Talk:Seafort Saga

Notability
There are some mentions I see on Google Scholar, although in the context of individual book reviews. Pretty borderline. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here 06:35, 17 August 2023 (UTC)


 * PS. I've added a reception based on one source which mentions the series a few times. Arguably SIGCOV if borderline, and I am not sure if the source is reliable (it has a DOI but the journal, Fictions, seems very niche??). Patriarch's Hope seems to have a review on Booklist (1999) but I can't get access. Midshipmans Hope seems to have a review in Foundation (journal) (1998) that likewise I cannot locate. There are quite a few other reiviews according to ISFDb, although many are fanzines. Each book got Locus reviews. Adding those reviews together we can probably claim something is notable here. I'll ping @Cunard to see if they can dig up anything else, but I think we can keep this series page... If Cunard or anyone else provides citation lists here, I'll try to add some more sources to the article and then we can replace notability template with sources exist or just remove it? Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here  06:53, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

Hi. Here are some sources about Seafort Saga and books in the series:  The article notes: "But in just two short years, his highly acclaimed Seafort series — "Midshipman's Hope," "Challenger's Hope," "Prisoner's Hope" and "Fisherman's Hope" have made him an award-winning author with a devoted sci-fi readership. ... These characters speak a quirky, abbreviated street slang. This lends a valuable hard-edged credibility, but creating such a language is not an easy task, according to Feintuch."  The article notes: "... only turning to writing full-time after the publication in 1994 of the first of his popular Nicholas Seafort novels, Midshipman's Hope. He was a reader of science fiction from an early age, but it is likely that his choice of a science-fiction venue for the Seafort Saga came after he decided to create a sensitive, intelligent, guilt-ridden military protagonist forced to make hard decisions by interpreting the letter of the law so as to gain his humane ends in a rigid, hierarchical world. The influence of Captain Hornblower is abundantly clear, and Feintuch openly acknowledged the importance of C.S. Forester to his work. By putting his Hornblower character into a space-opera framework — Seafort's adroit manipulations of bad laws take place in a local galactic region dominated by an Earth itself dominated by the religious right — Feintuch was following the example of several earlier writers. But he was unique in giving Seafort an intelligence of Hornblower calibre, and by making him a kind of lawyer."  The article notes: "There are a lot of things to recommend David Feintuch's four Nicholas Seafort novels (there is a fifth novel out featuring the character's son, but it is set much later, and the cycle is clearly complete with the four books), so I tend to be a little forgiving of the series's considerable flaws. The first novel in particular, Midshipman's Hope, is very roughly written in places, but it is excellent conceptually and well plotted. By the fourth book, Fisherman's Hope, Feintuch's control of his writing has improved dramatically. The series is a very conscious tribute to C. S. Forester's inasterful Horatio. Hornblower novels, and by and large Feintuch manages to pull it off. Like Hornblower, Nicholas Seafort is a hero so inwardly tortured that all of his outward success is meaningless to him; in a sense, his heroism and devotion to duty are the vehicles for his own suffering. The central conflict of the series is between the character's duty to God and his duty to the navy, and the violation of either one—inevitable over the course of his career—puts his soul at peril. Religion is seldom treated with the complexity it deserves in genre fiction; too often religion is just a source of evil priests or fanatical killers. While Feintuch's work lacks the depth of Walter M. Miller Jr., it treats religion as a serious and crucial facet of the characters' lives, sometimes positive, sometimes negative, but either way a factor in how characters think of themselves and the people around them."  The article notes: "With Orbit stacking the shelves with the Seafort books at the rate of a title a month, someone must believe (or Hope) that Feintuch is going to be as successful over here as he's been in the States. And that someone may be right the books are page-turners, with clearly delineated characters caught up in a well-ratcheted narrative effectively one sustained tale, tidied up into four volumes by not so much endings as breathing spaces for Seafort and the reader. (Seafort's adventures conclude in Fisherman's Hope, Orbit, £5.99.)"  The article notes: "The Seafort saga, often rightfully compared to C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, seems poised to expand its orbit, continuing to please loyal fans with more memorable adventures into new spacial frontiers."  The book notes: "His first novel Midshipman's Hope (1994) begins his engaging Seafort Saga, a military SF sequence that has been described by many critics as 'Hornblower in space', after the creation of British writer C. S. Forrester whose most famous novels chart the progress of one young man through the hierarchy of the Royal Navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Feintuch has a self-declared interest in naval history and this is reflected in his detailed and well-realized settings. The novels follow the exploits of one Nicholas Seafort as he rises through the ranks of the UN spacefaring army, eventually, in the last book to date, reaching the position of UN General Secretary, the most powerful position on Earth. The novels are full of gallant fun and adventure, yet at the same time Feintuch attempts to study the moral issues of military life, with Seafort struggling to live up to his own standards of honour and upright behaviour. The Seafort Saga is not a grand literary epic – although it places due emphasis on exploring the psychology of its main character – more a generic space opera that nevertheless manages to stand out from the crowd."  The article notes: ""Patriarch's Hope" by David Feintuch of Mason is the sixth book in his superb best-selling series starring Nicholas Seafort, now serving as secretary general of the United Nations. ... As usual, Feintuch's novel takes a while to get going as he deftly introduces characters, offers striking images and explores various plot elements. Then the action zips into rousing overdrive and Zap! Wow! Golly Gee! it's a great classic space opera bursting with excitement. "Patriarch's Hope" is the first book to appear initially in hardback in the Seafort Saga; film rights for the entire series have been optioned to Michael Glick ("Geronimo")."</li> <li> The article notes: "With three novels published in less than a year, film rights optioned and foreign editions coming, Mason author David Feintuch is probably beginning to feel a bit like Stephen King. Feintuch's fourth science fiction volume in his Nicholas Seafort Saga, set about 200 years from now, is due in February, but his acclaimed writings made him a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer."</li> <li> The article notes: "The first in a series of four books documents the story of Nicholas Seafort, a teenage member of the United Nations Naval Service, set about 200 years from now. ... Feintuch's book is a far cry from "Star Trek" and certainly more realistic; it's already gone into a second printing, correcting some typographical errors. Fortunately, there's more exciting space action ahead."</li> <li> The article notes: ""Fisherman's Hope," by talented Mason author David Feintuch, is just the opposite in the fourth volume of the Nicholas Seafort Saga, one of the most entertaining and best science-fiction series in decades. This time out, the tormented Seafort is commandant of the United Nations Naval Academy, but he's uncomfortable in the position and doesn't really want the job. As usual, he encounters ineptitude, deceit and corruption, applying his own imitable methods to get results."</li> <li> The article notes: ""Midshipman's Hope," Feintuch's first published science-fiction novel, is now available at bookstores across the country. ... But Warner Books must be satisfied. Feintuch said the publishing company bought his four finished novels after reading one and the beginning chapter of another. ... "Midshipman's Hope," the first of the four "Nick Seafort Saga" novels, hit store shelves in paperback in mid-October and is scheduled to be Warner's lead promotional book for November. The sequels will appear at five-month intervals. Each novel is a separate story."</li> <li> The article notes: ""Voices of Hope," the latest science-fiction novel by award-winning Mason author David Feintuch, is a change in style from his superb earlier efforts of his futuristic Nicholas Seafort saga. Most of the story is set in a bleak urban New York landscape of 2209, with society divided between the trannies (transients) and the Uppies (upper class). The plot is skillfully told through alternating viewpoints of the main characters in a round-robin manner from chapter to chapter, presenting a running narrative without much use of flashback or detailed descriptions."</li> <li> The article notes: "Challenger's Hope. David Feintuch. Aspect Science Fiction. $5.50. ... This is military science fiction in the tradition of Heinlein's classic, Starship Troopers, and if you liked that, you'll like this. The noble U.N. Navy has the commission to defend the starways, the vast space routes between Earth and its interstellar colonies. But when a U.N. Navy admiral betrays an Earth ship to an alien attack, square-jawed Commander Nicholas Seafort finds himself leading a stranded and apparently doomed craft."</li> <li> The article notes: "The result of all this is a truly gripping novel filled with political maneuverings for the first half, and with military confrontations and desperate battles and rescues in the second. Feintuch handles both modes superbly. His hero may be flawed, but he is no less a hero, and his response to every crisis is ingenious and entertaining. In the previous books, I considered Seaford a man one could admire but never really like, but that's no longer true. I regret seeing the last of him, if this is indeed his final adventure."</li> <li> The review notes: "In Voices of Hope, David Feintuch once again returns to his Hope Saga. This time, however, the story is set on the planet Earth. The rich have decided that the poor no longer need water and the poor have decided that enough is enough. It is into this mix that Philip Seafort son of Nicholas, falls when he goes to the poorest district to find a lost friend. Events take on a life of their own and certain powerful people decide that it is time to bring down the towers. Nicholas must enter into the bowels of the city to find his son." </li> <li> The review notes: "These are the first two novels in a four volume series set some 200 years in the future. Earth and its colonies are controlled by what appears to be an Anglo-Saxon dominated Christian theocracy; most other religions have been supplanted or are tolerated as cults. A handful of small colonies have been placed in other star systems, but all commerce back and forth is conducted by the military, which is openly patterned on British maritime tradition, complete with whippings, walking the plank, hazings, and all the rest. The protagonist is a young midshipman who is catapulted into prominence through an unlikely chain of events. I had very ambivalent feelings about these two novels. It's clear that the author considers his future society reprehensible."</li> <li> The article notes: "David Feintuch's four volume chronicle of the career of Nicholas Seafort was certainly one of the major genre publishing events of the last year or so. This followup novel is set a generation later. Seaford has resigned his post as leader of a united Earth in the wake of political scandals and now devotes his retirement to his family. His son, Philip, is a precocious young boy with an exaggerated sense of duty, a logical extension of his father."</li> <li> The article notes: "The third chronicle of Nicholas Seafort is just as perversely engaging as its predecessors. Following a duel, a wounded Seafort is given a staff assignment on the colony world of Hope Nation, just in time to become involved with a rebellion against Earth, murder plots, a runaway drug addict, an obstreperous junior officer, an alien invasion, and the withdrawal of the fleet."</li> <li> The book notes: "Seafort is neither a simple nor an entirely admirable man, although his character evolves over the course of several sequels. He is rigid, and his determination to live up to his own sense of honor verges on egomania. It is also self-destructive, forcing him into situations where he has to make decisions that are overly influenced by his emotional state."</li> </ol>Cunard (talk) 08:04, 21 August 2023 (UTC)