David Drake
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| David Drake | |
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| Born | September 24, 1945 |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Silk Hope, North Carolina |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
| Genre | Science fiction, fantasy |
| Notable works | Hammer's Slammers, RCN Series |
| Website | |
| david-drake |
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David A. Drake (September 24, 1945 – December 10, 2023) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who had worked as a lawyer, he was a writer in the military science fiction genre.
Biography
Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His studies at Duke University School of Law were interrupted for two years when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry (the Black Horse Regiment) in Vietnam and Cambodia.[1][2] After the war, from 1972 to 1980 he worked as the Assistant Town Attorney in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[3] Since 1981 he transitioned to full time writing of science fiction literature.[3] With Karl Edward Wagner and Jim Groce, he was one of the initiators of Carcosa, a small press company. He lived in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
On 17 November 2021 he announced he was retiring from writing novels, due to unspecified cognitive health problems.[4]
Works
His best-known solo work is the Hammer's Slammers series of military science fiction. His newer Republic of Cinnabar Navy series are space operas inspired by the Aubrey–Maturin novels. During 1997, Drake began his largest fantasy series, Lord of the Isles, using elements of Sumerian religion and medieval technology. During 2007, Drake finished the series with its ninth volume.
Drake has co-authored novels with authors such as Karl Edward Wagner, S.M. Stirling, and Eric Flint. Typically Drake provides plot outlines (5,000–15,000 words) and the co-author does "the real work of developing the outline into a novel".[5] He does not "consider [his] involvement to be that of a real co-author."[5] Drake also contributed to the Heroes in Hell series.
Drake's plots often use history, literature, and mythology; in his foreword to The Lord of the Isles, Drake explained that while he has an academic background in history, he regards himself as an antiquarian rather than an historian and that this perspective informs his approach to writing. Starting with Northworld in 1990,[6] he has generally explained the background of each book in an afterword or preface. Additionally, Drake's plots frequently involve a contest of political systems.[citation needed]
John Clute stated in the entry on Drake in the 1993 edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, "Today there seems very little to stop [Drake] from writing exactly what he wishes to write."
Some of Drake's works are available for free download in the Baen Free Library.
Bibliography
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Adaptations
- Mayfair Games produced the licensed Hammer's Slammers board game (1984) based on David Drake's novel Hammer's Slammers.[7]:167
- Mongoose Publishing adapted Drake's novel as the licensed setting Hammer's Slammers (2009) for the Traveller role-playing game.[7]:401
- John Treadaway has adapted Hammer's Slammers into a wargame, of which several editions have been published.[8] The game utilizes various miniatures from companies such as Brigade Models, Old Crow Models, and Ground Zero Games.[9]
References
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Novel Plot Outlines, David Drake, May 26, 2010
- ↑ Northworld, Vengeance, and Justice, David Drake, May 15, 2000
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Drake. |
- Articles with short description
- Articles with unsourced statements from September 2013
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1945 births
- 2023 deaths
- 20th-century American novelists
- 21st-century American novelists
- American alternate history writers
- American fantasy writers
- American male novelists
- United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War
- American science fiction writers
- Duke University School of Law alumni
- Forteana
- Military science fiction writers
- People from Pittsboro, North Carolina
- University of Iowa alumni
- United States Army soldiers
- World Fantasy Award-winning writers
- Novelists from Iowa
- Novelists from North Carolina
- American male short story writers
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 21st-century American short story writers
- 20th-century American male writers
- 21st-century American male writers
