Customer Reviews

Relentless (The Lost Fleet Series)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this series from Jack Campbell, but need to caution potential readers that they should really, really start with book 1 ("Dauntless") and definitely not try to join the series here in book 5 ("Relentless"). I found this one a bit slow for the first 280 pages, which is the great majority of the book. There is only one battle in those pages, which is nicely done but hardly the best in the series. I agree with other reviewers that, in the final 40 pages, the saga makes some satisfying progress. That said, the dialogue remains a bit stilted. This book also strikes false notes with an early reference to "post-traumatic stress" and a long speech or two about the futility of war and what a shame it is that we can't just all get along. I gave this book four stars after giving five to all the previous books -- but I still read this one in two days and am eagerly awaiting the finale.

With Geary's fleet running out of fuel and ammunition he must take his ragged fleet once more into the breach in order to make it home. On the way he must deal with conspirators that are willing to sabotage his efforts by any means necessary. Also the threats of an unknown alien force grows stronger. Only his fleet knows of the imminent threat the aliens represent, especially with the hyper gates, being used as weapons. Geary has a plan to stop the aliens from using the gates, but getting home to enact his plan will take a miracle.

For anyone picking this book up it's a great series, but you need to start with book one. Lost fleet "Dauntless" In order to get a better understanding of the characters and the sequence of events that have been building. This book ties up a lot of loose ends and will ruin a lot of sub plots created during the first couple of books.

I've got to say that this is space combat done quite well. All of the Jack Campbell, Lost Fleet novels demonstrate a very interesting scientific take on space combat. Battles take place hours away, sensors can barely detect what happened days ago until the ships edge closer. It makes the space battles believable.

Book 5 takes the lost fleet closer towards Allied space. And of course, Black Jack has to make hard decisions over the lives of his crew/fleet. Every one of the themes from the previous novels continue here. I don't know if Black Jack is quite as whiny as he was in some of the previous novels. But there is a certain amount of agonizing taking place. Does it take away from the book? Somewhat. But it's still a darn decent space battle story and enjoyable.

Mr. Hemry is back on track with his 5th installment in his 'The Lost Fleet' series. The space battles are as clever as ever and we finally get to see some light at the end of the tunnel for Capt. John Geary and his brave fleet. Political intrigue continues to mount, setting the stage for a possible follow on series after book 6, Victorious, gets published. Previous issues with certain characters and repetition of the background story also are smoothed over allowing for a fast paced novel that leaves you waiting for more.

4 out of 5 stars.

I really can't get enough of this series, and it's not because writer Jack Campbell comes up with so many original ideas. The thing that he has is a knack for clear storytelling. He spins stories set in the sci-fi genre and yet there's such a realistic grounding to them. He's very consistent at this, and folks should check out his other works under his real name John G. Hemry (the JAG in Space and Sgt. Stark series are terrific stuff!). Nowadays, as "Jack Campbell," dude is concentrating on the Lost Fleet space saga, and I'm hating that the sixth book won't be out until April, 2010.

RELENTLESS is the fifth book, and the crippled lost fleet of the Alliance has made significant headway towards getting back home. The fleet is still navigating thru enemy Syndic space, and casualties have been costly. It should've been worse, really - in fact, chances are the fleet by now should've already been annihilated - except that the legendary Captain John "Black Jack" Geary was found floating in space, frozen in a hundred years' worth of cryogenic sleep. Captain Geary was revived just in time for the fleet's leading officers to be executed by the enemy. Now the ranking officer (by a century or so), Geary was charged with bringing the fleet safely home.

I've really enjoyed all the books leading up to RELENTLESS, enjoyed Captain Geary gradually getting comfortable with his command and enjoyed seeing the effects he's had on his fellow officers and shipmates. The hundred-year interstellar war between the Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds has reduced both sides into callous entities. Over the course of a century, both sides have morally strayed, have done away with certain traditions and ideals. Atrocities are routinely committed. Captain Geary has been re-introducing military etiquette, ideals, and tactics. It's still an uphill climb for him, especially in the area of combat as a contemporary Alliance officer's plan of attack is consistently to charge straight ahead for honor and glory.

Admittedly, with the past few books, there's been this sense of running in place. Four things which kept going around in circle, it seems: The lost fleet would wander from one hostile Syndic star system to another, trying to be unpredictable but inevitably forced to engage in a space battle against overwhelming odds. This quickly becomes repetitive, but again I have a lot of fun reading about Geary demolishing enemy Syndic ships. Another thing that's ongoing is Geary's fellow officers (a few of them) continually sniping at him. Each book in the series so far has featured an officers' conference in which Geary has to navigate thru a verbal landmine. It's challenging enough having to balance his fellow officers' battle lust with sensible battle tactics. He also has to deal with antagonistic officers who constantly second-guess and undermine his every move. The romance angle was also getting old, with fierce politician Victoria Rione becoming increasingly intolerable and Captain Tanya Desjani being perhaps a bit too noble (she's one person I really wish Campbell would develop more). Lastly, Campbell keeps on teasing us about the shadowy alien species which may or may not mean humanity harm. Now all this stuff never really bugged me that much at first - they were just nits to pick - but maybe I did start getting a wee bit restless in the end.

RELENTLESS advances some of these hanging plot threads, even brings a resolution to some of them. I won't say which plot threads got served, but I will say that Geary's internal enemies have finally stopped merely trying to discredit him and have moved on to actively trying to kill him. It's not that RELENTLESS ends on a cliffhanger but events are coming to a head, and Campbell has choices now in the direction he can go. Meanwhile, Captain John Geary still struggles with being revered as a walking legend. He's human with warts and insecurities and all, and we get to see this side of him, even if most of his shipmates don't. He's a compelling guy and continues to be someone you just root for.

The writer makes the military environment relatable to everyone, but specially to those who've served in the armed forces. The space battles, constrained by relativistic speeds, are carefully worked out, and my head spins every time I try to get the details straight in my head. Thankfully, Campbell eases off a bit in this book. One thing I like is that the Syndics are finally starting to adapt to Black Jack's audacious tactics (most of which stem from that outdated thing called teamwork). But how much longer can he keep fooling them?

As a bonus, RELENTLESS opens with a flashback of Geary's last moments on the Alliance heavy cruiser Merlon and to his entering a broken survival pod which would catapult him on a hundred-year sleep in enemy space.

I read somewhere that Jack Campbell plans to continue writing the adventures of Black Jack Geary even after VICTORIOUS. He stated that he'll also be writing a separate novel (series?) featuring stories from the Syndics' perspective. This is awesome news!

There's a little bit of humor in this series, but not much. I used this one - "If I have to face death today, why does my possibly last meal have to be a Danaka Yoruk bar?" - for the review title, but that quote is actually lifted from the book before this one, THE LOST FLEET: VALIANT. It made me laugh when a (jokingly) aggrieved Geary said it.

I really enjoy this series and have purchased copies of all the books currently out for my other scifi reading friend. The books in the Lost Fleet series build nicely on one another and the relationships of the characters develop in interesting directions as we discover more about their lives. I think I'm starting to believe in Black Jack just like his more worshipful crew....poor guy! I can't wait for the next book, while at the same time I dread the end of the series.

Relentless is what books 2,3, and 4 should have been like instead of the irritating filler they were. This book was a fast paced, tightly written, and exciting story that showcased the tenacity and humanity of Captain Geary and his crews. It's good to see the storyline find some resolutions and lead into the next chapter of Geary's and the fleet's lives. I'm now very much looking forward to the next entry in this series.

John Campbell (John g. Hemry) doesn't disappoint again in the latest Lost Fleet novel as they finally near their goal of home. Down to their last supplies, ships nearly at their breaking point and Campbell throws more at them than you could expect the characters to pull off in a believable fashion, yet they do. No last minute saves, no "oh did we forget we had some super weapon in reserve", just honest tactics. However like in all the books tactics that are as true to life as they might get in some distant future. Light only travels so fast and time again we see the impact of that causing heroic "runs to the rescue" taking hours or even days as you watch the monitors showing you what happened some time ago. A refreshing change from warp drives and instant battles.
Overall the series seems to be wrapping up now and conclusions are to be found in their trip but as this book closes one part of the saga perhaps it opens new ones as they take the fight to their enemies rather than fleeing for their lives. If the books are anywhere as good as the last few I'll be getting them all quickly.

I like it. Simple as that. Read it in one day (could not save it for next day)...Any one who likes the series, i recommended it.

The latest installment in a solid space opera series. The last installment suffered from a significant degree of repetition. This book is better than the last installment with Campbell bringing the plot towards its close and introducing some new elements. Quality of writing is solid though the plot structure lacks the clever features that distinguished the first 2 books of this series.