Title: The Service of the Sword

Series: Honor Harrington

Author: Jane Lindskold, Timothy Zahn, John Ringo, Victor Mitchell, Eric Flint, David Weber

Genre: Science Fiction, Military Science Fiction

Wow.

That’s all I have to say. I’ve enjoyed every one of the short story compilations for the David Weber’s Honorverse, but usually there was a story which I didn’t care as much for or could have done without. Not so much in this book. I enjoyed everyone, and could barely put it down as I devoured the last three. And each story gets better than the last.

It starts off with “Promised Land” by Jane Lindskold, which centers around two characters. First, Michael Winton, the brother of the queen of Manticore who is trying to prove himself in the military on his own merits, and secondly on Judith, who was captured as a child by pirates and forced into a marriage with an older man when she came of age – and she wants to escape. I was already intrigued by the character of Michael Winton, and Lindskold does an excellent job of crafting and pacing the story. You know the paths of the two characters will cross, you just are not quite sure how it all is going to play out – which Lindskold does excellently.

The second story, “With One Stone,” is written by Timothy Zahn, whom I think has never written anything bad. Honor Harrington plays a secondary role in this story, while the primary character is Rafe Cardones. The story takes place after On Basilisk Station, so if you’ve read that book, this is a neat follow-up story. All, in all, it builds to a neat little climax.

It’s been a long time since I laughed as hard as I did reading “A Ship Named Francis,” by John Ringo and Victor Mitchell. So often the ships and captains of the Manticorans (as well as their allies) are depicted in quite complimentary terms. But everyone knows not every ship is perfect, right? And there’s got to be a ship where just about every element of “not perfect” come together, right? Well, in this case, there is. It’s hard to explain, but I can remember vividly laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes and couldn’t even read the words on the page.

“Let’s Go to Prague” (John Ringo) has this spy-noir feel to it. I really enjoyed the story and was slightly disappointed when it was over – I felt like I’d been cheated out of more. It centers around two non-conventional spys (in enemy territory) who decide to go on vacation (in a better locale, albeit still in enemy territory). They stumble upon the defection of an admiral which has just gone south and end up on the run for their lives.

The last two stories were my favorites among many enjoyable stories. “Fanatic,” by Eric Flint, is a masterful follow-up to “From the Highlands” (also by Eric Flint) from the compilation Changer of Worlds. Victor Cachat was a primary character in that story and he plays an almost primary character in this one. If you have read or are planning on reading Crown of Slaves and Torch of Freedom then you really should read first “From the Highlands” and then this story, “Fanatic.” Flint manages an almost breath-taking pace throughout, and the ending is really a masterful turn of phrase and concept – it kept me chuckling to myself for hours afterwards.

The final story is the title story, “The Service of the Sword,” by David Weber. A classic Weber tale. It centers around Abigail Hearns, who is also a significant character in Shadow of Saganami and Storm from the Shadows, and it takes place shortly before those two storylines. Basically Abigail is the first female from the planet Grayson to enter into naval training with the RMN (Royal Manticoran Navy. She’s on her middy cruise and gets quite the baptism by fire. I couldn’t stop reading – it was fantastic! Makes me want Weber’s next book in the series all the more.

In conclusion, if you enjoy the Honor Harrington series, of all the short story compilations Weber has put together for the Honorverse, this is one I would highly recommend. If you don’t know anything (or don’t care) about the Honorverse or Honor Harrington but you still love a good sci-fi tale, you’ll still greatly enjoy this collection.

Worldview: secular

Recommended age: I would suggest High School age, primarily due to the more detailed violence, though there are some more sexually mature scenarios, none of them get close to being explicit or inappropriate

Title:

Series: Star Wars; Hand of Thrawn, Book 2

Author: Timothy Zahn

Genre: Science Fiction

Vision of the Future is the sequel to Specter of the Past, both of which form a little mini-series in the Star Wars universe of books called “The Hand of Thrawn.” It picks up right where Specter of the Past left off, without much re-hashing at all – so definitely read Specter first. That said, if you enjoyed Zahn’s previous Thrawn Trilogy of the Star Wars universe, then you’ll probably love this little series. It is kind of a sequel to that trilogy, sort of…

Zahn does an incredible job weaving all the different people involved in a Star Wars story into a cohesive and coherent plot. There is just a lot of stuff going on! But he works it very well, most of the groundwork being laid in Specter of the Past so that he can just build and climax for most of this book. Zahn is an incredible writer, and here he does another excellent job of weaving an intriguing story with beloved characters, all the while making it believable and the characters seeming real.

As is usual in most Star Wars books, at least at this point in series, though there are some more mature social and political situations, the voilence and inferred sexuality would barely rate a PG-13 rating in a movie. So I would feel pretty comfortable allowing a middle-school aged child read this (though I would probably point him/her towards the Young Jedi series first…).

Good book, excellent pacing, and a page-turner to boot!

Worldview: Secular

Age Recommendation: a mature middle school aged child should be fine reading this, though high school age would be more appropriate.

Title: Emerging Worship

Author: Dan Kimball

The subtitle reads, “Creating Worship Gatherings for New Generations”, which is a worth goal. And I think Kimball has explored and outlined how to create such a service which would be interesting and accessible to the “New Generation.” But I really don’t feel like he’s adequately answered the real question of “Should we?”

He does tell us why he thinks we should – but all those reasons are based more on the fact that more and more of the post-modern generation are not attending church or dropping out of it. I think the real question is not what can we provide that they will be interested in or that will be relevant to them, the real issue is what do they need – not what they want. Children many times know that they are hungry, but more often than not they will desire foods that provide no sustenance.

This is a sequel or follow-up to Kimball’s “Emerging Church”, and I do think it is a must read for every modern pastor and worship pastor because it is good to wrestle with the issues being raised. And Kimball asks some great questions (for the most part), he just has some very dangerous answers.
Church leaders need to explore these issues and understand biblically what is right and wrong with what Kimball is presenting here.

So yeah, I highly recommend this book – though it will be outdated within the next ten years, I believe. Just take it with a grain of salt and know that, though he doesn’t have all the answers, he is recognizing many issues within the modern church.

Other Links:
Dan Kimball’s website/blog
Leadership page for Kimball’s church
Vintage Church – Kimball’s Church