Guest Post - H. Paul Honsinger Author of the Man of War Series

I read To Honor You Called Us (Click on the title to see my review) and loved the book.  One of the things that really fascinated me were the aliens that were created for the story.  One was a huge surprise even though there were hints along the way.  I wanted to know how they were created so I asked H. Paul Honsinger if he would do a guest post on how he came up with each of the alien species and he agreed.  Read his guest post first and then keep going to see my review of book two, For Honor We Stand.

H. Paul Honsinger

I tried to make my aliens scientifically plausible, just like everything else I write.  Like many writers, I started with where I wanted to go and worked backwards:  I wanted to be able to have story lines in which the enemy aliens in my books, the Krag, took over human occupied planets, lived on them and grew food on them.  For all sorts of complicated biochemical reasons having to do with stereochemistry, enzyme compatibility, and other arcane stuff, it is virtually impossible for aliens who evolved completely independently of us to be able to do that, so that is where I came up with the idea of the Krag being descended from life forms transplanted from Earth 11 million years ago. 

It was also important for me to have a plausible reason for their wanting to destroy us.  I wasn’t going to fall back on the old tropes about wanting our water or other natural resources because all the water anyone could want, as well as just about any other natural resource, is abundant in the galaxy and available in lots of places that don’t involve having to fight it out with pesky, pink-skinned, technologically capable bipeds.  It occurred to me that a scientifically capable race that evolved from transplanted life forms might develop a belief system that said that their world and, by extension, the universe, was made for them.  From there, I developed the Krag’s beliefs concerning their Creator-God and that it is blasphemy for us to believe in our own evolution on Earth and the Krag being offshoots of life on this planet. 

For the other aliens, I thought that there must be many, many biological pathways that lead to intelligence and that, accordingly, there would be intelligent life that grew out of all sorts of ecosystems and ecological niches.  The Pfelung are mudfish who grew big brains in the process of moving from sea to land, and who even have intelligent and totally aquatic adolescents who play a major role beginning in my second book.  Just because our ancestors were firmly established on land before the explosion in primate brain size doesn’t mean that it had to happen that way everywhere else.  I also made them very direct, ethical, and reasonable—which is probably just as much a function of their culture as their biology.   

The race I have the most fun writing, though, are the Vaaach.  They are an arboreal-hunter species, much larger than grizzly bears with claws as long as rifle bayonets and fangs like steak knives.  One could take down a grizzly without breaking a sweat.  They are also at least a thousand years ahead of us technologically and seem (at least at this point in the story) to be highly contemptuous of humans as tiny, weak, technologically primitive “fruit eaters.”  The encounters that our hero has with the Vaaach are terrifying (for the humans), made the more so because the Vaaach seem to need to be given cogent reasons, right now, for not destroying the humans on the spot.  Again, just because our ancestors came down from the trees before their brains got big, I saw no reason things had to happen in that order.  Intelligence would be a great trait for hunters in the treetops to have, particularly when the trees are as tall and the hunting as dangerous as it is on the Vaaach home world.  

H. Paul Honsinger

Author of the "Man of War" Military Science Fiction Series

Learn More at hpaulhonsinger.com

  

For Honor We Stand (Man of War #2) by H. Paul Honsinger

Military Science Fiction/Space Opera

What Goodreads says:

In 2315, the Earth Union is losing a thirty-year-long war with the Krag Hegemony.

Having encountered the Krag before, Space Commander Max Robicheaux now faces daunting challenges aboard the USS Cumberland: the dangers from the enemy without? and clashes with crew and superiors within.

Meanwhile, Doctor Sahin receives a coded message summoning him to a secret meeting which aims to forge an alliance that could change the balance of power in Known Space. But first, he must circumvent the fighter ships and heavily armed troops of the traitorous emir bent on killing him before he reaches the negotiating table.

Both men must call upon their developing skills and growing friendship to bear the burden of carrying between the Krag Hegemony and the Earth Union a fateful ultimatum and the shocking answer: an answer that could spell eternal slavery, or even extinction, for all humankind.

The second novel in the Man of War series, "For Honor We Stand" continues the galactic naval adventures of Robicheaux and Sahin.

For Honor We Stand is book two is the Man of War trilogy. Often the middle book in a series becomes a placeholder that does not move the story forward, it just sets up book three. For Honor We Stand does not do that.  It continues to move the story forward even as it sets the stage for the next book.

Look for the same exciting writing and world building that was in book one.  There is action and danger with a large cast of characters.  Max Robicheaux and Dr. Sabin are back and still working together.  The crew of the Cumberland is still not fully up to date but they are working together much better.  While some of the themes are familiar they are given a new twist.

The plot is the same -  defeat the Krag.  It is fun to see how Max and his crew pull off the impossible again and again.  For Honor We Stand is very good Military Science Fiction.  If you are looking for action, a lot of space battles, interesting characters, different aliens and science that seems to work this is the book for you.  There is a nice twist at the end of the book that really sets up book three.

I am ready for book three but it is not listed yet.  I want it to hurry up and arrive.

47 North published For Honor We Stand by H. Paul Honsinger in 2014.

To Honor You Call Us (Man of War Book #1) by H. Paul Honsinger

Science Fiction/Space Opera

From Goodreads:

"The Terran Union is engaged in a vast interstellar war against the Krag Ruthless aliens intent on exterminating humankind. In 2315, the wily Max Robichaux is given command of the USS Cumberland, a destroyer with state-of-the-art capabilities but a combat record so bad, she's known as the Cumberland Gap. Capt. Robichaux's first mission: to take his warship to the Free Corridor, where the Krag have secretly been buying strategic materials, and to seize or destroy any ships carrying enemy cargo. Far from the fleet and under enforced radio silence, Max relies only on his determination and guile and the support and friendship of his chief medical officer, the brilliant Dr. Sahin. Because even as he deals with the ship's onboard problems and the stress of carrying out her risky assignment, Max and the doctor discover that the Cumberland and her misfit crew are all that stands in the way of a deadly Krag attack that threatens to end the war?and humanity once and for all. A far-future story in the tradition of ships of wood, men of iron.  To Honor You Call Us and the Man of War series combine the adventure of exploration, the excitement of war, and the dangers of the unknown through the eyes of a ship and her crew."

To Honor You Call Us is a must read for any Military Science Fiction fan.  Honsinger takes some familiar themes and gives them a new twist.

To Honor You Call Us starts with our hero, Max Robichaux, leading a successful raid against the enemy and ending up the senior officer left alive on his spaceship making him the acting Captain.  Fast forward another chapter and Max is given command of the Cumberland, a problem ship that when faced with action against the enemy was noted to come, see and run.   Certainly a theme that has been used before. 

What makes this a good read is that after that the book develops its own voice and becomes a unique story. 

There is great world building worked into the story and plot.  Part of the world building is done with information dumps but they are kept to a paragraph or two and do not run pages and pages. I also like the explanation of why there were no women on the ships and how they felt it was a loss to the Navy that they were no long part of the space going service.

The characters are interesting and very well developed.  Expect the unexpected from some of the characters.  The roles they play are flexible and unique adding to the depth of the story line.

Then there are the aliens.  Look for a big surprise about the enemy about 2/3 of the way through the book.

The plot is set up for a series. Max and crew are successful at their mission but their mission is only a small part of the war.  That leaves the ending up in the air with a lot of room for the action in the next book.

I liked the writing.  As I said there were some information dumps but not enough to interfere with the flow of the story and all had information that was needed.  I found it very easy to read and keep up.  The writing was very much in an active voice and kept my attention throughout the book.  Pick up To Honor You Call Us for an enjoyable read.  Book Two, For Honor We Stand, is already out in one addition and will be released again by 47 North on March 11, 2014.

47 North published To Honor You Call Us by H. Paul Honsinger in 2013.