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With the Lightnings (Lt. Leary / RCN #1)
by
David Drake
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...more
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...more
ebook, 416 pages
Published
by Baen
(first published 1998)
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I don't think I've enjoyed a book this much since Lois McMaster Bujold gave Miles Vorkosigan a rest and went full-time into fantasy. I've been aware of David Drake for years, since "Hammer's Slammers," and I've read a number of the Patrick O'Brien books that Drake says he patterned Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy after, so in retrospect it was no real surprise that I enjoyed "With the Lightnings."
Although the antecedents of Leary and Mundy (Aubrey and Maturin) are fairly clear if you've read O'Brie...more
Although the antecedents of Leary and Mundy (Aubrey and Maturin) are fairly clear if you've read O'Brie...more
Ever since I met David Drake at World Fantasy 2009 in San Jose, I’ve been meaning to read one of his books. I must say, I picked a good one. With the Lightnings is the first book in his RCN Series, which is basically David Drake’s take on Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels. Think Napoleon-era naval battles and political intrigue … in space.
Does it sound good already? Yeah, I thought so.
I was a little surprised at first, because the first chapter started with a bunch of info dumps. It took u...more
Does it sound good already? Yeah, I thought so.
I was a little surprised at first, because the first chapter started with a bunch of info dumps. It took u...more
I wanted to like this--it's a space navy story based on the Aubrey/Maturin books, which I love. But the writing is terrible--Drake has spent some time thinking through the mechanical details of his world, and he often stops the action to explain it in details. For instance, his star ships dock on the water, and the first time we learn this, he drops in a few paragraphs with a detailed explanation of the structure of the docking system, how they keep from developing excessive waves, how the ships...more
I was put off from reading this for a full eight years mainly due to the horrible cover, but also some misgivings about David Drake. While I loved his Hammer’s Slammers, his writing has often been a bit wooden. The blurb just didn’t do it for me either. Well, I’m so happy to be proven wrong. “With the Lighnings” is quality military SciFi. The RCN series has been likened to the Hornblower books, However Drake himself says they are actually based on the Aubrey/Maturin books. Since those are in the...more
The start of a series I shall now hunt down, With the Lightnings is military sci-fi (sort of--mostly an unexpected commando operation set against a broader backdrop which I expect to come into play later) built upon character. In this case, two main characters: a charming and slightly underbaked lieutenant and the exiled librarian he falls in with (or vice versa). In fairness to David Weber, his books had more characterization back before all his developed characters were spread one or two to a...more
What a load of crap! I’m wondering if I read the same book as those other people giving it 4 and 5 stars. The first third (at least) is downright boring. A good chunk of the book is dedicated to binge drinking, disorderly behavior and vomiting. That includes the “hero”. The rest is not much better. When they are not drinking themselves senseless it’s mostly politics. The behavior of the navy personnel, including the officers, is so utterly non-professional that it’s unbelievable.
There’s a ship i...more
There’s a ship i...more
I approached "With the Lightnings" as a contemporary of David Weber's Honor Harrington books, expecting something in the same vein: a Napoleonic space warfare adventure. Given the premise, focused on a young space navy officer without political connections cast into a complicated political and military situation, this confusion on my part is understandable, but I'm afraid that confusion marred my enjoyment of the book. In fact, the book takes place almost entirely on the surface of a planet and...more
With the Lightnings is the first book in the Leary series by David Drake, and is something I picked up as I'd liked the Hammers Slammers series by the same author. The book revolves around Lieutenant Daniel Leary, a junior officer of the Republic of Cinnabar Navy on a diplomatic mission to the planet Kostroma. It's in exploring the planet that Leary meets Adele Mundy, a scholar who has been essentially exiled from Cinnabar for many years since her family's implication in conspiring against Cinna...more
Woosh! That went quickly. I started reading this late on Thursday night and at first I was disappointed as I found the rapid introduction of (and chop between) the characters a little scatter-shot and confusing, although that may have been my tired brain.
I put the book down after a few pages to get to sleep and didn't pick it up again until Friday night. As it happens, I must have chosen the exact point at which the character intro's finished and the action began, because it felt like I had pick...more
I put the book down after a few pages to get to sleep and didn't pick it up again until Friday night. As it happens, I must have chosen the exact point at which the character intro's finished and the action began, because it felt like I had pick...more
Oh... my... GOD! This was just a damn chore to read! I did not care for the prose or the world/galaxy setting. I didn't care about the characters at all & by the time I was at page 200, I realized nothing was really going on. It's as if this novel was just a set up for the rest of the novels & a poor one at that.
I will give Drake credit for not making this a thousand page novel like Peter Hamilton or Weber (though Weber writes fantastic Military Science Fiction). He kept it...um, short--...more
I will give Drake credit for not making this a thousand page novel like Peter Hamilton or Weber (though Weber writes fantastic Military Science Fiction). He kept it...um, short--...more
I got to page 100 or so and just gave up. Wow, this book is boring. From looking at the reviews, I see that they bifurcate into two categories: those that say "it was slow to warm up, but it eventually kicked in" and those who say "I got tired of waiting for it to get good, and I quit." I'm clearly in the latter camp. 100 pages of nearly no plot. The male protagonist is a smiling idiot. The female protagonist is dull and unable to get anything done herself. It's military science fiction, but see...more
Not bad, but nowhere near O'Brian, and that is not a slight. The problem with a science-fiction take on the Master and Commander is that Master and Commander is science fiction. The science is sailing and natural history, and the pure science of the math is the only thing more real than characters.
Subjectively, I can ask myself, "What would Aubrey do?" in most situations and get an answer. Objectively, the characters and stories are very closely based on amalgamated real events. Events that are...more
Subjectively, I can ask myself, "What would Aubrey do?" in most situations and get an answer. Objectively, the characters and stories are very closely based on amalgamated real events. Events that are...more
Jul 28, 2012
Jacob Aitken
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
David Drake is a talented writer and one of the better fantasy writers out there. Sadly, this isn't one of his better performances. The reader is almost 100 pages into the book before he realizes there is any sort of "conflict" or "antagonist." An antagonist is necessary to a good story, otherwise we would become postmodern hippies crying over existential angst.
The writing is interesting enough, except that the main character and whomever he is conversing with have conversations which assume a (...more
The writing is interesting enough, except that the main character and whomever he is conversing with have conversations which assume a (...more
Aubrey and Maturin go into space. I really liked how he built his universe so that the jargon of the age of sail was able to fit into space travel. And I also really liked that while one of the main characters was a woman, she was able to be friends with the male protagonist without a hint of romance. How refreshing! Another point in the book's favor was that there were no gender-defined roles. The bosun is a woman--Maturin is a woman, for that matter--and good guys and bad guys are a mix of bot...more
Aug 05, 2009
Roberta
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Roberta by:
David Broussard
Shelves:
sciencefiction
I didn't like this book to start with it. It started slow with a lot of world building, and I thought that Leary was a bit of foppish cad and Adele was a cold bitch. As the book moved on, I started liking them a bit more, and the action really lit up in the last 200 pages (400 pages over all).
Not the best SF I've read, but enjoyable. I liked the book enough to read the second one. I won't put Drake up there with Moon, Ringo, Weber, Shepherd, or Bujold because his action just isn't at their leve...more
Not the best SF I've read, but enjoyable. I liked the book enough to read the second one. I won't put Drake up there with Moon, Ringo, Weber, Shepherd, or Bujold because his action just isn't at their leve...more
I enjoyed this little space opera. A space navy lueitenant luietentent luie... officer and a librarian find themselves on a suddenly hostile world after a coupe orchestrated by a hostile foreign power. Can they lead an escape or oppose the forces. [return]Hell this a space opera of course they can. A nice little action adventure with only minor quibbles. People are tightly bound for far to long without screaming or serious after effects. and the moons seem to cause more far noticable tides than...more
I read this out of order, having read "Lt. Leary, Commanding" first. I thought this one just a shade slower than the sequel, but did an excellent job of establishing the universe in which the action took place. I would say my comment about the sequel holds:
Quite good space opera. The book does not rely on too much gee-whiz technology, nor is there a lot of hard science. What it does have is a cast of interesting characters, who interact in plausible ways, and a plot full of delightful predicamen...more
So sorry to give a book one star but the truth is I couldn't get into this book AT ALL...I really wanted to, I loved the premise of an action packed space opera...I started it...and very patiently waited for said action to start...YAWN! I just couldnt wait anymore so I tried flipping forward a few pages...still nothing much going on, nope...took so long to introduce characters and the political background and the political high jinx...it went on too long for me and I had to give the book up.
I s...more
I'm kind of picky with my Sci-Fi, but this series is a good read. It is seen from two people's point of view; Adele Mundy and Daniel Leary. Adele is a lonely librarian, who (with Lt. Leary) gets caught up in a war. She finds a friend in Daniel, despite the fact that his father had her family killed. Together the two go on many adventures and always find ships to fight. Its a great space series, but for you alien fans, you'll find little here. Most aliens are actually plants and animals. The seri...more
I have no idea what part of this was inspired by Patrick O'Brian (other than the spaceships acting like real sailing ships), but that's a good thing. When I first heard this series pitched as 'Aubrey/Maturin IN SPACE, oh but Stephen has become a girl' I was skeptical. I figured it was one of those things where the author couldn't handle Jack and Stephen's closeness and had to flop one of the genders in order to make it okay.
Nope. I couldn't recognize very many traits from the inspiration in any...more
Nope. I couldn't recognize very many traits from the inspiration in any...more
Total rating: Two Stars
Why? Because my first reading was so poor I gave it one star [and I stand by that review], whereas my second one was much better Three Stars[having read from where I left off, which you could argue make this one reading - I don't, but whatever].
Anyway, my thoughts on the book having now read it for a second time.
Characters: 1.5 Stars
I stand by my opinion in the review below that these characters were so bloody poor, however I grant you that they were a marked improvement...more
Why? Because my first reading was so poor I gave it one star [and I stand by that review], whereas my second one was much better Three Stars[having read from where I left off, which you could argue make this one reading - I don't, but whatever].
Anyway, my thoughts on the book having now read it for a second time.
Characters: 1.5 Stars
I stand by my opinion in the review below that these characters were so bloody poor, however I grant you that they were a marked improvement...more
How could I not like this book? It's a homage to the best book series of all time--Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey–Maturin series; it's military science-fiction; and it's written by David Drake, my favorite military SF novelist.
Other book in this series aren't as good. The characters start to become static and it becomes just one adventure after the other. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not that engaging either. The first few books are quite good. I'll be re-reading more of them in the comi...more
Other book in this series aren't as good. The characters start to become static and it becomes just one adventure after the other. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not that engaging either. The first few books are quite good. I'll be re-reading more of them in the comi...more
When the Tide Rises was a favorite read a couple of years ago. Despite my liking Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy as characters, I have been slow to return to the series. I decided to start at the beginning, and it has been worth the wait. Drake claims he was copying the Patrick O'Brien novels, not Hornblower. It is an interesting distinction. As the start-up novel to a series, this book works well. We are introduced to the principals in an engaging fashion. The story moves along at a breezy pace. T...more
I struggled through 200 pages of With the Lightnings before giving up. I kept reading in hopes of finding redeeming qualities within the characters and/or the civilizations depicted. I kept hoping that basic human decency would show up, but it never did. I guess such a trait is a luxury and, perhaps, a failing in the universe of this book. I found that disappointing and disheartening.
My bias -- I know David Drake. Keeping that in mind, I think he is a terrific writer. His SF books are interesting, exciting, unique, fast paced -- what more can I say? His characters are not cardboard cut-outs. They have human dimensions and Drake writes with heart and emotion. I could read his Lt. Leary and Venus series books all day.
Sep 01, 2010
Michael Barnette
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
lovers of miltary scifi
Shelves:
military-scifi
They don't let you give half stars here or I would have rated this one 4.5.
Another of my favorite David Drake series--second only to the Hammers Slammers books--I really enjoy reading the Lt. Leary books. I couldn't put this one down and will be reading it again, if I can ever figure out which 'keeper box' I stored it.
Another of my favorite David Drake series--second only to the Hammers Slammers books--I really enjoy reading the Lt. Leary books. I couldn't put this one down and will be reading it again, if I can ever figure out which 'keeper box' I stored it.
Aug 24, 2010
Patricrk patrick
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
future-military
in the wikipedia article Drake says this is inspired by the Audrey/Maurin characters created by Patrick O'brien. Having read that series as well I can see the resemblence. I have read the series out of order and really enjoyed the books. This is the first of the series and was available as a down load from the Baen website.
The first quarter of the book was a bit of a chore to get through, so much that I kept setting it down in favor of other books. Once past the initial doldrums, however, the book quickly gains momentum, becoming quite the rousing adventure tale. In addition to the space battle action promised by the cover (which comes surprisingly late in the story), there's quite a lot of heist-style sneaking around and some wilderness survival as well. The characters seemed a little bland at first, but they als...more
Dec 29, 2010
Aaron Anderson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2-rereadable,
6-science-fiction
I've read this series once before, through book 4 or 5. I notice there are 8 out now, so I'm going to read them all. I enjoy this series, though the first book probably deserves 3 stars, I'll give it 4. I enjoy Adele a lot. Librarian spies who are amazing hackers and a crack shot with a dualing pistol FTW.
Pretty standard fare. 2 misfits, thrown together in adverse circumstances and who then proceed to achieve victory over their opponents.
I would have rated this higher but for the sheer incredulity of an entire squad going missing and nobody apparently noticing was just too hard to believe.
I would have rated this higher but for the sheer incredulity of an entire squad going missing and nobody apparently noticing was just too hard to believe.
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David Drake, an attorney and veteran SF and fantasy author, lives near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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