What is a hero? There’s an interesting philosophical question for you. Are we talking a Biblical hero, a hero of the revolution, a war hero …
Or a hero in fiction. A lot of good fiction books are written about a ‘hero’. It typically has to be someone in a position where they have some power–but aren’t all-powerful. They are morally good–but typically not morally perfect. They are better than those around them–but not so much better that they break the bond which holds men going through adversity together.
Such a hero is Daniel Leary of the Cinnabar Navy. Never heard of him? Well, it is science fiction. Set in the days of Napoleonic Britain… in the skies. He is Hornblower reincarnated and set on a spaceship. He can stand on the hull and steer the ship by eye… and then get his crew into, and out of, trouble at every port of call. He deals with proud and incompetent nobles, cynical intelligence officers, drunken sailors, and petty tyrants. He uses his experienced crew as they should be used, and trains the greenhorns.
For an adult science fiction fan, I can recommend the Daniel Leary series by David Drake. Exciting, well-written, and presenting enough moral challenges to keep you up at night. There are fourteen books, beginning with With the Lightnings, and I have read most of them:
- With the Lightnings (1998)
- Lt. Leary, Commanding (2000)
- The Far Side of the Stars (2003)
- The Way to Glory (2005)
- Some Golden Harbor (2006)
- When the Tide Rises (2008)
- In the Stormy Red Sky (2009)
- What Distant Deeps (2010)
- The Road of Danger (2012)
- The Sea Without a Shore (2014)
- Death’s Bright Day (2016)
- Though Hell Should Bar the Way (2018)
- The Midshipman (2018)
- To Clear Away the Shadows (2019)
So, if you like heroes, science fiction, and excitement, check out these books. You’ll be glad you did!
A Friendship Forged in Hell!
Daniel Leary is a lieutenant in the Republic of Cinnabar Navy with no money and no prospects since he quarreled with his ruthless, politically powerful father.
Adele Mundy is a scholar with no money and no prospects since her family was massacred for conspiring against the Government of Cinnabar.
Kostroma is a wealthy planet which depends on diplomacy to stay independent in a galaxy whose two great powers, Cinnabar and the Alliance, battle for supremacy.
In a few hours, diplomacy is going to fail Kostroma. Daniel, Adele, and the scratch crew they gather aren’t much to stand in the way of a powerful invasion fleet, but just possibly they’re enough.
Men and women who hold courage cheap and honor more dear than life itself face impossible odds in a novel of color, intrigue, and slashing action. From the corridors of a treason-ridden palace through the perils of unknown seas and hellish jungles to a final blazing climax in space, the heroes never bow and the action never flags.
They have nothing on their side but each other—and heaven help whatever tries to stand in their way!
