Review by DP

Probably best-known for his hard-scifi series starring Honor Harrington, David Weber is a classic science fiction writer of the old school. His stories investigate the ways in which humans are changed by the technology they invent and the new experiences, decisions and possibilities opened to them by the discovery of interstellar travel, artificial intelligence, time travel or non-human forms of life. Worlds of Weber is a new Subterranean Press collection of 9 previously-published short stories and novellas. The collection is a kind of appetizer sampler, representing not a particular culinary idea but the style of an entire restaurant. Weber fans may find this collection an ideal gateway drug for creating new fans, as almost every story included is only the first of a series or the germinating seed for a larger novel. It will be released in October of this year.

A triumvirate of stories (“A Beautiful Friendship,” “Miles to Go,” and “The Traitor”) focus on the partnership of man and the other, a partnership made possible by the forces of technology. In “Miles to Go” and “The Traitor,” Weber focuses on artificially intelligent, sentient war machines, built to protect planets and fight battles at speeds the human brain could not fathom. But with sentience comes emotions; as the machines bond with their human allies, they become capable of greater courage, and greater sacrifice, than either machine or creator had imagined. “A Beautiful Friendship” also explores the ability of emotion to inspire a bond as it tells the story of first contact between humans and treecats, a sentient, tree-dwelling alien species discovered in the Harrington universe.

“In the Navy,” “Sir George and the Dragon,” and “Sword Brother” exemplify Weber’s belief in the resourcefulness of human beings and the goodness of human culture, particularly male human beings and Western culture. “In the Navy” sees a small American town transported in time and place to Medieval Germany, while “Sir George and the Dragon,” an offshoot of David Drake’s universe in “Ranks of Bronze” and “Foreign Legions,” shows us the life of a group of medieval English soldiers captured by aliens on their way to France. In “Sword Brother,” Weber goes topical, as magic summons a burned-out military man (and his LAV-25) from Iraq to fight in a magical battle between Good and Evil. In all of these situations, the transported people eventually triumph through their adaptability, reinforcing or rediscovering their strongly-held values. “In the Navy” is a traditional paean to men who are too tough, too hard, too driven to fit in well in modern society; in the harshness of Weber’s medieval setting, these “manly” men flourish while others founder. “Sir George and the Dragon” is a story any good Anglophile will enjoy, as the stout English bowmen outsmart their morally crude, though technologically advanced, alien captor. And in “Sword Brother,” our hero joins with the forces of good, fights evil (in the form of icky bug-like creatures, deadly-but-hot women, and slimy-looking men) and comes to a realization about his moral purpose in Iraq.

“The Captain from Kirkbean” may be the most interesting story in the mix, because it is the least sfnal. The story includes both of Weber’s main themes: the resourcefulness of man’s spirit and the role of technology in shaping human experience, but it plays out these themes in a straight-up, O’Brien-esque Napoleonic sea-battle. There is science (since the story takes place entirely on a warship and the action hinges partially on the capabilities of the English and French ships), and it is certainly fiction, but in this case the unknown that is discovered is the unknown of the sea and the people who fight on her. The story and treatment are familiar, but placing the tale in an otherwise clearly sfnal anthology raises the question of what, exactly, we mean when we say “science fiction.”

Of the other stories, there is less to say. “Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington” introduces us to Honor Harrington at the beginning of her service and in all her glory; it’s a typical coming-of-age story as the plucky Harrington triumphs over harassment, discrimination, prejudice, and space-borne attackers on her first military cruise. “A Certain Talent” is a rogue’s tale and the tale of a rogue; one gets the feeling it was included in this anthology simply because it had no better fit anywhere else. Overall, the stories in this anthology are like the science-fiction equivalent of comfort food; familiar and safe, with no sharp corners or surprising tastes to cause discomfort or inspire questioning. In the Worlds of Weber, humanity has been good and will continue to be good, as long as men are brave and the bad guys are obvious.