Young Flandry (Ensign Flandry / Circus of Hells / The Rebel Worlds) by Poul Anderson

It is the twilight of the Terran Empire. The warriors who made it great are long gone now, and the Traders of the Polesotechnic League who made it possible are the dimly-remembered stuff of legend. Alien enemies prowl its outer precincts, and Sector Governors conspire for the Throne of Man. On Terra herself, those who occupy the labyrinthine corridors of power busy themselves with trivialities and internal politics, as outside the final darkness gathers.

In this scene of terminal disarray one man stands like a giant: Dominic Flandry, Agent of the Terran Empire. In three full-length novels, he will rise from young ensign to lieutenant commander as he outthinks rivals and thwarts adversaries, blazing a trail across the galaxy in defense of an Empire which barely appreciates him and against alien enemies who appreciate him all too well.

It’s James Bond…IN SPACE!!!

Actually, it’s a lot more than that: for one, the Flandry stories and novels were written at about the same time as the Bond fiction. For another, Dominic Flandry is a far more likable character, dealing with a far more ominous situation.

But Dominic Flandry deserves to be as recognized as the British superspy, and the likes of Harry Dresden today if the succeeding Dominic Flandry books equals the quality of Young Flandry, the novels that comprise the geneses of his career, from brash and callow ensign in the Terran Empire’s fleet, to his recruitment into the intelligence division, to his first command.

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Like Bond, Flandry is a secret warrior determined to preserve his civilization, engaging in daring exploits and seducing and being seduced by beautiful women of all types (including alien types – yay for green chicks and cat girls!) but there always an aura of tragedy around our hero. The Terran Empire is on the decline, it’s glory days are past and the light of civilization it brought to the galaxy is guttering. Barbarians of all stripes, from ambitious alien powers, pirates, criminals and terrorists nip at the fringes and tear off bigger chunks when they can, and the politicians are beaurocrats are intent only on enriching themselves.

But though the Terran Empire is far from perfect, it is also far better than the chaos of the Long Night that will come with the empire’s fall.

So, the three books of Young Flandry themselves:

Book One, Ensign Flandry: Flandry distinguishes himself during a tight spot while serving on an alien planet where the land-natives cat people engage in warfare with the sea-dwellers, the Terrans aiding one side and the hostile Merseian Empire aiding the other. Flandry meets the intelligence spymaster who will become his mentor, and they stumble into an enemy plot, but his greatest obstacle is a Terran diplomat who naively believes all can be worked out and is all too eager to concede to the Merseians.

Book Two, Circus of Hells: Flandry learns of the existence of a lost factory-planet from ancient times. While ostentatiously on leave, Flandry seeks out the lost planet without the knowledge of his superiors, seeing an opportunity to enrich himself, and he finds an automated factory gone mad and creating mechanical monstrosities. And that’s just the beginning.

Book Three, the Rebel Worlds: An Imperial admiral has gone rogue, and with his fleet he has raised a flag of rebellion. Flandry in his first command arrives and finds the rebellion is justified, in response to the cruel and corrupt sector governor’s exploitation and genocidal policies, as well as the governor’s vile attempt to have the admiral arrested and executed on false charges, that he might seize the admirals beautiful wife for his own. But the governor is politically connected and seemingly untouchable, and Flandry is ordered to side with the governor and put down the heroic freedom fighters, because justified or not, their rebellion could easily spark a civil war.