When I reviewed With the Lightning, I nearly accused Drake
of channeling
David Weber, and
suggested that Honor Harrington fans would love it. Somewhat
surprisingly, my wife Jane is a big Honor Harrington fan; she latched
on to Weber’s books shortly after I brought them home, and now has
read them several more times than I have. She’s not reading much
fiction these days–no time–but when a new Harrington book comes in,
everything stops until she’s done with it. I told her a bit about
With the Lightning, and she picked it
up, and everything stopped for a couple of days until she finished
this one, too. So I seem to have hit that nail on the head.

But in another way, I was mistaken. The obligatory Hornblower
comparisons on the back cover notwithstanding, Drake is channeling
neither
C.S.
Forester nor
David
Weber. Instead, he’s channeling
Patrick
O’Brian.
The parallels are so blindingly obvious that I should have noticed them
immediately. Here are a few:

Jack Aubrey succedds on luck, determination, and pure good
seamanship. Lt. Leary succeeds on luck, determination, and pure good
spacemanship.

Stephen Maturin is suspected of disloyalty because he was
tangentially involved in an uprising in Ireland. Adele Mundy is
suspected of disloyalty due to a conspiracy for which her parents were
executed.

Jack Aubrey is a womanizer. Lt. Leary is a womanizer.

Aubrey and Maturin’s first meeting is marked by a serious
disagreement out of which friendship is ultimately born. Leary and
Mundy’s first meeting is marked by a serious disagreement, out of
which friendship is ultimately born.

Surprisingly, for a physician, Maturin is a skilled duellist and a
first class shot (and also a dab hand with a sword). Surprisingly,
for a librarian, Mundy is a skilled duellist and a first class shot.

When Maturin goes to sea he is much beloved by all the crew for his
undoubted skills, despite being clumsy and no seaman at all. When
Mundy goes to space, she is much beloved by all the crew for her
undoubted skills, despite being clumsy and and so spaceman at all.

Jack Aubrey makes his name when his sloop Sophy captures the
much larger frigate Cacafuego. Lt. Leary makes his name when
his corvette….

Well, you get the idea. There are more parallels, but I won’t get
into that.

It’s not a perfect match, by any means; except for a few minor
elements, the plots are entirely different. And in some other ways it
doesn’t quite work. Aubrey and Maturin are tied together by a great
love of music; there is no such shared interest between Leary and
Mundy. There is cause for mutual respect, but no real cause for great
friendship of the kind we see developing.

But all of these comments are really beside the point, which is
that, like its predecessor, it’s a ripping good yarn and a lot of
fun.