This anthology contains four stories by three of science fiction's top writers. The first, A Beautiful Friendship by Weber, is an incredible, feel-good story that grabs you at the beginning and does not let go until the end. Stephanie Harrington is a precocious eleven-year-old who emigrates (against her wishes) with her parents to a new planet. Bored, unhappy, and lonely, she finds a new and unlikely friend in Climbs Quickly, a sentient being the rest of the settlers know nothing about. Climbs Quickly's clan does not want the two-legs (humans) to know about them and puts a ban on any contact. When Stephanie and Climbs Quickly battle a common enemy to protect each other, they inadvertently show both species the way to friendship. A Grand Tour by Drake is a futuristic story based on actual historical events. Hakyon Nessler, a young aristocrat and former military officer, is on an archeological tour of the outer planets when he comes upon a group of disreputable naval officers bent on collecting souvenirs no matter what destruction they leave behind. When a small war breaks out, Nessler commandeers the naval vessel and, with the help of survivors he picks up along the way, puts down the insurrection and returns to his studies. The third story, A Whiff of Grapeshot, is seemingly based on the French Revolution and is a more difficult story to understand. Rob S. Pierre and the other members of the ruling committee are at a meeting when they are attacked by a faction called the Levelers. A riot ensues and the committee takes refuge behind hastily erected barricades. The head of the military, Esther McQueen, has her ships fire on the mob to rescue the committee. The uprising is quelled, but at a great loss of life. The fourth entry, Weber's Universe of Honor Harrington is the major drawback here. There is no plot nor are there characters: it reads like an encyclopedia entry, with charts and explanations of hyperdrive, G-type star systems, planetary tilts, and politics. One thing it is-boring. If these are Weber's notes of how he created his universe, let him use it as a reference, but don't subject the rest of us to it. The only thing this section is good for is as a cure for insomnia. It is unfortunate that it cannot be removed from this anthology to append to the Honor Harrington series (On Basilisk Station [Baen, 1994]; The Honor of the Queen [Baen, 1993]; The Short Victorious War [Baen, 1994], etc.). The incredibly wonderful first story unfortunately does not outweigh the abject uselessness of the longer fourth section. VOYA Codes: 2Q 2P J S (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).