Bonus Content
A Beautiful Friendship
“I MEAN IT, STEPHANIE!” RICHARD HARRINGTON SAID. “I don’t want you wandering off into those woods again without me or your mom along. Is that clear?”
“Oh, Daaaddy—!” Stephanie began, only to close her mouth sharply when her father folded his arms. Then the toe of his right foot started tapping lightly, and her heart sank. This wasn’t going well at all, and she resented that reflection on her . . . negotiating skills almost as much as she resented the restriction she
was trying to avoid. She was almost twelve T-years old, smart, an only child, and a daughter. That gave her certain advantages, and she’d become an expert at wrapping her father around her finger almost as soon as she could talk. Unfortunately, her mother had always been a tougher customer . . . and even her father was unscrupulously willing to abandon his proper pliancy when he
decided the situation justified it.
Like now.
“We’re not going to discuss this further,” he said with ominous calm. “Just because you haven’t seen any hexapumas or peak bears doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.”
“But I’ve been stuck inside with nothing to do all winter,” she said, easily suppressing a twinge of conscience as she neglected to mention snowball fights, cross-country skiing, sleds, snow tunnels, and certain other diversions. “I want to go outside and see things!”
“I know you do, honey,” her father said more gently, reaching out to tousle her curly brown hair. “But it’s dangerous out there. This isn’t Meyerdahl, you know.” Stephanie closed her eyes and looked martyred, and his expression showed a flash of regret at having let the last sentence slip out. “If you really want something to do, why don’t you run into Twin Forks with Mom this afternoon?”
“Because Twin Forks is a complete null, Daddy.”
Exasperation colored Stephanie’s reply, even though she knew it was a tactical error. Even above-average parents like hers got stubborn if you disagreed with them too emphatically, but honestly! Twin Forks might be the closest “town” to the Harrington freehold, but it boasted a total of maybe fifty families, most of
whose handful of kids were a total waste of time. None of them were interested in xeno-botany or biosystem hierarchies. In fact, they spent most of their free time trying to catch anything small enough to keep as pets, however much damage they might do to their intended “pets” in the process. Stephanie was pretty sure
any effort to enlist those zorks in her explorations would have led to words—or a fist in the eye—in fairly short order. Not, she thought darkly, that she was to blame for the situation. If Dad and Mom hadn’t insisted on dragging her away from Meyerdahl just when she’d been accepted for the junior forestry program,
she’d have been on her first internship field trip by now. It wasn’t her fault she wasn’t, and the least they could do to make up for it was let her explore their own property!
Copyright © 2011 by David Weber
A Beautiful Friendship
With A Beautiful Friendship, David Weber delivers the first entry in a teen series featuring the founder of a pioneering family destined to lead the fight for humanity’s freedom in a dangerous galaxy.
Twelve-year-old Stephanie Harrington hates being confined inside her family’s compound on the frontier planet Sphinx, a wilderness world populated by dangerous animals that could easily tear a human to pieces. She’s determined to make discoveries—and the biggest discovery of all is an intelligent alien species called treecats.
Resembling a cross between a bobcat and a lemur (but with six legs and much more deadly claws), treecats are also telepathic, able to bond with gifted humans such as the genetically-enhanced Stephanie. But Stephanie’s find, and her first-of-its-kind bond with a treecat, brings on a torrent of danger. Highly-placed enemies with galactic-sized wealth at stake are determined to ensure that Sphinx remains entirely in human hands—even if it means the extermination of another thinking species. Stephanie and Lionheart are about to undergo the greatest test two alien species can ever face together: how to survive first contact and win a future with liberty and justice for all!
Hardcover : 368 pages
Publisher: Baen Books ( October 01, 2011 )
Item #: 13-437547
ISBN: 9781451637472
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 inches
Product Weight: 15.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Not as good as expected 
February 14, 2012
This book was not up to par with Mr. Weber's usual work. I had expected it to be toned down a bit for the young readers but the editors watered it down too much. Despite this it is still an entertaining story. I just wish there was more filler which I hope will be there in the subsequent books.
Reviewer: Eric B
Disappointing
January 22, 2012
When I was a 12-15, I was reading Heinlein, Tolkein, Dickens, McCafferty, etc. Rowling showed us that even current teens and pre-teens are up to juicy complicated stories. Weber could have done so much with this story instead he watered it down and cut it short leaving me feeling unsatisfied. I hate to think this was done so that he could issue 4 other books in the series with out thinking to much about what comes next
Reviewer: Lyrlen
Does every young adult book have to be vampire?
January 19, 2012
This story line is an expansion of a comment in one of the Honor Harrington novels, and while it has Weber's usual talent of making you care about the characters, it's a little thin on plot. If you're familiar with the Honorverse, you know what's going to happen. I also have a serious issue with the cover art -- jeez, what's with the vampire look? I know that it's all the rage in young adult novels at the moment, but somehow it doesn't work with what we'd expect from a Harrington.
It's worth reading to fill in the back story, but the series needs to develop a bit to get to the scale that really displays Weber's talent.
Reviewer: David B
Enjoyable
December 19, 2011
I totally enjoyed it and look forward to another one.
Reviewer: Randy
Nice Try.
October 28, 2011
This novel is listed as a Juvenal but the line between books written for teens and adults has blurred and merged greatly over the years. While the story line of Beautiful Friendship is one of my favorite, the entire book seemed.... watered down. I would love to see the book as Mr Weber first wrote it. Although wedged into the 'Honor' universe, this novel follows the same track as the Little Fuzzy first contact series and my gripes are the same. A thousand years after humanity left a ruined earth, we are still using very 20th century tek. The only real advanced tek are vivro-knifes and portable anti-gravity packs. Mr Weber has the 'ol human greed angle down to a 'T' but with a sigh, I would hope that after a thousand years, the general ethics of our Race might have improved. My major gripe? The gravity is 1.3. The .3 adds 30% to a person's weight. The characters would need massive bone buildups to survive not alone to reproduce! Also, they would look like squatty trolls which would have been fine with me but the Tree Cats (native sapience), were slender and small with the trees topping sequoias! It's a big universe, anything could be out there but that was a bit of a um... drag for me.
The book leaves a lot unsaid about the Star Kingdom and the unsettled earth-like world circling the minor star. This could be a play ground with a lot of surprises so I will look for the next novel and hope for less 'filler' and more action.
Reviewer: Feyaia
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