Changer of Worlds
(Worlds of Honor #3)

David Weber / Eric Flint

Riverdale: Baen, 2001. ISBN: 0-7434-3520-6. Pp. 469

Review © 2007 Branislav L. Slantchev

Four stories set in the Honorverse, three by Weber himself, and one by Eric Flint. Unlike many spin-offs designed to capitalize on a successful franchise (meaning stories that could have been set in any random universe and only end up as part of the series by virtue of using the "right" characters and referring to "proper" locations), these four actually mesh very well with the main line. They provide the necessary background to some events and expand upon others, and as such constitute a welcome addition to the Honorverse.

Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington (by David Weber) could easily be dismissed as an easily identifiable knock-off of the first Horatio Hornblower or even of the absolutely stunning Midshipman's Hope by Feintuch. In both of these related novels, the protagonist is a middy on the first "snotty" cruise and has to deal with (a) older and experienced officers who, after having initial doubts, recognize the potential in the young middy, (b) some incompetent offers who brutalize or at least try to squash the upstart, (c) a surprising engagement with the enemy that leaves all senior officers dead or disabled forcing the middy to take command, and (d) the middy acquitting himself or herself with high honor. All of these elements are present here, in what is the story of Honor's first space assignment on the War Maiden after finishing her coursework on Saganami Island. She gets to battle some Silesian pirates (or privateers, depending on view point) who use Manticore's increasing absorption with the growing threat by Haven to attempt some political musical chairs on their own. Fortunately, the story is quite well written and does provide the background to two important events in the main line. First, it explains her relationship with Captain Bachfisch (whose dismissal for cause we learn about in War of Honor, where he shows up as an Admiral running his own anti-piracy campaigns in Silesia) and shows why she is so hostile to Elvis Santino (whom we encounter, as an Admiral, in Echoes of Honor, just before he gives up the ghost).

Changer of Worlds (by David Weber) is an unusual story as it is entirely set on Sphinx, amid the treecats' Bright Water Clan, the clan that Nimitz comes from. Nimitz (Laughs Brightly) and Samantha (Golden Voice), the 'cat he discovered and mated with in Honor Among Enemies, visit the treecats' home world to discuss the implications of Manticore's war with Haven. In particular, the necessity of revealing their true intellect to the humans and the need for spreading to other worlds to avoid potential catastrophe if Sphinx gets destroyed by Haven. I did not quite care for this one, mostly because the 'cats look like someone's romantic vision of natives in pre-Columbian America. Some of the ideas just beggar belief: extremely intelligent 'cats who had to be introduced to knives by the Manties? And the startling and seemingly endless capacity for knowledge accumulation in the Memory Singers? All they use it for is to collect stories of each other? Not well thought out, I must say.

From the Highlands (by Eric Flint) is easily the best of the bunch. We have heard the events described here referenced numerous times in Crown of Slaves, among others. But these are the events that bring together the unlikely group comprised of the Gryphon highlander and ONI super-spy Anton Zilwicki, his daughter Helen, the fiercely anti-slave Manticoran aristocrat Catherine Montaigne, the Havenite super-spy Kevin Usher and his beautiful former pleasure-slave wife Ginny, the notorious terrorist Jeremy X and his Audubon Ballroom anti-slave organization, and the intense Havenite idealist Victor Cachat. In a complicated plot designed to cope with the fall-out of Haven's ex-Admiral Parnell who is coming to the Solarian League to testify about the existence of the prison planet Hell, the Havenite resident on Earth evolves a scheme to kill him. Since this is a rogue operation, he involves Mesa, who (stupidly) hire Scraggs, who (even more stupidly) kidnap Helen. As Anton is pursuing her rescue through his own means, Usher and Cachat team up to eliminate their chief. Top-notch writing and breathless pace make this a fun read. We also meet Berry, the future Queen of Torch. My only regret is that Victor seemed a bit too naive and a bit too slow in comparison to his efficient character we have come to expect.

Nightfall (by David Weber) was probably culled from the overly long Ashes of Victory. It deals entirely with the attempted coup by Havenite Admiral Esther McQueen in which she succeeds in killing Rob Pierre and almost makes it work before Oscar Saint-Just detonates the nuclear bomb concealed beneath the Octagon. It's non-stop action and confusion but the main attraction is not so much in this episode as in its fall-out: recall that Saint-Just would have Theisman take over Home Fleet, and it would be Theisman that would assassinate him and put Haven back on the track to prosperity... and renewed war with Manticore.

March 30, 2007