The plot of Corsair is centered around a Libyan conference where Muammar Gaddafi announces increased co-operation with the West and their anti-terrorist policies, which the bad guys are trying to derail. This was written in 2009, two years before the Libyan Civil War that saw Gaddafi's regime get toppled with support from NATO and the man himself executed. Even worse when you realize that many Libyan rebels had ties to Al-Quaida, and Libya was the first nation to issue an Interpol warrant against Osama. Further, the aftermath of Gaddafi's fall lead to arms flows to terrorists in Syria, and the Manchester bombing.
Hellburner, which was released in 2022 but the writing of which had started back in 2021, had a third party attempting to frame Russia as the aggressor in a nuclear attack on Istanbul, with the ultimate goal of starting a Third World War. Come 2022, and Russia is the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine War, which has massively heightened tensions with the West and has the very real risk of becoming WW3 by itself.
Tear Jerker: Whenever a main member of the Corporation dies definitely counts.
One that comes to mind is Mike Trono, who dies in The Emperor's Revenge after taking a bullet meant for Juan. Even worse is how only moments before, he and Linda were teasing each other and posing as a tourist couple, and having fun with it too. And then Trono dies in her arms.
And then even more heartwrenching if you recall that Trono and Pulaski were Those Two Guys until Pulaski was killed in The Jungle and Trono took his death harder than anyone.
The ending of The Silent Sea definitely falls in this trope. With Juan thought to have been killed in the refinery explosion, it becomes clear that without him, the Corporation is going to fall apart, and in many respects, the crew will never be able to re-acclimate to civilian life, since the Corporation was their family. Thankfully, a cheerful message from Juan explaining how he survived and requesting a pick up at the very end averts a Downer Ending, but it goes to show that without Cabrillo, the Corporation really has nothing else to support them.
Learning about Juan's backstory and how it affects him can also count. He was a CIA agent, one of the best, and happily married to the love of his life as well. However, his constant travelling left his wife lonely and depressed, and she soon became an alcoholic. One night, she went for a drive while intoxicated and got into a wreck, killing herself. Despite every scrap of logic and every person who knows about it saying it wasn't his fault, Juan still blames himself for her death for not being with her more. While it is not always obvious, he still harbors a deep sense of guilt that more than just causes him to lose sleep.
The climax of Final Option has Cabrillo sacrifice the Oregon to take down Zachariah Tate and his crew. For anyone who has followed the series from the beginning, it's rather heartbreaking to see the ship that survived 13 books finally go down, and Cabrillo himself thinking he is about to die alone with no one coming to his rescue.
