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Changer of Worlds | Rating | |
| A | |||
| David Weber | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Worlds of Honor | Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Royal Manticoran Navy, Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Havenite Republican Navy, On Basilisk Station, The Honor of the Queen, The Short Victorious War, Field of Dishonor, Flag in Exile, Honor Among Enemies, In Enemy Hands, Echoes of Honor, Ashes of Victory, War of Honor, At All Costs, More Than Honor, Worlds of Honor, Changer of Worlds, The Service of the Sword, Crown of Slaves, The Shadow of Saganami | ||
If the second anthology was a bit irrelevant and both began and ended on a poor note, Changer of Worlds is its polar opposite. Not only are the four short stories within - though "short" hardly applies for two of them - of excellent quality, but three of the have a direct bearing on other books.
Three of these tales are by Weber himself. In the first we see Honot Harrington as a mere midshipwoman, straight out of Saganami Island and on her first cruise on a real warship. The HMS War Maiden is headed into the pirate-riddled Silesian Confederacy, but it's more than pirates she faces. It's a wonderful tale, showing her a bit more uncertain of herself than we generally se her. We also get to see some of the people and events that influenced her, such as the ship's captain. The only thing really lacking is any doubt over whether she, at least, will survive her time onboard.
The titular story comes next, also by Weber. It's not as long, nor as immersive as the first, and there's no real climax. It is simply a debate among the treecats of Sphinx over their relationship to humanity and how it will influence their future. Some treecats think a change in humanity's perceptions of treecats will be beneficial, and others think it will bring ruin on their race. If the change is made, it is irrevocable. Which side will win out? I've liked all the stories told from treecats' perspectives, and this is no exception, but it is significantly lower key than previous treecat tales, not to mention the other stories in this anthology. The only real thing you actually learn from it is what Niven - Honor's treecat - is known by in his native tongue.
The third story is the only one here written by someone else, this time by Eric Flint. Anton Zilwicki is an Manticoran intelligence agent on Old Earth whose daughter has been kidnapped, and he'd do anything to get her back. "Anything" in this case doesn't meant turning double agent, though, it means going against his superors' orders and tracking her down himself - with the help of some notorious Solarian terrorists. Meanwhile, some Havenite agents aren't too pleased at the kidnapping, either, and are making their own plans to find and return the girl. All of which might be spoiled by Helen Zilwicki's own attempts to escapt. Not only is "From the Highlands" an exellent story in itself, it also introduces many of the key characters that later earn their own book in Crown of Slaves.
Next, and last, we return to Weber's style to read of the final confrontation between Oscar Saint-Just, head of Haven's State Security, and Esther McQueen, Secretary of War. One of them is going to die. The other will take control of the Republic. Who will it be? This particular story is extremely relevant to the Manticore-Haven war, but it gets only vague mentions in the other books. These pages alone make this anthology almost required reading for anyone who hopes to get the war's full story.
Every story in this volume was at least good. Several were excellent. I really can't praise it enough. If you like the Honorverse series, you really need to keep an eye out for this.
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