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Friends Indeed by David Weber and Jane Lindskold, Baen Books, 2025, 567 pages, $18.99 (Hardcover), $9.99 (e-book), $29.95 (audiobook)
It has been several years since Stephanie Harrington first learned about the existence of Sphinx’s treecats, bonding with Lionheart in the process. Since then, other human-treecat pairings occurred. Those in the pairs, at least the humans, have formed what they call “the Treecat Conspiracy” to protect treecats specifically, and the planet of Sphinx’s ecology generally, from human abuse.
Friends Indeed, by David Weber and Jane Lindskold, is the fifth book in this Honor Harrington - Star Kingdom spinoff series. It takes place 350 years before the mainline Honor Harrington series, following Stephanie Harrington, Honor Harrington’s ancestor. The story explores the years when first contact was made between humans and treecats, the twelfth sentient species known to man.
In this book, Stephanie turns seventeen, gets engaged, and is hired by the Sphinx Forestry Service. Yet Stephanie Harrington’s coming of age is not the book’s focus. Rather, it views the changing relationship between humans and treecats, and the efforts of those closest to the treecats to protect them.
Everyone sees that treecats are intelligent. The question is, how intelligent? German Shepard smart? Dolphin smart? Or are they truly sentient? Their small size leads humans to view them as clever animals, too small to be really smart. Because treecats communicate telepathically and telempathically, humans cannot figure out how they “speak” to each other. They kindle fires, but seemly miss the “talk” part of H. Beam Piper’s “talk and build a fire” rule. Similarly, treecats cannot figure out how humans communicate at this stage. The mouth noises humans make are too alien a concept to pass as a method of communication for treecats.
If the treecats are sentient, it changes their status. They have property rights potentially being infringed upon by some humans. Those humans, including those who are powerful, have a vested interest in seeing the treecats ruled to be animals. This conflict dominates the book.
Readers need not have previously read the Honor Harrington books, or even the previous books in this spinoff, to enjoy the story. Friends Indeed is an excellent stand-alone story, self-contained and exciting. For those who have read the earlier Star Kingdom novels or are familiar with the Honorverse, the book offers insights into the origins of both Manticore and the Alignment, foreshadowing future conflicts between the two.
Regardless, Weber and Lindskold have added another entertaining story to the canon. Aimed at the young adult market, it is a book those of all ages can enjoy.
“Friends Indeed,” by David Weber and Jane Lindskold, Baen Books, 2025, 567 pages, $18.99 (Hardcover), $9.99 (e-book), $29.95 (audiobook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Discussion (3)
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It makes it sound a lot like the Little Fuzzy series. The CZC had reason to want to have Fuzzies classed as animals. And, of course, "talk and build a fire" was a rule of thumb, not a legal definition, as was shown in the Fuzzy series.
CONTRIBUTOR
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At this point it is. It was one reason I referenced Piper. In this, too, there are people on Manticore who stand to lose vast fortunes if the Treecats are ruled sapient. Those people also have a fallback, where if Treecats are ruled sapient, they will be moved to "reservations "for their good," of course. Said reservations being on land far away from both the land options held by Manticore speculators and the land the Treecats currently operate.
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