". MacMillan Tor. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  22. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Hells-Foundations-Quiver-Safehold-David/dp/0765321874/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420385308&sr=1-4&keywords=david+weber
  23. ↑ Working on the next Safehold book, Hell's Foundations Quiver. Halfway there...lots more to cover. #amwriting, 9 April 2014
  24. ↑ Baencd.thefifthimperium.com
  25. ↑ http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=jringo
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 DavidWeber.net Progress report, David Weber (runsforcelery), 20 August 2014

External links

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