This series began in 1985 but was later reprinted (in "Director's Cut Special Editions") by Timberwolf Press.
The Turning Tide is a sequel to The Defiance and is scheduled to be released in 2008.
Several books of the original Helmsman saga, The Siege, The Defenders and The Defiance in particular, appear to reproduce (sometimes word for word, sometimes paraphrasing) large sections of a war autobiography titled The Big Show (written by Pierre Clostermann, published 1948, translated into English by Oliver Berthoud). The Defenders pages 79-83 (Warner Books paperback, 1992) resemble in form, chronological order and paraphrase almost the complete chapter titled "Radar At Dawn" from The Big Show. More examples exist for anyone willing to spend the time to search the series.
Many similarities to other science fiction sources exist as well. For example, Galactic Convoy mentions a planet named Throon (identical to the capital world in the Star Kings books). Also, an attack against a space fort at the end of The Mercenaries contains several allusions to the attack on the Death Star.
