Order of Book Series
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Lt. Leary Books in Order

David Drake has written 14 Lt. Leary books, published between 1998 and 2019. The first book is With the Lightnings (1998) and the newest is To Clear Away the Shadows (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
14
Published
1998–2019
Pages on record
4,284 in 10 of 14 books
Reading time
71–107 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,284 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 14 titles with a page count on record.

See all 14 books in order Printable Lt. Leary checklist

Lt. Leary is David Drake's science fiction space opera, covering 14 books between 1998 and 2019. With the Lightnings (1998) comes first, and To Clear Away the Shadows (2019) closes the listing. Subject headings name Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy as fictitious characters and list space warfare, interplanetary voyages and ship captains. Drake's catalogue files the books as Lt. Leary / RCN. Titles include Lt. Leary, Commanding (2000) and What Distant Deeps (2010).

How many Lt. Leary books are there?

Lt. Leary has 14 books, released between 1998 and 2019.

Lt. Leary Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 14 Lt. Leary books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of With the Lightnings by David Drake, book 1 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (1998)
  2. Cover of Lt. Leary, Commanding by David Drake, book 2 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2000)
  3. Cover of The Far Side of the Stars by David Drake, book 3 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2003)
  4. Cover of The Way to Glory by David Drake, book 4 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2005)
  5. Cover of Some Golden Harbor by David Drake, book 5 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2006)
  6. Cover of When the Tide Rises by David Drake, book 6 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2008)
  7. Cover of In the Stormy Red Sky by David Drake, book 7 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2009)
  8. Cover of What Distant Deeps by David Drake, book 8 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2010)
  9. Cover of The Road of Danger by David Drake, book 9 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2012)
  10. Cover of The Sea Without a Shore by David Drake, book 10 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2014)
  11. Cover of Death's Bright Day by David Drake, book 11 of the Lt. Leary / RCN series (2016)
  1. 1
    With the LightningsLt. Leary / RCN #11998 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Lt. Leary, CommandingLt. Leary / RCN #22000 · 556 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2000556
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Far Side of the StarsLt. Leary / RCN #32003 · 528 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2003528
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Way to GloryLt. Leary / RCN #42005 · 544 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005544
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Some Golden HarborLt. Leary / RCN #52006 · 373 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006373
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    When the Tide RisesLt. Leary / RCN #62008 · 356 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2008356
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    In the Stormy Red SkyLt. Leary / RCN #72009 · confirmed 2/4
    2009–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    What Distant DeepsLt. Leary / RCN #82010 · 370 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2010370
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Road of DangerLt. Leary / RCN #92012 · 512 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Sea Without a ShoreLt. Leary / RCN #102014 · confirmed 2/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Death's Bright DayLt. Leary / RCN #112016 · 307 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016307
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Though Hell Should Bar the WayLt. Leary / RCN #122018 · 402 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2018402
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The MidshipmanLt. Leary / RCN #132018 · confirmed 2/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    To Clear Away the ShadowsLt. Leary / RCN #142019 · confirmed 2/4
    2019–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Do you have to read Lt. Leary books in order?

You should read the Lt. Leary books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Lt. Leary book also stands alone.

Where to start with Lt. Leary

Start with With the Lightnings (1998), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Lt. Leary book?

To Clear Away the Shadows (2019) is the newest Lt. Leary book released so far.

Is there a new Lt. Leary book coming?

No next Lt. Leary book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Lt. Leary at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Lt. Leary title on record dates from 2019, 7 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Lt. Leary books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
4,284 pages across the 10 of 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 388 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Lt. Leary books, 7 of 14, were published in the 2010s.

What the Lt. Leary books are about

11 of the 14 Lt. Leary books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: science fiction is tagged on 8 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by David Drake

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.