Ratings8
Average rating3.5
This is the first book of the Lt. Leary series. WARNING: This series is highly addictive. In this book you will be introduced to Daniel Leary, Adele Mundy and many more of their crack crew. You'll learn how a lowly 2nd Lt. gains command of a fighting vessel, how that vessel was obtained and fought. You'll be more than ready to read the rest of this series when you finish this work. Written by Master Author David Drake, it is full of action as anyone could desire, plus it shows courage and human nature for what they really are. Finally, it also shows heart, which is lacking from many books. Enjoy.
Series
3 primary booksLt. Leary / RCN is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1998 with contributions by David Drake.
Reviews with the most likes.
I do like the idea as a space opera in general, but I suppose I would have liked it better if the action was better paced. 2.5
Despite being first published in 1998, this is good old-fashioned sf, the kind they used to write when I was a child, in the 1950s and early 1960s. The main updates are near-equality of the sexes, and heroes with self-doubts and flaws.Some readers evidently insist on being plunged straight into hectic action, and complain that this story starts too slowly. I'm not complaining; I've read books, some of them good, that started more slowly, and I didn't notice any problem here on first reading. On second reading, well, it's a story with a couple of slow patches, the action isn't continuous, but there's plenty of action if you have a little patience.I thoroughly enjoyed the whole story on first reading; even on second reading, it makes a good start to the series. The scenario is unoriginal in most respects; characterization is quite good by the standards of 1950s sf, but that's not saying much. One benefit is that any reader of old-style sf can easily feel comfortable with this book.The most original aspect of it all is the technology of space travel and space combat, which I think is unique to Drake; he's thought it out carefully and can describe all the details confidently, as though he'd spent years working in that environment himself. This is a rather remarkable achievement and worth admiring, although not all readers will appreciate it.Drake says himself that the series is inspired by [a:Patrick O'Brian 5600 Patrick O'Brian https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1212630063p2/5600.jpg]'s Aubrey/Maturin naval stories, set in the Napoleonic Wars. Here we have a space navy operating in the fairly far future, but again there are two central characters: the young naval officer Daniel Leary, and the somewhat older Adele Mundy. Both are talented, but in different ways; they complement each other.