The Lost Fleet: Victorious [Mass Market Paperback]

I continue to get stoked reading about Captain John "Black Jack" Geary. Black Jack, woken from a hundred-year sleep and saddled with command of a demoralized fleet, continues to be a compelling character, one of the classic reluctant heroes in sci-fi. It's only been six months since his resuscitation, but his legend has only grown... but so have the pressures and responsibilities. Six months after fleeing the enemy's home star system, six months of being relentlessly harried thru enemy territory and surviving many epic, harrowing battles in space, the crippled Alliance fleet has at last come home. But it's a quick turnaround. There's unfinished business.

Now is the time to finally end the century of war between the Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds. And so the Alliance fleet makes its way back to the Syndic's home star system for one final battle. And yet beyond the far Syndic borders lurks a frightening and unknown enemy, a hostile race of aliens who has influenced the course of history for humanity. This "enigma race," as the Syndics call them, seems intent on once again tampering with human affairs.

THE LOST FLEET: VICTORIOUS is the sixth entry in Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series, and it's more of the same. And, by that, I mean that this book, like the five before it, is thoughtful and absorbing military space opera. The space combat is dictated by the laws of physics and relativity and the writer makes it easy for the reader to grasp the tactics and envision the movements and maneuvers of the many warships involved. It's a bit funny to me that, at this stage, the enemy has picked up on and begun to mimic Black Jack's tactics. Not that Black Jack gets snookered...

The character dynamics and interactions continue to be governed by military rote and environment, and I find a welcome familiarity in this, having served in the armed forces. But for Captain Tanya Desjani and that walking anachronism, "Black Jack" Geary, both cautiously in love but restricted by stringent rules against fraternization, all they can do is warily circle each other, maintaining that professional distance.

One of the fascinating elements of this series is that the extended war has had horrific consequences, not the least of which is a deadening of ethics and a gradual erosion of traditional core values within the Alliance. Black Jack Geary has had success in restoring time-honored military codes of conduct and the concepts of honor and mercy and teamwork and fighting smart, but now he faces the internal challenge of not only integrating brash and eager new crew members to his fleet but also infighting among the politicians assigned to him and to the mission. Needless to say, the Alliance's grand council is concerned with Geary's ever growing popularity and fears a military coup.

A nice bit of trivia the author gives us, by the way, is the reasoning behind why Alliance naval ships are named after attributes (Valiant, Dauntless, Invincible, etc.) rather than, say, planets or people.

If you like Battlestar Galactica... If you like Horation Hornblower or Honor Harrington... you should take a look at The Lost Fleet. Thankfully, VICTORIOUS isn't the last book set in this universe. But even if it were, there's enormous gratification in reading this one because Jack Campbell rewards us with big resolutions to several hanging story threads. VICTORIOUS paves the way now for Campbell's two proposed follow-up series: The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, which chronicles the further exploits of Black Jack and his crew, and The Phoenix Stars series, which takes place in a Syndic star system and focuses on its inhabitants as they cope with the ongoing dissolution of the Syndicate Worlds. I'm really glad Campbell is sticking with John Geary. It's a sad day when Black Jack isn't out there, beating them long odds while chafing under all the adulation.

(I wish, though, that John G. Hemry (Jack Campbell's real name) would catch us up with what his other protagonists, Sergeant Stark and JAG Lt. Paul Sinclair, have been up to.)

And I still don't know how Black Jack got his nickname.

I've read all of the Lost Fleet books in order since the first came out a few years back, so this review encompasses all of them rather than Victorious alone. These books are capably-written, very easy to read, and to my mind they are appropriately sized for the genre (military sci-fi.) After ready each book you feel like you've just finished watching a longish, action-oriented episode of your favorite space series. Additionally, unlike many books containing space battles which you might have read, Jack Campbell spends a bit of time describing the hows and whys of each engagement. Depending on your personal tastes, this may become slightly annoying after a while, but you have to remember that this is not space opera, and we aren't reading Niven or Heinlein here. Overall I would rate the series highly by these measures.

Where I feel the series (and each book individually) suffers a bit is in the characters themselves. There are three main characters: Capt. John Geary, Capt. Desjani and Co-President Rione. Each of these characters is portrayed as the embodiment of a particular archetype, and to me that makes them feel just slightly unbelievable. Geary is the traditional hero - compassionate, willful, thoughtful and strong, with no desire for power. Desjani is the hero's anchor - utterly loyal, reliable and professional. Rione is the representation of imperfect society with which the hero must deal - distrustful, political, scheming.

There are also a bevy of supporting characters who mostly show up in fleet conferences and the occasional fireside chat with Geary, but by and large they do not contribute much to the series. They come in two distinct flavors: supporters of Geary and detractors. The supporters are portrayed as thoughtful, conscientious persons who act with logic and an eye on the future. They are thus very morally aligned with the hero. Geary's detractors, however, are almost always bloodthirsty or crazy in some way - their views are so short sighted, irrational and unrealistic that you almost feel like you are watching a poorly dubbed anime when they speak. Moments like these can pull you out of the story, and I feel like the author simply didn't want to spend enough time determining how to create good internal friction in the fleet without introducing crazy people. It's a bit ham-fisted in that regard.

Throughout the series there is little character development. True, Desjani does become a bit more rational as time goes by, and Rione a bit more trustworthy, but Geary is essentially stagnant. His heroic qualities which were firmly established in the first book do not change in any appreciable way by the last book, and the author's attempts to humanize him with the two love interests over the series generally fall flat against those qualities, if only because he could not act in any other way. The Alliance villains are always blustering and inept. The Syndic enemies are always hidebound, incompetent and evil (except in the last book where they finally get to speak with people who do not act as if they were guards at Auschwitz.) The aliens remain reasonably mysterious, but come off being much like the Syndics. By way of analogy, characters in this series are drawn in crayon, versus the more nuanced development you would get from someone like Iain M. Banks. If your enjoyment of a series depends on strong characterizations, this is probably not the series for you.

However, when I put it all together, I ask myself, "Did I enjoy reading this series?" Then answer is yes, and thus I give this series three stars. The books are quick reads, and as I said, you feel like you just watched a good episode of your favorite sci-fi series after each one. Don't pick them up expecting to be blown away by the characters, and you will be rewarded with a fun and enjoyable experience.

WOW! WOW! What a conclusion to a series!! I only hope it is not the conclusion. Way to go, Jack Campbell. I loved it, couldn't put it down. Cried on several pages. What a wonderful addition to the series.

The fleet has finally finished up with the Syndics and has to face the Ruling Council. What he has brought to the fleet, honor, respect, integrity, and conscious, need to be brought to the council. But Geary is a man of honor and stands as a sign of the best of humanity. Something lost in the hundred yrs of war. He faces each and every challenge with the strength and honor that we can only hope for. He is a strong example to his men, his woman, and his country. I love this guy!!!

In command of the fleet he sets out to end the war. Through his leadership he helps humanity to recognize itself, and get ready to face a faceless enemy, that has exploited every evil, instinct and weakness of humans. Geary brings the light to the darkness.

I don't want to ruin any of the book for you, I sat and was totally moved by this book. What a great character, one to cheer for. Yea! Yea! Go Geary!!! And kudos to Jack Campbell.

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