Category Archives: RCN
To Clear Away the Shadows
Baen, June 2019 in the RCN Series ADVENTURES BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE There were earlier examples, but the 19th century was the great age of scientific exploration. Wealthy amateurs sometimes funded their own expeditions, most were carried … Continue reading
Death’s Bright Day
This is the Steve Hickman cover painting for DEATH’S BRIGHT DAY, the 11th RCN space opera. I’ve really liked the feel of Steve’s work for this series, and I particularly like this one. I’m very fortunate in my cover art. … Continue reading
The Sea Without a Shore
The Sea Without a Shore involves Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy as private citizens on a mining colony which is in rebellion against its homeworld. Their missions are to help unofficial interests on Cinnabar–but since on the one hand those … Continue reading
The Road of Danger
AUTHOR’S NOTE I use both English and Metric weights and measures in the RCN series to suggest the range of diversity which I believe would exist in a galaxy-spanning civilization. I do not, however, expect either actual system to be … Continue reading
What’s the connection between the novella A Grand Tour and the RCN series?
Dave Weber asked me for a novella for his first shared universe anthology set in the Honor Harrington universe (Worlds of Honor). I’d been thinking of doing a series of space operas based on Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series, so I … Continue reading
RCN Series
WITH THE LIGHTNINGS (Baen/1998) LT LEARY, COMMANDING (Baen/2000) THE FAR SIDE OF THE STARS (Baen/2003) THE WAY TO GLORY (Baen/2005) SOME GOLDEN HARBOR (Baen/2006) WHEN THE TIDE RISES (Baen/2008) IN THE STORMY RED SKY (Baen/2009) WHAT DISTANT DEEPS (Baen/2010) THE … Continue reading
What Distant Deeps
I’ll start out with what in my days as a lawyer we would call boilerplate: I use both English and Metric weights and measures in the RCN series to suggest the range of diversity which I believe would exist in … Continue reading
In the Stormy Red Sky
I learned with the first book of the RCN series, With the Lightnings, that I have to explain that I use English and Metric weights and measures as a convenience to readers, not because I think the same systems will … Continue reading
When the Tide Rises
The genesis of my RCN novels was Patrick O’Brian’s wonderful Aubrey/Maturin series, set during and after the Napoleonic Wars. It therefore won’t surprise many of you to find a number of plot points common to O’Brian’s last novels and When … Continue reading
Some Golden Harbor
I’ve based the setting of Some Golden Harbor on political and military events taking place during the early 5th century BC in Southern Italy (Aricia, Cumae, and the Etruscan federation). All right, that’s a little obscure even for me, but … Continue reading
The Way to Glory
The general political background of the RCN series is that of Europe in the mid-18th century, with admixtures of late-Republican Rome. (There’s a surprising degree of congruence between British and Roman society in those periods.) Major plot elements in The … Continue reading
The Far Side of the Stars
One of the problems when you’re writing of either the past or the future is ‘How much should I translate?’ I don’t mean simply language: there’s a whole complex of things that people within any society take for granted but … Continue reading
Lt. Leary Commanding
I’m using English and Metric weights and measures throughout Lt. Leary Commanding, as I did in With the Lightnings. I wouldn’t bother mentioning this, but the decision seems to concern some people. I’m doing it for the same reason that … Continue reading
With the Lightnings
The question I’m most often asked about WITH THE LIGHTNINGS is, ‘Who the hell is Cassian’? Cassian is a mistake; or rather, a series of mistakes. I used ‘Leary Daniels’ as the name of the hero of my untitled novel … Continue reading