Igniting the Reaches

Millennia after the collapse of human civilization, humankind battles to rebuild an interstellar empire, and Stephen Gregg and Piet Ricimer leave the Free State of Venus to seek their fortune amid the perilous opportunities along the new exploration frontier.

A thousand years after the Collapse, a galaxy-wide depression that killed billions, rival factions from Venus and Earth are poised to retake the stars--and the wealth to be gained from trafficking in the resources found there. Stephen Gregg is a triggerman with a conscience, capable of gunning down hundreds during battle and then, moments later, standing aghast at his capacity to kill. His partner, Piet Ricimer, is a young pilot who sees interstellar trade as the fulfillment of God's plan. Together they lead merchants from Venus who compete with traders from Earth for the booty of alien slaves and scarce microchips to be found among the distant planets. Intended to recall Earth's Age of Discovery, the story evokes both the uncertainty of exploration and its questionable morality. Primitive navigation leaves ships adrift among the stars, and commerce becomes little more than an excuse for bloody turf battles. Drake ( Hammer's Slammers ) uses military language fluently to create vivid combat scenes and adds such touches as crews that sing "Onward Christian Soldiers" while descending into battle. The novel is ultimately limited, however, by the main characters' lack of real engagement in the moral questions their actions provoke.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Drake (The Jungle, 1991, etc.), a leading purveyor of military science fiction, offers a trade war/piracy/post-Imperial adventure inspired by the Elizabethan Age of Discovery. Following the collapse of a rigid human empire in space, various groups from the Solar System vie for trading rights to former colonies and access to surviving ancient technologies. One such group is the Venusians, led by daring young spaceship captain Piet Ricimer and his loyal henchman, weapons expert and trade-baron scion Stephen Gregg. The purpose of their voyages is to steal advanced and unmatchable computer chips still turned out on remote worlds by automated factories that survived the collapse of the empire. But the cruel and autocratic Earth Federation, utterly opposed to the free-spirited Venusians, will do everything in its power to stop them. Complications include: the Molts, intelligent insect-like humanoid aliens with genetically programmed knowledge of computer-chip manufacture, kept as slaves by the Federation but treated by Ricimer as people; the presence of a mirror universe, rich in computer chips, that the Federation also intends to occupy and control; and opposition within the Venusian camp itself. Drake does a convincing job of constructing a 16th-century- style scenario without resorting to hoary and false naval metaphors; the upshot is a violent, hard-nosed swashbuckler, set forth with discernment and skill. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The principle of free trade powers the exploits of Venus-based spacefarers Stephen Gregg and Piet Ricimer as they attempt to break the Southern Cross and Federation strangleholds on interplanetary trade and exploration. Drake (Hammer's Slammers, Baen Bks., 1989) pays tribute to the career of Sir Francis Drake in his latest hard-hitting sf adventure, which features privateers of the far future. The author's skill at vividly invoking the heat of battle serves him well in a tale that will appeal to fans of military sf.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.