Scan barcode
ergative's review against another edition
3.0
A solid space opera romp. There was nothing subtle about it; the character arcs and relationship were fairly predictable. Geary's prepetual rejection of his mythic status as Black Jack Geary is a bit hard to take given that he faces nothing but success after success in his encounters, and I find it incredibly hard to believe that the forgotten military tactics learned during peacetime training are so much better than the tactics employed by fleets that have been at war for a century. I simply cannot swallow the idea that millions of people have become so brainwashed by the 'aggression against the enemy!' mindset that they ignore tactics that win battles, and instead adopt individutalistic 'charge right at 'em!'. And on both sides? We're given to believe that the Alliance adopts that strategy because they misapply what they see as the fighting spirit of Black Jack Geary. But then why are the Syndicate fleets doing the same thing? It seems far more likely to me that the first fleets to take the individualistic Black Jack Geary approach to the Syndics would be utterly spanked by the traditional, better tactics, and quickly learn, 'oh, yeah, maybe I'd better keep doing what I learned in battle school.' And even if there is a path for both sides to adopt the misunderstood approach attributed to a dead commander who's only a hero to half of them, in a century no fleet commander thought, 'huh, I wonder what happens if I try something this instead of that'? There have been no advances in tactics?
I get that the final battle has to show how Geary can offer something novel to help the Alliance fleet win. But there's an enormously better route to do that. We learn a lot about how the advances in technology have changed travel since Geary's time, because people use hypergates now instead of system jumps. And the reason we've got a whole series of books is that Geary is taking the MacGuffin back to Alliance space through the slower jump gates because it's not safe to use the hyperspace gates, and he's encountering a lot of worlds and systems that have been mothballed or deserted because of the changes in how people travel through space. So why can't we just have a contrast between hypergate-based battle tactics (modern) which don't apply given the fleet's decision to take jump gates home, and Geary's traditional methods, which were built around jump gates, and so are uniquely suited to the battle situation that is now unfamiliar to the Syndics? In other words, allow the Alliance to be smart and capable, but simply untrained for the specific situatoin that Geary has the expertise to excel in rather than forcing them to have turned stupid in 100 years through an unbelievable development. That would also support Geary's self-doubt, because he would know that he's not 'better' than them (as he is in the book as written), simply trained for a situation that happens to match what they find themselves in.
Anyway: As you can tell from teh above musings, I was engaged and entertained by this book, and I have every intention of listening to the rest of the series. There's nothing too demanding, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the hints of ALIENS!! are going to play out.
I get that the final battle has to show how Geary can offer something novel to help the Alliance fleet win. But there's an enormously better route to do that. We learn a lot about how the advances in technology have changed travel since Geary's time, because people use hypergates now instead of system jumps. And the reason we've got a whole series of books is that Geary is taking the MacGuffin back to Alliance space through the slower jump gates because it's not safe to use the hyperspace gates, and he's encountering a lot of worlds and systems that have been mothballed or deserted because of the changes in how people travel through space. So why can't we just have a contrast between hypergate-based battle tactics (modern) which don't apply given the fleet's decision to take jump gates home, and Geary's traditional methods, which were built around jump gates, and so are uniquely suited to the battle situation that is now unfamiliar to the Syndics? In other words, allow the Alliance to be smart and capable, but simply untrained for the specific situatoin that Geary has the expertise to excel in rather than forcing them to have turned stupid in 100 years through an unbelievable development. That would also support Geary's self-doubt, because he would know that he's not 'better' than them (as he is in the book as written), simply trained for a situation that happens to match what they find themselves in.
Anyway: As you can tell from teh above musings, I was engaged and entertained by this book, and I have every intention of listening to the rest of the series. There's nothing too demanding, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the hints of ALIENS!! are going to play out.
miwn's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
spellvexit7's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
dmcke013's review against another edition
4.0
While I doubt this novel is going to win any awards for literature, I have to say that it is a good enough read: not brilliant, but not terrible either.
Written by a ex-navy man, it's easy to see the influnece of his career in the pages: this is 'real' science-fiction, not science-fantasy, with the space battles obeying the laws of physics as we know them. The plot outline is also somewhat remniscient of the new series of BattleStar Galactica, with a smaller rag-tag force being chased by a numerically superior foe. Ironically, this book was first released at around the same time as that series came on TV, with (in this edition) the author claiming that that WAS NOT an inspiration (in the interview at the end), as if he'd been thinking of BSG it woud've been the older series.
With the way the book opens I must also admit that, at first, I thought I'd missed something: the best corollary I can think of is as if the film Aliens (that's the one with the 'S') had started without the whole prologue of them finding Ripleys life pod: you'd be able to infer what had happened, but would be feeling a bit lost at first.
Written by a ex-navy man, it's easy to see the influnece of his career in the pages: this is 'real' science-fiction, not science-fantasy, with the space battles obeying the laws of physics as we know them. The plot outline is also somewhat remniscient of the new series of BattleStar Galactica, with a smaller rag-tag force being chased by a numerically superior foe. Ironically, this book was first released at around the same time as that series came on TV, with (in this edition) the author claiming that that WAS NOT an inspiration (in the interview at the end), as if he'd been thinking of BSG it woud've been the older series.
With the way the book opens I must also admit that, at first, I thought I'd missed something: the best corollary I can think of is as if the film Aliens (that's the one with the 'S') had started without the whole prologue of them finding Ripleys life pod: you'd be able to infer what had happened, but would be feeling a bit lost at first.
bergsteiger's review against another edition
3.0
This started out as a two star book for me. It was very heavy handed in explaining military etiquette and "good" military standards. It read almost like a junior officer manual on how to be a good leader. As the book developed, some of this obnoxious military "how-to" softened (felt like I was in some god-awful training class again in the Army) and the main character started to become more believable/likeable. He also started to evolve in his own thinking, adapting to the situation he was in and the people he was leading, which made the story flow much better.
While there were certainly some big questions (faster than light travel, but only light speed detection equipment or using ball bearings (grape shot) as weapons when ships are hurtling through space at 29,979,245 meters per second), I did appreciate the technological explanations and description of fleet maneuvers. With sensors limited to the speed of light, commanders were often making guesses on what the enemy was doing anywhere from minutes to hours behind. This was a nice touch.
The book was entertaining. If I stumble across the next book of the series in a used bookstore then I probably will pick it up. Am I going to go out of my way to read the next one? No. This isn't military sci-fi at its greatest, but it's not the worst I've read. 2.75 stars rounded up.
While there were certainly some big questions (faster than light travel, but only light speed detection equipment or using ball bearings (grape shot) as weapons when ships are hurtling through space at 29,979,245 meters per second), I did appreciate the technological explanations and description of fleet maneuvers. With sensors limited to the speed of light, commanders were often making guesses on what the enemy was doing anywhere from minutes to hours behind. This was a nice touch.
The book was entertaining. If I stumble across the next book of the series in a used bookstore then I probably will pick it up. Am I going to go out of my way to read the next one? No. This isn't military sci-fi at its greatest, but it's not the worst I've read. 2.75 stars rounded up.
mhockenson's review against another edition
4.0
Dauntless by Jack Cambell aka John G. Hemry, a decent intro to a Military Space Opera series. Fleet maneuvers, Military command issues, space marines and fun space battles. Would expect nothing less from a graduate of the Naval Academy. Looking forward to continuing on with the series.
bmacaskill's review against another edition
4.0
Entertaining. Certainly worth reading the next in the series.
tishtashohmygosh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
kaidoi93's review against another edition
5.0
First 5 star read of the year! This one sparked joy! Classic sci fi! Highly recommend.
tomasthanes's review against another edition
4.0
Very good space science fiction. Very realistic handling of military ships in space; very "naval" (in the best meaning of the word): mass and momentum, combat in space, visible sensors and the time it takes for light to get from one place to another. Realistic handling of leadership in a large space fleet.