In Fire Forged

Worlds of Honor #5

By: David Weber, Jane Lindskold, Timothy Zahn

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser, Khristine Hvam, Allyson Johnson

The hottest military science-fiction series of all time continues. The mission: to boldly explore David Weber’s Honorverse; to deliver all the action, courage, derring-do, and pulse-pounding excitement of space naval adventure with tales set in a world touched by the greatness of one epic heroine: Honor Harrington.

This fifth volume in the popular Worlds of Honor series includes stories by best-seller Jane Lindskold and New York Times best seller and Star Wars novelization phenomenon Timothy Zahn. It’s rounded out with an all-new David-Weber-authored novella featuring a mob of space pirates who make the fatal mistake of taking on a young Manticorean Royal Navy commander who goes by the name Harrington.

©2011 Worlds of Weber, Jane Lindskold, Timothy Zahn (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

some better than others

I enjoyed the first two stories but the third one was just too technical for me. though I know there are those out there that rock on this type of story. I'm just not the target market for that story.

Interesting but fading in comparison

What made the experience of listening to In Fire Forged the most enjoyable?

Well, I must say the hidden humour of stories makes this collection a good buy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of In Fire Forged?

I think the highlight of whole collection was epilogue of Timothy Zahns Act of War.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Sadly, the narrator should study more pronounciation of german and slavic names in stories, as his pronounciation of them is atrocious. Rabenstrange is pronounced english as raben-strange (as stranger), instead of Rɑːbenʃtrage with hard g pronounce.
Sadly this is not only honorverse book which suffers thanks to narrator's language inexperience.

One good short novel and filler

This anthology contains two novellas, one short novel, and one essay. They vary wildly in quality.

Ruthless - Jane Lindskold: Lindskold's previous novella in this series was quite good, featuring the escape of many women from a repressive religious dictatorship on Masada. This features the leader of that escape, but is regrettably nowhere near as good a story. The plot here strains credulity badly; I found it hard to credit that anyone would take the actions that the villains took. There is no real protagonist, though it seems that Michael Winton and Judith are intended to share that role. Neither of those characters really makes important decisions. The dialog is painful to listen to: nobody actually sounds like any of the characters here. And the decision of all the characters are cringeworthy. 1 star, though it pains me to say it.

An Act of War - Timothy Zahn: This is a follow-on from "With One Stone" in the previous book in this series. It's better written than that novella and far better than "Ruthless". The plot here again strains credulity, but not beyond the breaking point. The protagonist, though, seems to be strangely drawn. He obviously has a variety of schemes in process at any time, but it's never made clear why. And the end of the story doesn't really resolve anything. 2.5 stars.

Let's Dance - David Weber: A short novel set while CMDR Honor Harrington is the captain of an older destroyer in Silesian space. It begins with the capture of a pirate and continues with her interaction with a corrupt political structure. As with most of the stories featuring major characters from the mainline series, this has to provide a reason why the actions here are not mentioned in elsewhere, which slightly damages the impact of the ending. 4.5 stars.

An Introduction to Modern Starship Armor Design - David Weber: A deep dive into the interaction between weapons and armor aboard starships. Interesting if you're that kind of geek (fortunately I am), but rather dry. 3 stars.

Overall, the only piece I would seek out or recommend is "Let's Dance".

Great shorts could live without technical briefing

The short stories were fun. I was not in the mood for a technical briefing for the last 5 chapters.

Honor Harrington Universe Book 15

Please understand me right!
If you wish to read every story in HH universe then go ahead, but otherwise you can skip this book completely and don't feel any consequences.

"RUTHLESS" by Jane Lindskold
A sequel to her previous short story ("Promised Land" from The Service of the Sword), involving the Royal scion Michael Winton and Judith of Masada.Skip it, don't waste time.

"AN ACT OF WAR" by Timothy Zahn
A sequel to his previous short story ("With One Stone" from The Service of the Sword). It features "Charles", a slippery, conniving, elusive, less than totally honest dealer in black-market technology.Up to you to decide , but my rating is 2.5*

"LET'S DANCE" by David Weber
The longest story. It covers the Casimir raid prior to On Basilisk Station, and how then-Commander Honor Harrington broke up a slave depot on Casimir (an event mentioned in At All Costs).More or less good story, but completely marginal, without any nececary facts or information for HH Universe.My rating is 3.5*

"AN INTRODUCTION TO MODERN STARSHIP ARMOR DESIGN", by Mr. Hegel DiLutorio, CAPT, RMN, ret. HMSS Hephaestus, 1906 PD is an in depth design study regarding the history and design of laser heads and armor.


NEXT BOOK IS "Crown of Slaves"

A look into Harrington's world

This is a collection of short stories in the World of Honor series. The first story

"Ruthless" by Lindskold is a sequel to "Promised Land". In the "Promised Land" Lt Prince Michael Winton rescues a group of women who have escaped from Masada. He meets Judith as falls for her and keeps in touch. In this story Judith's child is kidnapped to try to stop the Manticore and Grayson alliance. The Prince is off to the recuse and for readers of the newer books in the Harrington series you will find the Prince proposed to Judith. This fills in the gap missing in that series.

"Act of War" by Timothy Zane is about a con artist working to scam the Peoples Republic. Honor pops up at the end of the story.


"Let's Dance" by David Weber is a story of Commander Honor Harrington as Captain of destroyer Hawkwing. She is Silesia fighting pirates, the local government, and rescuing genetic modified slaves. Fills in more on this subject and a bit more about Beowulf and her Mother's work in this area. It is also a good story.

"An Introduction to Modern starship Armor Design" by Andy Presky. Is the history of armor in space ships. Some of the information is in various Honor Series books but this puts it all together. I am sure some people are bored with the story but I find it most interesting maybe because I am a scientist.

I can not get enough of these book so can hardly wait for the next in the various series.