The Lost Fleet: Fearless

Hey

This is a very good science fiction series.

I liked Dauntless ever-so-slightly better, but this was still a solid read and highly recommended if you like space operas ala David Weber. Great premise and action packed. A little predictable at times as you are told "something didn't look right" and you knew there would be something that wasn't right and that Black Jack Geary would figure it out and win, but this is fun sci-fi - not Old English Literature - so it accomplishes its goal. My biggest complaint about this book is the early exposition which is to bring you up to speed if you haven't read the first book in the series (Dauntless) or if you haven't read it in a while I guess. That is tedious and it pops up from time to time in the book. But I suppose that is one of the challenges to writing a series. I'm definitely pre-ordering Courageous (Book 3) and Valiant when possible. Highly recommended if you like space operas.

Anyone whos a nitpicker for Hollywood space physics will instantly love the action of Campbells space battles. The lag between communication and observation, the reletavistic effects on firing and navigation, not to mention the nail-biting atmosphere of "Are we dead but just haven't gotten the memo yet?" And the drama fan will love the chracters. While a sparse handful are a bit cookie-cutter: The blowhard eltist antaganistic ship captain, the cold, calculating bueracrat, the characters in Fearless do what very few sci-fi characters mangage nowadays, and seem like real people. They grow, evolve, and learn. Last but not least, the odd Horatio fan will love the main character. Although his flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants style starts to get a bit grating, especially since he's managing to do almost anything but, Captain Jack Black's intelligence and wit, not to mention his sense of (gasp!) morals and ethical rules of war, would find a welcome home in fans of almost any genre

I applaud Mr. Campbell for taking naval fiction into the future instead of yet another rewrite of the Napoleonic war. He has obviously given great consideration to what a space battle would entail--no other science fiction author has, to my knowledge, dealt with the issues presented by ships that can travel at appreciable fractions of the speed of light. To fully understand these books one must realize that they are not primarily science fiction; rather, The Lost Fleet is a book about leadership, honor, morality and the fighting of war. A Fleet that had lost the nuances of military strategy, with commanders who vote on strategy and then undertake heroic but idiotic frontal assaults has been taken over by a survivor from a prior battle who possesses an understanding of lost tactics and strategy as well as an outdated sense of honor and morality that has been sacrificed to expediency in the endless war. Book Two adds a couple new wrinkles not the least of which is our hero's realization that there is a very, very dark side to an advanced technology developed during his hibernation. In the same fashion that nuclear weapons changed warfare; "Black Jack" Geary figures out that a new power has emerged and must decide what to do with the knowledge he possesses. Campbell focuses on his leader and while ostensibly about space battles this author is merely developing a fascinating character. Like O'Brian's Captain Aubrey, John Geary's faith in his training and leadership skills unites a fleet and provides for some excellent adventure. These works are very well written and are a cut above most offerings of the genre to which they supposedly belong. I look forward to following Geary's adventures.

Fearless is the second book of the Lost Fleet series following the debut book titled Dauntless. Captain "Black Jack" Geary has managed to do the impossible. In the first book, he saved the Alliance fleet from almost assured destruction by the Syndicate worlds military space fleet who had lured the Alliance into a trap. Jack Geary, an alliance hero who was found in cryo sleep on a malfunctioning escape pod from a war 100 years earlier, had assumed control of the alliance fleet and through a series of stunning displays of military tactics took an undisciplined Alliance fleet and turned them into an effective and coordinated unit. The alliance fleet found themselves on the run back to their home system, unable to use the Hypernet gates that would get them there quickly and in possession of the key to the syndic worlds own hypernet gates. The Syndic force is in relentless pursuit and it is only through Jack Geary's military cunning that the alliance force has been able to evade destruction. This second book has the Alliance force on the offensive as they attack a syndic worlds systems and also facing new problems from the inside as another hero to the alliance is found alive on a sydicate worlds labor camp. Jack Campbell has created a believable futuristic landscape utilizing believable physics in his universe of science fiction warfare . I am not normally a reader of science fiction and I happened to pick the first book up as it caught my eye. I read "Dauntless" in short order, was hooked and was excited to see this second book on the bookstand. This book was another thriller. Jack Campbell deserves a wide audience for this book, if not for it being a fun series to read, then for his intellectual prowess for envisioning realistic battle scenes and strategies. The first book is not a necessity, but it is recommended. I wholeheartedly endorse this book.

This is the second book in the Lost Fleet series that follows the adventures of Black Jack Geary. I loved the first book and I loved this one, for the same reasons mainly. The story is original and intersting, you believe the characters are real people with real decisions to make, and great action. Jack Campbells view of space travel and space warfare much more like I'd actually expect to see. Space may free you from gravity, but not physics. This book is also very character driven for a military sci-fi book or really any sci-fi book. That is, with out doubt, my favorite part of the book. Fearless is a very interesting and fast read. Don't take that the wrong way, fast in a good way. The story doesn't suffer, but you'll actually have time to read it!