Dauntless by Jack Campbell (Lost Fleet #1)

Dauntless by Jack Campbell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

From Goodreads:  The Barnes & Noble Review

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless is the first book in a military science fiction saga from Jack Campbell (pseudonym for veteran genre writer John G. Hemry, author of the Stark's War trilogy, A Just Determination, et al.). With its senior command dead and many of its ships crippled and stranded deep in enemy territory, the only hope for the Alliance fleet rests in the hands of Captain John "Black Jack" Geary -- a legendary war hero who, after nearly a century in survival hibernation, has been found in an escape pod floating in deep space and reawakened The war between the Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds has been going on for a century -- and now, as entire generations have lived and died during wartime, no one even knows why the bloody conflict began in the first place. But as Black Jack Geary struggles to come to grips with his almost godlike reputation -- while trying to find a way to somehow extract his fleet from an impossible situation -- he begins to realize that there are dangers in the universe even more perilous than intergalactic war Fans of hardcore military science fiction authors like David Drake, William C. Dietz, and John Ringo should definitely check out Hemry's new series, which -- if the non-ending of The Lost Fleet: Dauntless is any indication -- has many installments to go before its eventual conclusion.


This is book one in the Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. Capt Black Jack Geary has been found after 100 years in a survival pod floating in space and is re-animated. His revival brings to life his last heroic and low legendary battle against the Syndics and now he finds himself in command of a small Alliance Fleet charged with bringing back a stolen hyperspace. He is both worshipped and loathed in his newly appointed position.

This was a nicely entertaining space opera, with a bit more expository exposition than I care to read in a shorter work. But that is purely a personal thing - others may quite enjoy the science explanations. I was also somewhat dismayed to see how many books this particular voyage is going to entail. I have developed an impatience with sequels that drag out (Robert Jordan anyone?). On the positive side, the books are nice and short which I appreciate.

I also gave thumbs up for a lack of romantic interest in the first book. Yes, the guy has been in suspended animation for 100 years, but kudos to the author for not plopping him in the nearest female’s bed ala Capt’n Kirk style in the first book.

Books two and three are on order.




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