The Service of the Sword

Worlds of Honor #4

By: David Weber, Jane Lindskold, Timothy Zahn, John Ringo, Victor Mitchell, Eric Flint

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Khristine Hvam, Allyson Johnson, L. J. Ganser

Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

Readers and listeners can't get enough of Honor Harrington and her world, and here David Weber is again, accompanied by some of the top science-fiction writers in the field - including John Ringo, Eric Flint, Timothy Zahn, and Weber himself - with new adventures of the best starship commander in the galaxy, and explorations of previously uncharted corners of her universe. It's a party - and you're invited!

©2003 David Weber, Jane Lindskold, Timothy Zahn, John Ringo, Victor Mitchell, Eric Flint (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Another great Honorverse book

I've enjoyed most of the short story compilation for the Honorverse series including this book.
1) Promised Land by Jane Lindskold. The Story of Michael Winston's snotty cruise reveals how he met Judith. Good back ground for later events in the main series.
2.) With One Stone by Timothy Zahn. This is a story with Honor as Captain of a heavy Cruiser Fearless on escort duty. Rafe Cardones is detached from Fearless to chase down a mystery ship. This is a free standing story but in the main Honor series she does do a lot of convoy escort work.
3) A Ship Named Francis by John Ringo-- I know this was suppose to be funny but I just could not stand it. To me it was a terrible story.
4) Let's Go to Prague by John Ringo. Mullins and Gonzalves are 2 members of covert insertion team working for ONI. This is also a stand alone story but gives back ground to the work of Admiral Patricia Givens spy program.
5) Fanatic by Eric Flint. Introduction into Victor Cachat who is a Peep spy and trouble shooter. Cachat plays big role in the later Honor books and in the sub series Wages of Sin.
6) The Service of the Sword by David Weber. A substantial story about Abigail Hearns' snotty cruise aboard RMS Gauntlet. Abigail is the first female Grayson to graduate for Saganami. She is mentored by Honor. Abigail goes on to star in "Shadow of Saganami". I really enjoyed the background provided by this story. I think I enjoyed this story the most in this book.
Can not get enough of Honor and her world.

I liked every story in this collection.

“PROMISED LAND” by Jane Lindskold
I read this story when it originally came out, and I recall that I liked it, but it was fairly grim. I wasn’t feeling like listening to anything grim this week, so I skipped it. However, it is the story of a girl who is kidnaped and enslaved by Masadans. Queen Elizabeth’s younger brother Michael gets in on the action here.

“WITH ONE STONE” by Timothy Zahn
On the Honerverse time line, this takes place between “On Basilisk Station” and “The Honor of the Queen”. Honor has been given command of a new starship to replace the one destroyed in “On Basilisk Station,” and she and her crew are being sent on anti-piracy duty in Silesian space. However, Honor isn’t the main character in this story. Rafe Cardones is. The story is well written. My rating: 4 stars

“A SHIP NAMED FRANCIS” by John Ringo and Victor Mitchell
This story is short. It is also horrifyingly funny. My Rating: 3.5 stars

“LET’S GO TO PRAGUE” by John Ringo
This is what happens when two hotshot secret agents make their vacation plans while under the influence. It is funny and well written. My rating: 3.5 stars

“FANATIC” by Eric Flint
As I was listening to this today, I kept thinking what a good writer Eric Flint is. I really like this story. It tells the story of Victor Cachat. For those who haven’t read all of the Honor books, Victor is a Havenite spy. But he isn’t working against the Manticorans in this story. He is sent to troubleshoot when an Imp Sec bigwig is murdered. I Really like this story. My rating: 5 stars

“THE SERVICE OF THE SWORD” by David Weber
This story is about Abigail Hearns. We first met her in “Ashes of Victory.” She was the first Grayson woman to enter military service. In this story, she is on her Midshipman’s cruise. The ship she is serving aboard gets into some trouble, and so does she. This story and “Fanatic” are two of my favorites among all the Worlds of Honor anthologies. My rating: 5 stars

Honor Harrington Universe Book 13

______________________PROMISED LAND_______________________________
A bit grim story about Prince Michael, Queen's Elizabeth younger brother,
which contradicts some other facts.
I rate 2.5


______________________WITH ONE STONE_______________________________
A little flashback to the time between first and second book,
the story is in category of background sound,
Sometimes you listen to it but you don't have to.


___________________A SHIP NAMED FRANCIS_____________________________
This masterpiece is a good recipe for relaxation.
You'll laugh until you cry
on 1 to 5 scale I rate 5.5


______________________LET’S GO TO PRAGUE_____________________________
You can also find some funny things in this story.
It was written by John Ringo, those who read his books
can make an educated decision whether to read or not.


___________________________FANATIC___________________________________
Victor Cachat a spy of PRH, finally understands that his duty lies not to the
government which changes every 15 minutes, but to the republic itself and it's People.
I rate 5.0

___________________THE SERVICE OF THE SWORD________________________
Written by the master himself
Midshipwoman cruise of the first female Grayson Officer
Midshipwoman Abigail Hearns " Miss Owens" daughter of
Stadtholder Owens one of the most modern "KEYS" of Grayson

The story is about her Midshipman cruise aboard the
Edward Saganami B-class heavy cruiser HMS Gauntlet
under the command of Captain Michael Oversteegen.

BTW Captain Michael Oversteegen is one of my favourite characters.

I rate it 5.0


NEXT BOOK IS "War of Honor"

Ladies and Gentlemen I want to point out that this is a breaking Point for the Universe,
after this book the Universe goes to second Light Speed, and I hope You Payed attention to the previous books.

Top 10 favorite Saga's & Series

David Weber - Honor Harrington series, is in my top 10 favorite series with authors like Patrick O'Brian - Aubrey/Maturin series, Clive Cussler - Dirk Pitt series, Tom Clancy - Jack Ryan series, Nathan Lowell - Ishmael Horatio Wang series, Christopher Nuttall - The Empire's Corps series/Ark Royal series, James A. Michener - Historical fiction like Chesapeake, and The Source, Alaska, Frank Herbert Dune Saga, Diana Gabaldon - Outlander series, Christina Moore - The Elm Creek Quilt series

Good to read other adventures of favorite characters

Two stories are a little stupid but the rest are excellent! Especially like Victor's story.

I always enjoy David Weber, Zahn, and Flint.

Service of the Sword was an enjoyable recording, Great for my many 2-3 hour business trips.

BEST IN HONORVERSE

This is without doubt the BEST book in the Honorverse series. Fantastic all the way....cover to cover!!!!!

Another terrific collection from the Weberverse

Overall I enjoyed every one of the short stories though my favorite would have to be the last one which holds the same name as the book. Since each story is read by a different person, the experience does differ but my favorites (Khristine Hvam and Allyson Johnson) as always, do a fantastic job. I recommend this book for any that enjoy exploring the Weberverse.

Great set of stories

As others have noted several of these fill in the blanks between books in the main storyline Maybe my sense of humor is warped a bit but where the one person couldn't find anything funny I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Unfortunately, in order to get the humor you Must be Very familiar with religious practices on Grayson. If not, skip the story, read all the Honor Harrington books and try again. The book is a delightful addition to my set. Unfortunately, I must be one of the few people that think that the female readers chosen to read have so far been major disappointments. With no exceptions they portray the women with insipid voices, use bad British accents, mutilate words that should have French pronunciation and ignore the German altogether. Since a large portion of the characters are speaking with accents, either they should do them right or not at all. Many of the male readers do their homework and get most of it right. Although, even one of them was tripped up with the French. Even so, it was better done than the treecat series.

As always brilliant.

Yet another fantastic compilation of stories to add to the ever expanding universe of Honor Harrington books. These short stories fill in the gaps between the main story lines in a way that really adds to the overall series tremendously.

A mixed bag but well worth it

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes with the exception of 2 of the stories "A Ship Named Francis" and "Let's Go To Prague" they let down an otherwise incredible short story collection

What did you like best about this story?

In The Service of the Sword was the best of the collection, with Promised Land coming a close second. Both were tightly plotted very involving stories that got me really involved with the main characters. Fanatic was also a very intriguing look at Victor Cachet from the outside.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Yes, yet again Allyson Johnson did her normal fantastic job

Could you see The Service of the Sword being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

not really

Any additional comments?

This is the 4th in the "Worlds of Honor" anthology series, and despite two lacklustre stories is one of the best, simply due to the strength of Promised Land, With One Stone, Fanatic and Serive of the Sword (the best story in the volume imo).