A Beautiful Friendship (novel)
Encyclopedia
A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber
, to be published in fall of 2011, is a young adult science fiction
novel set in the Honorverse
, and serves as a prequel to the main Honor Harrington
series, which takes place hundreds of years later in the fictional timeline.
It features Stephanie Harrington, an ancestor of the main character Honor Harrington who has been mentioned a number of times. The book is in fact based on a short story of the same name first published in 1998 as part of the anthology More Than Honor
.
, the Harrington family moves from the planet Meyerdahl to the newly founded Star Kingdom of Manticore
. Their eleven-year-old daughter, Stephanie, is unhappy with this change as their new home, the planet Sphinx, seems to have little to offer. However, she changes her mind when the hunt for an unknown force that keeps stealing celery
from the colonists' greenhouses leads her to an encounter with a new sentient species: a treecat, a six-limbed arboreal mammal going (unknown to Stephanie) by the name of Climbs Quickly. The two young beings instantly share a telepathic connection that future generations will come to call "bonding".
Soon, the two unlikely companions have to face off against a number of enemies, as the people of Sphinx begin to realize – sometimes unwillingly – that they will have to share their new home with another intelligent race that was here first.
The novel is split into two parts, the first of which, Unexpected Meetings, encompasses chapters 1 to 12 and is largely identical to the short story, adding only details like a number of dates. The second part, With Friends Like These..., tells an entirely new story taking place several months later.
David Weber
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
, to be published in fall of 2011, is a young adult science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel set in the Honorverse
Honorverse
The Honorverse refers to the military science fiction book series and sub-series created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. The series is set primarily after Honor Harrington's October 1, 3961, birth; although she is the protagonist in most of the stories, more recent entries make only...
, and serves as a prequel to the main Honor Harrington
Honor Harrington
Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington is a fictional character, the heroine of a series of military science fiction books set in the "Honorverse", written by David Weber and published by Baen Books....
series, which takes place hundreds of years later in the fictional timeline.
It features Stephanie Harrington, an ancestor of the main character Honor Harrington who has been mentioned a number of times. The book is in fact based on a short story of the same name first published in 1998 as part of the anthology More Than Honor
More Than Honor
More Than Honor, published in 1998, was the first anthology of stories set in the Honorverse.The book contains the following stories:"A Beautiful Friendship" by David Weber * An excerpt of More Than Honor is available for download or reading online at** The Baen Free Library .** The whole anthology...
.
Plot summary
In the early 37th century37th century
The 37th century of the anno Domini era will span from January 1, 3601–December 31, 3700 of the Gregorian calendar. It will be the seventh century of the 4th millennium.-Fiction:...
, the Harrington family moves from the planet Meyerdahl to the newly founded Star Kingdom of Manticore
Star Kingdom of Manticore
The Star Kingdom of Manticore , frequently referred to as Manticore or the Star Kingdom, is a fictional star-nation in the Honorverse series of military science fiction novels and short stories by David Weber and others, published by Baen Books.- Depiction :The Star Kingdom was founded in the...
. Their eleven-year-old daughter, Stephanie, is unhappy with this change as their new home, the planet Sphinx, seems to have little to offer. However, she changes her mind when the hunt for an unknown force that keeps stealing celery
Celery
Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...
from the colonists' greenhouses leads her to an encounter with a new sentient species: a treecat, a six-limbed arboreal mammal going (unknown to Stephanie) by the name of Climbs Quickly. The two young beings instantly share a telepathic connection that future generations will come to call "bonding".
Soon, the two unlikely companions have to face off against a number of enemies, as the people of Sphinx begin to realize – sometimes unwillingly – that they will have to share their new home with another intelligent race that was here first.
- Note: Another plot summary can be seen in the Teacher's Study Guide that Baen has produced.
Background
The short story "A Beautiful Friendship" was originally published in 1998, after Stephanie Harrington and her treecat Lionheart had already been mentioned in passing in the main series of novels.The novel is split into two parts, the first of which, Unexpected Meetings, encompasses chapters 1 to 12 and is largely identical to the short story, adding only details like a number of dates. The second part, With Friends Like These..., tells an entirely new story taking place several months later.
External links
- Beautiful Friendship at the Honorverse Wiki, an external wiki
- This topic in the DW Forum: http://forums.davidweber.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=219 mentions these related materials:
- A 16-page study guide for teachers: http://www.baen.com/ya_guides/beautifulfriendship_teachersguide.pdf
- An Interview of DW: http://www.baen.com/interviews/intweber2.asp.
- The Baen web page also has a Free Story (labeled as "Honorverse Tech Bu9") that is a "recording" of Stephanie Harrington for her friend, Maja Kerensky, (presumably) back on Meyerdahl. Included at the bottom of the Free Story are these three links:
-
-
- Sphinx Immigration Packet: http://www.baen.com/immigration-packet.html,
- SFS Biology Database: http://www.baen.com/biology-database.html and
- SFS Advisories: http://www.baen.com/sfs-advisories.html.
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