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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I
Just
Can't
I gave up - the story might work out but my 2023 self is no longer interested in these duped-centric characters and the 100yr old fleet savior...I wouldn't go back to 1923 and ask a veteran WWI soldier to lead the space force, LMAO!!
Ugh, the false, flat, and overly saccharine on-page hero worship for a 100yr near-dead space captain who is still feared by the 100yr advanced civilization for his not too apparent war-fighting tactics...and he's put in charge of the 100yr technologically advanced civilization space force because....even tho they never looked for him (nor validated his supposed heroic last stand war battle) but accidentally found in floating in space
It got to be too much to overcome to believe in this story... I think I started to lose interest when
Captain Black Jack (tried too hard and failed even with names) "picked up a stylus" for his computer, yeah, the story and technology did not age well in this book
"thank my ancestors" - why does every character practically say this in the book....they obviously didn't even study them to advance their "tired" fleet, so laughable. Even the villian bowed down to Black Jack but WHY??
Just
Can't
I gave up - the story might work out but my 2023 self is no longer interested in these duped-centric characters and the 100yr old fleet savior...I wouldn't go back to 1923 and ask a veteran WWI soldier to lead the space force, LMAO!!
Ugh, the false, flat, and overly saccharine on-page hero worship for a 100yr near-dead space captain who is still feared by the 100yr advanced civilization for his not too apparent war-fighting tactics...and he's put in charge of the 100yr technologically advanced civilization space force because....even tho they never looked for him (nor validated his supposed heroic last stand war battle) but accidentally found in floating in space
It got to be too much to overcome to believe in this story... I think I started to lose interest when
Captain Black Jack (tried too hard and failed even with names) "picked up a stylus" for his computer, yeah, the story and technology did not age well in this book
"thank my ancestors" - why does every character practically say this in the book....they obviously didn't even study them to advance their "tired" fleet, so laughable. Even the villian bowed down to Black Jack but WHY??
Two stars feels kind of harsh but the label fits, "it was OK". If I could do half-stars I'd push up to two-and-a-half because I am going to read the next book, and probably the other four too, because I do want to know what happens next! The pace was good and both the premise and the ongoing story were enough to suck me in and keep me going to find out what was going to happen next.
Dauntless was pretty obviously written as the launching point for a series, which explains the somewhat abrupt ending - a convenient point in the story for a pause, but without resolving anything and having only barely laid out who's who, what's going on and why.
I liked the general idea of the story but there are several significant elements of the plot that really didn't make sense, although Mr Campbell performs some plausible justification. The most difficult to swallow for me was the level of ability that the Alliance fleet members displayed, it just didn't make sense to me that a fleet that's been fighting for 100+ years could possibly be as inept as they were painted prior to Jack's thawing. The belabouring of (what I assume is) an emergent plot point in the closing chapters of the book was also somewhat heavy-handed.
The character definition left something to be desired, I think all of the characters are pretty one-dimensional (although I'm holding out hopes for at least one of them) and even the universe itself is sparsely painted, although there are welcome detours into detail when something needs to be explained, usually in order for the fleet to interact with it plausibly.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the fleet battle tactics and general considerations of high speed battles over very large distances, anchored in and explained by the physics of our universe but for the most part this appears to be an exercise in translating current/historical ocean-going tactics into three dimensional space but with bigger guns and (technologically unexplained) energy weapons and shielding.
I listened to the audio version of this book, the Audible version narrated by Christian Rummel. Mr Rummel did a pretty good job, managing distinct, plausible and recognisable characters (although the Scottish? accent for one of the captains probably wasn't a good idea). This version also has music bookending it and it's stuck in between two of the latter chapters as well for some reason (possibly this is where two CD's were joined together).
Dauntless was pretty obviously written as the launching point for a series, which explains the somewhat abrupt ending - a convenient point in the story for a pause, but without resolving anything and having only barely laid out who's who, what's going on and why.
I liked the general idea of the story but there are several significant elements of the plot that really didn't make sense, although Mr Campbell performs some plausible justification. The most difficult to swallow for me was the level of ability that the Alliance fleet members displayed, it just didn't make sense to me that a fleet that's been fighting for 100+ years could possibly be as inept as they were painted prior to Jack's thawing. The belabouring of (what I assume is) an emergent plot point in the closing chapters of the book was also somewhat heavy-handed.
The character definition left something to be desired, I think all of the characters are pretty one-dimensional (although I'm holding out hopes for at least one of them) and even the universe itself is sparsely painted, although there are welcome detours into detail when something needs to be explained, usually in order for the fleet to interact with it plausibly.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the fleet battle tactics and general considerations of high speed battles over very large distances, anchored in and explained by the physics of our universe but for the most part this appears to be an exercise in translating current/historical ocean-going tactics into three dimensional space but with bigger guns and (technologically unexplained) energy weapons and shielding.
I listened to the audio version of this book, the Audible version narrated by Christian Rummel. Mr Rummel did a pretty good job, managing distinct, plausible and recognisable characters (although the Scottish? accent for one of the captains probably wasn't a good idea). This version also has music bookending it and it's stuck in between two of the latter chapters as well for some reason (possibly this is where two CD's were joined together).
Great quick read in the tradition of hornblower. A solid naval adventure set in the far future with plenty of action and intrigue cant wait for the next one!
In short it's a story of a man out time that struggles to bring back honour, discipline and pride back to a fleet (society) that has lost its way after fighting a war for 100 years.
Unfortunately, all his decisions turn out to be the perfect solution and all his internal struggle and external confrontations seem meaningless when our fleet captain always guesses correctly.
I also have issues with two societies getting worse and worse at warfare and space battle over 100 years.
But its fast paced and pretty straight forward.
Unfortunately, all his decisions turn out to be the perfect solution and all his internal struggle and external confrontations seem meaningless when our fleet captain always guesses correctly.
I also have issues with two societies getting worse and worse at warfare and space battle over 100 years.
But its fast paced and pretty straight forward.
This was a really good story. Some of the background characters were flat but the story itself was fantastic. I may actually delve into the rest of the Lost Fleet books.
Decent military sf. Well written, well plotted, with excellent use of real physics and tactics. A lot of talking and thinking though. Needs a little more action to get that fifth ratings star. š
2.9 stars rounded up
This is probably the 8th published novel written by JC. It is decently well written and certainly very readable. JC knows what he is doing as far as setting up conflict, introducing characters, and giving us action scenes. Our hero, Captain Black Jack Geary is almost the only character whom we really get to know. Thatās because the story is told from his perspective, though itās told in the third person. Tanya Desjani, commander of the flagship, and Co-President Victoria Rione are the only other characters whom JC makes any attempt to portray in the round, and Rione, the reluctant supporter but also political nay-sayer, is the more interesting of the two. Still, we donāt really get to know her. She is a stock character performing a story function.
Overall, a fun read, but only if you like this sort of post-Hornblower military science fiction.
This is probably the 8th published novel written by JC. It is decently well written and certainly very readable. JC knows what he is doing as far as setting up conflict, introducing characters, and giving us action scenes. Our hero, Captain Black Jack Geary is almost the only character whom we really get to know. Thatās because the story is told from his perspective, though itās told in the third person. Tanya Desjani, commander of the flagship, and Co-President Victoria Rione are the only other characters whom JC makes any attempt to portray in the round, and Rione, the reluctant supporter but also political nay-sayer, is the more interesting of the two. Still, we donāt really get to know her. She is a stock character performing a story function.
Overall, a fun read, but only if you like this sort of post-Hornblower military science fiction.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Very well told and kept my attention. Really appreciated the "realism" portrayed of what traveling and waging war at high speeds in space involves as far as distances, time, strategy, etc. The only downsides were the constant self-doubt in the protagonist's internal dialog (although very reasonable, it became tedious) and the constant "political" undermining, maneuvering, hostility (also not unreasonable, unfortunately, but also grew tedious). How may times does this have to happen before real change can be seen? But I still enjoyed the book and will likely pick up the sequels.