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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Crossposted from Reanne Reads.
Heh. This book proved a good example of something I already knew: just because I love one story an author writes doesn’t mean I’ll love everything they write. I’m very hesitant to put any author on my “favorite authors” list for this reason. One of the only authors I can really currently call one of my favorite authors is Larry Correia, because I’ve read every book he’s released and have considered all of them (with the exception of some of his short stories/novellas) somewhere between “good” and “terrific”. Jim Butcher is tentatively on that list because of the Dresden Files, Aeronaut’s Windlass, and that one Spider-Man book he wrote, but I’m still hesitant to commit to that designation until I read his Codex Alera series. [ETA: Have tried reading Codex Alera and didn't much like it, so I guess even Butcher's not really on the list.] Georgette Heyer was, for a while, an author whose books ranged from “okay” to “amazing”, but I recently discovered a couple of her books which I disliked enough to not even get past the first chapter, so she’s solidly hit-or-miss for me.
Having recently finished reading Jack Campbell’s series The Pillars of Reality, which I really loved, I wanted to try some of his previous books. It looks like his most popular series is called The Lost Fleet, so I decided to try it out even though military sci-fi is not really one of my usual genres.
In comparing Dauntless with The Pillars of Reality, I can see the hand of the same author at work, particularly in the main character who is thrust into a position of leadership as well as finding themself to be something of a legendary figure, much to their own discomfort. Also, there’s a fair amount of time spent on pondering this state of things and worrying about doing the right thing and not believing their own publicity.
That said, this story is very different in several significant ways, and unfortunately that meant that the things that I loved about The Pillars of Reality were largely absent in this story. This story is very much a plot-focused story, rather than a character-focused story. I prefer character-focused stories. Dauntless is basically about a space fleet running away from a battle they’ve lost and trying to get home. From what I’ve seen, that’s actually what most of this series is about. In the intro to this book, the author mentions a “long retreat scenario” (I think were the words he used), which from context I’m taking is some sort of military fiction trope. Since I don’t read that genre much, I’m unfamiliar with it, though a story about a military force retreating, where that’s really the entire story, turns out to be not very interesting to me at all. It’s just a series of military maneuvers and too much detail about move this ship from here to there, now move this other ship. Sooo boooring.
There’s also a lot of inter-ship politics and political squabbling, which is another thing I have no interest in reading. One of the nice things about Pillars was that not all that many people questioned Mari’s leadership, and those that did were quickly dealt with rather than being allowed to become a series-long nuisance.
The character development in Dauntless is practically nonexistent. We do get a good sense of Geary’s challenges in dealing with his position, but we know very little of his life before the start of this story. Nor do we see any real development in the relationships between any characters. Most of the people he interacts with, he never even sees in person because they do all their communicating via holograms or other types of spacey communication. Many characters are introduced, but most get no more than a name and a very rough personality sketch.
I don’t even like the characters all that much, mostly because we don’t know them well enough to like or dislike them. While I’m inclined to like Geary in some ways, I was put off by his casual attitude toward sex when the subject came up once. Looking at a wiki to see what happens later in the series, I saw that he later has a sexual affair with a character who is not his wife (either at the time or in the future). I’m not at all trying to say that this is unrealistic, only that it is something which serves as a mark against a character to me and makes the story overall less enjoyable for me.
I thought the book started in the wrong place. The idea of a guy being in suspended animation for 100 years only to wake up to discover he’s been made some kind of legendary hero is really interesting, and I wish it had started a bit before his discovery, either focused on him to show him as a regular guy (and then we’d get to experience with him the dichotomy of what people think of him vs. what he knows himself to be) or focused on the people who found him (where we’d get to hear of him first as the legendary hero and then get to experience the surprise and amazement of the people finding him still alive). Instead, the story starts some indeterminate time after that happens, where he’s puttering around a ship being kind of depressed. It’s like the author wanted to get so quickly to the space battles that he skipped over what, to me, was a far more interesting part of the story.
This book is also quite technical, especially how it constantly reminds us about time dilation and space distances and how if something is five light-hours away that means it takes five hours to see what’s happening there. This stuff is talked about constantly, and while it’s an aspect that is different from most sci-fi space stuff I’ve seen/read, it’s not really something I care about at all, so all the talk about it bored—and eventually kind of annoyed—me.
So I guess, overall, I can see why some people like this series, those people who really dig space battles. And I can see why people who are really into that criticize Pillars and think it’s boring because there’s so much talking and relationship stuff. That’s just a matter of people having different tastes and valuing different things in stories. I definitely support any author’s desire to write in whatever genres they want to, though. That’s not what publishers today want. Publishers want authors to stick to one narrow genre because they’re afraid the author’s readers won’t follow them to a new genre. And to a certain extent that may well be true. But trying a new genre opens the opportunity to acquire new readers, and how is that a bad thing? Like the author explained in my interview with him, none of the usual publishers wanted to publish Pillars because it wasn’t space opera, so if he’d done what the publishers wanted, I wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy a series that I really, really love. So I applaud him for going outside his usual genre anyway, and I encourage other writers to do the same. (I would also mention that self/indie publishing is a totally viable avenue for those authors who find that no publisher wants to publish their new story in a new genre, so they shouldn’t be afraid that if they write something new, no one will read it. Authors need not be at the mercy of publishers to get their books out any longer.)
I listened to this one on audio, and I found the narrator to be decent. There was nothing particularly bad about his narration, but it didn’t wow me either. With a different book, he’d probably have more opportunity to wow, so I wouldn’t consider this a good book to judge him by.
I’ve already got the first book in the spin-off series in audio, so I’ll probably skip ahead in the timeline and listen to that one.
Heh. This book proved a good example of something I already knew: just because I love one story an author writes doesn’t mean I’ll love everything they write. I’m very hesitant to put any author on my “favorite authors” list for this reason. One of the only authors I can really currently call one of my favorite authors is Larry Correia, because I’ve read every book he’s released and have considered all of them (with the exception of some of his short stories/novellas) somewhere between “good” and “terrific”. Jim Butcher is tentatively on that list because of the Dresden Files, Aeronaut’s Windlass, and that one Spider-Man book he wrote, but I’m still hesitant to commit to that designation until I read his Codex Alera series. [ETA: Have tried reading Codex Alera and didn't much like it, so I guess even Butcher's not really on the list.] Georgette Heyer was, for a while, an author whose books ranged from “okay” to “amazing”, but I recently discovered a couple of her books which I disliked enough to not even get past the first chapter, so she’s solidly hit-or-miss for me.
Having recently finished reading Jack Campbell’s series The Pillars of Reality, which I really loved, I wanted to try some of his previous books. It looks like his most popular series is called The Lost Fleet, so I decided to try it out even though military sci-fi is not really one of my usual genres.
In comparing Dauntless with The Pillars of Reality, I can see the hand of the same author at work, particularly in the main character who is thrust into a position of leadership as well as finding themself to be something of a legendary figure, much to their own discomfort. Also, there’s a fair amount of time spent on pondering this state of things and worrying about doing the right thing and not believing their own publicity.
That said, this story is very different in several significant ways, and unfortunately that meant that the things that I loved about The Pillars of Reality were largely absent in this story. This story is very much a plot-focused story, rather than a character-focused story. I prefer character-focused stories. Dauntless is basically about a space fleet running away from a battle they’ve lost and trying to get home. From what I’ve seen, that’s actually what most of this series is about. In the intro to this book, the author mentions a “long retreat scenario” (I think were the words he used), which from context I’m taking is some sort of military fiction trope. Since I don’t read that genre much, I’m unfamiliar with it, though a story about a military force retreating, where that’s really the entire story, turns out to be not very interesting to me at all. It’s just a series of military maneuvers and too much detail about move this ship from here to there, now move this other ship. Sooo boooring.
There’s also a lot of inter-ship politics and political squabbling, which is another thing I have no interest in reading. One of the nice things about Pillars was that not all that many people questioned Mari’s leadership, and those that did were quickly dealt with rather than being allowed to become a series-long nuisance.
The character development in Dauntless is practically nonexistent. We do get a good sense of Geary’s challenges in dealing with his position, but we know very little of his life before the start of this story. Nor do we see any real development in the relationships between any characters. Most of the people he interacts with, he never even sees in person because they do all their communicating via holograms or other types of spacey communication. Many characters are introduced, but most get no more than a name and a very rough personality sketch.
I don’t even like the characters all that much, mostly because we don’t know them well enough to like or dislike them. While I’m inclined to like Geary in some ways, I was put off by his casual attitude toward sex when the subject came up once. Looking at a wiki to see what happens later in the series, I saw that he later has a sexual affair with a character who is not his wife (either at the time or in the future). I’m not at all trying to say that this is unrealistic, only that it is something which serves as a mark against a character to me and makes the story overall less enjoyable for me.
I thought the book started in the wrong place. The idea of a guy being in suspended animation for 100 years only to wake up to discover he’s been made some kind of legendary hero is really interesting, and I wish it had started a bit before his discovery, either focused on him to show him as a regular guy (and then we’d get to experience with him the dichotomy of what people think of him vs. what he knows himself to be) or focused on the people who found him (where we’d get to hear of him first as the legendary hero and then get to experience the surprise and amazement of the people finding him still alive). Instead, the story starts some indeterminate time after that happens, where he’s puttering around a ship being kind of depressed. It’s like the author wanted to get so quickly to the space battles that he skipped over what, to me, was a far more interesting part of the story.
This book is also quite technical, especially how it constantly reminds us about time dilation and space distances and how if something is five light-hours away that means it takes five hours to see what’s happening there. This stuff is talked about constantly, and while it’s an aspect that is different from most sci-fi space stuff I’ve seen/read, it’s not really something I care about at all, so all the talk about it bored—and eventually kind of annoyed—me.
So I guess, overall, I can see why some people like this series, those people who really dig space battles. And I can see why people who are really into that criticize Pillars and think it’s boring because there’s so much talking and relationship stuff. That’s just a matter of people having different tastes and valuing different things in stories. I definitely support any author’s desire to write in whatever genres they want to, though. That’s not what publishers today want. Publishers want authors to stick to one narrow genre because they’re afraid the author’s readers won’t follow them to a new genre. And to a certain extent that may well be true. But trying a new genre opens the opportunity to acquire new readers, and how is that a bad thing? Like the author explained in my interview with him, none of the usual publishers wanted to publish Pillars because it wasn’t space opera, so if he’d done what the publishers wanted, I wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy a series that I really, really love. So I applaud him for going outside his usual genre anyway, and I encourage other writers to do the same. (I would also mention that self/indie publishing is a totally viable avenue for those authors who find that no publisher wants to publish their new story in a new genre, so they shouldn’t be afraid that if they write something new, no one will read it. Authors need not be at the mercy of publishers to get their books out any longer.)
I listened to this one on audio, and I found the narrator to be decent. There was nothing particularly bad about his narration, but it didn’t wow me either. With a different book, he’d probably have more opportunity to wow, so I wouldn’t consider this a good book to judge him by.
I’ve already got the first book in the spin-off series in audio, so I’ll probably skip ahead in the timeline and listen to that one.
A very entertaining scifi read. Hard scifi fans will love that the space travel has to account for relativistic affects for communications and maneuvers.
Most of the action takes place in the head of the main character and in dialogue with all of the supporting staff. That makes it a very nice audiobook read; which is how I experienced this book.
Most of the action takes place in the head of the main character and in dialogue with all of the supporting staff. That makes it a very nice audiobook read; which is how I experienced this book.
Didn't like it. Very "Anglo-presenting dude saves the world, but in the future". Mil-porn.
Suspend disbelief, all ye who enter here.
Well ok, probably no more so than other modern space operas. I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more in the series.
Well ok, probably no more so than other modern space operas. I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more in the series.
Nothing too new, but enough little things to make it interesting.
I wasn't expecting to like this book very much. The last several military sci-fi or even just military fiction books have been disappointing. Maybe that makes me more open to this book, I couldn't tell you.
What I can tell you is that while the character is by default a gary stu, it isn't like most. They show were he can't keep up with the expectations of those in the current day against his reputation and he can't really process, understand or even approve of the tactics that have happened after his disappearance.
The character interaction is a higher level then expected, the tactics and just military writing shows that the author is very familiar with naval strategy and I think he brought his background in it for that pretty well.
I do recommend it, I am going to pick up the next book soon and get into it. Hopefully the first book was just the beginning.
I wasn't expecting to like this book very much. The last several military sci-fi or even just military fiction books have been disappointing. Maybe that makes me more open to this book, I couldn't tell you.
What I can tell you is that while the character is by default a gary stu, it isn't like most. They show were he can't keep up with the expectations of those in the current day against his reputation and he can't really process, understand or even approve of the tactics that have happened after his disappearance.
The character interaction is a higher level then expected, the tactics and just military writing shows that the author is very familiar with naval strategy and I think he brought his background in it for that pretty well.
I do recommend it, I am going to pick up the next book soon and get into it. Hopefully the first book was just the beginning.
Really liked this one. It covers a short timespan and leaves you wanting to know what's coming next! Lots of well-written battle action.
★★★★ = Really Good
Είναι Τετάρτη βράδυ. Μόλις έχεις γυρίσει από τη δουλειά, έχεις κάνει ένα ντους, έχεις τσιμπήσει κάτι και αποφασίζεις πως θέλεις να δεις μία ταινία. Δεν θέλεις να δεις κάτι βαρύ, έχεις αρκετά προβλήματα αυτόν τον καιρό, δεν είναι η ώρα για βαθιές φιλοσοφίες.
Επιλέγεις να δεις την τελευταία ταινία δράσης του Tugg Speedman σκεπτόμενος πως θα περάσει εύκολα η ώρα μέχρι να πας για ύπνο. Φυσικά, δεν περιμένεις πολλά από την ταινία, σίγουρα όχι οσκαρικές ερμηνίες, πιθανότατα ούτε καν ένα καλό σενάριο. Απλώς ελπίζεις πως η ταινία δεν θα είναι πατάτα. Αν είσαι τυχερός η πλοκή θα έχει κάποιο νόημα και οι σκηνές δράσης θα είναι καλογραμμένες.
Η ταινία ξεκινάει και συνειδητοποιείς πως δεν είναι κακή. Αντιθέτως, όσο περνάει η ώρα γίνεται και καλύτερη. Σεναριακά είναι πολύ προσεγμένη, δεν υπάρχει σχεδόν καθόλου down time ενώ την ίδια στιγμή οι πρωταγωνιστές, παρότι ήρωες, παραμένουν ανθρώπινοι, τόσο ανθρώπινοι μάλιστα που νιώθεις έντονα συναισθήματα για αυτούς. Κάποιους τους συμπαθείς, άλλους τους αντιπαθείς, κάποιους τους λυπάσαι και άλλους τους μίσους. Όμως όλους τους καταλαβαίνεις.
Η ταινία τελειώνει και ενώ, όπως προέβλεψες, δεν αξίζει όσκαρ, κατάφερε να σε διασκεδάσει πολύ περισσότερο από ότι περίμενες. Τόσο πολύ μάλιστα που θέλεις να βγει και sequel. Αυτό το βράδυ της Τετάρτης ήταν ένα καλό βράδυ.
Έτσι νιώθω για το Dauntless.
Είναι Τετάρτη βράδυ. Μόλις έχεις γυρίσει από τη δουλειά, έχεις κάνει ένα ντους, έχεις τσιμπήσει κάτι και αποφασίζεις πως θέλεις να δεις μία ταινία. Δεν θέλεις να δεις κάτι βαρύ, έχεις αρκετά προβλήματα αυτόν τον καιρό, δεν είναι η ώρα για βαθιές φιλοσοφίες.
Επιλέγεις να δεις την τελευταία ταινία δράσης του Tugg Speedman σκεπτόμενος πως θα περάσει εύκολα η ώρα μέχρι να πας για ύπνο. Φυσικά, δεν περιμένεις πολλά από την ταινία, σίγουρα όχι οσκαρικές ερμηνίες, πιθανότατα ούτε καν ένα καλό σενάριο. Απλώς ελπίζεις πως η ταινία δεν θα είναι πατάτα. Αν είσαι τυχερός η πλοκή θα έχει κάποιο νόημα και οι σκηνές δράσης θα είναι καλογραμμένες.
Η ταινία ξεκινάει και συνειδητοποιείς πως δεν είναι κακή. Αντιθέτως, όσο περνάει η ώρα γίνεται και καλύτερη. Σεναριακά είναι πολύ προσεγμένη, δεν υπάρχει σχεδόν καθόλου down time ενώ την ίδια στιγμή οι πρωταγωνιστές, παρότι ήρωες, παραμένουν ανθρώπινοι, τόσο ανθρώπινοι μάλιστα που νιώθεις έντονα συναισθήματα για αυτούς. Κάποιους τους συμπαθείς, άλλους τους αντιπαθείς, κάποιους τους λυπάσαι και άλλους τους μίσους. Όμως όλους τους καταλαβαίνεις.
Η ταινία τελειώνει και ενώ, όπως προέβλεψες, δεν αξίζει όσκαρ, κατάφερε να σε διασκεδάσει πολύ περισσότερο από ότι περίμενες. Τόσο πολύ μάλιστα που θέλεις να βγει και sequel. Αυτό το βράδυ της Τετάρτης ήταν ένα καλό βράδυ.
Έτσι νιώθω για το Dauntless.
If you are a fan of SF space opera, you will enjoy this novel. i had not read anything by Campbell prior to picking this up and it exceeded expectations. Good characters and great action scenes so it hit all the right spots. I will definitely be continuing with this series.
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
I really enjoyed the space battles, some of the humour and the idea of rebuilding an effective fleet out of the survivors of an ambush. Other than that, the book was nothing special, but I enjoyed it enough that I'll happily read more, particularly as it only took a couple of hours to read. A couple of the ideas driving the story seemed a bit of a stretch, and I'd love to see more characterisation, but as a quick guilty pleasure, this gave me fun battles, things blowing up and jokes involving Marines.