The Age of Fighting Sail in S P A C E !!

Am I referring to David Weber's Honor Harrington series where the
characteristics of the space drive cause warships to fight broadside to
broadside? No. Am I referring to David Drake's Leary and Mundy series
where the FTL drive uses "sails"? No.

I am referring to _Arabella and the Battle of Venus_ by David Levine
which is the 2nd book in his Arabella series*. This takes place in a
very strange solar system where breathable atmosphere exists in
interplanetary space. So we have 2 fleets of large c. 1800 sailing ships
(with 2 extra sets of masts set 120 degrees from the vertical ones) in
space shooting at each other with muzzle loading black powder cannon.
BTW, the commander of the British fleet is Admiral Horatio Nelson.

*Both "The Wreck of the Mars Adventure" which appeared in the anthology
_Old Mars_ and "The End of the Silk Road" which appeared in the May-June
2014 issue of _F&SF_ belong to the same continuity. David Levine has
stated that "tEotSR" was written for _Old Venus_ but was not accepted
there.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
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Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com