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The Forlorn Hope Kindle Edition

by David Drake (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 155 ratings
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David Drake's astonishing stand-alone sci-fi military novel about space mercenaries, The Forlon Hope, is not to be missed!

They had fought long and hard, and damn near won in spite of everything. But now the men who hired them are going to sell them to the enemy...and so begins a novel of adventure in which a band of Star Mercenaries is driven across the face of a planet by enemies bent on their destruction. With only the guns in their hands, this tiny band must battle ships, artillery, treachery, and the most powerful tank in the universe ...in Drake's action-packed The Forlorn Hope.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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  1. Print length
    319 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Tor Books
  5. Publication date
    August 25, 2015
  6. File size
    1244 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review


"Drake's grasp of large-scale action, as well as small dramas, makes him a superb storyteller."--Library Journal on Master of the Cauldron

"Drake draws with great, gritty realism on both material and magical planes, and Hell quite literally breaks loose on occasion. The audience for this kind of fantasy saga should prove large and ongoing, and for this volume, at least, it will be well deserved." -- Booklist on Master of the Cauldrom

About the Author


DAVID DRAKE lives near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B013BEE32M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books (August 25, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 25, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1244 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 319 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 155 ratings

About the author

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David Drake

David Drake

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The Army took David Drake from Duke Law School and sent him on a motorized tour of Viet Nam and Cambodia with the 11th Cav, the Blackhorse. He learned new skills, saw interesting sights, and met exotic people who hadn't run fast enough to get away.

Dave returned to become Chapel Hill's Assistant Town Attorney and to try to put his life back together through fiction making sense of his Army experiences.

Dave describes war from where he saw it: the loader's hatch of a tank in Cambodia. His military experience, combined with his formal education in history and Latin, has made him one of the foremost writers of realistic action SF and fantasy. His bestselling Hammer's Slammers series is credited with creating the genre of modern Military SF. He often wishes he had a less interesting background.

Dave lives with his family in rural North Carolina.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
155 global ratings
Not the Slammers. Better.
5 Stars
Not the Slammers. Better.
David Drake turns away from his "Hammer's Slammers" universe and gives us a view of mercenaries fighting in a different milieu.This is about my favourite of Drake's SF -- i'm not sure why, but it's a bit more satisfying than some of his other work.A mercenary regiment whose Colonel has been assasinated, the crew of a damaged spaceship and a young officer and two enlisted men from the regular army of the side employing the mercenaries must band together and overcome hardships and dangers from foe and friend alike.A young man becomes truly an adult when command is thrust upon him.Great book.
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Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite Drake books
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2015
Verified Purchase
One of my favorite Drake books, though I pretty much love everything he does. A stand alone, but common theme of military mercenaries. Characters interesting, tough and competent. Some surprise us and themselves with their competence. Fast paced, lots of good action and suspenseful. Knowing Drake, his protagonists usually come out ahead, and that is the expectation. However, in this book he sure does not make it easy for them. If you like military sci-fi, you gotta read everything this man writes.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars A Story
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2021
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Simultaneously a celebration of skilled and determined soldiers, and a condemnation of the people and groups that start wars. A clear eyed look at the humanity of war, and the costs to that humanity.
Recommended for anyone thirteen or older.
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Derrill
5.0 out of 5 stars and am always a little amazed when he came up with yet another way that ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
I'm one of Drake's biggest fans. I know almost precisely what sort of emotional tone to expect when I read a Drake book, and that is a huge part of why I read them. The characters are always unique, and the specifics of the stories are always interesting, and am always a little amazed when he came up with yet another way that firearms might evolve, but reading David Drake is really calming and pleasant for me, every time.
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edward
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best sci-fi book i have ever read
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2017
Verified Purchase
Simply the best sci-fi book i have ever read. I have faced tremendous odds in life and health and strangely find this book as inspirational now as I did thirty years ago. Some may find this odd but it is true.. Forlorn hope "A desperate enterprise with small chance of success".
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Beth and Marlon Bell
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2020
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Great story about a unit in the pot and the Lt. who led them out of it. Warfare on a personal level.
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Devon Belcher
3.0 out of 5 stars Drake phones it in again
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2017
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Drake has been phoning it in for a while. This is actually worse than usual, it's extremely hard to keep track of the characters until you're about 100 pages in. 3 factions, and you keep wondering who is in what factions, especially since Drake switches between first and last names.
Story itself is another classic Drake "hey let me retell this ancient epic recasting everyone as space mercs.
One person found this helpful
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Ratliff
4.0 out of 5 stars Military Sci Fi at the platoon level
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2015
Verified Purchase
In "The Forlorn Hope", a mercenary group has to stay alive after contracting with the losing side.An older novel by David Drake, one of the better military science fiction writers. More the same than different from his other novels, and you'll recognize some of his standard character types if you've read other of Drake's books, like "Redliners". Drake likes to emphasize combat from the very personal standpoint of a few characters - more about shaking hands and blood splatter than about units or star ships maneuvering on a grand scale.
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Lawrence Boester
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Drake's best!
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2018
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One of Drake's finest tales, and this coming from a huge Hammer's Slammers fan! It's a nice break from the tank battles and just as gritty and engrossing as anything from the Hammerverse. Highly recommended!
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Top reviews from other countries

J. W. Treadaway
5.0 out of 5 stars not to be missed for Slammers fans
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
one of Drake's best in the Hammer's Slammers universe
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