Product Description

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndic for a century-and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is Captain John "Black Jack" Geary-a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief. Now, he must live up to his own legend.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18094 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780441014187
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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About the Author
"Jack Campbell" is the pseudonym for John G. Hemry, a retired Naval officer (and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis). As Jack Campbell, he writes The Lost Fleet series of military science fiction novels. He lives with his family in Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Wow! Military sci-fi at its best
Far into the future, humanity has spread out into space and colonized many worlds. Humanity has also split into two groups: The Syndicate Worlds ("Syndics") and The Alliance Worlds ("Alliance"). Neither group has encountered other intelligent species. The two groups of human colonies have evolved very different belief systems and political structures, but they have been able to maintain an uneasy peace and some civilized trade arrangements. That is, until Grendel. In the Grendel system, a war was begun, with am ambush. The Alliance-Syndic War, had both sides so large and widely dispersed, that a conclusive end to the war would be hard to achieve, and it was set to wage for decades, or even centuries. One heroic myth arose from the ambush, as an Alliance soldier made what became known as the Last Stand of Black Jack Geary, the commander of one of the armed Alliance escorts, who stayed behind, and died, allowing almost everyone else to escape.

One hundred years later, the war rages on, until an end seems possible, thanks to a Syndic traitor. Or is it something other than it seems? During this episode, the Alliance fleet picks up an ancient escape pod, carrying none other than Commander John "Black Jack" Geary, who has drifted in hibernation or "cold sleep" for a century. Geary is revived, and suddenly finds himself, by dint of seniority, as the fleet commander.

This is an amazing piece of military science fiction writing, with a protagonist who is remarkable and memorable. Can "Black Jack" possibly live up to the legend that has grown out of the Grendel Incident? Can he lead the badly damaged fleet back to Alliance territory? He is a century out-of-date regarding technical and historical knowledge, but he also remembers many things, related to military tactics and to beliefs and values, that everyone else around him never even heard of. He remembers what peace was like, and he remembers honor.

It would have been easy for the author let Black Jack Geary be a larger-than-life hero. If Jack Campbell had done that, this book would likely have been a somewhat-above-average military space adventure. Mr. Campbell, instead, wrote Black Jack Geary as a real person, with flaws, strengths, doubts, skills, moments of brilliance, deficits, and an understanding and appreciation of his own limitations. Black Jack does not enjoy his new-found fame; he is not even sure that he is glad that he survived that century of cold-sleep. But, he is dedicated to doing his best for the fleet, and to help them both survive and reclaim their sense of honor. Some of Black Jack's speeches to the ships' captains under him, and to the fleet as a whole, are things that our modern world leaders occasionally need to hear, especially in these days of the War on Terror.

Jack Campbell writes well. Period. The book flows well, with an excellent mix of action and philosophical debate. The characters are very interesting people, and not just the remarkable protagonist. Many of the ships' captains, good and bad, are very interesting supporting characters.

Mr. Campbell also tackles some science issues that are oft forgotten in science fiction novels. When ships are traveling at one-tenth to one-third the speed of light, there would be realistic effects that would create distortions in tracking them, viewing them, and hitting them with weaponry. And, when two fleets engage in a battle that spans the length and width of an entire solar system, there would be issues with communications (i.e., noticeable delays between sending a message and it being received) and in viewing (i.e., when you look across a system, what you see is not what is happening, but what happened eight or ten or more minutes ago). Many authors ignore these factors, as frustrating complications. Jack Campbell builds them right into the warp and weft of his story.

Overall, this is just a plain good read, with memorable characters and scenes, and a writing style that is aimed at people who like to think and ponder, while enjoying the action scenes.

Bravo! I can't wait for "The Lost Fleet: Fearless" which is scheduled for release in 2007.

P.S.: "Jack Campbell" is a pseudonym for John Hemry, who is a retired sailor from the U.S. Navy and a fairly well-established military science-fiction writer.

Fallen Fleet
Captain John "Black Jack" Geary received his field promotion after everyone thought he'd died in battle. Instead, he'd been in suspended animation for a hundred years when he was found and revived. During that century of warfare that passed, the Alliance struggled against the Syndic, falling prey to the same kind of methodology employed against them by their enemy. Promoted to Fleet Commander after a Syndic betrayal, Geary wants to save as many of his people as he can. Boldly, he begins a campaign that will strand them light-years from home, with the only way back through enemy-held territory. If the Alliance had been the same Alliance he had died for, the chances would be slim. But now the Alliance is a shadow of its former self, no longer a competent force, broken down into segments of selfish officers who won't take orders.

Jack Campbell is the pseudonym for an accomplished SF author. THE LOST FLEET: DAUNTLESS is the first book in a new series.

The authors handling of the military is pitch-perfect. He knows the rules and regs, and he conveys the feeling of battle and being under fire really well. More than the sheer action, move and counter-move, though, he also understand the politics of running a large force and dealing with the enemy in an honorable fashion. The "science" that he's set up to deal with his universe is intact and he adheres to it. Not only do readers learn that the rules of engagement do allow mercy to an enemy, but also that anything over .1 light-speed leaves every other starcraft blurred and in uncertain positions. The military and scientific applications of the story, dealing with honor and command as well as real physics regarding how fast light travels, come across as real. For a science fiction author, it doesn't get any better than that.

Geary's character is a little thin, as is the whole background of the Alliance and the Syndic. Hopefully future installments will illuminate a little more of what Geary gave up, where he came from, and what the societies are like -- other than just opponents.

Readers who enjoyed Robert Heinlein's STARSHIP TROOPERS, Joe Haldeman's FOREVER WAR, John Ringo's Posleen novels and John Scalzi's OLD MAN'S WAR will enjoy THE LOST FLEET: DAUNTLESS.

Original and Fun
I picked up this book and read the back cover and thought well that sounds different. I was not disappointed. The book is original in that it is military sci-fi with character development and growth. Black Jack Geary's thoughts as he trying to adjust to his new surrounds are amusing and totally in character. This book not only has great space battles and a 100 year war, but interesting characters that are more than military automatons. This is a full and interesting world I look forward to reading more about.