Is it me or is RFC one of one?

I love and I mean I love the Safehold series above all of RFC's works. While the Honorverse series is where I suspect most of us met RFC the Safehold series to me is the culmination of Mr. Webbers maturation as a writer. I know it is only my opinion and much like my wonderful wife can nitpick things about me I can find nits to pick about RFC's works as well, can you say five day. However that is because I have read or listened to each of the Honorverse and Safehold books ten time at least.

For me though sometime beginning with the Prologue of "The Short Victorious War" the inclusion of the political back drop and eventually driving force of the story really drew me in. I can read page after page of Go4 or Mandarin or good guy council meeting. That is where I think for me RFC really excels.

What I am sad to say is I can't seem to find another author that writes this type of Sci if or fantasy. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Mhilgtx wrote:I love and I mean I love the Safehold series above all of RFC's works. While the Honorverse series is where I suspect most of us met RFC the Safehold series to me is the culmination of Mr. Webbers maturation as a writer. I know it is only my opinion and much like my wonderful wife can nitpick things about me I can find nits to pick about RFC's works as well, can you say five day. However that is because I have read or listened to each of the Honorverse and Safehold books ten time at least.

For me though sometime beginning with the Prologue of "The Short Victorious War" the inclusion of the political back drop and eventually driving force of the story really drew me in. I can read page after page of Go4 or Mandarin or good guy council meeting. That is where I think for me RFC really excels.

What I am sad to say is I can't seem to find another author that writes this type of Sci if or fantasy. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Try Eric Flint's 163x series on for size. Much different premise, but he also deals with the impact of the introduction of modern science, technology, ideas and values into a more backwards, tyrannical society. Besides, his writing style is awesome. He and RFC often collaborate.

Mhilgtx wrote:I love and I mean I love the Safehold series above all of RFC's works. While the Honorverse series is where I suspect most of us met RFC the Safehold series to me is the culmination of Mr. Webbers maturation as a writer. I know it is only my opinion and much like my wonderful wife can nitpick things about me I can find nits to pick about RFC's works as well, can you say five day. However that is because I have read or listened to each of the Honorverse and Safehold books ten time at least.

For me though sometime beginning with the Prologue of "The Short Victorious War" the inclusion of the political back drop and eventually driving force of the story really drew me in. I can read page after page of Go4 or Mandarin or good guy council meeting. That is where I think for me RFC really excels.

What I am sad to say is I can't seem to find another author that writes this type of Sci if or fantasy. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The magister trilogy by CS Friedman has a lots of politics. It is similar in depth and scope to the safehold series, although The difference between good guys and bad guys is far less clear cut. For that series, the author read the Dragonriders of Pern series and asked herself what if the creatures bonded to the humans were truly, terrifyingly alien instead of some kind of cute psychic pet? That basic premise drive some truly fascinating politics, wars, and character development.

Exactly what aspects of David's works do you like best? The politics? The battle strategy? The characterization? The detailed background? The epic scale? The genre? David is definitely not unique in any of these, but it's hard to give appropriate suggestions without a bit more information.

You might want to try Taylor Anderson’s Destroyer men series. Someone on this site turned me on to it. Also John Ringo’s Troy Rising Series, Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet, Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier and The Lost Stars Series. John Scalzi’s Old Mans War series. Just finished Joshua Dalzelle’s Black Fleet Trilogy. Michael Wallace Starship Blackbeard series. John Dalmas’s Soldiers.

Now I don’t think that any of these are on par with Mr. Webber, and Politics is not quite as prominent but it is there. However I think they are all good books/series.

I think it's important to keep in mind that no human activities or actions take place in total isolation from the rest. You cannot, for instance, divorce trade from culture from technology. Every single facet of modern technology presupposes an entire social, cultural, economic, philosophical, scientific and political framework, without which that technology simply could not have been developed. THAT is quite possibly the aspect of Mr Weber's work that I admire most: that he remembers to detail that interconnectivity throughout his novels.

Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet, Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier and The Lost Stars Series

I really enjoyed the Lost fleet serie for it's description of battles and tactics. For those apsects, it is relatively close with the HH serie. However, the political dimension is far from being as developped as it is in the HH serie (which is consistent with the story and the way Campbell wanted to tell his story). The action is also completly focused on the main character, so there is no travel between different characters, and exploitation of different points of view (which is something I really like in all DW books).

For something closer to what HH is, I would go for the Lost stars serie (which, unfortunaltely, has to be read after the Lost fleet serie).

The Lost Fleet series is entertaining, but not on par with the MWW, in my opinion. For some one who writes a good political line with good world building and societal responses, I would look at L.E. Modesitt Jr. Excellent author, be it his hard science fiction or his fantasy series.

Many authors ignore world building or certain aspects of the world so they can just tell their story. Catherine Asaro is a great writer, and she touches on much of this. But each book tends to remain focused tightly on the central plot without developing that broader view.

John Ringo has a variety of stories, that many view more as war porn. He tends to stick firmly to the action. But the stories are enjoyable for most.

A sad truth of many authors who do world building is that they get very wordy. Describing too much. It leaves the reader dulled by page after page of information that has little bearing on the immediate story and makes the reader loose interest. Striking a good balance between providing the information, be it politics, economics, whatever, and the central story of the book is something that MWW does really well.

CJ Cherryh. Downbelow Station has a very complicated intertwining of politics, pragmatism, technology, and moral issues. The Chanur series throws a lone human into the political machinations of six alien species--from the perspective of one of those aliens. Most of her other sf books are also excellent.

SWM wrote:CJ Cherryh. Downbelow Station has a very complicated intertwining of politics, pragmatism, technology, and moral issues. The Chanur series throws a lone human into the political machinations of six alien species--from the perspective of one of those aliens. Most of her other sf books are also excellent.

While I love the Downbelow series, I think the "Foreigner" series is much better, having three full blown alien cultures, 2 of which are human, and a fourth waiting in the wings.