Wind Rider's Oath by David Weber

Wind Rider's Oath is the third book in a series on the life of one Bahzell Banahkson. In the first book, Bahzell is recruited by the War God (second in power on the side of good) to become one of his champions. Unfortunately for Bahzell, there hasn't been a hradini in several centuries. But, the war god never promised it would be easy.

Hradini are tall humanoids with fox-like ears. Although in ages past they were the most peaceful of people, now they suffer from a curse. The cures they call "the rage". Recruited by mages, they were tormented and twisted. With their berserker ability coupled with their amazing healing powers, they become the shock troops for the dark. Now they are universally feared and rightly so.

In The War God's Own, Bahzell had managed to stop a war by convincing Baron Tellian, leader of the Sothoii, to "surrender" to him, the War God's champion. Now, he has journeyed to the Sothoii Wind Plain to oversee the parole he granted to Tellian and his men, to represent the Order of Tomanak, the War God, and to be an ambassador for the hradani. What's more, the flying coursers of the Sothoii have accepted Bahzell as a wind rider-the first hradani wind rider in history. And since the wind riders are the elite of the elite among the Sothoii, Bahzell's ascension is as likely to stir resentment as respect. That combination of duties would have been enough to keep anyone busy-even a warrior prince like Bahzell-but additional complications are bubbling under the surface. The goddess Shigu, the Queen of Hell, is sowing dissension among the war maids of the Sothoii. The supporters of the deposed Sothoii noble who started the war are plotting to murder their new leige lord and frame Bahzell for the deed. Of course, those problems are all in a day's work for a champion of the War God. But what is Bahzell going to do about the fact that Baron Tellian's daughter, and heir to the realm, seems to be thinking that he is the only man-or hradani-for her?

If you'd like to read the first 12 chapters, go to Baen's free library.

Key words: David Weber, fantasy, fun, series, bahzell, exciting battle, swords, horses, wind riders.

Thud by Terry Pratchett

As with all 30 of his previous works set in Discworld, Thud! is a satirical look at society and what it means to live. With 30 previous books, I would suggest reading some of the previous books based on the Watch of Ankh-Morpork. Otherwise you'll be missing out on half the fun with all the insider jokes.

Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch admits he may not be the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer -- he might not even be a spoon. But he's dogged and honest and he'll be damned if he lets anyone disturb his city's always-tentative peace -- and that includes a rabble-rousing dwarf from the sticks (or deep beneath them) who's been stirring up big trouble on the eve of the anniversary of one of Discworld's most infamous historical events.

Centuries earlier, in a gods-forsaken hellhole called Koom Valley, a horde of trolls met a division of dwarfs in bloody combat. Though nobody's quite sure why they fought or who actually won, hundreds of years on each species still bears the cultural scars, and one views the other with simmering animosity and distrust. Lately, an influential dwarf, Grag Hamcrusher, has been fomenting unrest among Ankh-Morpork's more diminutive citizens with incendiary speeches. And it doesn't help matters when the pint-size provocateur is discovered beaten to death ... with a troll club lying conveniently nearby.

Vimes knows the well-being of his smoldering city depends on his ability to solve the Hamcrusher homicide without delay. (Vimes's secondmost-pressing responsibility, in fact, next to being home every evening at six sharp to read Where's My Cow? to Young Sam.) Whatever it takes to unstick this very sticky situation, Vimes will do it -- even tolerate having a vampire in the Watch. But there's more than one corpse waiting for him in the eerie, summoning darkness of the vast, labyrinthine mine network the dwarfs have been excavating in secret beneath Ankh-Morpork's streets. A deadly puzzle is pulling Sam Vimes deep into the muck and mire of superstition, hatred, and fear -- and perhaps all the way to Koom Valley itself.

The Honor of the Queen by David Weber

This time, the politicians have a new assignment for Honor. In order to combat the expanding People's Republic of Haven (the Peeps), Manticore has decided to work on establishing allies with the neighbors. So, Honor is charged with leading a squadron to Grayson, a planet with a very religious patriarchal society.

Once there, she's supposed to uphold "the honor of the Queen" by accompanying the envoy who happens to be her old mentor from school, Admiral Courvosier. By showing off their technological advances, Manticore hopes to entice Grayson into signing a mutual defense treaty. The Grayson's want to, not only because the Peeps are threatening, but their natural enemies from Masada are slso threatening. And the Faithful from Masada make Grayson's religious views seem downright open and inviting.

When bigots threaten to derail the mission, Honor decides that for the missions sake, she should absent herself for a few weeks. While she is away, however, Admiral Courvosier is killed in an attack from Masada. Overwhelmed by guilt over her mentor's death, surrounded by bigots who think serving in any armed forces is a man's job, threatened with an invasion by religious fanatics from Masada, ordered to leave Grayson by the next senior diplomat, what's Honor going to do?

David Weber's second in the Honor series (I review the first one here) broadens our horizons by taking a more in depth look at Honor's universe. As with the first book, the action is tense and thrilling. Also, this book is an improvement over the first book in it's character development for the good guys. But, having said that, the villains are still just caricatures. That changes in later books as Weber gets a chance to develop more realistic, more human, opposition%2

On Basilisk Station by David Weber

On Basilisk Station is the first book in a series about Honor Harrington.

She's a newly promoted captain about to be put in charge of her first cruiser in the Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN). She, and her empath treecat Nimitz, are excited to finally be where she has trained all these years to be.

Unfortunately, the cruiser in question has been gutted for refit by an experimental armament that, while it looks good on paper, is hardly practical. Political movement and one set of fleet manuevers later where the experiment fails, demoralizes her crew. And to make things worse, they are banished to an out of the way picket (Basilisk).

Her local superior, one Pavel Young, son of the Earl of North Hollow and scum of the universe, quickly abandons her and heads back home, leaving her in charge of a situation that is quickly getting out of hand. The People's Republic of Haven (Peeps), an ever expanding welfare nation, is looking to expand into Manticore's neigborhood. The local aborigines are revolting. And the only thing stopping them is one beat up, ancient cruiser led by our heroine, Honor.

David Weber set out to pay homage to Horatio Hornblower written by C. S. Forester (notice that even the initials are the same) and he did just that. Honor is a direct copy of Horatio, only in space. Honor, like Horatio before her, is an officer in a royal navy with stellar principles and a character defining sense of duty. She's honest, direct and able to get the most out of her crew even when her crew wants nothing to do with her.

While this book is not the best of the series, it serves as a greate introduction to the 'honorverse'. It's rules, physics, fleets, ships, propulsion, battles, and politics are explained in enough detail that you can then jump right into any other book set in Honor's universe. And, perhaps best of all, it's free! That's right. You can go read it right now at Baen's free library. But let me warn you now, if you like space battles, honorable characters set in a dishonorable world, greedy villains, and empath cats, you'll end up buying the whole series!

Key words: Honor Harrington, David Weber, light space opera, series, science fiction, space battles, navy, honor and integrity, leadership, exciting, heroine.