Seafort Saga

The Seafort Saga is a series of science fiction novels written by American author David Feintuch. The novels are set from the late 22nd century to the mid-23rd century and relate the adventures of Nicholas Seafort, an officer in the (fictional) UNNS|United Nations Naval Service.^[1] The series is a collection of personal accounts, usually from the perspective of Nicholas Seafort, describing Seafort's adventures, beginning as a lowly midshipman, to the elected leader of earth, and finally to the captain of the UNNS flagship Olympiad. Although most books in the series are told from a single perspective, usually Seafort's, Voices of Hope is a collection of accounts from several sources: Seafort's son, PT, the son of a friend of Seafort's, and a transient boy named Pook. Additionally, Children of Hope is narrated by Randy Carr, the son of a close friend of Seafort's.^[2]

In May 2015, Clover Red LLC started a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to help fund the development of a screenplay adapting Midshipman's Hope. The kickstarter ended June 12, 2015 falling short of the funding goal.^[3]

Characters[]

• Vax Holser
• Alexi Tamarov
• Derek Anthony Carr
• Edgar Tolliver
• Philip Tyre "PT" Seafort
• Robert Boland
• Randolph "Randy" Carr

Books[]

Midshipman's Hope[]

Midshipman's Hope was published in 1994 as the first book in the saga;^[4] it depicts the first voyage of officer Nicholas Seafort.

Plot[]

Nicholas Seafort is a seventeen-year-old midshipman who boards the UNS Hibernia on his first space assignment, a three-year interstellar voyage to the colonies of Hope Nation and Detour. He beats back a challenge to his authority as senior midshipman by Vax Holser, the next most senior. During the trip, he strikes up friendships with Third Lieutenant Harv Malstrom and an attractive passenger, Amanda Frowel.

A disastrous rescue of a passenger injured while sightseeing on the wreck of another ship results in the deaths of Captain Haag and his two senior lieutenants, elevating Malstrom to the captaincy and Seafort to second-in-command of Hibernia. When Maelstrom falls ill with a quick-acting cancer, Seafort, believing himself to be unqualified to command, begs him to promote Holser to lieutenant, but Maelstrom dies without doing so.

The other surviving officers (outside the chain of command) share Seafort's opinion of his leadership abilities and try to get him to relieve himself, but he cannot find any regulations that permit it. They back down when Seafort points out the penalty for mutiny.

Seafort is immediately faced with a difficult decision. Malstrom had condemned three crewmen to death for assaulting the sergeant-at-arms in an attempt to conceal their drug-making operation. Their punishment was extremely unpopular with the rest of the crew. However, despite the danger of a revolt, Seafort has two of the men hanged; the third's sentence is commuted to several months' confinement. His resolute handling of the situation quells the unruly crewmen. This action estranges him from Amanda, who feels the executions to be barbaric.

Other dangers follow. By thoroughness and sheer stubbornness, Seafort discovers that the ship's sentient computer, Darla, has been corrupted by careless naval programmers and would have sent the ship hopelessly off-course on the next leg of their journey. Darla was also responsible for the explosion that killed Captain Haag. To fix the problem, Seafort has a backup restored.

When the ship arrives at its next stop, Miningcamp, a small mining colony in an otherwise uninhabitable system, mutineers from the space station try to take over the ship. Seafort single-handedly holds them off until the crew can regroup and deal with the intruders. Eventually, Seafort ends the rebellion and finds out the cause. An ore barge and the starship Telstar are long overdue, which resulted in the panic that led to the trouble.

When the Hibernia reaches Hope Nation, Seafort expects to be relieved, but discovers that not only has the admiral in command of the naval garrison died in a strange viral epidemic, but a captain has deserted, leaving a Hope Nation commanding officer who is junior to Seafort. Seafort finds himself in charge of all naval forces in the system. During a tour of the planet, Seafort, Amanda (with whom he has reconciled) and one of his officers run into the officer who had deserted. He is hiding in the mountains with his wife because he believes he saw meteors spraying something in the sky shortly before the epidemic broke out. Believing the man to be mad, Seafort dismisses his story as fantasy, but does not force the couple to return to civilization.

Seafort recruits several officers from the local personnel, then continues on to the next stop, Detour. He finds that two of the new men are poor officers, dumped on him by their former commanders. However, he manages to deal with the situation.

Then Hibernia's sensors detect the Telstar, adrift in space with massive rents in her hull. Seafort leads a boarding party to investigate and, to his horror, encounters a strange alien life form resembling an amoeba in the ship's corridor. When it attacks, it becomes clear that it was responsible for the disabling of the Telstar and the death of its crew. Fortunately, Seafort is able to escape unharmed. After a stop at Hope Nation to warn the residents, Seafort takes Hibernia back to Earth to report the news.

Feature film[]

In 2015, Clover Red LLC obtained the rights for the film adaptation of Midshipman's Hope. In May 2015 Clover Red LLC started a crowdfunding campaign to fund the development of the screenplay, the crowdfund fell short of the funding goal on June 12, 2015.^[3]

Challenger's Hope[]

Published in 1995.^[4]

Plot[]

Nicholas Seafort, newly assigned commander of UNS. Challenger and part of Admiral Geoffrey Tremaine's task force, has his ship taken from him when the Admiral decides to make Challenger his flagship, under the command of Captain Hasselbrad. Seafort is given command of the Admiral's far smaller original flagship, UNS Portia. Tremaine's task force has the task of reaching Hope Nation, and eliminating any aliens (called Fish) found on the way.

Portia is given the task of transporting a group of Lower New York 'transpops'—uneducated and often violent street children—to the colony of Detour beyond Hope Nation. Seafort initially sees the transpops as simply a danger to his ship (drugging or imprisoning them were considered as solutions). The squadron is attacked by Fish that board Portia, releasing their lethal virus into the ship and killing dozens of her crew and passengers, including Seafort's baby son. Shortly afterwards. Amanda Seafort, driven insane by grief, commits suicide, and Nicholas suffers a temporary breakdown as a result.

After his recovery, Portia encounters Challenger, crippled by a Fish attack. Seafort is transferred to the ship and is left alone, save for passengers and crew that Tremaine hates, including the transpops, and abandoned in space. After overcoming a mutiny, Seafort sets about preparing Challenger for an eighty-year voyage back to Earth, conscripting passengers into the Naval Service and scavenging from the wrecked sections of the ship. Barely weeks into the trip, radiation from the ship's damaged propulsion systems attracts the aliens, leading to a series of desperate battles in which Challenger is further damaged, and more of her already tiny crew killed. Ultimately, Seafort uses his dying ship to ram an alien, only for it to Fuse (accelerate to faster-than-light speed), taking Challenger with it. For sixty days, Challenger remains lodged in the alien, her crew dying of malnutrition until, almost miraculously the Fish Defuses in Earth's solar system.

In the aftermath of the voyage, Seafort meets his father in a naval base on the moon, and is given command of his old ship, Hibernia, to return to Hope Nation.

Prisoner's Hope[]

Published in 1995.^[4]

Plot[]

Captain Nicholas Seafort is planetside on Hope Nation while recuperating from injuries, some of which were sustained from a duel with Admiral Tremaine. The injuries include a lung which must be replaced, as well as psychological trauma accumulated due to the many traumatic experiences he has been through. Among the injuries Seafort has sustained is the ruined friendship with his former shipmate, Vax Holser. Vax resents Seafort sending him away from Challenger, wanting to remain with his captain no matter what.

The admiral in charge of the United Nations fleet in the sector makes a bargain with Seafort: due to his supposed good relations with some of the planters, he can meet with and report on what their grievances are, and attempt to allay them. Despite being made liaison to the plantation owners of the lush colony planet, this appointment does not sit well with him, as he would much prefer to be assigned a captaincy. However, the UN space fleet retreats Earthward after tangling with the space threat discovered by Seafort in his first voyage on the Hibernia. This leaves Seafort the sole United Nations authority on the planet, which makes him a target.

Some of the planters, disaffected by the long history of unfulfilled promises, and seeking greater autonomy in their future, mount a rebellion. The initial casualties include Alexi Tamarov, who is injured in an explosion meant to kill Seafort, but which instead leaves him in a coma. Coming out of the coma, Alexi has suffered amnesia, not knowing his old friend, or anything about his naval responsibilities. Additionally, Seafort has married the former transient Annie Wells, but is left feeling betrayed when she has what she considers a meaningless sexual encounter with an old friend.

Seafort must avert the rebellion while dealing with his wounds, both mental and physical, and lead the colonists against the space invaders who have begun to attack not just the fleets in orbit but also the planet. To do so, he must turn his back on his oath to the UN Navy and commit high treason.

Reaching the station in orbit above Hope Nation, Seafort manages to transmit skewed N-Waves which attract the "fish", and uses the automated weapons on board the station to kill thousands of them. He also arranges for the stations fusion reactor to detonate, which is tantamount to a nuclear explosion. Such an act is punishable by death, but Seafort no longer cares about his life. In the process of conducting this exercise, Vax Holser arrives at the last minute with a ship and arranges to come aboard the station. While there, he incapacitates Seafort, and sends him back on his launch, remaining in his place. This results in Vax's death.

Seafort now must assume command of Vax's old ship, with a crew who don't trust him (blaming him for their captains death), passengers who don't like him (including Annie who has been driven insane after an attempted rape by criminals on Hope Nation, Alexi who has no memory, and Jarence Branstead who is a potential goofjuice addict) as well as his dealing with own internal sense of justice which he feels demands his death for his failures.

Reaching earth, Seafort finds that the ban on nuclear weapons has been adjusted due to the repeated attacks by the fish aliens, and his actions are deemed laudable by the navy and worthy of a reward. Not feeling he deserves this attention, Seafort seeks to resign. Instead, he is persuaded to take over the command of the naval academy, training the next generation of cadets, in the hopes he can prepare them to be better than he was.

Fisherman's Hope[]

Published in 1996.^[4]

Captain Seafort has been made commandant of the naval academy, a promotion which does not sit well with him. Having no tolerance for the political machinations which he must deal with, he struggles to accomplish anything he feels is worthwhile.

Additionally his wife, Annie Wells, is still suffering mental trauma from her rape while on Hope Nation. While receiving treatment, she runs away from her clinic and takes to the streets of Old New York City. Captain Seafort must turn to an old acquaintance, Eddie Boss, in an effort to try and find her. In the process, he must also risk his own life while braving the transient controlled streets.

Back at the academy, Seafort is helpless to do anything when the fish attack the home system. He conjures up a wildly impossible plan of action which may save the home system, but would also mean his certain death, as well as the death of innocent cadets who have placed their trust in him.

Somehow surviving the attack, but now firmly scarred mentally and emotionally from what the survival of home system has cost him, Seafort finally resigns his commission.

In an epilogue it is revealed that Captain Seafort finds comfort in the seclusion of a monastery. As part of his penance and treatment, the head of the monastery encourages him to write down his life course. Which is what we the reader have been enjoying over the course of the past few books. The chronicle of his life, especially remembering and focusing on his perceived mistakes, is intended to help Purge his soul of his guilt.

It is further revealed that after several years of seclusion he is persuaded to enter politics, using his support to help strengthen the Navy to the best of his ability. He divorces Annie, and marries an old academy classmate, Arlene sanders. His unswerving devotion to honesty in all things leads to his government being voted out of office, but allows him to preserve his integrity and his honor

Voices of Hope[]

Published in 1997.^[4]

The style of this book differs from the previous ones as it encompasses not merely Captain seafort's perspective on the events contained within, but also certain other characters.

Years after retiring from politics, Captain seafort lives in a private compound with his wife arlene, his son Philip tyre, his aide Adam tenere, and Adam's son jared. Adam's wife died when Jared was very young, and her loss has caused Adam to be very lax with disciplining his child. As a result Jared has grown up to be a rebellious teenager with a lack of respect for authority.

In contrast, Nick and Arlene have raised their son to military standards of hygiene, morality, and behavior, although not encouraging him to follow them into the Navy.

Philip has grown into the a very intelligent adolescent, with deep respect for his parents and what they expect of him. This contrasts with Jared who spends his days resenting his father, resenting captain seafort, and finding pride in his computer hacking abilities and idolizing those cause internet mischief.

Captain Seafort regularly makes return visits to the monastery where he found necessary seclusion which enabled him to restore his soul. During the course of preparing for one of these excursions, Captain Seafort discovers Jared spying on a private conversation that a visitor is having, in the hopes of selling the information to a newspaper. The visitor in question is former cadet boland, now congressman boland.

The conversation that was overheard was between the congressman and his father, about how they could potentially discredit Captain seafort's reputation. Neither of them enjoy the prospect, but they feel it may become a political necessity.

With both his father, captain seafort, and Philip (known as PT) mad at him, Jared hacks his father's Bank accounts, steals money, and flies to New York in the hopes of selling what information he has on the attempts of the bolands to discredit Captain Seafort. He hopes he can use the story to make enough money, to live his own life where he can do what he please.

Well this is going on, senator Boland is making plans to continue revamping New York city. In the process, the demolition and construction projects are destroying the territories that belong to the various tranny tribes. Eddie boss, hearing about this from his former tribe mates, reaches out to Pedro Chang for help. Chang, who has recently started taking a young rebellious tranny named pook under his wing, decides to try and visit Captain Seafort to rally support.

Unfortunately the captain is not there, and he is ignored. He decides to attempt to visit the monastery to reach the captain. While this is going on, PT, who feels guilty over what he perceives is his own blame in causing Jared to run away, decides to run away to look for him.

Jared's attempt to sell the information fails. And he is captured by trannies when he goes on the run in New York. Pedro chang, acting as mediator, arranges for various tranny tribes to try to work together to fight the UN government from pushing them out of their territory.

This results in an all-out war between the tranny gangs and the UN soldiers. In the process of this war, the UN government attempts to use the space laser cannons that were put in place to destroy asteroids and fish, to destroy parts of New York to kill the gangs.

While the gangs are fighting, Jared manages to convince them to let him help. He enlists other fellow hackers in an effort to bring down the global economy. PT somehow manages to avoid serious injury while looking for jared, but in the process Jared's father Adam is killed.

Captain seafort, reunited with his son, takes a stand against the United Nations government's attempt to kill those of its own people that have used as valueless. In the process, he and his son are nearly killed when they place themselves in a spacecraft, and allow themselves to drift into the line of fire of the orbital laser batteries.

Returning to earth, and realizing that he can no longer stay silent or inactive, Captain Seafort returns to political life and is elected secretary-general of the United Nations.

Patriarch's Hope[]

Published in 1999,^[4] the book is set approximate 10 years after the events of Voices of Hope

Children of Hope[]

The seventh book is set several years after the events of Patriarch's Hope and was the last in the series to be published before the death of author David Feintuch.^[2][5][6]

Galahad's Hope (unpublished)[]

Galahad's Hope is the working title of the eighth and final book in the Seafort Saga of science fiction novels, and the sequel to Children of Hope. The manuscript was reported^[7] to be completed before the death of author David Feintuch;^[8] however, Orbit UK has no current plans to publish this book.^[9] According to an Orbit online marketing executive, they haven't been approached by anyone connected to David Feintuch with a view to publishing the manuscript.

References[]

• Zaleski, Jeff, and Peter Cannon.. "CHILDREN OF HOPE (Book Review)." Publishers Weekly 248.11 (12 Mar. 2001): 67.
• Green, Roland. "Adult Books: FICTION." Booklist 97.14 (15 Mar. 2001): 1360.