David Drake

David A. Drake (September 24, 1945 – December 10, 2023) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran, he worked as a lawyer before becoming a writer in the military science fiction genre.

Biography Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His studies at Duke University School of Law were interrupted for two years when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry (the Black Horse Regiment) in Vietnam and Cambodia. After the war, from 1972 to 1980 he worked as the assistant town attorney in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In 1981 he transitioned to full-time writing of science fiction literature. On November 17, 2021, he announced he was retiring from writing novels, due to unspecified cognitive health problems. Drake died on December 10, 2023, at the age of 78.

Works His best-known solo work is the Hammer's Slammers series of military science fiction. In 1997, Drake began his largest fantasy series, Lord of the Isles, using elements of Sumerian religion and medieval technology. In 2007, Drake finished the series with its ninth volume.

Drake co-authored novels with authors such as Karl Edward Wagner, S. M. Stirling, and Eric Flint. He did not "consider [his] involvement to be that of a real co-author." Mongoose Publishing adapted Drake's novel as the licensed setting Hammer's Slammers (2009) for the Traveller role-playing game. The game uses various miniatures from companies such as Brigade Models, Old Crow Models, and Ground Zero Games.