Patriots

The rugged individualists who have settled the frontier planet of Greenwood are threatened by politicians and bean-counters on Earth, who see Greenwood only in terms of profit. The settlers must set aside their local differences in order to preserve their world and way of life.

David Drake was attending Duke University Law School when he was drafted. He served the next two years in the Army, spending 1970 as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th armored Cavalry in Viet Nam and Cambodia. Upon return he completed his law degree at Duke and was for eight years Assistant Town Attorney for Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has been a full-time freelance writer since 1981. Besides the bestselling Hammer's Slammers and RCN/Leary series(next of which, In the Stormy Red Sky, is coming in May 2009), his books for Baen include Ranks of Bronze, All the Way to the Gallows, Redliners, and many more. His "Lord of the Isles" fantasy novels for Tor are genre best sellers.