Into the Hinterlands-David Drake and John Lambshead

Into the Hinterlands
David Drake and John Lambshead
Baen, Sep 6 2011, $25.00
ISBN: 9781439134610

As part of the Harbinger Project, the three friends (Allen Allenson, Jem Hawthorn and Royman Destry) survey the mostly unexplored Hinterlands to the west of the Cutter Stream Colonies. They meet the barbaric Riders who carry heads as trophies and they take glimpses into the mysterious Continuum. Though the mission is incomplete, the three Brasilians agree to head home but make a slight side stop on Paragon where Destry can see his sister Lynsie and Allenson can say goodbye to her husband his dying brother Todd.

Allenson’s sister-in-law Lynsie persuades him to replace Todd as the Inspector General of the colonial militia. With the usual legal bribes given to the Governor, he conditionally has the position but must prove his worth by returning to the Hinterlands. There he will investigate rumors of Terran activity in an area where they are undesirables and renew the trade pact with friendly Rider tribes. Though a rookie at diplomacy and just about everything else; Allenson finds himself checked by various factions playing chess with the winner controlling the Hinterlands.

This is a fascinating clever outer space retelling of the French-English seventeenth and eighteenth century rivalry in North America (and elsewhere like India) ending with the first global conflict, the Seven Years War (known as the French and Indians War in the New World colonies). The imaginative story line is action-packed though stops on Paragon slows the pace but also sets in motion the convoluted confrontations in which the wannabe hero is caught in the crosshairs. Readers will enjoy young Allenson’s adventures Into The Hinterlands.

Harriet Klausner