Honorverse Today

At the time of recording, this is the latest (and pretty recent) addition to the collection of anthologies within the Honorverse. David Weber and his co-authors have produced a work in this book that is powerful. Even though one of your hosts was under the weather when we recorded (as you’ll hear), we enjoyed what we read. We can’t wait to hear what you, our traveling companions thought as well.“ Challenges” is the eighth volume in the Worlds of Honor anthologies, published in November 2025. For those of you who aren’t caught up (at this point) with this latest of books, spoilers abound if you chose to listen before reading. You’ve been warned! This latest installment brings us another five short stories from a total of six authors: Marisa Wolf, Jane Lindskold, Jacob Holo, Thomas Pope, David Allen Butler, and of course, David Weber. As with the previous anthology, there are a few new faces mixed in with some true favorites!
The title comes from where this collection takes us: back to the earlier years of the Star Kingdom, to include the plague years, and therefore to some of the challenges that the Star Kingdom face.
An important note: David Weber uses the stories in this book to help fix some continuity issues that emerged over the many novels that have brought us the amazing Honorverse. There’s a note at the beginning of the book that explains this, so please don’t skip over it—what’s contained in this note is important.
As originally published by Baen, “Challenges” arrived as a 272-page hardcover in November 2025.
The first story in the book is One Controllable Step, by Marisa Wolf.
The constantly mutating virus that has hit Manticore hard has just been declared a plague and has jumped from Manticore to Sphynx. A team of scientists have arrived from Beowulf to do what they can to help turn things around before the young Star Kingdom fades into history with the possible deaths of all. We’ve heard about this plague many times over the years; this story gives us some of the details about the efforts to save lives and to save the Kingdom.
Your hosts gave this story three ‘thumbs-up”.
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The second story, Deadly Delusions was written by Jane Lindskold.
In this very cool story, we see some of the early work being done by the company BioNeering, specifically work being done by Dr. Mariel Ubel. The featured point of view for the story are retired Sheriff’s Deputy Arvin Erhart and a treecat named True Stalker, but there are a few other important character perspectives, too. All this is happening around the time young Stephanie Harrington is about 11 years old—around the age we first meet her and she bonds with her treecat.
We gave this story three “thumbs-up”, as well.
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The Great Condiment Caper was the third story, written by Jacob Holo, with Thomas Pope.
While we’re back in the early years of the Star Kingdom, we get the chance to check in on the young Ensign Edward “Eddie” Saganami. A freshly minted junior officer, he’s serving onboard Manticore’s first completely home built destroyer, the Ad Astra as an engineering officer. When a palate of precious cargo goes missing, young Ensign Saganami is given the responsibility to solve the crime. The story is light-hearted and fun, although contained within are some wonderful lessons about officership, and some of the little things that actually impact a crew’s morale in addition to the direct impact of a ship’s commander, XO and the other senior leaders onboard. In this case, the little thing at the center of the story: Dempsy’s Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce. For real!
Your hosts scored this one with another unanimous three “thumbs-up” as well!
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XO was the fourth story in the anthology, written by Daniel Allen Butler.
We find ourselves onboard the HMS Ulysses as a medical incident removes the ship’s captain from command, and the XO, Lieutenant Commander Ellen D’Orville finds herself in command while they take the captain to the nearest medical facility. Upon arrival, LCDR D’Orville learns she will remain in command, and take the ship and crew on its next mission to conduct an intelligence mission as a part of Operation Long Winter. They are to remain undetected as they operate in another star nation’s space. Enter Manpower and slavers operating in the same volume of space. At the heart of the problem is the matter of dealing with genetic slavers. Obligated to act against these slaver pirates, but also to remain silent, LCDR faces a very real moral dilemma as she has to decide to break silence (and violate her orders) to address the slave ship or remain silent and neglect the competing moral obligation to act against the slavers. Both are required by Manticoran law. No matter what she does, she’ll have done the right AND the wrong thing, both of which will always come with consequences.
No specific dates are given in the story, but we know that these events also happen during Operation Long Winter, presumably putting us in the same timeframe that Ensign Saganami was onboard the Ad Astra.
This incredible story received unanimous thumbs-up from your three hosts, with two of the three declaring this was their favorite story within the anthology.
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As with the previous anthology, the fifth and final story was written by the man himself, Mr. David Weber, titled Crystal Singer’s Song.
A very interesting story occurs from 1496 to 1551, when an SFS Ranger named Aldona is flying supplies to a remote location on newly developing Sphynx. She encounters severe weather and crash lands on an uncharted island as a result.Surviving the crash, she sets herself up to survive, hoping once the storms pass, she’ll be able to make contact with the rest of the world, or perhaps be found during a search and rescue mission. Time passes, the hope of rescue diminishes, and she names the island “Castaway Island”. She also meets her neighbors: a treecat clan that was previously displaced and effectively lost on the island and referred to as “The Lost Nest Clan”. While a bonding never occurs, this becomes what was possibly the first and longest, continuous contact between a human and a treecat clan. Keep in mind, (if memory serves) Stephanie Harrington was born in 1507, meaning at the time of her birth, Aldona had been stranded and in friendly contact with the Lost Nest Clan for 11 years. It was obviously a bit longer before young Stephanie makes first contact and bonds with Lionheart. What a story and cool piece of previously unknown treecat-human history.
The story ends on a bittersweet note. Aldona is never rescued and dies on Castaway Island, old and happy. The main story, however, is bracketed by a visit made by a treecat named Crystal Singer to Honor Harrington in 1926. The story we’ve read is the story Crystal Singer relays to Honor. Even better, the significance of the story is much bigger than just treecat-human history.Crystal Singer reveals who SFS Ranger Aldona was: Aldona Zivonik, Karl Zivonik’s (Stephanie’s husband’s) aunt.
The story garnered another three thumbs-up from your hosts!
The overall rating for the anthology was a 5 out of 5 from each of us. We also shared our thoughts about the new authors we haven’t seen contribute to the Honorverse before. Be sure to listen in to hear what we said, and be sure to let us know your thoughts as well.
Next time we’re going to discuss “House of Steel” by David Weber and Bureau Nine. House of Steel contains a short novel from the early days of the Star Kingdom. It focuses on a biography of Roger Wynton III, his ascension to the Throne of Manticore, how he prepares Elizabeth for her reign, as well as the early days of the war with the People's Republic of Haven. Also included in this volume is an Honorverse Companion that covers a great deal of detailed information to aid in the understanding of the universe we all enjoy and love.
Special note: This is JP. I mentioned during the show that I thought the US Space Force motto is “Ad Astra”.Nope! I goofed that up. It’s “Semper Supra”. I stand corrected and apologise to our US Space Force friends and fans out there!
We truly appreciate all of you who take the time to hear our thoughts about these books. More importantly, we appreciate you as participants in the adventure, at times contributing your thoughts on social media and comments to us. Please keep those likes and comments coming, and if you’re enjoying the podcast, it’s never too late to invite others to join us.
You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
Now, let’s be about it!

It wasn’t very long ago we discussed A New Clan and in what seems like no time at all, here we are talking about this newest addition to the Star Kingdom series: Friends Indeed. As we’ve become accustomed when we’re enjoying adventures in this story arc, this novel was written by David Weber and Jane Lindskold.
The adventures of young Stephanie Harrington continue as she strives to ensure proper recognition of what the treecats are: not just sentient, but a sapient species. Steph’s personal life continues to grow as well, as her relationship with and love for Karl finally becomes apparent. No surprise to us as readers, but we see the point when Stephanie seems to realize (or embrace) that Karl is special in her life. The same is true for Karl, too.
We also meet Duncan Harrington, a relative of Steph’s and a brilliant scientist who also has an interest in the treecats. While Stephanie and Duncan each find joy in each other’s fondness for the ‘cats, what comes as a surprise is when we learn Duncan works for the Alignment. What we’re left hanging with are all the unanswered questions about Duncan’s true motives, which part of the Alignment he works for, and whether he’s associated with the benign or malign Alignment, where within the “onion” does he fall. We trust we’ll know more about this in the future.
We rated Friends Indeed with a 4.5, a 4.5 and a 5 (out of 5), for an overall rating of 4.67.
As always, thank you for listening and big thanks to those of you who also take the time to like and follow us on social media, to comment on our posts or even reach out to us with a longer note. At the end of this show we truly enjoy when we can read your comments and questions. Please keep them coming!
The next time we gather with you all for the Honorverse Today podcast, we’ll discuss the latest anthology “Challenges” by David Weber along with other select authors. This is the eighth anthology in the set. Friends, please note at the time we’re reading and discussing “Challenges”, it’s still a very new book. Consider this a spoiler warning if you haven’t read it yet. Along those lines, please read it soon and as always, invite a friend to join us on the continuing adventure through the Honorverse!
You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.

Here we are at the end of the main series set of novels—sort of. You’ll certainly find this book listed that way by some fans, and that’s just fine. However you bin this book, it’s characterized as a stand-alone novel, but it does what we’ve seen others do previously in the Honorverse: it gives us new information and perspective on events we’ve already seen. It also sets the stage for what is referred to as the Expanded Honorverse. Your hosts have discussed this before to a limited extent, and in our interviews with him, Mr. Weber also gave us some detail on the way the Honorverse will move forward in the future. Toll of Honor seems to be a stage-setter or bridge from the Honorverse we know and love to what lies ahead.
Featured in this novel are the events revolving around Honor’s duel with Pavel Young. As painful as the events were that ultimately brought the duel about, we get some more color here and it didn’t come across as simply filler material. Along these lines there’s some important and very touching storytelling about a key event or two tied to when Honor officially becomes a Steadholder on Grayson. We also learn a good bit about how the relationship between Horrace Harkness and Iris Babcock begins. This was a lot of fun and a wonderful way to balance the heaviness of Honor’s duel.
Related to all this, there’s an author’s note at the end of the book that’s definitely worth the time to read, so please don’t hit the end of the last chapter and shut the book.
Your hosts rated “Toll of Honor” with a trio of 5s (out of 5), resulting in an overall rating of 5.
Next time we’re going to cover “Friends Indeed”, the fifth novel in the Star Kingdom series by David Weber and Jane Lindskold.
For first-time readers, please grab your copy, invite a friend, and join us again for our continuing voyage through the Honorverse!
You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
Now, let’s be about it!

We know we’ve been enjoying this Honorverse adventure for a while when we realize the book we’re discussing this time wasn’t published when we began the podcast. David Weber keeps writing and we’re happy to have more content to read, enjoy, and discuss with you, our co-adventurers! What Price Victory is the seventh book in the Worlds of Honor anthology and brings us five short stories written by six authors: Timothy Zahn, Thomas Pope, Jane Lindskold, Jan Kotouč, Joelle Presby and David Weber. We have some familiar faces and a few new folks, too.
What Price Victory is 320 pages (hardcover), published in February 2023.

The first story in the book is Traitor, by Timothy Zahn and Thomas Pope.
It takes place sometime around 1528 PD and focuses on events surrounding a significant challenge to Andermani Emperor Gustav. What initially appears to be quiet and professional concern that Gustav may not be fit to lead the Empire, as the concerned parties assemble, it becomes clear that the real intent is to stage a coup. Things get wild!
Your hosts gave this story three ‘thumbs-up”.

The second story, Deception of Gryphon was written by Jane Lindskoldt.
The last book we discussed was A New Clan which featured Stephanie Harrington and her friends. This short story brings us back to Stephanie and Karl shortly after the events in A New Clan, but now these two heroes are on Gryphon with Stephanie’s parents. While there, they find themselves involved in what initially looked like a suicide, but quickly questions surface about whether or not it may have been a murder. As a credentialed law enforcement officer, Karl gets involved along with Probationary Ranger Harrington and the story unfolds.
We gave this story three “thumbs-ups”, as well.

The Silesian Command was the third story, written by Jan Kotouč.
Now we find ourselves early in the days of what is usually called the Second Manticoran-Havenite War, probably in 1919 or 1920 PD. The Star Kingdom of Manticore is growing and we’re seeing some of the struggles of the war spilling over into Manticore’s efforts to manage new territory gained when the Silesian Confederacy was split between the Star Kingdom and the Andermani Empire. There’s intrigue, nuclear weapons, a rogue People’s Republic of Haven State Security officer, and pirates!
Your hosts scored this one with two “thumbs-up”, and a “neutral” vote.

If Wishes Were Space Cutters, written by Joelle Presby, was our fourth story.
Joelle takes us back to Grayson and a character named Noah Bedlam. This young man dreams of bigger things in the future, then finds himself with a new job helping to build a space station. He takes the job and leaves his mom (who he lives with) behind—hopefully the new work will pay him enough to improve both his and her standard of living. High drama ensues when space debris hits the ship (a cutter) he’s stationed on, causing critical damage. With the help of a new acquaintance, he works to stem the unfolding catastrophe and save many lives. As a result, he’s recommended to attend pilot training.
We struggled with this one, scoring it with a “neutral” vote and two “thumbs-down”.

The fifth and final story is written by the man himself, Mr. David Weber, titled First Victory.
The events in the story unfold across a significant period of time between March 1846 and December 1877 PD. Most of the story is at the front end of this window culminating with Honor’s birth, then there’s a leap forward to when she’s 17.
Lots of tension and love in this story. Tension that is the relationship between Jennifer (Allison’s mom) and Allison (Honor’s mom) is broken when Allison decides to marry Alfred. Even without the presence and support of Jennifer, the marriage of these two young doctors is a happy and prosperous one. Years later, Honor is born, and what may be the heart of the story emerges—the family ends up coming together. We won’t say how, but it’s pure storytelling gold. Then the leap forward in time happens and we see Honor with an acceptance to the Academy at Saganami Island, preparing for what begins the adventure we all know and love so well.
When the dust settled, this story received three “thumbs-up” from us. Whatever else we thought about the other stories in this volume, it ended strong with a great story from David!

Overall, we rated this whole seventh anthology volume with a 4.5, a 3.5 and a 4 (out of 5) for an overall rating of 4.
The next time we get together, we’re going back in time to discuss the novel Toll of Honor, which returns us to the events that lead to the culmination of the feud between Honor Harrington and Pavel Young. You’re not going to want to miss it!
I know we say it every podcast, but it’s because it’s true: we truly appreciate all of you who listen to our thoughts about these books. More importantly, we appreciate you as participants in the adventure, at times contributing your thoughts and comments to us. Please keep those likes and comments coming, and if you’re enjoying the podcast, be sure to tell others to join us.
You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
Now, let’s be about it!

It seems too soon, but we’re already talking about the fourth book in the Star Kingdom series: A New Clan, once again written by David Weber and Jane Lindskold. If there was a sassy tag line taken from the summary of the book, it’s “Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll! And Treecats!”
Published in June 2022, we’re hit with 420 pages full of fresh, new adventures in the Honorverse. As we mentioned in the podcast, there’s now also a fifth book in this series. We’ll certainly cover that when the time comes.
While our treecat friends are a key part of the story, here we’re following Stephanie and friends as they find themselves involved in uncovering the details behind what may be an illegal drug ring. Is this Forestry Service work? Not necessarily, but this well-written story comfortably explains how Probationary Ranger Harrington along with colleagues and friends find themselves involved in determining if a new drug in what is the beginning of common use has ties to a number of accidents involving other youths. Needless to say, things get messy and a little ugly, quickly. These “kids” are growing up!
After seeing the Rangers and Stephanie involved in significant wildfires previously, this is an interesting adventure as forestry work takes a side seat to more traditional law enforcement business in what is revealed to be a somewhat gray area. Like the others in this series, A New Clan is written with a young adult audience in mind, but still a good read for fans of any age. As always, we discuss our pros and cons with this novel from our perspective as Honorverse fans and hope you join right in with us.
We rated A New Clan with a 4, another 4 and a 3.5 (out of 5), for an overall rating of 3.8.
As always, thank you for listening and big thanks to those of you who also take the time to like and follow us on social media, to comment on our posts or even reach out to us with a longer note. At the end of this show we truly enjoy when we can read your comments and questions. Please keep them coming!
Next time on the Honorverse Today podcast, we’re turning our attention to Shadow of Freedom by David Weber. This book is the third novel in the Saganami Island sequence. We hope you grab it, read it, and find a friend to join us on the continuing adventure through the Honorverse!
You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
Now, let’s be about it!