A review by hlau
Dauntless by Jack Campbell

5.0

Military science fiction can be hard and cold. You can be detached from it about as quickly as Star Wars fans decided they didn't like Jar-Jar Binks. But Campbell writes a fast-paced novel that forces you to use your head. The subtle psychology of leadership in the book is a good detour and a continuing theme that continues to impress me as much as Orson Scott Card's work in the Ender series. There isn't endless talk of weapons, ships schematics or technology (sorry to the Star Trek and John Clancy fans out there). But you will have to wrap your head around battles in space...not that easy.

You're not going to get into endless discussions on humanity and rigorous speeches (ok, there's one). The characters aren't one dimensional and you might actually laugh out loud or root for them at some point. But the true test of whether it's good is whether I want to read another one.

With fifty pages left to go on this first installment, Book 2 was sitting on my desk.