As you all know, the publication of David’s next novel was delayed until February 2027. Originally scheduled to release in July, we should see it hit the stores very early in 2027. If you haven’t done so already, go preorder it! In the meantime, we grabbed three unique short stories from David, all revolving around one of our favorite characters, Eloise Pritchart.
The three stories we’ll cover in this episode are Dark Fall, Our Sacred Honor, and Recruiting Exercise, and we’ll discuss them in this order.
In different ways and definitely across a significant period of time, each of these have ties to Haven in general, and specifically times surrounding the People’s Republic of Haven. No surprise to you, since we mentioned Eloise Pritchart.
For the fans out there, you know David can write a short story that’s almost novel length. In this case, all three of these are truly short stories. If you haven’t read these before and don’t like spoilers, please look at the titles and associated info below, and grab copies to read before listening to our discussion. We’ve even provided links for where to find them at the time this episode posts.
The first story we discuss is Dark Fall.
We believe this story was written in 2017 and it spans several periods of time. There are events that occur in 402 PD, then 1882 PD, and the rest of the story happens in 1916 PD, shortly after the fall of the People’s Republic of Haven. The internet tells us that the events at that point run concurrently with the final Honor Harrington novel “Uncompromising Honor”. The story runs about 46 pages in length.
You can find it at Baen Book for free: https://www.baen.com/darkfall
Your hosts gave this story three thumbs up.
The second story is Our Sacred Honor.
This one was published in 2017 in Bryan Schmidt’s science fiction anthology called “Infinite Stars”. There were no dates given in the story itself, but it appears to have taken place somewhere in the mid-to-late 1800s PD, during the time when the old Havenite Republic was gone and the PRH was in power. Once again, the events occur in Haven and it interestingly features the early and formative years of Eloise Prichart, to include the formation of her political views. This story runs about 36 pages in length.
You can find more information about this anthology (to include purchasing options) on Bryan Schmidt’s website: https://bryanthomasschmidt.net/infinite-stars/
We gave this story three thumbs-up.
The final story in this set is Recruiting Exercise.
It was published in the Baen anthology called “Noir Fatale” in 2019. We estimate it occurs sometime after April 1861, and possibly after July 1873. There are references in the story to things that were a part of the PRH, including the Basic Living Stipend (BLS) for folks on the dole. Note: there’s an in-story quote at the end from Senator Ninon Bourchier, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Republic of Haven 01/05/1922 in which he reflects on the events of the story. Given the anthology the story was published in, no surprise that the story reads like a classic noir tale. Pretty cool. This story was about 21 pages in length.
Noir Fatale is available through Baen at: https://www.baen.com/noir-fatale
Your hosts wrap these three stories up by rating this one with three more “thumbs-up”!
Because this wasn’t an anthology volume, we didn’t give the stories an overall numeric rating.
Next time we’re going to discuss the new novel, “A Call to Deception”.
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You can find us, and all our episodes at http://honorverse.net, and email us at honorverse@tpenetwork.com. Remember, we always and truly look forward to hearing from you.
Now, let’s be about it!