Customer Reviews

The Voyage

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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A sci-fi masterpiece!!!!! This book surpasses anything and everything I had come to expect from a sci-fi novel in every way. It was utterly unreal, but very down to earth. I am currently trying to get my hands on the other titles in this series. I reccomend this to anyone, sci-fi fan or not.

The "Hammer's Slammer's" series first hooked me on David Drake. "The Voyage" is a fantastic epic, encompassing all the gunplay and military sci-fi aspects of the afforementioned books. In addition, a plethora of devious and extremely clever plots exist throughout as the crew of the Swift surmounts seemingly impossible obstacles. Near non-stop action, I couldn't put this one down.

A group of mercenaries and an aristocrat go on a journey to find a lost ultra-tech artifact. Their action-packed journeys from planet to planet roughly parallel the Greek epic poem "The Odyssey." The combat scenes are fairly graphic, but well-executed, with a "you-are-there" sense of details. Probably the best "Slammers" book yet

The Voyage (1994) is a SF novel in the Hammer's Slammers series and a sequel to Cross the Stars. In the previous volume, Danny came to Hammer with a request. Marilee had requested information on the whereabouts of Don. Danny had traced Don's travels and found that he was last seen on Terzia.

Margritte talked to Terzia and convinced her to let the Don go home.
Terzia gave Don an unused lifeboat to fly to Elysium. The boat worked well until hitting the atmosphere, but then one thruster failed and the boat ran out of fuel. Then the escape capsule parachute was hit by the falling lifeboat.

In this novel, Edward Slade is the son of Tom and Marilee Slade and the nephew of Don Slade. After Don married Marilee, Ned was allowed to attend the Frisian Military Academy. He is a Reserve Ensign and has served with the planetary forces in pacification work.

Lissea Doormann is the daughter of Grey and Duenna Doormann. She is the Captain of the Swift and the head of the expedition to Pancahte.

Lucas Doormann is a cousin of Lissea. He is a board member of Doormann Trading Company.

Tadziki is Adjutant and second-in-command of the expedition. He and the other team members are veterans of many conflicts.

Herne Lording was the colonel of a mercenary company. Now he is the military advisor for Lissea.

Toll and Deke Warson are soldiers in the Pancahte expedition. Deke is the younger of the brothers.

In this story, Ned walks into the Pancahte expedition headquarters. Tadziki is turning down an offer by a vendor, so Toll talks to him. When Ned introduces himself, Toll mistakes him for his uncle.

Tadziki slams down the handset and turns to listen to Ned and Toll. Then Lucas interrupts them and asks for Lissea. Tadziki tells him that she is probably still at the armament warehouse with Herne.

After Doorman leaves, Tadziki talks over the situation with Ned, but tells him that there is just a few slots still open. He does tell him that only the Captain makes hiring decisions. Then he shows Ned the ship being constructed for the expedition.

When Lissea returns, Tadziki tells her that Slade is applying for a position on the team. Herne also confuses him with his uncle. Lissea tries to talk him out of applying, but Tadziki recommends taking him.

Then Deke shows up, so all the slots are filled. Yet Tadziki suggests a way to add another bunk in the ship. Ned is sent to the medics for a physical examination.

Ned is also given a tour of the laboratory of Lissea's great-granduncle Lendel. He is told the story of Lendel's disappearance and his later appearance on Pancahte. When the Swift leaves Telaria, Ned is on the ship.

This tale takes the Swift to several planets, where the team encounters problems. They have to finagle their way past a superwarship blocking the Sole Solution. Then the team is betrayed on Pancahte.

This story is a retelling of the Argonautica in a future setting. Like the original tale, the Swift voyagers find enemies, and a few friends, along the way. Then they return home to more problems.

Highly recommended for Drake fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of far voyages, alien monsters, and cunning soldiers. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

I really enjoy Mr. Drake's stories. His characters kind of seem real and their sense of humor in the face of danger makes for fun reading. I can lose myself in his books and just enjoy the story. This story was a bit different but still kept me going until the great ending.

Here we have a morally ambiguous piece of work, the quite lengthy tale of a band of ruthless and ubermacho mercenaries who travel across the galaxy, massacring thousands of people, including many civilians, in pursuit of money. David Drake makes the interesting choice of introducing us to protagonists who are not very sympathetic, and then showing them kill a multitude of people (most of them by surprise or with unconventional weapons, like biological agents or hidden bombs) who are no less sympathetic than the protagonists. Drake offers the reader no reason to excuse the mercenaries' behavior; they aren't the pawns of politicians, priests or businessmen, they made the clear-eyed choice to kill people with whom they have no political disagreement in exchange for money, and in one scene one of the mercs admits that he finds shooting civilians to be fun.

David Drake is a competent writer, so the book is worth a read. Drake bases his story on the tale of Jason and the voyage of the Argo, so those familiar with classical literature will enjoy trying to spot similarities to and differences from the source material.

I read the 1994 hardcover edition of The Voyage with the cover illustration by Donato. The illustration depicts a pivotal scene in the novel, but Donato didn't render the tanks at all as described by Drake. Too bad.

This is a very good book with a lot of action. I do not like the frequent use of the "F word" and other foul language. I find it unessecary. I think it would have been better without the bad language.