Fire Season (Star Kingdom (Weber))

really liked reading this book BUT so frustrated as I can't find a CD or MP3 copy of this book
I like to listen to David Weber books as I drive and my granddaughter really gets the book this way
Audio download doesn't work for me -- it has to be on CD's A Beautiful Friendship works beautifully as
a car story.

This series may have been aimed at the younger folk but i like it very much . I will get the next in the series if there is onel I 've been reading Science Ficton for 60 yrs these stories stand up to the very best.

she aint Honor but you sure know where Lady Dame Baroness Admiral Honor Stephanie Harrington -Alexander , Steadholder Harrington came from and you know where she got her cojones . Mess with Lionheart , mess with Nimitz , nah do everybody a favor . go out in the back yard and shoot yerself . Long live the clan Harrington !!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Interesting characters in an exciting plot that moved characters and story forward at a brisk (but not too fast) rate. Enough description to keep me connected but not too much. A chance to see the main characters develop and mature, while giving us more about the treecats and their world and how it all works together.

A book I highly recommend to all ages.

Fire Season continues Stephanie Harrington's saga. While it is a good read, it is also geared to a younger reader. Teenage angst, does he/she love me or not, is not as appealing if you have read the rest of the Harrington/Star Kingdom saga first. It is, however, a great lead in to the rest of the saga. While not as technical as the more adult series, it still provides information about the developing interactions of the tree-cats and their adopted two-legs as we see how they got from there to Honor. Maybe, I'm just being picky, though, but it seems to be talking down to the reader a bit.

What a delightful series. I love the interaction between the treecats and humans, especially Stephanie and Lionheart. Great dedication and education.
I'd reccomend this book series for preteens and up. (only because of the higher educational language)

Decent book. Fun quick read. Probably giving the book an extra star because of the world but that is half the point in scifi novels. Plot is pretty predictable but still a bit of action. Interesting view of the Star Kingdom before it becamw a galactic powerhouse.

Fire Season
A major disappointment ! With an angst ridden ancestor like this one it's amazing that Honor Harrington isn't still a moody, moping junior officer and still posted to Basilisk Station ! Evidently not all collaborations are as successful as Lewis and Clark !
As always the bright side is that the store's pricing and service were outstanding !

"Fire Season" is the second book in the "Star Kingdom" series set in the Universe of David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series but some five hundred years earlier. These stories are particularly aimed at young adults but can be read by older readers.

This book follows on from "A Beautiful Friendship (Star Kingdom (Quality))" which describes how Stephanie Harrington, a twelve-year-old girl from the first generation of Honor Harrington's family to move to the Manticore system, became the first human to be "adopted" by a Sphinx treecat. This was originally written as a short story which was first published in the collection "More Than Honor" and can also be found in the more recent anthology "Worlds Of Weber," but was then extended to a novel.

For anyone who has never read any of the Honor Harrington books, "Treecats" are a small arborial sentient species native to the planet Sphinx who look a bit like six-legged cats with long tails. Among themselves they are fully telepathic: they can read the "Mind-glows" of humans well enough to be empathic, e.g. they can read emotions but not thoughts. Treecats find the mind-glows of many humans attractive and in some circumstances a human and a treecat can form a lifelong bond similar to those between the human and dragon characters of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight series. This relationship is referred to in Weber's novels as "adoption."

"A Beautiful Friendship" told the story of the first such bonding, of how Stephanie came to be known as "Death Fang's Bane" among the treecats, and of the struggle to have treecats recognised as an intelligent species with legal rights corresponding to human rights. No human alive in Honor's time has personal memories of Stephanie because Weber tells us in "Mission of Honor: Honor Harrington, Book 12," a book in the Honorverse main series, that the first generation of the "Prolong" technology which allows Honor and many characters of her generation to expect a vastly extended lifespan first became available about a hundred years before that book - e.g. four hundred years after the birth of Stephanie Harrington.

However, treecats can and do share memories, and one of the most important groups in their society are "Memory Singers" who act as a living library of important memories, which can be very old. Nimitz's wife Samantha, who is bonded to Honor Harrington's husband Hamish Alexander, is a memory singer. And in A Rising Thunder (Honor Harrington) which came out in March 2012, Samantha introduces Honor to "Sorrow Singer," a treecat memory singer who holds such a memory of Stephanie Harrington and can tell Honor, "You would have liked her. She was much like you in many ways."

A major focus of both the first books in this new prequel series is on how an intelligent but non-technological species like the treecats might react to the arrival of human colonists on their world, and on the good and evil ways that a society of human colonists might react to the discovery that the planet where they have been building a home for several generations is home to a native intelligent species.

At the start of this book, a few T-years after the start of the first one, Stephanie is approaching her 15th birthday and suffering a bad case of the usual teenage tension with her parents. She is interested in treecats, ecology & science, and flying, and very uninterested in making friends with humans, particularly most of her fellow teenagers. Some of whom are actually nice people and some are not - this aspect of the book is a fairly typical coming-of-age story.

This attitude begins to change when a delegation of off-planet scientists arrives to review whether treecats are really intelligent. Stephanie is strongly attracted to Anders, the son of the leader of these scientists, who is about her own age.

Sphinx's forest ecology is dependent on occasional natural forest fires, although these can threaten treecat clans and human homes alike. Because careless human activity can make this risk worse, the ranger service in which Stephanie is an apprentice is concerned to control forest fires during the planet's "fire season." Stephanie and her friend Karl find themselves involved in several rescue attempts - with unexpected consequences ...

There are no space battles in "A Beautiful Friendship" or "Fire Season." Like Honor's own parents and most of their family, Stephanie's parents are medical professionals. The original Republic of Haven, if it exists at all yet, has not decayed to become the corrupt and totalitarian "People's Republic of Haven" and so the military threat posed by the "Peeps" lies many years in the future.

However, the vast and ruthless conspiracy which will eventually become known as the Mesan Alignment was seven hundred years old in Honor's time and therefore already exists in Stephanie's. One wicked human whose actions in the first book damaged human and treecat relations may - or may not - have had links to them. We know from comments in the later "Honorverse" books that the Mesans will take an interest in treecats, and this may come out in the next book in this series, "The Treecat Wars."

If you like the treecats in David Weber's other books you should read this. It's enjoyable and very interesting as long as you are not among that part of Weber's fanbase who read him solely for the battles.

If anyone reading this is a big fan of military or naval science fiction, and in the unlikely event that such a person has somehow managed to avoid reading any of the Honor Harrington books, click on the following link to the first book in Honor's story, "On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington)," and you are unlikely to be disappointed.

This book picks up the narrative shortly after the end of Beautiful Friendship. Once again we get to follow Stephanie Harrington and her family as they struggle with the problem of helping the treecats without inciting the citizens of Sphinx to demand their extermination.

This story is strong. It concentrates on only 2 characters. Stephanie and her treecat "Climbs Quickly". There are a myriad of other characters, but they are clearly there to support the main characters and tale. This is a huge improvement over stories like Rising Thunder or War Maid's Choice where every chapter jumped to a different character and the story lacked clear focus.

This also is clearly written more to "young adult" readers. The main characters are teenage and there are moments of angst and drama that would have fit right in any of the Twilight books, but they are kept light and never allowed to overwhelm the characters or the plot.

This story have been a surprisingly bright spot in teh Honorverse. It' might be that David Weber allowed a co-writer in and that kept the story much more focused. I definitely encourage those interested in this tale to read Beautiful Friendship first as several plot points are building off events from that book, but otherwise its simply a good if light read.

This is the second book in the series that details mans first contact with Treecats - which if you have read any of the honor Harrington books you will be somewhat familiar. This series is intended for 'young adults' (Really dislike that term. Your either an adult or not). But like Heinlein, Weber's 'young adult' fiction is truly suitable for all ages. I strongly recommend that you read the first book in this series - although it is not necessary to do so to follow the stories, you will find references to things that occured them. And since these are so much fun to read, why not read them all?

Like all good writing, this book centers around characters. This series focuses on the Stephanie Harrinton (Honor's ancestor) and her discovery of Treecats on Sphinx, a world with gravity greater than the terrestrial norm. Harrington is a product of gene modification that makes her physioligy stronger and better able to deal with a 'heavy world environment'. Some of the other people you meet are of unmodified stock, which nicely affect the story.

This is one of the rare series that I will read them all without stopping. Binge reading? But its a fact that these are well written and fun. The science seems correct (although its not weighted down with a lot of theory, its just part of the story). Do you enjoy adventure? Like well written books? Like Science Fiction? (Even if you don't you will likely enjoy this). You can read in great detail the blog as to what this is about.

One plus is I don't even have to buy the third book as my wife has already done so!

Second in the Honorverse: Stephanie Harrington science fiction fantasy for young adults.

The Honorverse is an overall label for stories and series that are offshoots from the Honor Harrington space opera series. In this case, the label is telling us that the series is about Stephanie and is part of the overall Honor Harrington Universe.

My Take
Unlike Tamora Pierce, I didn't find it thrilling or edge-of-my-seat, but it was a good read and provides more insight into Stephanie's life as she's growing into her partnership with Lionheart.

One of the things I love about the entire Harrington Universe is the virtues that Weber's characters display. Well, the good guys anyway! Fire Season is no exception with the officials of an entire world more interested in protecting treecats than in soliciting favor with others.

There are some good moral lessons for the kids in this. Consideration for others' feelings and handling charitable concerns. Reality is different from a video game. The responsibility that comes with wanting independence. That being different does not mean less. The benefit of knowing some first aid. Turns out that mom was right about socializing. Doing something stupid doesn't negate a species' sentience. I did like Dr. Emberly's point about sharks!

It was just so fascinating and frustrating to read each specie's thoughts and ideas and know how Honor and Nimitz figure out how to communicate in more than just an exchange of emotions in the HH series. That it will be so far in the future before treecats and humans can communicate with each other. Still, reading Lionheart's thoughts about the mouth sounds, the markings they make, and the hand waving that humans use to somehow communicate is just too funny. And makes me think of how important communication is. How different what one culture takes for granted can be from what another thinks is normal.

In this story, Sphinx is trying to get treecats officially acknowledged as a sentient species and Weber/Lindskold use the dangerous fire season to help demonstrate their abilities and "humanity". It also provides the treecats the opportunity to see that humans are as varied in their character as individual treecats are.

There is a mention of Eric Flint, an author with whom Weber has partnered in the story.

The Story
Stephanie and Karl are both probationary rangers for the Sphinxian Forestry Service and they're overflying the forest near home when Lionheart gets agitated and insists they follow his direction. A good thing as a couple of treecats are in danger and it begins the learning experience for the Damp Ground Clan about humans.

Anders is thrilled that his dad wants to take him along on his treecat mission. Until he finds out why. Still, it's a good thing Anders did go as he was the savior on that trip!

The Characters
Stephanie Harrington, a.k.a., Death Fang's Bane*, is Honor's ancestress and almost fifteen in this story. She's also the first human to befriend a treecat, Lionheart, a.k.a., Climbs Quickly* and they've been together for three T-years. Richard, a.k.a., Healer, and Margery/Marjorie Harrington are her parents. Her dad is a vet and her mother is a botanist developing hybrids that can survive and thrive on Sphinx.

Members of Lionheart's treecat clan, Bright Water, include:
Sings Truly is Lionheart's sister and a memory singer for the Bright Water Clan. Other members include Twig Weaver and Stone Biter, a clan elder and not as conservative as Broken Tooth.

Karl Zivonik, a.k.a., Shadowed Sunlight, is sixteen and Stephanie's only real friend, more of a big brother really. He's hoping to be taken on as a provisionary ranger in the Sphinxian Forestry Service. Most of his family died in the Plague and he now lives with his Aunt Irina Kisaevna who is married to Scott MacDallan, the only other living human adopted by a treecat, Fisher. Nadia and Anastasia are his little sisters.

The Sphinixian Foresty Service (SFS)
Rangers Frank Lethbridge and Ainsley Jedruskinski have the largest role while there is a mention of Chief Ranger Gary Shelton. Dr. Sanura Hobbard is the "official head of the official Crown inquiry into treecat intelligence" for Manticore.

"Dr." Tennessee Bolego was a fraud and has forced changes in the Star Kingdom's approach to treecats.

Kids within Stephanie's age group include:
Trudy Franchitti is a year older than Stephanie and definitely NOT one of her friends. Her whole family is quite snobbish about their pioneer status on the planet. The two of them have a hot feud going on. Stan Chang is Trudy's boyfriend and is frequently high. He's good friends with Frank "Outta Focus" Câmara. Becky Morowitz is part of Trudy's clique as well. Toby Mednick is younger and Stan and Frank frequently gang up on him. Jessica Pheriss/Pherris, a.k.a., Windswept, is new and has joined the hang-gliding club. Jessica is adopted by Dirt Grubber, also known by his human name of Valiant, when they each rescue each other. She has it kind of rough with six siblings she feels responsible for as her mother, Naomi, works too hard. Christine. Chet/Chad.

Mayor Sapristos tends to favor the bad eggs because of their parents' status.

The Damp Ground Clan includes
Left-Striped and Right-Striped are mirror twin treecats caught by a sudden fire at the start of the story and play a major role later on. Brilliant Images is their skeptical senior memory singer.

The off-world anthropology team includes:
Anders Whittaker is the fifteen-year-old son of an obsessed scientist and an equally obsessed politician. He agitates to accompany his father on his mission as he's totally fascinated by Stephanie Harrington and her treecat.His mother has recently been promoted from being a senior representative to Cabinet Minister Whittaker for the Urako president. His father, Dr. Bradford A. Whittaker is a xenoanthropologist who is absolutely fascinated by treecats. He's also "grasping, ambitious, and self-absorbed". Their son is not as important as their own careers.

Dr. Langston Nez just got his doctorate in cultural anthropology and has been Dr. Whittaker's senior assistant for years. Dr. Calida Emberly is the xenobiologist and xenobotanist and is looking forward to discussions about plants with Stephanie's mother; her mother, Dacey Emberly, is a painter and will handle scientific illustrations. Kesia Guyen is their colorful linguist and her husband, John Qin, is interested in setting up some kind of trade on or with Sphinix. Virgil Iwamoto is lithics (use of tools) and up-to-date on the latest field methods who just got married to Peony Rose partly because he was about to head out to Sphinx on this mission.

* Each treecat has two names: the one by which s/he is known among the People (the treecats) and the human name given by his/her partner. The treecats also give humans a treecat name. Treecats are a sentient species found only on the planet Sphinx. They are somewhat in appearance to housecats, but are longer, have six legs, and communicate empathically. The babies are called kittens and each clan of treecats is ruled by a memory singer, one who holds all the knowledge of past history.

Weber/Lindskold need to decide which names certain of their characters are using.

The Cover
The orange, black, and greys cover is rather mournful with a pensive Stephanie slumped on her knees on the ground wearing a black fire-suit, a counter-grav unit on her back, and cuddling Lionheart.

The title is short and to the point for it is Fire Season and it causes all sorts of problems.

Fire Season is the second Stephanie Harrington novel, the new YA series from David Weber. I thoroughly enjoyed A Beautiful Friendship, so reading Fire Season was a no-brainer. I knew that Jane Lindskold was on board for co-writing duties, and I questioned how this would effect the novel, and how different it could be in tone and style to A Beautiful Friendship. Turns out the answer wasn't what I hoped for, and Fire Season marked a change in both style and storytelling.

With Sphinx entering the end of its long Summer, the forests of the planet are ripe for fires. Stephanie and Climbs Quickly are Forest Rangers, travelling with a more experienced partner and helping where possible. While on one of these excursions, Climbs Quickly identifies the calls of some Treecats in peril, and swiftly alerts Stephanie, guiding her to their location in order to help them. And this is just the start of the Fire Season...

I'm not going to say much else about the story in Fire Season because it's all in the title. Fires rage, Stephanie and Climbs Quickly respond where they can, and Treecats are rescued. Add in a few smaller plot threads - an off-world scientific team studying the Treecats, Stephanie's relationships - and that's Fire Season for you.

To be honest, I'm disappointed. I really thought that there was so much potential after reading A Beautiful Friendship, and while their were glimpses of it in Fire Season, it really didn't live up to expectations.

The major downside to Fire Season, when compared to A Beautiful Friendship, is the prose and style. I really don't know how much of this novel was written by each author, and while I thought there were times I could see Weber's writing, it feels flat. While the first novel was aimed (or at least written) at an older YA audience, Fire Season seems to be undecided as to its target audience. There some times, like most of the the day-to-day incidents that plague Stephanie (i.e. boy issues, friendships, etc), where it's written towards a very young crowd, while at others (like the scientific party discussions) are clearly above such a readership. With no consistency in the writing, Fire Season fails at delivering a gripping and exciting story.

It's such a shame, because their is huge potential here for some truly interesting and exciting stories. Perhaps the subject matter of this one limited the scope, or perhaps Weber & Lindskold were adjusting to working together on a novel. Either way, I've come away unsure whether or not to try the next novel, Treecat Wars. I'm interested in it, but I'm also worried it will be the last Stephanie Harrington novel I read....

As a school librarian, I have to read many things to help me recommend books for my students. This one I read for myself, but I could and probably will recommend this for some of my advanced 5th grade readers who want to try something different. I will tell them to read A Beautiful Friendship (book 1) before this one for the necessary background. David Weber is a SUPER author, and I love everything that that I have read. He *is* getting more into the politics and the descriptions of how everyone dies in his Honor books, but I still love them. I can see these as a great introduction to the Honor Harrington series. If kids like these, then they can go on to Honor. If Honor is too much for them at that time, she will still be there later on, when they have matured a little. Thank you, David Weber, for another satisfying read.

Teenager Stephanie Harrington was euphoric when she obtained an internship in the junior forestry program on Meyerdahl. However, she became depressed when her family including her relocated to Sphinx, which had no such program. The seventeen-month winter and her boring peers at the Two Forks School are uninterested in her passion xeno-biology which adds to her despondency. Stephanie investigated the stealing of celery. That led to her meeting and bonding with Climbs Quickly the treecat. The Chief Forester named her and her only human friend Karl Zivonik is a provisional forest ranger (see A Beautiful Friendship).

Stephanie persuades Karl to allow her to use his family's aircar to practice flying. As the provisional forest rangers and Climbs Quickly fly, the treecat smells smoke. They inspect the fire and rescue twin treecats Left-striped and Right-striped who they bring to her father, a veterinarian.

Xenoanthropologist Dr. Whittaker arrives from Urako with his team and his son Anders to study the treecats. He distrusts the government including the Sphinxian Forestry Service to put the interests of the native population above those of the humans. Thus he leads his unit on an exploration of an abandoned clan site only to have their air-vehicle sink into the ground leaving them stranded while struggling to survive as forest fires ignites.

The second Stephanie Harrington Star Kingdom young adult science fiction thriller is a superb prequel to the Honor Harrington saga. The key cast is fully developed regardless of species or national origin. The storyline is great when the focus is on the interactions between the two species or the exploration of the planet; however, the teen relationships seem stereotypical. Still fans will enjoy exploring Sphinx with Harrington as our guide.

Harriet Klausner

The Stephanie Harrington books are an easier read than the Honor Harrington books. They don't contain the endless, unnecessary technical details, and are heavier on storylines. While it is billed as "young adult fiction," they read more like "soft sci-fi," with a teenage protagonist.

Like Honor, Stephanie is a Mary Sue, but such a kick-ass Mary Sue you love to see how she's going to win under impossible odds - again. The treecats are wonderfully well written, and their culture, mostly ignored in the Honor series, is explored and explained, so this is a must-read series for Honor Harrington fans - even the techie types who actually enjoy the endless technical specifications for imaginary spaceships.