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A review by dotorsojak
Triumphant by Jack Campbell
3.0
2.8 stars
Again a fun read. More invasions and more space battles galore. This novel, surprisingly, appears to end the series and the overall story.
The book resembles ASCENDANT in that Rob Geary (now a captain) is in space commanding a warship and Mele Darcy (now a major) is on an orbiting station and charged with defending it against the bad guys. In this one there's a lot more "ground" fighting (they're not on the ground of course; they're on a space station) and a lot less ship-to-ship fighting, which is what I like better. Still this is an entertaining page-turner.
Some thought provoking political stuff here too. The author continues to push his argument that no one can really go out on his own and have total freedom--at least not without the danger of a Hobbesian attack from other, less scrupulous freedom seekers. (In the state of nature with no government life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Campbell doesn't quote Hobbes but this is pretty much his argument.) Therefore, according to Campbell, it is necessary for people to band together for their own protection. The book has at least one idealistic scene in which our diplomatic hero, Lochan Nakamura, gives a passionate speech (and quotes James Madison!) about the need for people/states/star systems to trust each other. Not very believable as diplomacy but nicely uplifting in a Hollywoodish sort of way.
My continuing criticism is that there are too many characters (some important ones barely sketched in at all) and too much love stuff. The love stuff would be okay if Campbell were good at it, but, alas...
Overall, I recommended this novel (and the whole 3-book series) for a quick evening or two of diversion, and especially if you like military sci-fi.
Again a fun read. More invasions and more space battles galore. This novel, surprisingly, appears to end the series and the overall story.
The book resembles ASCENDANT in that Rob Geary (now a captain) is in space commanding a warship and Mele Darcy (now a major) is on an orbiting station and charged with defending it against the bad guys. In this one there's a lot more "ground" fighting (they're not on the ground of course; they're on a space station) and a lot less ship-to-ship fighting, which is what I like better. Still this is an entertaining page-turner.
Some thought provoking political stuff here too. The author continues to push his argument that no one can really go out on his own and have total freedom--at least not without the danger of a Hobbesian attack from other, less scrupulous freedom seekers. (In the state of nature with no government life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Campbell doesn't quote Hobbes but this is pretty much his argument.) Therefore, according to Campbell, it is necessary for people to band together for their own protection. The book has at least one idealistic scene in which our diplomatic hero, Lochan Nakamura, gives a passionate speech (and quotes James Madison!) about the need for people/states/star systems to trust each other. Not very believable as diplomacy but nicely uplifting in a Hollywoodish sort of way.
My continuing criticism is that there are too many characters (some important ones barely sketched in at all) and too much love stuff. The love stuff would be okay if Campbell were good at it, but, alas...
Overall, I recommended this novel (and the whole 3-book series) for a quick evening or two of diversion, and especially if you like military sci-fi.