Testimonials

This page contains Testimonials collected from both Members and Non-Members about both the Royal Manticoran Navy as an Organization and David Weber’s Honorverse books.

What our members are saying:

  • David Weber – Well, I can honestly say that MY association with the TRMN DID begin (in a manner of speaking) with the very first book in the series. In more concrete and immediate terms, it began one day in 2009, when this fellow who’d been talking with Ad Astra Games contacted me with this notion of creating an official Honor Harrington fan club in the US. I’d already been talking with Jan Kotouč in the Czech Republic about an Honor Harrington fan group, which he had organized as HMS Phantom, but this Lessem fellow had really big ideas about a formally organized and licensed fan organization. More than that, he really sounded like he thought he could pull it off! Nonsense of course, but, then again . . . . Be darned if I didn’t actually think he might make it work, despite all the obstacles. He just . . . struck me that way. Some of you may have met him, so you probably know what I’m talking about. Anyway, that was in 2009, and if you fast-forward a year or so to early 2011, he actually pulled it off. In February of that year, I knew fan organization formally launched — The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, which is a real mouthful. Which is why we call it the TRMN, instead. You pin diminutive nicknames on people and things that are especially important to you, and the TRMN — all of you — are especially important to Sharon and me. I don’t know how many of you have seen the movie The Shack or read the book, but in it God, who loves all of Her children (if you haven’t seen it you really need to) is fond of saying “I am exceptionally fond” of those who are currently living up to Her standards. Well, Sharon and I are “exceptionally fond” of all you guys. Yes, there are occasional food fights. Welcome to the real world, and welcome to family dynamics. But there is such a sense of friendship, of being there for one another. And Sharon and I could not conceivably have been adopted by a nicer, more caring bunch of people. I’ve said it before if my books can be important enough to inspire a fan organization built and peopled by human beings as exceptional as you guys are, then I must be doing something right. Thank you for being who you are.

  • Michael Romero – I joined just under five years ago. Mike Hunnicutt, one of my best friends in real life and one that helped me form one of the most awesome Klingon groups out there, encouraged me to join TRMN right after I’d had an exceedingly bad (including a full-on nervous breakdown) experience in command of an SFI chapter with a lame duck command staff on top of an inactive crew. Mike had been encouraged to join TRMN and develop new chapters in Virginia, and he wanted me to be part of his crew. I told him I’d read the books (the first two were free on Amazon at the time), and join the club to hang out, but that’s it. I was sick of fan group leadership, and other than being the Helmsman of HMS Devastation DD-44, I was NOT looking to get involved. Then I started meeting some of the people involved through Facebook and a few in person. Our local chapter started growing like a weed (watered with good navy rum, of course) and quickly spun of HMS Vengeance. I took a chance and stepped into a leadership role as Boatswain (helping keep the upstart Lieutenant SG White from going full “Marty Pascal”), but I was going to stay enlisted forever, dang it! Feeling comfortable getting involved, I took on a BuTrain instructor billet as Missile Tech Instructor, since that didn’t involve condemnation to the officer ranks. (Ask James, Laura, or Christa, once you join the Bureau, you can never leave except for a senior government position.) Third Fleet was also growing by leaps and bounds, and HMS Vengeance soon gave way to HMS Agamemnon, and I stepped into the FSMCPO role. Almost guarantees you life as an enlisted man, right? Wrong. Much to the lament of SMCPON Coonradt, in the summer of 2015, I decided I wanted to launch my own chapter and play up the Age of Sail roots of the Honorverse. After talking with BuShips and digging through the Hornblower novels, HMS Atropos CL-257 was born. I met more great people, and the chapter boomed to BC strength within a few months, and we became HMS Atropos BC-363. We were fortunate that BuShips had the Atropos listed as both Light and Battlecruisers in canon…I keep telling people that it was Fate, but so few people get the joke. In addition, people kept putting me in charge of things…I became CO of BatCruDiv311, and then Task Group 31.1. On the BuTrain side, I was growing as well…leading seven schools as the SIA TSC Tactical Department Chair before becoming the 6SL’s Chief of Staff and the War College Commandant. I had to pass War College on when I tried a semester of online classes to begin working toward a Master’s Degree (still need to win the lottery to make it happen), but not so long ago became the SIA Senior Officer Instructor. Most recently, following in the able footsteps of two of the dudes that made TRMN in this area so compelling, Daniel Walker and Joseph Lawrence Lyons, I am now in command of Third Fleet. I had to give up the white beret about eight months ago, but Brian Burnham has kept HMS Atropos going strong, and her crew is the best any flag officer could ask for. I’m really looking forward to the next five years in TRMN, and am grateful for more people than I can tag here for making this the best fan group experience I’ve ever had. Oh, and because David and Sharon Rice-Weber me hooked on the books, I literally have a new direction in my career and if the folks at Naval History Magazine are able to find the artwork to go with my admittedly obscure topic, I will soon be a published naval historian. Fancy that.

  • Reece Guisse – As usual, I did not start with the first book in the series. I picked up Honor of the Queen from my local used book store in BFE, NorCal. This was…2005? Somewhere in there. I spent the next few years scouring that store for every David Weber book I could find. Eventually, I had to resort to desperate measures…I had to buy them new. When I moved to South Carolina in 2013 to assist my aging mother, I was without friends and a bit depressed – a recurring condition. That’s when I heard about HonorCon. It was to be held in Greenville, only a few hours away the week I heard about it. With only a little encouragement, I was off! I met some great people there – Martyn Griffiths, Phil Clayton and his wife Angela S. Clayton and many, many others. Random strangers who wanted to go out to dinner and to talk about the Weber books…it was an amazing time. While there I signed up for tRMN…and spent the next 8 months in the holding station because I’d never joined a fan club before and knew not the first thing. Not all was lost, though. I was invited to several Game Days in and around Greenville. I got to re-meet (I’m the WORST with names and sometimes faces) some great people, including a certain vertically challenged red-head named Sharon and her three children. I wasn’t until the next HonorCon (this time in Raleigh, NC) that I found out that Sharon was married to (gasp!) David Weber!! During the following year I came to know, and to my astonishment, be known by, David, Himself. It has been my great pleasure to associated with tRMN, the Webers, the Claytons, Steven Firestine, the Staublys and so very many other fine people. For five years now, tRMN has been the place I go to find friends and companionship. Thank you, each and every one of you. Even Kiwi. No, my eyes are not watering. I have no idea what you are talking about. Go away.

  • Patrick McKinnion – So around 2012, a friend up in BC (I believe it was Cary Anne Conder) and I were discussing Star Wars fandom like the 501st and Rebel Legion, and somehow a reference to The Royal Manticoran Navy came up. (I thought Cary mentioned it, she thinks I mentioned it. So it goes….) Seemed like people were trying to gather enough members to start a group in the Pacific Northwest, so I figured I would join and be a warm body for their membership numbers. Somehow Camin Keplinger Bradbury and our daughter Mhari ended up members too. Then I got bored and started taking some tests. And some more. And even more….. Around that time, Timothy Monk was trying to start a local group, HMS Truculent. I showed up, talked, and in due time ended up as an Ensign and the communications officer on the Truc. Then, while taking the Sick Berth Attendant courses, I submitted a warrant project that was basically “What does Dr. Montoya have in his medical kit”.James Friedline first asked me what my certification and medical credentials were, then asked “do you want to teach this? Long story short, I found myself a (Surgeon) Lt. Commander and the head of the Saganami Island Academy’s Medical Department. I was also handling regional coordinator for BuSupp at the same time. And I continued to take tests. A year later, and the Truc had a table at Norwescon. One ship became two, and then four and then……. Before VCON 39 in 2014, I was approached to be CO of a new ship comprising Northern Washington and the Olympia Peninsula. And so HMS Andromeda was commissioned at VCON with David Weber attending the commissioning. I gave up my BuSupp hat, and then in 2015 decided to let someone else run Medical tests. At OryCon in 2016, I was made Captain of the List on top of everything else. In 2017 I had a serious of serious personal issues hit. My ship and friends were supportive, but I made the decision towards the end of 2017 to leave the command of the Andy. Soon after I made that Choice, James D Senaapproached me about transferring to the Republic of Haven and starting their Naval Academy. I agreed, and after the Change of Command for Andromeda at Norwescon 2018, I transferred and I’ve since then been handling the startup of the Republic of Haven Naval Academy as it’s the first Commandant. I’ve been a member now for over six years. I’ve met some good people along with the way. It’s been an interesting trip so far. Some bad apples here and there, but overwhelmingly positive and cool people. I’m glad I got involved.

  • Cary Anne Conder – The amount of forethought and work that has gone into building this organization and the attention to detail makes it a fascinating group to belong to. It isn’t stagnant. Nor does it expect more from its members than they are able to put into it. For those of us on the periphery of everything, we don’t feel as though we’re ignored or sneered at because we’re unable to “mix” with everyone else. We’re a far-flung “family”, even as the really good, real-life military organizations are.

  • Megan Cochran – In February of this year, I found a group of friends in a completely different organization that has become essentially my family. They joked about our pack in the game we were playing, Werewolf the Apocalypse, and said “The only condition we have for you joining our pack is that you also join our book club. We meet once a month for food and board games,” and without missing a beat I responded, “You had me at food.”I started learning about this club they were in, called the Royal Manticoran Navy, and it intrigued me. I started reading the books and fell in love with the characters, concept, and story. Having not even been in the club for three months, I decided to accompany my friends and their ship, HMS Wolf, to Manticon, and it was one of the greatest experiences. I feel so welcomed by this organization and I have been enjoying the amount of depth and thought put into everything. My shipmates, my pack, are my family, and thanks to them I have discovered so many new things about myself and how much I really needed them. Without the TRMN, I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now, and I wouldn’t have some of the most important people in my life. And all this in maybe five months. It’s only up from here.

What non-members are saying:

  • Martin, In August of last year, my wife was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and in September during follow-on testing, she was also diagnosed with Uterine Cancer. The past six or seven months have been a succession of operations and chemo, with additional stresses caused by those medical procedures. After you introduced me to Honor Harrington, I downloaded all the stories to my iPad and took them with me to various medical appointments and hospital waiting rooms. The intricate plots, fully developed characters, and especially the grit and determination of the Manticorans (especially HONOR!) were an inspiration to me during this time. Not only did they divert me from the issues that were dominating my life, but the characters also inspired me with their “Never give up” attitude. These stories gave a needed boost to both my morale and to my resolve and helped me provide the support my wife needed to get through all the medical stuff. She came through it all with great success and is now cancer free. Mr. Weber is a most excellent author, and I continue to enjoy his stories today. –ADM Joe Hoolihan CO, USS Matrix NCC-72296