David Weber
American science fiction and fantasy writer (born 1952)
David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best-known of which is the Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His first novel, which he worked on with Steve White, sold in 1989 to Baen Books. The company remains Weber's major publisher.
Writing career
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 24, 1952, Weber began writing while in fifth grade. Some of Weber's first jobs within the writing/advertising world began after high school when he worked as copywriter, typesetter, proofreader, and paste-up artist. He later earned an undergraduate degree from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina and an M.A. in history from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.
Weber's first published novels grew out of his work as a wargame designer for the Task Force board wargame Starfire. Weber used the Starfire universe as a setting for short stories that he wrote for the company's Nexus magazine, and he also wrote the Starfire novel Insurrection (1990) with Stephen White after Nexus was canceled; this book was the first in a tetralogy that concluded with their final collaboration, The Shiva Option (2002), which was included in The New York Times Best Seller list.
Weber was influenced by C. S. Forester, Patrick O'Brian, Keith Laumer, H. Beam Piper, Robert A. Heinlein, Roger Zelazny, Christopher Anvil and Anne McCaffrey.
The public source identifies “David Weber” as american science fiction and fantasy writer (born 1952). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around David, Weber and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “David Weber”, the useful work is to connect “american science fiction and fantasy writer (born 1952)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q588653. VIAF identifies the subject as 171240. The Library of Congress control number is n96016522. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1952, 1989, 1990 and 2002.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “David Weber”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow David Weber primary sources, David Weber archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Weber”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “David Weber” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.