In the Stormy Red Sky

Unlike some creators of space Opera (I think you know to whom I refer) Instead of getting bloated and verbose as the series develops, Drake makes the Leary series sharper, leaner, and more action-packed as the saga continues. And these are not cardboard characters we are following, but heroes. I actually got choked up at the end. In David Drake we trust. Unreservedly recommended.

I have been a fan of Drake's Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy series since its beginning with 1) With the Lightnings, and continuing with 2) Lt Leary Commanding, 3) The Far Side of the Stars, 4) The Way to Glory, 5) Some Golden Harbor, and 6) When the Tide Rises. With seven books now out in the series, I continue to look forward to the next one. Anyone not familiar with the series should definitely start with With the Lightnings, but In the Stormy Red Sky is a worthy step in the the Leary and Mundy story. Their story is comparable to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin, but I prefer Drake's characters. Drake uses historical cultures in a futuristic setting, and he uses historical events as the inspiration for the the events in these books. As he says in the author's note, three incidents contributed to the plot of this book: 1) The death of Dionysius II, whose grandson Hieronymos succeeded to the throne of Syracuse. 2) The successful revolt of a group of young aristocrats in Tarentum, aided by Hannibal. 3) The successful assault by Scipio (later Scipio Africanus) on the fortress city of Cartagena. Knowing this history may, or may not, aid your enjoyment of the book. A general problem with many of Drake's books is that these historical cultures (which seems to correspond to an 18th century British navy ship as closely as anything) don't fit well in a high-tech society. I consider the level of education necessary for a high-tech society to thrive to be incompatible with the kind of "primitive" culture Drake describes. Although the culture / technology clash is occasionally jarring, I like the the relationship between Leary and Mundy, and am happy to suspend my disbelief to read about them.

This is the latest book in the latest space opera series by David Drake. The main characters are a naval officer who is the mostly disowned son of a former political leader, and the sole surviving member of the opposition family who is a librarian/computer hacking expert who is also a world class pistol shooter. The two are best of friends. For more background, and to enjoy this book to the fullest, I recommend that you start with the first series book, With the Lightnings. Here Daniel, the naval officer, has been promoted to Captain and assigned command of a repaired enemy cruiser which he captured earlier in the series. This book starts slowly with an update on background changes, mostly delivered through the background characters at the commissioning of the ship at the private shipyard which Daniel now owns (again, as set forth in prior books). The main plot point is that a senator tried to rise to leadership, and lost. She is appointed as an envoy to a backwater region and Daniel and his ship are sent to carry her to her new post. There is an interesting interlude where Adele, the librarian, is informed that a medal which she qualified for and was put in for in a prior book is being suppressed by the intelligence service that she does work for. Her reaction to the manner in which she is told advances her character in the eyes of the reader, as does the fact that she doesn't care about not getting the award. Along the journey, the ship stops at a key planet and learns several facts, among them that a regiment of mercenary troops is more or less available. The characters also learn that the Navy has faced a reversal in the area and a lot of ships and crews have been captured. Daniel and his faithful friend deal with the situation in a jampacked ride, taking chances, defeating fleets, and invading worlds. I don't want to go into detail, because this is the meat of the book and was a very good read. One of the interesting parts was the interplay between Daniel, Adele, and the senator. That has not been the case in prior books, which concentrated mostly on Daniel and Adele and very slightly on Daniel's principal officers. The only crack I see is that Daniel is in line to be promoted agin in the next book (or two) and that would make it much harder to keep the same pacing and style of this series. Well worth the money.

In the Stormy Red Sky (2009) is the seventh SF novel in the Leary, RCN, series, following When the Tide Rises. In the previous volume, Daniel saved the RCN Squadron at Diamondia and was written up in the dispatches. Adele picked up comm traffic between the Alliance ships and provided a deception plan. Rene Cazelet -- Adele's protege -- eavesdropped on the Alliance ships from an escape capsule. In this novel, Daniel Leary is promoted to Captain in the RCN. He is the youngest Captain on the rolls. And he is being given command of a heavy cruiser, the RCS Milton. Adele Mundy is the signal officer aboard the Milton, just as she had been on the Princess Cecile. She is also Lady Mundy of Chatsworth, a member of the gentry. Mostly she is a friend of Daniel Leary. Senator Forbes has been named as plenipotentiary to the Veil and Adjacent Regions. She had been Minister of Finance. but resigned from that post to run for Speaker of the Senate. After losing the vote, she had accepted her present position to keep from being demoted to a back bench. Now she is hoping to gain some status within the hinterlands. Lieutenant Commander Dan Robinson is second-in-command of the Milton. He is a protege of Senator Forbes. Naturally Leary would rather have Elspeth Vesey as his First Lieutenant, but Forbes had recommended Robinson. In this story, Adele is told that she will not receive the RCN star as recommended through channels. Huxford informs her that it would not be appropriate for one of Madame Sand's agents to be publicly decorated. Adele lets him leave without killing him, but he does so hastily. Leary has orders to take Senator Forbes to Karst to talk with the Hegemony. Headman Terl had died recently and his son is refusing to talk to underlings. Forbes is to represent the power of the Senate, while the Milton will show the power of the RCN. The Milton stops at Paton on the way to the Hegemony. Adele goes with Senator Forbes to visit Master Beckford. Daniel stays behind to meet with Governor Das, the Resident of the Veil stars. Das had initially reported the lack of cooperation of the new Headman of the Hegemony. He gives a detailed report to Daniel. He also asks for assistance in a navigation problem on the Spezza. Captain Haugen of the Spezza has a regiment of Brotherhood troops waiting for resolution of the problem. The astrogation chip for the next stage of their voyage cannot be read by his equipment. Daniel offers the assistance of Adele and she finds that the chip has been encrypted. Adele decrypts the proper file and copies it back into the chip. The course is now accepted by the computer. Naturally, Adele retains copies of both files on the chip. When the Milton reaches Karst, Daniel and Forbes go to the palace to be presented to the new Headman. There they are told that the RCN has lost a major battle in the Montserrat Stars. When they get back to the Milton, Adele confirms the news from her tap on the database of