A Beautiful Friendship

Star Kingdom, Book 1

By: David Weber

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Stephanie Harrington had always expected to be a forest ranger on her homeworld of Meyerdahl until her parents relocated to the frontier planet of Sphinx in the far distant Star Kingdom of Manticore. It should have been the perfect new home - a virgin wilderness full of new species of every sort, just waiting to be discovered. But Sphinx is a far more dangerous place than ultra-civilized Meyerdahl, and Stephanie's explorations come to a sudden halt when her parents lay down the law: no trips into the bush without adult supervision!

Yet Stephanie is a young woman determined to make discoveries, and the biggest one of all awaits her: an intelligent alien species. The forest-dwelling treecats are small, cute, smart, and have a pronounced taste for celery. And they are also very, very deadly when they or their friends are threatened - as Stephanie discovers when she comes face-to-face with Sphinx's most lethal predator after a hang-gliding accident.

But her discoveries are only beginning, for the treecats are also telepathic and able to bond with certain humans, and Stephanie's find - and her first-of-its kind bond with the treecat Climbs Quickly - land both of them in a fresh torrent of danger. Galactic-sized wealth is at stake, and Stephanie and the treecats are squarely in the path of highly placed enemies determined to make sure the planet Sphinx remains entirely in human hands, even if that means the extermination of another thinking species.

Unfortunately for those enemies, the treecats have saved Stephanie Harrington's life. She owes them - and Stephanie is a young woman who stands by her friends. Which means things are about to get very interesting on Sphinx.

©2011 Words of Weber, Inc. (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Start of the Harrington Story!

Honor Harrington's Great, Great....Something Grandmother and The First Tree cat Adoption... How it all got started on Spinx! Good for kids and Adults who are fans of Honor, Manricore and all things Star Kingdom...

Another piece of the Honorverse Pie

Only one thing detracts from the otherwise great story that David Weber weaves here - and that is that the first chapter (more or less) also appears in one of the short story anthologies that is written within the Honorverse. This story has none of the 'space opera' type story lines other Honorverse books have, but that isn't a problem so much as it is something to be aware of. Its a great story of Stephanie Harrington and many background questions are answered within the Honorverse. This is a great read, but not one that would appeal to someone looking for military combat within Sci-Fi as so many of the other Honorverse books are known for.

Nice YA Science Fiction

Would you listen to A Beautiful Friendship again? Why?

Yes. I thought it was a really original story with good narration.

Which character – as performed by Khristine Hvam – was your favorite?

Stephanie Harrington, the protagonist. She was very believable as a character, and had interesting development.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Definitely, but I usually can't.

Good set up that wasn't quite taken far enough

This is Young Adult Sci Fi set on a frontier planet in the far future with a girl-meets-treecat first contact theme.

The split view from human to alien and back was well handled, the action scenes are dramatic and pack an emotional punch and the whole thing is carried along by the excellent performance from Khristine Hyam.

The book kept my attention and some scenes were very powerful but I don't think it fully delivered as a novel. I felt as though I'd had the first three or four episodes of the first season of a promising show and then the thing had been taken off air.

Still, I enjoyed the read and I've bought book two to see where David Weber takes his ideas and his characters

Awesome story

I have enjoyed this fun filled adventure of Stephen and how she met her tree cat.

A surprising delivery from a great author

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is an interesting book, unlike other offerings from David Weber, in that I don't think it was aimed at his usual audience. It appears as if he is trying to attract a young teen readership. I think he succeed. Its a book that I willing put on for young people for long trips.

Which scene was your favorite?

To describe a favourite scene would give away the book. I think that the book has too many favourite scenes to single one out.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I think the relationship between the main characters is the key behind the book, and any scene where they are learning about each other are brilliant.

A Beautiful Friendship!

Would you listen to A Beautiful Friendship again? Why?

Yes, this was a great story, and a joy to listen to.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was well written, and voice acting was really good.

Which scene was your favorite?

When rangers rushed in at the end to see that Stephanie Harrington already had the situation under control.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I recommend any fan of the Honor Harrington series to listen to this, because it helps to give a back story to tree cats that gets referenced to throughout the Honor Harrington series.

First Weber novel...WONT be the last!!!!

I originally purchased a hard back copy of this for my 11 year old daughter...knowing her taste in writers I knew it would be a good fit...I purchased it on audio so once she was done reading it she could listen to it--she enjoys re playing books-- I usually pre read or read books along with her so I know what she is reading and we talk about characters--I was not prepared to enjoy this book on the scale that I do...about 1/2 way thru I began resarching the author and currently have 2 of his Honor series in my wish list--now I am eagerly awaiting credit time! Highly recommended for kids and mom's too (thinking dad's might like it as well)

I think it only fair to share the one negative--there are some awkward pauses in the recording (editing I believe) that are long enough that I checked to make sure I had not drained my battery...it is not terrible by any means...that is why the performance received only 4 stars..

Loved, Loved This Book! (Tree Cats Rock!)

This story was great. It was fun and fast paced enough to keep my attention. Weber created characters that are about as realistic as possible given the sci-fi universe in which they dwell. They are internally consistent, well developed, and multidimensional. No flawless goody-two-shoes in the Star Kingdom … and that includes the tree cats! Having already read the Honor Harrington books I have wanted to know more about these endearing creatures. A Beautiful Friendship does a great job explaining the beginnings of the human/tree cat relationship.

It is possible that someone reading this before any of the Honor series might have some difficulty understanding this universe, but I doubt it. I am glad I read the Honor books first, but I suspect starting with this book would be just as satisfying.

All in all, this is a very entertaining book. The narrator was very good. She gave different voices to the characters without the accents being too intrusive. I really liked the way she portrayed the tree cats. I think there might have been a risk of the cats seeming like childish “animals.” However, she managed to avoid that and depict them as very small adults.

I can't wait for the next book in this series.

Well-written "Juvenile"

I bought this book for the simple reason that I buy everything that this author writes. I did not realize that this book, whose primary protagonist is a 13-14 year old female, would not carry the tale of the tree cats, introduced in the popular Honor Harrington series, to the time when they would be highly considered and accepted by the Manticorian Navy. With just one real evil villain, it does tell the story of how humans and tree cats first met with no sex and no bad-words included. This would be a good book for a scifi leaning preteen.