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.

Wow, Weber hits the target.

I love strong female characters, and I've been in and out of the Honor Harrington books for ages. They are good, but I've always been left a bit ho-hum.

Something drew me towards this one, as I've always been interested in the back story of the tree-cats joining with the humans outlined in honor harrington, but without exposition.

This tale is as powerful and as emotive as, "The Host," by Stephenie Merry. Another story that shook me to my roots.

The beauty of the relationship between the tree-cat and the two leg, balanced against the risks of surviving on such a dangerous fantasy science-fiction world is a thrilling, wonderful ride. I listen a lot when I'm walking for exercise, one day I was so engrossed I did two extra (1 mile) laps:)

Khristine Hvam doesn't get in the way of the narrative, and just tells the story. As a result, the listener is focused on the drama, not the voice. In my book, that's a perfect reading. Nice Job.

I really love this book, I cannot wait till book two is released in late 2012.


brendan

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..

VERY ENTERTAINING

An excellent book to read in an afternoon. I'd highly recommend it. I've always enjoyed Weber's novels and he hasn't disappointed me this time. The reader is fabulous. My only complaint is when is the next in this series coming out. A definite read!

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.

Great Book

This is a very good book. Unlike the Safehold series there is almost no action, however even an action fan liek me enjoyed this book. The character development is astounding, even in the treecat's view. My only issue is that it is relatively shorter than the Safehold series, but I would still put it very high on my top 10 list. The choice for a narrator is also great, she was also able to pull of the male voices with enough definition that if the next spoken line was also a guy you could tell it was different person. I believe this series will be very close to Safehold in my favorite series list, and that alone is complement enough.

The start of a very good series

If you liked the Honnor Harrington series, you will love this new series. The stars have different names but this is Honor as a teenager when she first met the tree cats. Many of the names are different, but the crossover's are along the same story line. For example: she calls her cat "Stinker". If you haven't herd the Honnor Harrington series I believe most will still enjoy this very much as it is a stand alone series. I am looking forward to and am sure I will purchase the rest of the series as they come out.

A great listen that goes by too quickly

If you are not familiar with David Weber's work or Honnervers, this is a great place to start. I have to warn you, once your hooked you will be hook by the great writing and the wonderful plot lines of Honnervers and the story lines.

Painfully simplistic YA lit.

I recently listened to Fuzzy Nation by Scalzi. The subject matter is much the same--first contact with a lovable, sapient species faced with the potential predations of the sleazier elements in humankind. Scalzi managed to overcome my initial, strong resistance to the Ewok syndrome. He was scupulously careful about not violating his own descriptions of the problem of communicating with the new species. His dialogue was witty, entertaining, and believable. And even his villains had a certain amount of human ambiguity built into them. This book, on the other hand, had none of these strengths. Add to that the fact that a great deal of it is devoted to the very predictable and unimaginative preteen angst of a gifted, pristinely "good" 11-14 year old girl, and I was ready for the end long before the end.

I have read one of the Honor Harrington books and found it much better than this effort. This book might be great for a preteen girl (though I think either of my daughters would have been nearly as bored as I was), but unless you are adicted to cute or to re-examining the struggles of pre-adolescence, I would advise you to look elsewhere. Obviously I am in a distinct minority here, so you should probably take my opinion with a grain of salt.

A well-written introduction into the Honorverse

Where does A Beautiful Friendship rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would say that it ranks on the upper tier of my favorites.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Who else? Stephanie

What about Khristine Hvam’s performance did you like?

She did an impressive job of imitating a young girl.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, not cry, but occasionally it made me laugh or listen intently to a specific part. One interesting thing about audiobooks- there's no stopping them. So when a moving part comes along, you just have to listen carefully.

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth it, since I wanted to get a start in the Honorverse where it all began, and this book fulfilled that.

Great story, well done

David Webber does it again. Easy to listen to, takes you away to a good place.

Hexapod..from the Greek hexapoda meaning six-foot

If you could sum up A Beautiful Friendship in three words, what would they be?

three word sum up? intelligent cat-alien story

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

I found myself getting angry along with the main character at one point (which since I was out walking at the time meant I got some concerned looks but still. Never mind) when faced with a person who couldn't grasp the diference between pet and an intelligent creature.

Any additional comments?

David Weber appears to have a slight fixation on 6 limbed aliens based on reading this and the 4 book saga that starts with March up country (Prince Rodger books).That aside I really liked this book. It's not full of complicated scientific turms and ideas (or the sci-fi equivalent) so it's more accessible to people of a wider age range.The characters, both human and tree-cats, are well written and the places where the story takes you are easy to imagine. I think if you like animals and the struggle to overcome other peoples backward thinking in a story then this may just be the one for you. I'm certainly looking forward to listening to the second one!

wonderful start to a new-to-me series

My Thoughts:
I'm glad I stumbled upon this book because it was a good read! Compelling story telling quality, beautiful world building, and likeable characters. Even though the plot is pretty basic, it was a solid plot. Not one of those flaky plots that require the characters to be "too stupid to live" to create a dilemma. I hate those!! Anyway, several chapters into the book and I was buying the second and third books in this series already. I am only hoping that this "trilogy" would finish and not end up like Robert Jordan's never ending Wheel Of Time. **fingers crossed**

Another plus for this book is the narration. The words are clear. The voice quality is not grating to the ears. And Khristine Hvam's interpretation of the book is just right, in my way of thinking. Kudos!!

So why, 4.5 and not 5?... because this might be a good read, but not up to Ilona Andrews' standards. Or Carol Berg's Lighthouse dou's category. But still, that does not change the fact that this book is a very good read!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 4.5
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

It's always good to know the back story

Would you listen to A Beautiful Friendship again? Why?

Yes because I love being so wrapped up in the story that you feel that you are on the inside watching it as it happens.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It has to be Stephanie - the pure determination and intelligence of this girl is amazing plus I feel she has a good relationship with her parents - could do with a few friends mind you lol

What about Khristine Hvam’s performance did you like?

It was very good and the voices almost matched how I imagined them in my head

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

Yes but work and sleep kept getting in the way ....plus I wanted it to last for as long as I could.

Any additional comments?

I will be getting the other in the series. I feel this could be my new obsession