Published by Ace Books, 1995,
paperback, $5.99 ISBN 0-441-00326-5
327 pages

Mr. Jeremy Moore, accounted a gentleman in the slightly hierarchical society of Venus, wants to join a trading expedition. The problem is, he is such a fop, the brimstone-and-hellfire leader wants no part of him--until, through means nefarious and illegal, he delivers a reluctant navigator. Then, he is off to the stars, not to trade, but to become a pirate, with the wealth of the Federation as the prize.

There is, however, one small problem. Very small. The way to Federation space is through the "mirror," a small, make that, very small, portal in the membrane between two galaxies. Despite a multitude of attempts, only one ship ever made it through this breach into the unplundered rear areas of the Federation. And even then, most perished in the attempt.

In some ways, David Drake creates a space-faring Flashman character out of Moore--a whining sort of fellow tinged with some talent. Yet the character growth of Mr. Moore takes on an astounding acceleration under a variety of ship-to-ship and ship-to-surface battles. The action passages seem as if Drake watched too many Errol Flynn pirate movies and just moved the time period into the far future. If that was not enough, Drake makes Moore the equivalent of a Viking berzerker with the equivalent of a laser cutlass in this laser-bolt shooting era. Go figure.

The prose remains crisp enough, and the supporting cast widens out your interest in what happens to the pirate "fleet" as it makes its way to the "mirror" and beyond. Slowly, plots within plots arise as Drake grips the dynamics of character motivations and thrusts them forward with just the right amount of tact and tempo. Piracy, of course, is only the beginning, and Drake plays out the string of events for you as well as any writer.

Through the Breach will keep you turning pages alright, not as fast as some other books, including Drake's own The Fleet, but fast enough. You always know you'll get solid military sci-fi from Drake, and Through the Breach doesn't disappoint.