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| Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jack Campbell
Publisher: Ace
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $3.24
You Save: $4.75 (59%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  104 reviews
Sales Rank: 2793
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: Reissue
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0441014186
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780441014187
ASIN: 0441014186
Publication Date: June 27, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Enjoyable, very good but not fantastic July 23, 2008
I picked up this book (and the next three in the Lost Fleet series) as I enjoy science-fiction and this was recommended to me by another fellow sci-fi aficionado.
The story is about John "Black Jack" Geary, an Alliance Fleet officer whose famous "last stand" has become the stuff of legend. He was presumed dead and lost with his ship during the aforementioned "last stand," but in fact, he escaped in a life pod which kept him in suspended animation for 100 years. Now reawakened and entrusted with the safety of the fleet, he must strive to re-teach the lessons of warfare and codes of honor that have been lost over the last century - a century which has seen continual, unremitting warfare between the Alliance, and the Syndicate Worlds.
Black Jack Geary has been exalted as a hero, but the unfortunate side-effects of this hero-worship is that he cannot simply be what he actually is - merely a man trying to do the best job he can do, with what he's been given. Many in the Fleet expect him to simply lead them to glorious victory like some Greek God of old, while Geary struggles to re-establish the lost art of war and military discipline on a Fleet which has been told that hyper-aggressiveness in battle is the only factor that matters. Geary's use of tactical manuevers is interpreted by some as a lack of fighting spirit, and he struggles all the time against those who would usurp his command authority.
I found this book to be excellent as it relates to the problems of space warfare - that ships traveling through space would have relativistic effects on them that would distort their ability to see things and react, and that fleets of space warships spread over many millions of miles of space would have difficulty communicating because radio communications, which travel at the speed of light, would take several seconds or even minutes to reach their intended recipients. The descriptions of space battles was riveting and wholly enjoyable.
Where I found this book lacking, however, is in the character development. While the main character of John Geary is of course explored in great detail, he's still somewhat one-dimensional. He is cast as the honorable, duty-bound, conscientious officer as was common in the Alliance Fleet of yesteryear, but he isn't really fleshed out as a human being. What are his vices? What makes him happy? What makes him sad? Other characters are similarly one-dimensional. Stalwart captains are always stalwart captains, and incompetent blunderers are always incompetent blunderers. How about a character who appears like an arrogant, incompetent fool in one chapter actually proves his worth in battle in the next? What kind of neat dilemmas could spring from that dynamic? Just some rambling thoughts, but I think that the lack of human depth in many of the characters holds me back from giving this five stars. Otherwise, I like this book very much, and am starting on the next book in the series, "Fearless."
Good premise, great start July 21, 2008
My first space opera. I can see where the author is starting to repeat and it is just book #1 of six. I cant wait to start the next ones.
On a scale 1 to 5, Five is Best:
Villian: 4
Plot: 4
Creativity: 4
Uniqueness: 4
Humor: 2
Bringing the sexy: 0
Passion: 5 stars (for duty & honor )
Laughs & Amusement factor: 1
Silly Whiners who get on your nerves: 2 (and growing)
Lazy Author repeating too much from prior chapters: 1
 Real sci fi at it's best July 16, 2008
I absolutely loved this book. After all the watered down sci fi that's really futuristic fantasy and hides behind magical elements, it's nice to see someone get back to basics. The author - having actually served in the navy - certainly knows his fleet logistics and makes all the interactions believable under the circumstances. Adding to the realism is the fact that he bothers to incorporate physics into the story, not claiming that there's some sort of magical way of getting instantaneous information in normal space. My only minor complaint is that while I loved Geary, I would have loved to see some more developments of other character, especially Cpt. Desjani, but there's always the next book.
 Better than average June 30, 2008
Fighting a battle in space at enormous distances creates unique problems. I like the way our hero handles the information delays caused by the speed of light. (What about time differences while traviling through sub-space?) Will he and the co-president learn to peacefully co-exist while mysterious aliens linger in the background? Should we buy the next installment to find out? I guess so.
Outstanding book in the tradition of C.S. Forester June 18, 2008
This series follows in the best tradition of C.S. Forester and his "The Good Shepherd" novel. Yes, you don't have mindless action throughout the novel but you do get in the mind of a commander and see the reasoning behind the actions and decisions. This is what makes a great novel from standard fluff.
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