David Drake (born September 24, 1945) is a successful author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the premier authors of the military science fiction subgenre.

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 by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. He now lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

His best-known non-collaborative work is the Hammer's Slammers series of military science fiction. His newer Republic of Cinnabar Navy (RCN) series, space operas inspired by the Aubrey–Maturin novels, focus much more heavily on his characters and less on the military aspects.

In 1997 Drake began his largest fantasy series, Lord of the Isles, using elements of Sumerian religion and medieval era technology. As of 2006, the series has eight books published, with one more planned to finish.

In addition to his own works, he often provides a military perspective to many collaborative writing projects, such as his contributions to the Heroes in Hell series. His co-authors include Karl Edward Wagner, Janet Morris, S.M. Stirling, and Eric Flint. With Wagner and Jim Groce, he was one of the founders of Carcosa Press.

Drake frequently works in collaboration with other authors by providing detailed plot outlines (5,000 to 15,000 words), after which they do "the real work of developing the outline into a novel". He doesn't "consider [his] involvement to be that of a real co-author".

Drake's plots often draw heavily on his extensive knowledge of history, literature and mythology. Starting with Northworld in 1990, he has generally explained the background to each book in an afterword or preface. Additionally, Drake's plots frequently center around a clash of political systems. Drake's heroes are usually right-leaning military personnel with individualistic, iconoclastic personalities. Bureaucrats, professors, politicians, religious fanatics and political leftists serve as enemies.

Some of Drake's works are available for free download in the Baen Free Library. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.