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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A good sci-fi space battle romp - loved the narration
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Could see some of the plot points from a mile away - but I still like the initial premise. Reminded me of BSG some as well.
adventurous
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a fun, quick read. Felt a little short though, the fact that it ended really caught me off guard as there was much more to be done. Obviously this story continues in the rest of the series, but could have done more in this one I felt.
This book hit the spot for me. It's not amazing literature, but it had just the right length and "feel" for me. It was entertaining and didn't require much mental power. The perfect palate cleanser (which I desperately needed at the time).
Some spoiler-filled extra thoughts:
• I hope we find aliens! Near the end of the book, there's quite a few "foreshadowings" of the possibility of a non-human race coming into the picture... I REALLY HOPE THIS HAPPENS.
• People apparently got really stupid in the 100 years since Geary's time. It is amazing to me that the Alliance could have lost some of the more complex strategies for space battle... but then again, so much technology was lost over the course of our real human history. I suppose I can't be too surprised that in a century of war, that knowledge might have been lost along with the admirals and captains who pioneered it.
• OMFG Captain Numos needs to just shut the fuck up. What a whiny bastard who is completely incapable of following instructions. I hope he manages to redeem himself somewhat in next books. Surely he can't remain that antagonistic throughout the entire series... right?
• I don't know exactly why, but I could relate quite a bit to Geary as a character.
• The fleet's predicament reminds me a bit of a combo of Battlestar Galatica (2004) and Star Trek: Voyager. Stranded far from home... hounded by enemies... military and civilians (though not quite as much as BSG-- we just have the one civilian official so far).
• Geary as a living legend (Black Jack Geary!) is both funny and horrifying. The hero worship is just cringe-worthy. I imagine few people would actually enjoy that kind of behavior directed towards them. Especially if who they are has been so distorted through time to suit the interests of the fleet.
Looking forward to reading the rest of this series. I suspect it will continue to be perfect vacation reading.
Some spoiler-filled extra thoughts:
Spoiler
• I hope we find aliens! Near the end of the book, there's quite a few "foreshadowings" of the possibility of a non-human race coming into the picture... I REALLY HOPE THIS HAPPENS.
• People apparently got really stupid in the 100 years since Geary's time. It is amazing to me that the Alliance could have lost some of the more complex strategies for space battle... but then again, so much technology was lost over the course of our real human history. I suppose I can't be too surprised that in a century of war, that knowledge might have been lost along with the admirals and captains who pioneered it.
• OMFG Captain Numos needs to just shut the fuck up. What a whiny bastard who is completely incapable of following instructions. I hope he manages to redeem himself somewhat in next books. Surely he can't remain that antagonistic throughout the entire series... right?
• I don't know exactly why, but I could relate quite a bit to Geary as a character.
• The fleet's predicament reminds me a bit of a combo of Battlestar Galatica (2004) and Star Trek: Voyager. Stranded far from home... hounded by enemies... military and civilians (though not quite as much as BSG-- we just have the one civilian official so far).
• Geary as a living legend (Black Jack Geary!) is both funny and horrifying. The hero worship is just cringe-worthy. I imagine few people would actually enjoy that kind of behavior directed towards them. Especially if who they are has been so distorted through time to suit the interests of the fleet.
Looking forward to reading the rest of this series. I suspect it will continue to be perfect vacation reading.
Here’s a military SF series that we’re just catching up with in the UK. As I’m sure some are aware, the US is up to Book 6 (Victorious.) and Book 7 (Dreadnaught) due any time soon. So well done to Titan Books for these releases: the first three books are out now, with the rest due for publication soon.
As you might expect then, this first book sets up events for the rest of the series. The tale begins with the ongoing war (for the last one hundred years or so) between The Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds (Syndic). The Alliance are losing and so are meeting their enemy in a peace negotiation to hopefully bring the war to a close.
We see things from the start from the viewpoint of Alliance Captain John ‘Black Jack’ Geary, a recently re-discovered war hero. Following a major space battle one hundred years ago, Geary was left frozen after helping the rest of the Fleet to escape. As the tale starts, Geary is emotionally unstable and feeling a bit of a fraud, yet one who is clearly revered as a hero by the Alliance crews.
Unfortunately, the peace negotiations are nothing more than an attempt to destroy the Alliance’s fragile state by killing all of their Fleet leaders. Geary reluctantly finds that he has to take charge of the fleet as the highest ranking remaining officer. He also is the only person with access to the novel’s major macguffin: the Syndic’s Hypernet key, retrieved by the Alliance and the object that allows the Syndic (and now therefore the Alliance) to travel through FTL gates around the galaxy.
What Geary finds is that during the time of his enforced hibernation the Fleet have forgotten most of the old ways of battle, and that he must train them again in order to survive against the Alliance. This puts him at loggerheads with some of the other remaining Fleet officers.
Working independently in different factions Geary realises that in order to survive he must unify the Fleet and run from the Syndic until they get back to their homeworld.
So what we have here is good old traditional mil-space SF, with ships and fleets sailing and battling between worlds, like the old sea vessels of Earth. We have a military power structure based on Navy protocols and no doubt a universe that runs like the Star Trek Federation, albeit split between the two opposing ideologies of Capitalism and Communism through The Alliance and the Syndic.
Nothing too original there, then. What makes this a little different is that we have here an old-timer who finds that he has to break the rules, the status-quo, in order to ensure continued survival. The war depicted here has become formularised and stale, conforming to outdated and outmoded rules of combat that need something new to change it. The irony here is that it is the older rules, now seemingly forgotten, that come to their aid. It is, in the end, not the battles that are important here, but the people who lead them.
The strengths of the book are that there is a military feel to them. It is also a book that tries to show how battle would be when dealing with near-FTL speeds – often it is predicting where things will be, the ‘real’ version not being seen for seconds or minutes later. On the scale we look at here battles are lost and won before people actually see the results with their own eyes. This is all done cleverly and logically, giving a realistic feel to otherwise difficult to visualise events.
On the downside, Geary at first comes across as too much of a martyr, with guilt the size of a planet that makes David Feintuch’s Captain Seafort, not usually known for his optimism, a positive ray of sunshine by comparison. ‘I am not worthy’ seems to be almost tattooed on Geary’s forehead. This rather repetitive self-doubt did make the book a bit of a slog for me at first. I am pleased to say that this got a little less wearing as the book continued.
Secondly, the other characterisations, at first, are rather simple, yet functional. Alongside Geary we have increasingly trusty side-kick, and Captain of the Dauntless, Tanya Desjani, who stands by him as he grapples with coming to terms with a world one hundred years older than he expects.
We also have, by the mid-point through the novel, the arrival of Co-President Victoria Rione of the Callas Republic, who competes with Geary’s self-doubt to become the seemingly ever-nagging Conscience of the novel. Bit wearing this, but understandable. Geary not only has to deal with his own issues but also the politics of a seemingly uncomfortable Alliance between the military and the people.
Most of the characters do their duty, yet rarely more than that. I suspect more will develop as the series progresses. There’s also some nice little glimpses of areas of tension in Geary’s future world. For example, a nice little banter developed between Rione and Desjani, when the differences of opinion on AI spaceships show how apart these two groups are. Keeping it simple, the military think it’s possible, the Republic does not, creating an interesting stress between the two that Geary stands in the middle of.
As this book advances, we start to see more of what Geary was perhaps like in the past: committed, determined, able to make decisions. Things become a little more relaxed as the book progresses, and a hint of possible romance that will, no doubt, be played out in future tales.
Similarly, as the series continues, I hope that some of the rather contrived plot points will smooth out: what Fleet in its right mind, other than those in Battlestar Galactica, would allow all their key leaders to be shepherded into one place at one time? Or indeed entrust a battle-scarred veteran with the secret advantage to the Fleet, and no one else?
By the end of the book I don’t think I’m giving away much when I say that the superior manoeuvring of Geary and the Fleet lead to a rather expected ending. They survive, admittedly at a cost, yet live to fight another day, whilst also working their way back to their home worlds.
There’s some nice little touches with this edition at the end: an interview with the author, his ten favourite SF books (annoyingly referred to as ‘sci-fi’) and an extract from the next in the series. (It also explains that the similarities between this series and Battlestar Galactica is coincidental.)
In conclusion, there are some books that don’t really stand up to much analysis. They are there to entertain, without too much thought or depth. The reader knows this and is usually happy to accept the weaker areas for the sake of fast action and plot resolution. This is unabashedly one of those novels.
However, if you can accept this, this is also solid military SF, in the mould of David Weber’s Honor series or the aforementioned David Feintuch’s Seafort Saga series. After a bit of a wobbly premise, the energy of the narrative and the broad sweep of the battles keep the reader engaged. It’s not (yet) Honor Harrington; yet I can see that the series has potential.
As you might expect then, this first book sets up events for the rest of the series. The tale begins with the ongoing war (for the last one hundred years or so) between The Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds (Syndic). The Alliance are losing and so are meeting their enemy in a peace negotiation to hopefully bring the war to a close.
We see things from the start from the viewpoint of Alliance Captain John ‘Black Jack’ Geary, a recently re-discovered war hero. Following a major space battle one hundred years ago, Geary was left frozen after helping the rest of the Fleet to escape. As the tale starts, Geary is emotionally unstable and feeling a bit of a fraud, yet one who is clearly revered as a hero by the Alliance crews.
Unfortunately, the peace negotiations are nothing more than an attempt to destroy the Alliance’s fragile state by killing all of their Fleet leaders. Geary reluctantly finds that he has to take charge of the fleet as the highest ranking remaining officer. He also is the only person with access to the novel’s major macguffin: the Syndic’s Hypernet key, retrieved by the Alliance and the object that allows the Syndic (and now therefore the Alliance) to travel through FTL gates around the galaxy.
What Geary finds is that during the time of his enforced hibernation the Fleet have forgotten most of the old ways of battle, and that he must train them again in order to survive against the Alliance. This puts him at loggerheads with some of the other remaining Fleet officers.
Working independently in different factions Geary realises that in order to survive he must unify the Fleet and run from the Syndic until they get back to their homeworld.
So what we have here is good old traditional mil-space SF, with ships and fleets sailing and battling between worlds, like the old sea vessels of Earth. We have a military power structure based on Navy protocols and no doubt a universe that runs like the Star Trek Federation, albeit split between the two opposing ideologies of Capitalism and Communism through The Alliance and the Syndic.
Nothing too original there, then. What makes this a little different is that we have here an old-timer who finds that he has to break the rules, the status-quo, in order to ensure continued survival. The war depicted here has become formularised and stale, conforming to outdated and outmoded rules of combat that need something new to change it. The irony here is that it is the older rules, now seemingly forgotten, that come to their aid. It is, in the end, not the battles that are important here, but the people who lead them.
The strengths of the book are that there is a military feel to them. It is also a book that tries to show how battle would be when dealing with near-FTL speeds – often it is predicting where things will be, the ‘real’ version not being seen for seconds or minutes later. On the scale we look at here battles are lost and won before people actually see the results with their own eyes. This is all done cleverly and logically, giving a realistic feel to otherwise difficult to visualise events.
On the downside, Geary at first comes across as too much of a martyr, with guilt the size of a planet that makes David Feintuch’s Captain Seafort, not usually known for his optimism, a positive ray of sunshine by comparison. ‘I am not worthy’ seems to be almost tattooed on Geary’s forehead. This rather repetitive self-doubt did make the book a bit of a slog for me at first. I am pleased to say that this got a little less wearing as the book continued.
Secondly, the other characterisations, at first, are rather simple, yet functional. Alongside Geary we have increasingly trusty side-kick, and Captain of the Dauntless, Tanya Desjani, who stands by him as he grapples with coming to terms with a world one hundred years older than he expects.
We also have, by the mid-point through the novel, the arrival of Co-President Victoria Rione of the Callas Republic, who competes with Geary’s self-doubt to become the seemingly ever-nagging Conscience of the novel. Bit wearing this, but understandable. Geary not only has to deal with his own issues but also the politics of a seemingly uncomfortable Alliance between the military and the people.
Most of the characters do their duty, yet rarely more than that. I suspect more will develop as the series progresses. There’s also some nice little glimpses of areas of tension in Geary’s future world. For example, a nice little banter developed between Rione and Desjani, when the differences of opinion on AI spaceships show how apart these two groups are. Keeping it simple, the military think it’s possible, the Republic does not, creating an interesting stress between the two that Geary stands in the middle of.
As this book advances, we start to see more of what Geary was perhaps like in the past: committed, determined, able to make decisions. Things become a little more relaxed as the book progresses, and a hint of possible romance that will, no doubt, be played out in future tales.
Similarly, as the series continues, I hope that some of the rather contrived plot points will smooth out: what Fleet in its right mind, other than those in Battlestar Galactica, would allow all their key leaders to be shepherded into one place at one time? Or indeed entrust a battle-scarred veteran with the secret advantage to the Fleet, and no one else?
By the end of the book I don’t think I’m giving away much when I say that the superior manoeuvring of Geary and the Fleet lead to a rather expected ending. They survive, admittedly at a cost, yet live to fight another day, whilst also working their way back to their home worlds.
There’s some nice little touches with this edition at the end: an interview with the author, his ten favourite SF books (annoyingly referred to as ‘sci-fi’) and an extract from the next in the series. (It also explains that the similarities between this series and Battlestar Galactica is coincidental.)
In conclusion, there are some books that don’t really stand up to much analysis. They are there to entertain, without too much thought or depth. The reader knows this and is usually happy to accept the weaker areas for the sake of fast action and plot resolution. This is unabashedly one of those novels.
However, if you can accept this, this is also solid military SF, in the mould of David Weber’s Honor series or the aforementioned David Feintuch’s Seafort Saga series. After a bit of a wobbly premise, the energy of the narrative and the broad sweep of the battles keep the reader engaged. It’s not (yet) Honor Harrington; yet I can see that the series has potential.
This book rapidly became one that I kept having to pick up and keep reading, it's not that long but it's very absorbing. Sci fi fleet action with inter-command politics and realistic (to read) space battle tactis. Excellent characterisation and believable universe with a good strong flawed central character. Well worth a read, I've already moved onto the next book!
Reading this book could never have been more apropos at this time in my life. I just recently purchased a new computer game called Sins of a Solar Empire. Although this book has no connection with that game, it is exactly how I picture the game.
If you like strategy and tactics, then this book is for you. There are two major battles full of what not to do and a perfect illustration of what a force can do when working together.
However, the interesting part comes to play in the course of military politics. This book is full of that as well. The protagonist, John Geary, is literally pushed to the center stage as a commander of a ragtag outfit of a misguided starship force. Some look at Geary as a god and others, well, not so much.
Geary has got to lead this fleet back home as well as deal with insubordinate commanders, loyal commanders, and keeping small allies happy.
Although not the best sci-fi I've ever read, it does work. There might be a little to much introspection from Geary in parts, but it thoroughly develops his character as a reluctant leader. However, when pushed up against a wall...
There's also a surprise in the latter quarter of the book that may set the stage for what is behind the 100 year war and what may really be going on in the known universe.
I don't know if I'll be reading the other two novels. I may at some point, but I need to take a break from all the pages of tactics.
As an aside: this book struck me for how good it was and for not needing to resort to language, sex, gratuitous violence, or some other type of agenda. It's just clean, pure space opera fun.
If you like strategy and tactics, then this book is for you. There are two major battles full of what not to do and a perfect illustration of what a force can do when working together.
However, the interesting part comes to play in the course of military politics. This book is full of that as well. The protagonist, John Geary, is literally pushed to the center stage as a commander of a ragtag outfit of a misguided starship force. Some look at Geary as a god and others, well, not so much.
Geary has got to lead this fleet back home as well as deal with insubordinate commanders, loyal commanders, and keeping small allies happy.
Although not the best sci-fi I've ever read, it does work. There might be a little to much introspection from Geary in parts, but it thoroughly develops his character as a reluctant leader. However, when pushed up against a wall...
There's also a surprise in the latter quarter of the book that may set the stage for what is behind the 100 year war and what may really be going on in the known universe.
I don't know if I'll be reading the other two novels. I may at some point, but I need to take a break from all the pages of tactics.
As an aside: this book struck me for how good it was and for not needing to resort to language, sex, gratuitous violence, or some other type of agenda. It's just clean, pure space opera fun.