Igniting the Reaches: 3

by David Drake

Book Overview

From the author of the Northworld series comes a remarkable world where renegade pirates race to the farthest reaches of space to seek their fortunes by trading with star colonies. A journey of incalculable odds and unpredictable danger as all seek the countless wealth to be earned in the Reaches.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441001793
• ISBN13: 9780441001798
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Unique Military SciFi

Very enjoyable. Quick, fun read... 4+ stars. Moderately violent, but nothing unreasonable, given that the basis for the story is Sir Francis Drake's Privateering. I'm looking forward to the next two stories in the trilogy. One minor criticism I have is that the author sometimes comes up with some ambigous and/or extremely tangled paragraphs, which require the reader to make multiple parses to untangle. After awhile, I got used to it, and simply moved on when I came across a tangled paragraph. In general, I noticed that it usually seemed to happen around the 3rd or 4th paragraph in every 4th or 5th chapter (the chapters average about 7 pages, which is nice). Having said that, I'd like to point out that I don't remember finding any obvious typos or other minor screwups that can take away from the enjoyment of a story. Another minor criticism is the usage of the Mirror worlds... too impossible a gimmick in my opinion for stories that are supposed to be based on real events from the past - I'm actually hoping these worlds don't show up in the next two stories.

For God and Country

Igniting the Reaches (1994) is the SF first novel in the Privateer series. In the far future, humans have spread throughout a great volume of space. But then came the Collapse and mankind lost contact with the farthest worlds. Now mankind is beginning a new age of expansion into the galaxy, re-discovering lost worlds, races and treasures. The Feds and Southerns are becoming rich from new colonies and trading posts among the stars and other nations have sent out trading ships to gain some of these riches. In this novel, the Venusian settlers have funded a voyage of trade and exploration. The Sultan is a privately armed ship commanded by Captain Choransky. The flotilla also includes the Preakness and the Dove. Stephen Gregg is aboard the Sultan as supercargo, representing his uncle, Gregg of Weyston. Their first port-of-call is Salute ... at least, they think it is Salute. Piet Recimer, an officer and former shipowner, takes down a crew in the cutter to investigate and finds two Southern Cross ships on the ground, so the flotilla is brought down near the spaceport. Trucks are offloaded from the ships, filled with armed men, and rushed down to the port. There they find that everybody has run away, except for one man who apparently slept through the evacuation. Loading 98 Molts, an alien race that moved into human space after the collapse, on their ships, the Venusians take off for Virginia (or somewhere near it) to sell their cargo. There they run into a bit of shooting with the North American Federation colony. This novel is based on the voyages of Francis Drake (and some of his contemporaries). It has the same emphasis on God and Country, the same makeshift technology of shipbuilding, navigation and weaponry, and the same ignorance and cruelty found in the originals. It also reflects the casual attitudes of the Elizabethan era toward slavery. Some of the parallels are rather strained, but the focus of the story is the men themselves, bringing to life the excitement and confusion that resulted from mankind expanding into a mostly unknown frontier. Recommended for Drake fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of long voyages to strange lands. -Arthur W. Jordin

Drake improves himself!

I have read a lot of Drake's work and he is always good but this novel and the ones that follow are a step up from his previous works. The setting is a futuristic age of re-discovery. Merchant ships are voyaging out from Venus with profit as a main goal and the establishment of trade routes as a close second. The Venarians are opposed by the Federated Earth government that claims all planets outside the solar system for themselves. The main characters lean towards privateerig but will purchase trade goods if possible. This is an adaptation of the voyages of Sir Frances Drake although the ship fires plasma cannon instead of powder and ball. This would make a great movie!

Best book I've read thus far.

I read this book about eight years ago, but lost my copy. This is the second time I have purchased this novel. As I said, this is the best book, novel or not, that I have read yet. If you like sci-fi, this would be a most worthy investment. Keep it where the dust can't collect, and make sure you read it every couple of years. I'm going for the other two novels in the series, and I think that says a lot.