Customer Reviews

In the Stormy Red Sky

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm sure many readers of this review will notice that the title is a gender-changed version of the opening line of Gordon R. Dickson's famous novel "The Tactics of Mistake." There's a reason for it.

If you've read Arthur Jordin's review here on Amazon, you've gotten the basic story summary. This is another book in what is listed as the "Lt. Leary Series" over at the publisher's website(www.webscription.net). The series is space opera, with lots of combat, a cause well worth fighting for, and enemies worth beating.

In the other books, Lieutenant (later Captain) Daniel Leary is the main character, and his friend, Adele Mundy is his "signals officer." She is also, not by coincidence, the best intelligence officer (spy) in the galaxy, and has contributed to more than one victory either by providing critical information or by messing up enemy communications. Or both.

This book, however, is not Daniel's book, but Adele's. She has led a difficult life, and had a lot of her humanity torn from her by the political murders of her parents and baby sister, and the harsh years that followed that tragedy. This is the story of Adele reclaiming parts of her lost humanity. Adele being Adele, and the situation being a shooting war, the price of those parts is high, both in tears and shed blood.

I can't give any details without spoiling the surprises in this marvelous story, but I will say the ending is as "beautiful and terrible as an army with banners" and well worth reading the book to get to it.

I enjoyed this book enormously, and found it well worth the time invested. Thank you, David.

Ave nautae senatusque Cinnabarum!

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.

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 an Alliance destroyer.

This tale takes the Milton into an operation against the Alliance, with Senator Forbes tagging along. Forbes learns a little humility and gains a great deal of respect for the RCN, as exemplified by the crew of the Milton. She returns to Cinnabar with a new viewpoint and considerable reflected glory from the mission.

This story has considerable conflict, everything from Adele's clash with Huxford to spatial combat with the Alliance. Naturally, the Millie crew also gets into combat on the ground. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Drake fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of naval engagements, information retrieval, and political intrigue. Anyone who has not yet read this series should start with the first volume: With the Lightnings.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This was one of the better books in the series, far better than the last, but not 5 stars. Come on - a 5 star book is one you remember years later, like "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" or "Dune." I'll Have forgotten this one in a couple of months.

Let's start with the overstated publisher's hype:
- A Cinnabar Senator furious at losing an election--and still powerful enough to make her anger deadly.
Not even close. This should state "A bitter, jaundiced Senator jealous of those more successful, with little true power, that angers at the slightest provocation"
- The boy ruler of a star cluster who thinks he's a god--and who can sign the death warrants of even Cinnabar officials if a mad whimsy tells him to.
Huh? This kid was a minor player, perhaps 40 words from his mouth. Cinnabar officials were never in danger, and there was no indication he was "mad" - just ticked off.
- A world of slaves and escaped slaves, where the most savage beasts in the jungle used to be human.
What? What other "beasts" are even seen, apart briefly as carrion eaters? This line does not even make sense!
- An enemy base that could shrug off attack by powerful battlefleets--but which must fall to a single cruiser if Cinnabar is to survive.
Did the person writing this actually read the book? The base fell to a few dozen soldiers and a single ship finished them off. The minefield could hold off a fleet - not the measly base with two defensive emplacements - which were eliminated in about 10 minutes by ground troops.

Yes, Adele is the main character once again, with Tovera and Hogg playing even smaller parts than usual -usually background dressing. Daniel is secondary, as is our impotent all powerful senator. Look, it's a good book. It's not a great book, and not even close to the Slammer's books when it comes to military SF. The writing is not as rushed as in previous installments, and the story is more polished.

As far as this series goes, In the Stormy Red Sky is in the top three books. Compared to other Drake SF, it's in the top 20. Take Heinlein, Asimov, Herbert, Card and others with truly excellent books, this is not even in the top 500. It's a typical series installation. To place it in movie context, it's no "Wrath of Kahn" - it's closer to "The Undiscovered Country" - You can probably still remember many of the events in "Kahn," but nary a thing from "Country."

A few more comments on the people and places: One of the best additions to the series is the "Brotherhood" - I hope to see more from them. "FontHill" - OK, if this is the linchpin in a empire-wide fortune, why is there no protection? Come on - the guy is Macheviallian enough to have troops deployed - what about a few mines, a ship or two - even gun or missile emplacements? But nothing at all? Let the slaves run the place? Admiral Anston: Although a minor character, he's memorable. Bergen and Associates: Shows Daniel's dedication to spacers in general and is a good character builder.

If you're a Drake fan or are following this series, it's a definite read. Neither? Well, the book does not stand alone - it relies on a lot of back-story and prior knowledge. I enjoyed it, even though the senator and kid emperor seemed contrived and tossed in as a way to make a couple of the plot points easier.

You're better off starting with the first book in the RCN series, "With the Lightnings" - this was by far the best in the series.

And another ongoing complaint - poor quality binding, paper and cover. Cheaply made.

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.

Promoted to Captain of the RCN, Daniel Leary is given what is supposed to be a shakeout mission. He's to conduct an ambassador (a senator who lost her bid to become prime minister) to a friendly star system, provide a bit of a show of force, then return home. But the 'friendly' system turns out to be a lot less cooperative when the Alliance destroys an entire Cinnabar fleet, completely reversing the balance of power in nearby systems. With nothing but a cruiser at his disposal, Leary must somehow find a way to reverse the situation. Fortunately, he has the help of his signal officer, Adele Mundy, who is a miracle code-breaker and all-around computer whiz. Rather than attack the Alliance head-on, Leary takes his ship to the local Alliance headquarters, hoping to strike a blow when the alliance fleet is in action against the remnants of Cinnabar's destroyed fleet.

Author David Drake creates a Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin style space opera, with Leary a military genius, a specialist in dimensional sailing, and an avowed naturalist (who also has a tendency to put on weight and chase bimbos when not at war) and Mundy an angry duelist and heir to a vanished great family who seeks information and doesn't really understand human relationships. The interplay between these two characters drives the story forward and proves central to the military exploits Leary is able to achieve.

I enjoy space opera and Drake's Leary series is filled with the kind of adventure that many of us look for in Science Fiction. Drake is a capable writer, introducing a number of memorable characters and even making some of the near-miracles Leary/Mundy pull off see plausible. I found myself distracted, however, by some writing quirks that should have been picked up by the Baen editors but nevertheless slipped through. In addition to some purely clunky writing and some overuse of favorite words and phrases, I found myself getting fatigued by Leary/Mundy's cold smiles. Couldn't we have some other expression (yes, we did have the occasional grin)? The overuse of the 'cold smile' device ended up dragging me out of the story and into the writing way too often. (An example of a really bothersome lack of editing: He collapsed his holgraphic display and smiled brightly. "Good afternoon, Senator," he said brightly. Couldn't we use a different word here than "brightly" twice?

Bottom line--I enjoy the Leary series. I love the interplay between Leary and Mundy, the not-quite-a-romance between male and female characters who cherish one another yet who (at least in the case of Leary) have no sexual feelings for each other. Occasionally sloppy writing/editing doesn't keep me from liking the series and characters, but it does distract me.

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.

Mr. Drake proves once again the difference between battle fiction written by wannabe warriors and the real thing. Even in an imaginary scenario, similar experiences can add an edge to a person's writing that the imagination can never yield. The old adage "Write what you know" is especially true in war-related fiction--only those who have had to make life-or-death decisions in the heat of the moment know what it is like,and it shows in their writing. Mr. Drake's background as an historian adds to the levels of detail he provides, and his skill as a writer makes this an excellent read.

This is part of a long series of books based, in turn, on another long series of books. It's possible that someone could randomly pick up this novel and read it by itself, but I wouldn't recommend doing so. The plot stands on its own, but the settings and characters all depend on previous books. So I'll assume the reader of this review has read the other books.

Thus, the obvious question is, "How does this compare to the other RCN novels?" And the answer is, "Quite well." This is one of the better-executed stories in series.

Leary is moving up into bigger commands and has new challenges to face because of this. Mundy is becoming more well-known to the RCN outside of the Sissies, and also has new challenges to face because of this. (Tovara and Hogg play rather small roles in the book, and few of the other recurring characters have any significant development.) The other main character is a senator that Leary has been assigned to carry to her new diplomatic assignment, which gives Drake a chance to explore the relationship between politics and the military.

The battle scenes are neither too detailed nor too sketchy, and we even get to explore a couple of interesting planets along the way.

All in all, this is one of the best novels in the series.

As the series started, Leary would get lucky, and Mundy would pull some mysterious techological miracle that solved every problem. This is something like the seventh book in the series, and now that's all that happens: they have a mission, they get in trouble, Leary gets lucky, and Mundy pulls some mysterious techological miracle that solves everything. It's gone from innovative to routine.