Vanguard by Jack CampbellMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: Earth is no longer the center of the universe.
After the invention of the faster-than-light jump drive, humanity is rapidly establishing new colonies. But the vast distances of space mean that the old order of protection and interstellar law offered by Earth has ceased to exist.
When a nearby world attacks, the new colony of Glenlyon turns to Robert Geary, a young former junior fleet officer, and Mele Darcy, a onetime enlisted Marine. With nothing but improvised weapons and a few volunteers, Geary and Darcy must face down warships and armored soldiers--or die trying.
As battles rage and pirates take an increasing toll throughout the colonies, the only hope for lasting peace lies with Carmen Ochoa, a "Red" from the anarchic world of Mars, and Lochan Nakamura, a failed politician. They have a plan: to lay the groundwork for mutual defense that could someday grow into an alliance. But if their efforts don't succeed, the growing power of aggressor worlds could turn regions of space founded on freedom into battlefields between the first interstellar empires...
Read for May book group.
Read as an audio book.
This is a prequel to the Lost Fleet Series, which I've read and reviewed most of on Goodreads. I enjoyed Lost Fleet, and for the most part I enjoyed Vanguard. The difference being I read Vanguard as an audio book. I thought the narration was engaging, but did find the multiple "accents" distracting.
Premise of the book is, colony worlds have grown disillusioned with Old Earth oversight, and as they gain independence, are starting to pull away from Old Earth governance and forage their own. This is causing strife with adjoining colony worlds, who are finding themselves being bombarded, overthrown, and in some cases, forcibly conscripted as menial labor.
Our main characters find themselves standing up for themselves and the newly established colony on Glenlyon due to complications in time and distance in seeking help from Old Earth after Glenlyon comes under attack. The plot is fairly politically driven, with Glenlyon's council running the show.
The plot moves along fairly smartly. Rob Geary, "Ninja", Darcy, Carmen, and Lochan made for an interesting group of characters, each pulling from a different skill set that (obviously) complemented the others. I wasn't wild about the romance between Rob and Ninja, and I definitely wasn't thrilled about The Big Reveal right before Rob goes into battle. If I had one complaint with our group, it would be with the self deprecation ALL our characters seemed to have.
I will probably read the next in the series, but they aren't high on the reading list right now. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the book group thought of this.
Recommended if you liked the Lost Fleet Series.
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