James Review -- The Road of Danger

This week I decided to review The Road of Danger by David Drake. When the book opens, Danial Leary, a Republic of Cinnabar naval officer, and Adele Mundy, A Republic of Cinnabar Intelligence officer whom is usually attached to Leary’s crew, are rushing to the headquarters of a naval base to deliver information to the base’s commander. The information will allow the fleet stationed at the base to prevent an invasion which would reignite the conflict between the Republic and the Alliance of Free Worlds leading to the collapse of both nations. The admiral, who dislikes Leary, gives him a new mission. There’s a rebellion in progress on an Alliance world whose leader claims to be a Republic citizen. The Alliance wants the Republic to deal with the problem. This leads to Leary infiltrating the crew of a blockade runner carrying weapons to the rebels while hoping to secure the leader before the Princess Cecile, the corvette which is usually Leary’s command in the series, arrives. This leads to the discovery that while the planet’s governor is nasty, the cure is worse than the disease as the rebellion has become little more than a gang war between various factions. Leary’s escape plan eventually leads to a running battle with an Alliance cruiser which is the book’s climax

I would personally rate this book 6.5 or 7 out of 10.  While every sci-fi setting has differences in how ship-to-ship combat works, this setting is among the most unique in my opinion. Unfortunately, the resolution to one of the battles in this book involves either an unbelievably lucky stroke or calculations that are absurdly accurate given the variables involved and the time available to make the calculations. This makes the battle in question a little too hard to believe. Also, I personally feel that the series was at its best when there was an interstellar war raging and hope that either the truce between the Republic and Alliance collapses soon or a new enemy power appears.