John G. HemryBesprekingen

"I do know you, Captain Geary. I've heard all about you. You're a Hero. I don't like Heroes, Captain. Heroes lead armies and fleets to their deaths."
Geary sat back, rubbing his eyes now. "I'm supposed to be dead," he reminded her.

John G. Henry, a retired naval officer, writes military science fiction under his own name and as Jack Campbell. Tarnished Knight is the first volume of a series spun off from The Lost Stars. Its hero, Artur Drakon, a military leader from the Syndicate Worlds, launches a rebellion in the Midway system. Campbell is a student of military history and has based at least part of the action here on Xenophon’s Anabasis about a small force fighting its way out of trouble. Stealing from the classics is always a good idea. This series is as good as most by Ringo, Weber, or Zahn.

Another fun installment in Campbell's Lost Fleet prequel series. This is book two and Glenlyon, Kosatka and the other 'free' planets in the outer colonies are still trying to go it alone, while the aggressive worlds continue to attack and try to divide and conquer. Campbell gives us zero insight into the leadership or motivations of the attacking worlds - the leaders don't have names and there is almost no communication. All we see are the good guys trying to resist violence and oppression. He has created ancestors for all of the major characters in his Lost Fleet series, so we see Geary and Desjani and Morgan, etc. These are fun, but serious, military scifi.½

Campbell goes back to the days before the Alliance or Syndicate to the founding of Glenlyon and Kostaka. As the new worlds are founded and built up, trying to be peaceful without military at all, problems immediately come up with neighbors decide that force is a better way. Ancestors of the Geary, Desjani, Nakamura and others show up in this book to resolve problems in the Campbell way. Well written and a enjoyable comfort read, I didn't want to put it down. Looking forward to the next one.½

2.5 stars
I'm going to combine the first five books of the Lost Fleet series in one review. They're light reading, you could knock out one or two a day, and there aren't really natural transition points in the story between books. There's also not a lot of variation in terms of quality or technique from book to book, so there isn't much reason not to combine them here, especially as there isn't a lot to rave about.
Lost Fleet gives us the story of Black Jack Geary, a hero lost in the past and like the once and future king returning when his society (really all of humanity) needs him most...last in a 100 year interstellar war between human factions (eventually evolving to be against an alien race). The first 6 books are all about him trying to get his fleet home and hopefully end the war between human factions, while decimating the opposition, with a little bit of investigation/mystery regarding the aliens and some politicking. There's also a LOT of introspective musing and characters-as-mouthpiece for the ethical dilemma of how to lead both the fleet and eventually the human race (democracy or benevolent dictatorship).
High points, like I said, is that they're light, fast reads. If you like like that sort of military scifi, you'll probably enjoy these well enough. For that matter, if you like submarine military fiction, you'll probably like this, as the sub combat-esque fleet maneuvering is about the only real action you're going to get here. There's limited person to person action, and even the limited political maneuvering is spread pretty thinly across the whole series.
There's a lot of showing rather than telling throughout, even after the first five books I couldn't give you any idea what ships might looks like (they're primarily described by class of vessel and name only). I'm steeped in enough scifi that my mind filled in the spaces, but its less than ideal writing. For that matter, I probably couldn't tell you with any accuracy what any main characters look like, again save for what my head filled in based on personality.
Something really jarring early on is that we don't really see Geary's rescue, awakening, and semi-reintegration into the fleet until book 3 or 4. Book 1 picks up sometime *after* he wakes up, which for the first hundred pages had me feeling as if I'd missed something.
I got the first 5 books free, in a box of other books from my aunt, and while not terrible I probably won't be setting off to pick up any more of the, at this point pretty lengthy, series.

A satisfying ending to the Black Jack Geary saga.

Great book --- I love the fact that the battles all take place at the captain's perspective. It is amazing how much suspense can be built up without being right in the line of action of the story. The concept is also very interesting. I look forward to reading more and following how Captain Geary falls into the "Black Jack" legend that was built up around him.

Fantastic end to the series. there might be more but I will say that I enjoyed the book in the fullest. Funny thing is I re-read all of the lost fleet before I restarted this series so it would be fresh in my mind and it helped immensely. I'm blown away how well this turned out.

This is a great beginning story for the entire Lost Fleet series. Very impressed and definitely worth the read

welcome back home....this series keeps getting better and better

Very quickly clear where this was going--did not finish.

The latest in the Jack Geary series of space opera and one of the best in the series. The Alliance Fleet, along with some of their allies, has been tasked to meet the Dancers in their home space, but to do so they must get past the genocidal Enigmas first. In this installment, not only does Adm. Geary have to deal with issues of the fleet, but not there is diplomacy and subterfuge to deal with - not everyone in the fleet wants them to succeed. A good mix of space action and spy thriller. As usual the focus is on Geary and the fleet, but there's more personalities involved as this series goes on. Good stuff.½

I dunno.

There's parts of me that really did not like this book. It's rigid, preachy, and Campbell uses the political and military figureheads stationed on Dauntless as devices to allow him to explain things to the reader. There is a LOT of telling, and very little showing. And the ending is incredibly abrupt. I mean, my audio book ended and I was like, "Am I missing a file or something?" kind of abrupt. The tension's lackluster and the descriptions of battle are..well. Yeah. Lackluster's the right way to describe the book.

That said, there was something that made me come back to it. I dunno, I was interested in whole process. But it really made me long for some David Weber.

It's been a long time since I've been this ambivalent about a book. Usually it's either, "Hey, this is cool, I'll keep reading it," or, "Wow, this is awful, I'm done." :/ Anyway. Yeah.

Edited to add: I started reading Fearless a week or two later, and after the first encounter and Rion following Geary to his quarters to exposit to, I just quit. I cannot stand poor character development and characters created solely to service the plot.

The Universe continues to spawn new worlds and the Admiral is still challenged to defend what is known and explore what is not. The problems do not change, i.e. "Who is in Charge and Where"? This series stays interesting and grows more complex.½

I enjoyed this book overall, also loved the set up for ideas that I hope come to fruition later in the series. Battles were easy to follow which was a big plus.

Note, I did this as a audible book. Only issue I had was distinguishing between main characters inner voice and spoken parts.

This is the second book in the series. It was very well done, perfect length in my opinion.

Tras su regreso al espacio de la Alianza, el capitán Black Jack Geary es ascendido a almirante de la flota, a pesar de que al consejo rector le aterra la posibilidad de que lleve a cabo un golpe de Estado.
El nuevo rango de Geary le otorga la autoridad necesaria para negociar con los síndicos, que han sufrido una cantidad crítica de bajas y podrían, por fin, mostrarse dispuestos a no prolongar la guerra. Con determinación, Geary encabeza el retorno de la flota al espacio síndico. Sabe que la capitulación del enemigo será una empresa ardua. Así, se lanza a la batalla, sin olvidar que los alienígenas, aún más poderosos, acechan en el otro extremo del espacio ocupado por los síndicos.

Los prisioneros de guerra de la Alianza permanecen encerrados en un campo de trabajo del sistema estelar Heradao, donde también se encuentra la mayoría de los buques de guerra síndicos que resistieron los ataques. Decidido a no abandonar a sus hombres, Black Jack Geary ordena a la flota que inicie un ataque relámpago para rescatar a los prisioneros con el menor número de bajas posible para la Alianza.
Salen victoriosos del asalto, pero Geary descubre que los síndicos planean tenderle una emboscada a sus naves con su poderosa flotilla de reserva a fin de aniquilarlas de una vez por todas. Así, mientras el capitán dirige sus efectivos de un sistema estelar a otro con la esperanza de eludir el inevitable enfrentamiento, los saboteadores contribuyen a propagar el caos.

En lo profundo del espacio de los Mundos Síndicos, la flota de la Alianza continúa su viaje a casa bajo el mando del capitán Black Jack Geary. Las victorias de Geary sobre el enemigo le han hecho ganarse tanto el respeto como la envidia de sus compañeros.
El comandante ha tomado numerosas decisiones arriesgadas, pero cuando ordena a la flota que vuelva al sistema estelar Lakota, creen que ha perdido el juicio...

A pesar de que lucha por mantenerse un paso por delante del enemigo, Geary debe hacer frente a conspiradores dentro de su propia flota. Él sabe que sus hombres deben permanecer unidos o las fuerzas síndicas harán lo posible por separarlos...

La Alianza ha estado inmersa en una guerra imposible contra los Mundos Síndicos. Ahora, el capitán John Black Jack Geary, de vuelta en la flota después de pasar un siglo en animación suspendida, debe mantenerla un paso por delante de sus despiadados enemigos…
No obstante, después de una serie de fatídicos encuentros, la flota de la Alianza se halla gravemente dañada. ¿Cuál debe ser su siguiente movimiento? Los síndicos empiezan a entender las tácticas de Geary, y según las naves de la Alianza saltan de sistema en sistema, mantener la distancia se vuelve cada vez más difícil. Además, Geary descubre que los síndicos han estado manteniendo en secreto la existencia de otra facción potencial, y ese poder desconocido podría tener los medios para aniquilar a la raza humana…

Superada por las inexpugnables fuerzas de los Mundos Síndicos, la flota de la Alianza prosigue su peligrosa retirada. Liderada por el legendario capitán John Black Jack Geary, la Alianza trata desesperadamente de volver a casa con su más preciada captura: la llave de la hipernet síndica, la llave de la victoria.
Geary está convencido de que los síndicos están planeando una emboscada contra la flota. Al caer en la cuenta de que la mejor (y única) opción de la Alianza consiste en hacer algo inesperado, Geary emprende una ofensiva y envía a la flota al sistema Sancere.
Pero, hastiados por la interminable contienda, los oficiales y la tripulación de la flota de la Alianza provocan un motín que los divide, dejando a Geary con más desventaja que nunca. ¿Acaso el capitán Geary regresó tras cien años de animación suspendida sólo para huir de los síndicos y controlar a los amotinados de su flota?

Las hazañas legendarias del capitán John Black Jack Geary son bien conocidas por todos. Reverenciado por su forma de resistir heroicamente durante los primeros días de la guerra, se pensaba que había muerto. Sin embargo, un siglo después, Geary regresa milagrosamente después de superar su periodo de hibernación, y acepta a regañadientes tomar el mando de la flota de la Alianza en un momento en el que los síndicos amenazan con aniquilarla. Aunque le abruma toda la parafernalia de héroe que hay montada a su alrededor, Geary sigue siendo un hombre comprometido con su deber. Sin embargo, para ganar esta guerra, tendrá que estar a la altura de la heroica leyenda de Black Jack.

This book parallels the Lost Fleet: Outlands sub-series of the Lost Fleet books. Midway system has broken away from the Syndicate Worlds and are trying to make it on their own. To do so, they must get past decades of fear and mistrust, eliminate the internal security service agents and build up enough space navy to prevent the Syndicate from taking over again. While Adm. Geary makes his appearance, this book is basically 100% about Gwen Iceni and Artur Drakon, the co-rulers of Midway. There is a lot more personal conflict in this book than most of Campbell's and the ending was quite the shocker, totally out of Campbell's norm. Good, light military sci-fi.½

Admiral Jack Geary and his fleet return to Alliance space after their latest adventure, to answer charges from the government - while trying not to overthrow it. They are then sent off on another mission, mostly to get Black Jack out of the way. Picking up the pieces of the mess that's left of parts of the Alliance and Syndic worlds, the fleet has to try to keep the peace while not starting another war and try to find out more about the aliens in the area. Very typical of this series, a little bit repetitive, still a fun space opera.

Trouble for the fleet arises when one member from a group of freed POWs has delusions of grandeur. His actions and those of his misguided followers threaten to weaken the ability of the entire flotilla to survive.