His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to space opera (Path of the Fury, The Armageddon Inheritance) to alternate history (1632 series with Eric Flint) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization.

Many of his stories have military...particularly naval...themes. By frequently placing female leading characters in what have previously been seen as traditionally male roles, he has explored the challenges faced by women in the military and politics. In his writing, he creates a consistent and rationally-explained technology and society.

The most popular character he has created is Honor Harrington. Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through a series of 12 novels, four shared-universe anthologies, and two sub-series. The series has over 3 million copies in print, and more than thirteen of Weber's titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list.

A lifetime military history buff, David Weber has carried his interest of history into his fiction. He is said to be interested in most periods of history, with a strong emphasis on the military and diplomatic aspects of it.

Weber started writing in fifth grade. His first published novels grew out of his work as a war game designer for the Task Force game Starfire. He prefers to write about strong characters, developing a character's background story in advance in considerable detail because he wants that degree of comfort level with the character. He has said he writes primarily in the evenings and at night.

Weber has said he makes an effort to accept as many invitations to science fiction conferences and conventions as he can because finds that the opportunities for direct feedback from readers which conventions offer is extremely useful to him. He makes a habit of Tuckerizing people from fandom, particularly in the Honor Harrington books (see e.g. Jordin Kare).

In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.

In a video interview, he stated that he is a Methodist lay preacher, and that he tries to explore in his writing how religions (both real-life and fictional ones) can be forces for good on the one hand, and misused to defend evil causes on the other hand.

Many of Weber's books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).

The first edition hardcover releases by Baen Books of War of Honor, Wind Rider's Oath, At All Costs, Hell Hath No Fury, Torch of Freedom, and Mission of Honor each contain a CD, holding electronic copies of all books of David Weber up to that moment. The CD labels explicitly stated that the contents are freely distributable. The CDs have been mirrored on various sites.

Honor Harrington series

1. On Basilisk Station (April 1992) ISBN 0-671-57793-X
2. The Honor of the Queen (June 1993) ISBN 0-671-57864-2
3. The Short Victorious War (April 1994) ISBN 0-671-87596-5
4. Field of Dishonor (October 1994) ISBN 0-671-57820-0
5. Flag in Exile (September 1995) ISBN 0-671-31980-9
6. Honor Among Enemies (February 1996) ISBN 0-671-87723-2
7. In Enemy Hands (July 1997) ISBN 0-671-57770-0
8. Echoes of Honor (October 1998) ISBN 0-671-57833-2
9. Ashes of Victory (March 2000) ISBN 0-671-57854-5
10. War of Honor (October 2002) ISBN 0-7434-3545-1
11. At All Costs (November 2005) ISBN 1-4165-0911-9
12. Mission of Honor (June 2010) ISBN 1-4391-3361-1
13. A Rising Thunder (forthcoming, 2012)

Works related to the Honor Harrington series

Worlds of Honor anthologies

Short stories related to the Honor Harrington series - edited by David Weber

• More Than Honor (January 1998) ISBN 0-671-87857-3
• Worlds of Honor (February 1999) ISBN 0-671-57855-3
• Changer of Worlds (March 2001) ISBN 0-671-31975-2
• The Service of the Sword (April 2003) ISBN 0-7434-3599-0
• In Fire Forged (February 2011) ISBN 1-4391-3414-6

Wages of Sin sub-series

• Crown of Slaves with Eric Flint (September 2003) ISBN 0-7434-7148-2
• Torch of Freedom with Eric Flint (November 2009) ISBN 1-4391-3305-0

Saganami sub-series

• The Shadow of Saganami (October 2004) ISBN 0-7434-8852-0
• Storm from the Shadows (March 2009) ISBN 1-4165-9147-8

Young adult series

Weber is working on the first title in a new young adult series which focuses on Stephanie Harrington.

• A Beautiful Friendship (forthcoming, 2011)

Dahak series

• Mutineers' Moon (October 1991) ISBN 0-671-72085-6
• The Armageddon Inheritance (October 1994) ISBN 0-671-72197-6
• Heirs of Empire (February 1996) ISBN 0-671-87707-0
• An omnibus re-issue of all three books, titled Empire From The Ashes, was released hardcover in March 2003 (ISBN 0-7434-3593-1) and in trade paperback in February 2006 (ISBN 1-4165-0933-X).

War God series

• Oath of Swords (February 1995) ISBN 0-671-87642-2
• The War God's Own (May 1998) ISBN 0-671-87873-5
• Wind Rider's Oath (May 2004) ISBN 0-7434-8821-0
• Sword Brother, a novella published together with a January 2007 edition of Oath of Swords, ISBN 1-4165-2086-4

Safehold series

• Off Armageddon Reef (January 2007) ISBN 0-7653-1500-9
• By Schism Rent Asunder (July 2008) ISBN 0-7653-1501-7
• By Heresies Distressed (June 2009) ISBN 0-7653-1503-3
• A Mighty Fortress (April 2010) ISBN 0-7653-1505-X
• Untitled (projected Spring/Summer 2011)

Other novels

• Path of the Fury (December 1992) ISBN 0-671-72147-X . This is a story of a retired female marine commando, the fading Fury Tisiphone, and an AI running an advanced battleship centuries in the future, who team up under somewhat dubious circumstances to hunt down space pirates.
• The Apocalypse Troll (January 1999) ISBN 0-671-57845-6
• The Excalibur Alternative (January 2002) ISBN 0-671-31860-8, expands Sir George and the Dragon, a short story which appeared in the anthology Foreign Legions edited by David Drake (2001) ISBN 0-671-31990-6
• Bolo! (January 2005) ISBN 0-7434-9872-0
• In Fury Born (April 2006) ISBN 1-4165-2054-6 is an expanded re-issue of Path of the Fury that includes a prequel story on the protagonist. This can be considered as an omnibus of two books, with the prequel the first book, and Path of the Fury the second book.
• Old Soldiers (January 2007) ISBN 1-4165-0898-8
• Out of the Dark (September 2010) ISBN 978-0765324122 is an extended version of the 78-page story of the same name in the anthology Warriors (2010), edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, ISBN 978-0765320483.

Collections

• Worlds of Weber: Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington and Other Stories (September 2008) ISBN 978-159606-177-4

Collaborations

With Steve White

Starfire series (based on the Starfire game)

• Insurrection (November 1990) ISBN 0-671-72024-4
• Crusade (March 1992) ISBN 0-671-72111-9
• In Death Ground (May 1997) ISBN 0-671-87779-8
• The Shiva Option (February 2002) ISBN 0-671-31848-9
• The Stars at War (August 2004) ISBN 0-7434-8841-5 is an omnibus hardcover re-issue of Crusade and In Death Ground
• The Stars at War II (July 2005) ISBN 0-7434-9912-3 is an omnibus hardcover re-issue of The Shiva Option and Insurrection with 20,000 words of connecting material and restored edits.

With John Ringo

Empire of Man series

• March Upcountry (May 2001) ISBN 0-671-31985-X
• March to the Sea (May 2001) ISBN 0-671-31826-8
• March to the Stars (January 2003) ISBN 0-7434-3562-1
• We Few (April 2005) ISBN 0-7434-9881-X

With Eric Flint

1632 series

• 1633 (July 2002) ISBN 0-7434-3542-7
• The Baltic War (May 2007) ISBN 1-4165-2102-X
• In the Navy, a short story in the anthology Ring of Fire edited by Eric Flint (2004) ISBN 0-7434-7175-X, set in the world of the 1632 series

In the Honor Harrington series, see Wages of Sin sub-series

With Linda Evans

Multiverse series

• Hell's Gate (April 2008) ISBN 1-4165-0939-9
• Hell Hath No Fury (June 2008) ISBN 1-4165-2101-1

Multi-author collections

• The Warmasters (2002) ISBN 0-7434-3534-6, includes David Weber's Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington together with Island by Eric Flint and Choosing sides by David Drake.