The Honorverse is a

military science fiction Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction and military fiction that depicts the use of science fiction technology, including spaceships and science fiction weapons, weapons, for military purposes and usually principal characters ...

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publ ...

, its two subseries, two

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

series, and anthologies created by

David Weber David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best-known of which is the Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His first nov ...

and published by

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

. They are centered on the space navy career of the principal

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

Honor Harrington. The books have made ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. The series began with '' On Basilisk Station'' in 1992.

Plot

The series follows Honor Harrington, military heroine and later, influential politician, during a time of extreme interstellar change and tension. Most of the more than 20 novels and

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

collections cover events between 4000 and 4022 AD with "PD" (Post-

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

) dating beginning with a dispersal to the stars from our sun ("Sol") in 2103 AD. The main series novels are set primarily in a timeline beginning 40 years after Harrington's birth on October 1, 3962 AD (1859 PD), and some short stories flesh out her earlier career. Additional novels and shorter fiction take place up to 350 years earlier, and still-earlier canon history is filled in between narratives and in appendices attached to the main novels and anthologies. The political makeup and history of the series frequently echoes actual history, particularly that of Europe in the last half of the second millennium. The series is consciously modeled on the

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and ...

series by

C. S. Forester Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27 August 1899 – 2 April 1966), known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal ...

, and its main character, like Horatio Hornblower, on a mix of Thomas Cochrane and

Admiral Lord Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

. Weber originally planned for Harrington to die in the fifth book. This was later changed to parallel Nelson by having her die at the peak of her career in the climactic Battle of Manticore in 1921 PD (4024 AD), then continue the series with her children as the main protagonists.Foreword to ''

Storm from the Shadows ''The Shadow of Saganami'' is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, published in 2004. Set in the Honorverse, it is the first in the ''Saganami Island'' series, spun off from the main Honor Harrington series. It debuted at No. ...

''. However, collaborating author

Eric Flint Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed on ' ...

intervened, asking for the invention of a mutual enemy for both the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven to oppose in a spy-and-counterspy spin-off sub-series the two contractually agreed to co-write, just as they have contracts to write in Flint's 1632 universe. This "rethink" and redesign caused Weber to move the series' internal chronology up by about 20 years and begat the '' Crown of Slaves'' novel, first in the "Crown of Slaves" sub-series based on a number of the short stories of the first four collections. In this scenario, proxies for Manticore and Haven oppose the same hidden enemy, the genetic slavers and powers behind the government and corporations of the planet of Mesa. Mesa is later revealed in ''Mission of Honor'' to be part of a secret cabal of about a dozen highly capable planets that are busily building a secret navy using advanced technologies at a secret planet and known to itself as the Mesan Alignment. The Mesan Alignment's navy has new technology and conducts a sneak attack on Manticore in 1922 PD during the twelfth mainline novel, ''

Mission of Honor ''Mission of Honor'' is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, published on June 22, 2010 by Baen Books. It is the twelfth novel set in the Honorverse in the main Honor Harrington series. Plot summary The book begins in Janua ...

''. The Mesans have a 600-year-old secret program to reinstitute purposeful genetic engineering of humans and break up the Solarian League, while taking down all opponents opposing such genetic engineering. This makes the staunchly anti-genetic-slavery star nations of Haven, Manticore, and various associates of the planet Beowulf primary targets of the Mesan Alignment. The "Crown of Slaves" sub-series books and last two mainline Honorverse novels detail the rising extent of this threat. As the two sub-series progress, albeit with somewhat-separate casts of characters, each is expected by Weber to carry the detailed storyline events particular to their astrographical region forward and tie together into an ongoing plotline concerning the massive and monolithic Solarian League, which foreshadowing in the most recent novels suggests is about to undergo severe disruption. The thirteenth mainline novel, ''

A Rising Thunder ''A Rising Thunder'' is a science fiction novel by American writer by David Weber, released on March 6, 2012 by Baen Books. It is the thirteenth novel set in the Honorverse in the main Honor Harrington series. The novel was originally split int ...

'', ties together events in both sub-series and synchronizes the timeline of each sub-series with Honor Harrington's mainline novels. This book confirms the Solarian League is officially now the new Mesan cat's paw, effectively at war with both the Star Empire of Manticore and the Republic of Haven, as it has been manipulated into error after error by the operatives of the Mesan Alignment.

Setting

Among a handful of anthologies, the thirteen Honor-centered novels, and two subordinate sub-series starring some different characters, the universe first explored in '' On Basilisk Station'' has a

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

l historical background for the backstory storyline, in which mankind, over almost two millennia, migrated to systems beyond the Sol system, first in slower-than-light starships, then by increasingly efficient and effective hyperspace drive-propulsion systems. Early daughter colonies also spawned colonies, forming regional networks of related populations. With travel limited to slower-than-light speeds, any marginally habitable nearby planet was of interest, and Earth's scientists went through a period in which they regularly genetically modified the

human genome The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as the DNA within each of the 23 distinct chromosomes in the cell nucleus. A small DNA molecule is found within individual Mitochondrial DNA, mitochondria. These ar ...

for survival positive adaptations to marginal environments, such as heavy gravity, thin atmosphere, thick atmospheres, or toxic environments (e.g. Grayson). Some corporate entities also began breeding for super soldiers and superior intellects, good looks, sexual prowess, etc., or mixes of such traits, practices that led to a horrific "Final War" on Old Earth. Long-established and advanced daughter colonies like Beowulf mounted a variety of rescue missions and initiated a thousand-year effort to clean up the Earth gene pool. For a time, the cultural centre moved off the Earth as it took about 500 years for the planetary economy to recover its pre-eminence within its shell of highly populated, highly developed planets. Located in the center of the spherical Solarian League, Earth's Old Chicago eventually re-emerged as the nominal League Capital. By the Gregorian calendar currently in use, the Honorverse novels are dated beginning with year 2103 A.D.—the epoch date of the Diaspora's beginning. The FTL

hyperspace In science fiction, hyperspace (also known as nulspace, subspace, overspace, jumpspace and similar terms) is a concept relating to higher dimensions as well as parallel universes and a faster-than-light (FTL) method of interstellar travel ...

propulsion system in the stories is around 600 years old at the time period in which the novels are placed. This technology uses the ability to "sail" along a vast network of "gravity waves" on different successively higher hyperbands, each higher band giving a more-efficient speed multiplier but requiring more powerful (therefore bulkier and more expensive) engines to reach; the higher bands significantly shortening transit times on a given gravity wave for a given base speed, which is limited by particle densities and radiation shielding as Newtonian speeds increase. Analogous to prevailing

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

creating certain favoured sea routes on Earth, the relatively static fixed gravity waves form favoured travel paths. A lack of gravity waves in some regions means that they must be plodded across by relatively slower means. These favorite routes and desert crossing points are susceptible to illegitimate exploitation by pirates and commerce-raiding warships, both interested in preying on the rich pickings of the interstellar merchant cargo ships that carry upwards of 2–7 million

metric ton The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the sh ...

nes of cargo. Within each hyperband, ships have a local speed limited by particle densities that, at high relative speeds, become

cosmic radiation Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Sol ...

. Better physical shielding or a better particle shield generator enables faster speeds within the band, on which base speed, multiplied by that band's multiplier, results in shorter journey times. Merchant ships have immense size and thin walls with virtually no physical shielding, as well as cheaper, relatively weak particle shield generators and hyper generators. Commercial carriers, like sailing ships and freight trains of Old Earth, trade off journey time by increased size and volume carried, so as to keep shipping costs economical. Military vessels, having no profit motive and already physically shielded, also carry better particle shield generators and can attain much faster interstellar voyage times both within a band, and because their better protections enables them to enter higher hyperbands with higher local particle counts, but higher speed multipliers. The interaction of gravity effects also manifest in much rarer, generally widely scattered

wormhole A wormhole is a hypothetical structure that connects disparate points in spacetime. It can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime (i.e., different locations, different points in time, or both). Wormholes are base ...

s, through which hyperdrive equipped ships can travel virtually instantaneously between the wormhole's end points. In some systems, several of these wormholes are found to be co-located forming an irresistible trading nexus, perhaps because their ends have some mathematical affinity: they occur with entrances relatively close together in very small spatial volumes. The greatest known aggregation of these co-located "Junctions" or Terminus Loci occurs in the Manticore

binary star system A binary star or binary star system is a Star system, system of two stars that are gravity, gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved ...

, whose wormholes connect the wormhole junction to six (later seven) other star systems, giving the Manticore system an astrographic position to be coveted, and an immense revenue stream from transit tolls, manufacturing and trade, and a large carrying trade. In the stories, no means of faster-than-light interstellar communications exists. Messages between star systems must be physically carried by starships. Even using the fastest ships available as couriers, this communications "lag" between worlds has many consequences, greatly increasing the responsibility placed upon starship captains and senior military commanders far from home, complicating the coordination of military campaigns, and allowing a single accident or attack to render a planet incommunicado. The stories include numerous dependent and independent polities and several major star nations including two giant aggregations of many planets, Haven and the Solarian League. Protagonist

Honor Harrington The Honorverse is a military science fiction book series, its two Spin-off (media), subseries, two prequel series, and anthologies created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. They are centered on the space navy career of the principal p ...

is a citizen of the Star Kingdom of Manticore which is, during the first 20 or so works of the series, the key rival and the main stellar protagonist against the star-conquering (People's) Republic of Haven; these two nations are consciously based on Imperial Britain and Napoleonic France, although Haven also seems to be influenced by the former Soviet Union. The first books deal with a universe of escalating tensions and military incidents until war breaks out in the third novel and lasts until the formal peace in ''

'', the thirteenth mainline novel. Each star nation suffers horrendous losses at the end of the eleventh novel, '' At All Costs'', during the Battle of Manticore, when Haven makes an all-out bid to conquer the Star Kingdom before general deployment of a feared 'super weapon'. In the anthologies, Eric Flint and Weber wrote stories that birthed the first sub-series, resulting in the novels '' Crown of Slaves'' and '' Torch of Freedom.'' The sub-series introduced some far-more dangerous adversaries, the interstellar corporations of Mesa: Manpower Unlimited, Jessyk Combine, and others. This group was then revealed to be part of the even more dangerous and hidden secret adversaries of the shadowy Mesan Alignment. The Alignment included corrupted leaders of Solarian Core worlds promoting the destruction of the old order. Mesan puppet masters are revealed to be pulling the strings of corrupt Solarian League bureaucrats and admirals in both the sub-series and the main series. Enormously ambitious, the Alignment plans the overthrow of the Solarian League, and the complete destruction of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, Haven, Beowulf, and all of those polities' historic allies. Disruptive technological advances have been few in the Honorverse for most of the 500 years leading up to the series; as the series opens, that technological stagnation has led to a similar stagnation in both

military strategy Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired Strategic goal (military), strategic goals. Derived from the Greek language, Greek word ''strategos'', the term strategy, when first used during the 18th ...

and

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics In chess, a tac ...

. During the course of the book series, both forms of stagnation (technological and military) are brought to a violent end by developments stemming from the Havenite/Manticoran Wars, which give both Haven and Manticore a substantial technological advantage over the Solarian League by the time of the most recently published books of the series.

Concept and creation

didn't set out to create a female protagonist; "it was the way the character came to me," Weber explains. "I didn't set out to do it because I thought that it was especially politically sensitive on my part or because I thought it was likely to strike a chord with female readership or be a financial success. It was just the way that the character first presented herself." Weber doesn't find writing a female character particularly challenging, because, he says, "I'm writing about a human being who happens to be female." When he first started writing, he had developed her entire back story before he started the first book. However, since he knew from the beginning that these books would become a series, he deliberately set Honor up as a character who changes and grows. One example Weber offers is that in '' The Short Victorious War'', Honor off-handedly refers to her genetically enhanced metabolism, which isn't fully explored until '' In Enemy Hands'': "It was one of those little things that I knew about or that I was holding in reserve," Weber says. The first name of his character—Honor—had come to Weber long before the last name did. Weber knew that if the Honor novels worked, she was inevitably going to be compared to

, so he saw to it that she had the same initials. He said, "There are certainly, clearly, similarities between the two. There are also huge differences. And Honor has never been as neurotic as Hornblower was. Hornblower always carried a massive sense of inferiority around with him. Honor never did." Weber also feels that in the later books in the series, she has more in common with Admiral Horatio Nelson than Hornblower. Weber revealed in the foreword to ''

'' that it had originally been his intent to kill her off in the Battle of Manticore, thus further echoing Nelson's death (in his greatest battle,

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England Trafalgar may also refer to: Places * Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...

) and have the emerging Mesa problem be dealt with by the next generation, specifically her children. When writing '' At All Costs'', he decided instead to keep her alive, and move the Mesan-related events up, to be her problem.

Publication

Many of Weber's books are available at the

Baen Free Library The Baen Free Library is a digital library of the science fiction and fantasy publishing house Baen Books where 61 e-books as of June 2016 (112 e-books as of December 2008) can be downloaded free in a number of formats, without copy protection. It ...

; chapters of some texts are otherwise available online. The first-edition hardcover releases of ''War of Honor'', ''At All Costs'', ''Torch of Freedom'', and ''Mission of Honor'' contained a CD with copies of most of Weber's published books at the time, labeled for free redistribution.

''Honor Harrington'' series

# '' On Basilisk Station'' (April 1992) / HH1 # '' The Honor of the Queen'' (June 1993) / HH2 # '' The Short Victorious War'' (April 1994) / HH3 # '' Field of Dishonor'' (December 1994) / HH4 # '' Flag in Exile'' (September 1995) / HH5 # '' Honor Among Enemies'' (February 1996) / HH6 # '' In Enemy Hands'' (July 1997) / HH7 # '' Echoes of Honor'' (October 1998) / HH8 # '' Ashes of Victory'' (March 2000) / HH9 # '' War of Honor'' (October 2002) / HH10 # '' At All Costs'' (November 2005) / HH11 # ''

'' (June 2010) / HH12 # ''

'' (March 2012) / HH13 # '' Uncompromising Honor'' (October 2018) / HH14 The Honor Harrington series has been produced several times in

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

format, at first in cassette (90 min) format by

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, narrated by Madelyn Buzzard (books 1–10), later by Audible Frontiers beginning in 2009, narrated by Allyson Johnson.

Spin-offs

The Honorverse is a tightly plotted, highly organized invention that was designed with a specific overarching storyline. Its storyline has shifted from the original plan to include new enemies, and did not result in the battle death of heroine Honor Harrington, as was planned originally for book five, and then later for book eleven. The series' canon is maintained solely by its creator, who acts as editor of the works in the universe by other collaborating authors. Like some of the strategy employed by co-author

in his

1632 series The ''1632'' series, also known as the 1632-verse or ''Ring of Fire'' series, is an alternate history book series and Spin-off (media), sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by American author Eric Flint and published by Ba ...

, the series has, starting with '' War of Honor'', begun incorporating a broader viewpoint from more than one central character, many of whom, like in the 1632 series, appeared in other series works as supporting characters. Stories in the Worlds of Honor collections directly lead to events and character stars of the ''Crown of Slaves'' (CoS) sub-series, whereas the ''Shadow of Saganami''s star cast and some of the characters of the CoS derive directly from the mainline novels. Both contain purposely invented new protagonist characters as well. Weber deliberately has synchronized events in the mainline series with the tellings of local knowledge and vice versa in both sub-series. In other words, the broad front on which he is now telling the overall story is geographically distinct, but synchronized in his timeline: events in one quadrant will affect life and events in the related narratives centred on other main characters. Short fiction in the series serves as deep backstory or, like the short stories centred directly on Honor Harrington, exposes episodes of her earlier career in much the same way C. S. Forester revealed the not-yet-in-command life of the young Horatio Hornblower. Some of the more important of these tales reveal a greater knowledge of Sphinx's native species, letting the reader in on knowledge not known even to the Honorverse occupants. Among these tales are the revealed history of how treecats and humans first bonded, how the treecats protected and bonded with the royal family, and other treecat tales of greater or lesser importance, such as how the treecat society decided to migrate to the stars. Other short stories expose points of view and life problems from places around the larger universe. Some offer insights to life behind enemy lines in the view of its citizens and their experience, or that of a protagonist in the Verge, or in the Solarian League.

''Worlds of Honor'' anthologies

Stories and essays by David Weber, along with other writers invited by him to participate. The stories may either precede or be concurrent with the main Honor Harrington series. # '' More Than Honor'' (January 1998) / HHA1—three stories by authors David Weber,

David Drake David A. Drake (September 24, 1945 – December 10, 2023) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran, he worked as a lawyer before becoming a writer in the military science fiction genre. Biography ...

, and S. M. Stirling plus a Honorverse background history, and including the story in which treecats and some of their characteristics first come to human knowledge. # '' Worlds of Honor'' (February 1999) / HHA2—five stories by authors David Weber (two stories),

Linda Evans Linda Evans (born Linda Evenstad; November 18, 1942) is a retired American actress known primarily for her roles on television. In the 1960s, she played Audra Barkley, the daughter of Victoria Barkley (played by Barbara Stanwyck), in the Wes ...

Jane Lindskold Jane M. Lindskold (born September 15, 1962) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short story, short stories and novels. Early life Jane M. Lindskold was born on 15 September 1962, and grew up in Washington, D.C., and the Chesap ...

and Roland J. Green. # '' Changer of Worlds'' (March 2001) / HHA3—four stories by authors David Weber (three stories) and

. The short novel ''Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington'' is built around the Honorverse's eponymous character. # '' The Service of the Sword'' (April 2003) / HHA4—six stories by authors David Weber, Jane Lindskold,

Timothy Zahn Timothy Zahn (born 1951) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He is known best for his prolific collection of ''Star Wars'' List of Star Wars books, books, chiefly the Thrawn trilogy, ''Thrawn'' trilogy, and has published several ...

John Ringo John Ringo (born March 22, 1963) is an American science fiction and military fiction author. He has had several ''New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York ...

, and Eric Flint; one by John Ringo and Victor Mitchell jointly. Originally to have been titled ''In Fire Forged''—a title that was re-used for a different book in 2011. # '' In Fire Forged'' (February 2011) / HHA5 # ''

Beginnings Beginnings may refer to: Literature * ''Beginnings'' (collection), a 1988 collection of short stories and poems by Gordon R. Dickson * ''Beginnings'' (Honorverse), a 2013 collection of short stories in the Worlds of Honor series * ''Beginnings ...

'' (July 2013) / HHA6 # '' What Price Victory?'' (February 2023) / HHA7—stories by Timothy Zahn & Thomas Pope, Jane Lindskold, Jan Kotouč, Joelle Presby and David Weber # '' Challenges (Honorverse)'' (2025)

''Crown of Slaves'' series

The story of agents Anton Zilwicki (Manticore) and Victor Cachat (Haven) and their strange alliance to uncover the dark power that manipulated their two nations into war, and put an end to the true enemy's plans. This series is concurrent with the main Honor Harrington series. # ''From the Highlands'' (short novel in ''Changer of Worlds'') by

—introduces the main characters of the series. # ''Fanatic'' (

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

in ''The Service of the Sword'') by

—furthers the character of Victor Cachat. # '' Crown of Slaves'' (September 2003) / CS1; with

—the two character groups introduced in '' From the Highlands'' re-encounter each other at a state funeral in Erewhon. High-level international politics and spy-craft ensue. # '' Torch of Freedom'' (November 2009) / CS2; with

—Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki, the universe's two top spies, work together to undertake a dangerous mission to the heart of Mesa, home of the evil corporation Manpower Unlimited, to gather information that may end the second war between their respective governments, Haven and Manticore. # ''Cauldron of Ghosts'' (eBook March 15, 2014, hardcover April 8, 2014) / CS3; with

—Zilwicki and Cachat return to Mesa—only to discover that even they have underestimated the Alignment's ruthlessness and savagery. # ''To End in Fire'' (October 5, 2021) / CS4; with

—Agents of the Grand Alliance join forces with Solarians to uncover the vast interstellar conspiracy operating against them.

''Shadow'' series

The story of Admiral Michelle Henke and several graduates of Saganami Island when the Star Kingdom annexes the Talbott Cluster to become the Star Empire. (Also referred to as the Saganami Island series.) This series is concurrent with the main Honor Harrington series. # '' The Shadow of Saganami'' (October 2004) / SI1: The novel is primarily set in the remote Talbott Cluster, connected to Manticore via a newly discovered junction terminus, and includes characters already introduced in other works, such as Helen Zilwicki and Abigail Hearns, as well as brief appearances by many others. # ''

'' (March 2009) / SI2: The novel continues the events in the Talbott Cluster (now Quadrant), and centers around Honor Harrington's best friend Admiral Michelle Henke and characters from the original book of the series. The events of the book include the results of Talbott government's signing its constitution and becoming part of the Star Empire of Manticore. The shadow conflict between Mesa and Manticore heats up as more Mesa-orchestrated incidents accrue to bring about war between Manticore and the Solarian League. # ''Shadow of Freedom'' (March 2013) , / SI3: The novel continues the events in the Talbott Quadrant as the conflict with the Solarian League turns to outright war. Attacks on Manticoran shipping by Frontier Security and continued manipulation by the Mesan Alignment spur Admiral Henke to first react, then adopt a policy of offensive (versus defensive) operations. This culminates in Manticore's first offensive victory of the war, the previous Manticoran victories having been defensive in nature. # ''Shadow of Victory'' (November 1, 2016) / SI4

''The Star Kingdom'' series

This series features Stephanie Harrington, Honor Harrington's distant ancestor, and the first human to be adopted by a treecat. This series precedes the main Honor Harrington series. # '' A Beautiful Friendship'' (October 2011) / SK1 # '' Fire Season'' (October 15, 2012) by David Weber and

/ SK2 # ''Treecat Wars'' (October 1, 2013) by David Weber and Jane Lindskold / SK3 # ''A New Clan'' (June 7, 2022) by David Weber and Jane Lindskold / SK4 # ''Friends Indeed'' (March 4, 2025) by David Weber and Jane Lindskold / SK5

''Manticore Ascendant'' series

This series, which begins eleven years after the first book in ''The Star Kingdom'' series, features Travis Uriah Long, an enlisted Navy man and later an officer, and is centered on the small Manticoran Navy of that time. This series precedes the main Honor Harrington series. # ''A Call to Duty'' (September 15, 2014) by David Weber and

. / MA1 # ''A Call to Arms'' (October 6, 2015) by David Weber and Timothy Zahn with Thomas Pope. / MA2 It is expanded from the short story of the same name originally published in the ''

'' anthology. # ''A Call to Vengeance'' (March 7, 2018) by David Weber and Timothy Zahn with Thomas Pope. / MA3 # ''A Call to Insurrection'' (February 1, 2022) by David Weber and Timothy Zahn with Thomas Pope. / MA4 ''A Call to Insurrection'' won the 2022

Dragon Awards The Dragon Awards are a set of literary and media awards voted on by fandom and presented annually since 2016 by Dragon Con for excellence in various categories of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in various media — novels, movies, telev ...

in the Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel category.

''Expanded Honor'' series

This series only has one published novel as of 2024, but based on publisher Simon and Schuster's marketing, is likely to contain standalone stories featuring minor characters from the mainstem novels. # ''Toll of Honor'' (April 2024)

Companion

In 2013, Baen published ''House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion'' (May 7, 2013). The book is divided into two sections: a new novella written by Weber titled ''I Will Build My House of Steel'' and ''The Honorverse Companion'', a collection of information about the Honorverse setting compiled by a fan group. The novella follows Roger Winton, a naval lieutenant who later becomes king. A reviewer for ''

Analog Science Fiction and Fact ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cla ...

'' wrote "I can't imagine a fan of the Honorverse who wouldn't want this book".

Ad Astra databooks

:* ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator'' (2005) ; Saganami Island Tactical Simulator fleet boxes # ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator: Manticoran Fleet Box 1'' (2006) # ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator: Havenite Fleet Box 1'' (2006) # ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator: Andermani Fleet Box 1'' (2006) # ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator: Silesian Fleet Box 1'' (2006) # ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator: Havenite Fleet Box 2'' (2010) ; Ship books # ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator: Shipbook 2: Silesian Confederacy'' (2006) # ''Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator: Shipbook 3: The Short Victorious War'' (2010) ; ''Jayne's Intelligence Review'' # ''Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Royal Manticoran Navy'' (2006) # ''Jayne's Intelligence Review: The People's Republican Navy'' (2007) ; ''Ships of the Fleet'' # ''Honor Harrington: Ships of the Fleet: 2006'' (2005) # ''Honor Harrington: Ships of the Fleet: 2007'' (2006)

Appearances in anthologies and collections

Anthologies

* ''The Warmasters'' (May 2002) : An anthology, containing the Honorverse short novel ''Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington''. The story has previously appeared in a ''Worlds of Honor'' collection. *''Letter from Stephanie'' (2011) (Baen.com) ''Baen Free Stories 2011'' By David Weber *''Grayson Navy Letters Home'' (2012) (Baen.com) ''Baen Free Stories 2012'' By Joelle Presby * ''Infinite Stars'' (October 2017) : A Bryan Thomas Schmidt anthology that contains the previously unpublished Honorverse short story "Our Sacred Honor". *''Dark Fall'' (2018) (Baen.com) ''Baen Free Stories 2018'' By David Weber * ''Noir Fatale'' (May 2019) : An anthology edited by Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell that contains the previously unpublished Honorverse short story "Recruiting Exercise". * ''Give Me Libertycon'' (June 2020) : An anthology edited by Christopher Woods and T.K.F. Weisskopf that contains the previously unpublished Honorverse short story "Heart of Stone". The story is expanded on in the Star Kingdom series novel ''A New Clan''. *''Onward Libertycon'' (June 2022) : An anthology edited by Christopher Woods and T.K.F. Weisskopf that contains the previously unpublished Honorverse short story "A Travesty of Nature". The story is expanded in ''Toll of Honor''. * ''Requiem: An Honor Harrington Story'' (2023) (Baen.com) ''Baen Free Stories 2023'' By David Carrico

Collections

* '' Worlds of Weber'' (September 2008) /: A David Weber collection that includes nine short stories, set both in and out of the Honorverse. The two Honorverse stories have previously appeared in ''Worlds of Honor'' collections. * ''Worlds'' (February 2009) : An Eric Flint collection containing the Honorverse short novel ''From the Highlands''. The story has previously appeared in a ''Worlds of Honor'' collection.

In other media

In 2006, an Honor Harrington movie was announced by Echo Valley Entertainment. However, later information suggested that it would actually be a television series, to be written and produced by Peter Sands. When David Weber was asked which actress he envisioned as Honor Harrington, he replied, "I don't think there's anyone out there who has the proper combination of height, physicality, and demonstrated acting ability to be 'perfect' for the role, so my mind is fairly open on this topic." Actress

Claudia Christian Claudia Christian (born Claudia Ann Coghlan, August 10, 1965) is an American actress, known for her roles as Commander Susan Ivanova on ''Babylon 5'', as Captain Maynard on Fox's ''9-1-1'', and as the voice of Hera on the Netflix series '' Blo ...

, who plays

Susan Ivanova Susan Ivanova () is a lead fictional character in the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'', played by Claudia Christian. Character overview Susan Ivanova holds the rank of lieutenant commander during the first season and is promoted ...

on ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'', has been suggested as a potential candidate; Weber says "She's much shorter than Honor, but so are most women, and I think she could handle the physicality... I think it's more important to have someone who can portray Honor's character and command style than it is to have someone who is six feet two inches tall." Weber's concern is that the director would push Christian to re-create Ivanova's character while playing Honor and "Ivanova's command style is totally different from Honor's." An Honor Harrington wargame, '' Saganami Island Tactical Simulator'' (''SITS''), was released at

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...

in 2005 by Ad Astra Games. An Honor Harrington video game called ''Honorverse: The Online Game'' was announced in August 2008; a beta was scheduled to be released in the Spring of 2010. In 2014 Evergreen Studios announced plans to make a multi-platform adaptation of the Honor Harrington character, under the title ''Tales of Honor''. A

mobile game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any Mobile device, portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet computer, table ...

called ''Tales of Honor: The Secret Fleet'' was released that year for Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

platforms. Tentative plans at that point also included a television series and a feature film. Evergreen Studios shut down in 2015, which led to the cancelation of most of their projects, including the mobile game, which is no longer available. Also, in 2014, a five-issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

miniseries ''Tales of Honor: On Basilisk Station'' from

Top Cow Productions Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint of Image Comics. It was founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. The company is known for publishing titles such as '' Cyberforce'', '' The Darkness'', ''Sunstone, Wanted,'' and '' Witch ...

begun on March 5, 2014, concluding later that year. In 2015, Top Cow also released ''Tales of Honor: Bred to Kill''.

Stories listed by internal chronology

References

External links

Baen Books
publisher of Honorverse works
Honorverse wikia

HonorverseCD/ David Weber CD
free versions of Honorverse works
Baen Free Library
free versions of ''On Basilisk Station'', ''The Honor of the Queen'', ''Changer of Worlds'', ''Crown of Slaves'', and ''The Shadow of Saganami''.

a detailed description of the Honorverse, by David Weber
Joe Buckley's InfoDump
includes maps, a timeline and a collection of Weber's forum posts relating to the Honorverse {{Authority control Book series introduced in 1992 Military science fiction Science fiction book series Novel series