House of Steel

Howdy folks,

Now normally I don't harp on much about the books that I read, but this is one that any budding Military Sci-fi writer should read.

It's called House of Steel: The Honorverse compendium.

This book is primarily for the fans of the books by David Weber, which I have can say proudly I am.

The first part is the story I Will Build My House of Steel, a superb story on King Roger III of Manticore from the days before he became King to the day Manticore received the news of Barnett being taken by Admiral Alexander. The story is superbly written and really enjoyable, telling of the military buildup of the Manticorian fleet and how they built such a technological advantage.

The next section is colour photographs of the flags, crests, insignia, ribbons, uniforms, rank insignia, patches and ships of both the Manticorian and Grayson Navies.

The next section is the Companion itself which has information on both the Star Empire and the Protectorate, Astrography of the nations, the history, the governments, the important people, all the armed forces including equipment and personalities.

The next section is the part I was most interested in it was Building a Navy in the Honorverse which is an explanation about how David Weber designed his fleets to define the structure of the organizations, designing the capabilities, mission, layout, how they are supported, how they are managed, from personnel, logistics, how the organization is funded and how all that is pulled together.

Next is the Frequently asked questions, none of which surprisingly enough I had.

The next part is all about BuNine themselves and the people involved.

I liked it, and would recommend it to fans of the Honorverse and Military Sci-fi writers.