Customer Reviews

Victorious (The Lost Fleet, Book 6 of 6)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

I'm really sorry to see this series end. It has been an enjoyable ride since the very first book. I've loved to watch all the myriad ways that Black Jack Geary has pulled the Alliance fleet's hind end out of the fire time and again. The series has been realistic in that not everyone lives but it hasn't been so maudlin and depressing with everyone dieing so that you couldn't enjoy it either.

This book started a little slow but once they left Alliance space and headed out things picked right up. Good space battles and convoluted political thinking, and plenty of mental acrobatics that we've come to expect from Jack Geary. Several enjoyable speeches by Black Jack and a satisfying ending.

This isn't a series that you can read out of order and you definitely shouldn't read this one first. It's a great story arc. Do yourself a favor and start at the beginning.

Thank you, reviewers, for helping me find DAUNTLESS (book 1)! It was engaging, because it introduced a defrosted man who is called to duty again after an enemy ambush. It ended with the hero and fleet left fighting behind enemy lines. Book 2, FEARLESS, saw him using imaginative tactics to claw just a little closer to home, and so on. All your sympathy went with Capt. Geary, who had not requested these heavy responsibilities.
Everyone else, please read the books in order, because Campbell does not spend time explaining- and there is plenty of character and equipment examination in each. This must be the only series that describe fleet-vs-fleet clashes beginning with planning scenarios through battles and including the losses of unlucky ships and their crews. We come to appreciate how the two sides are technically well matched, but leadership will make the difference.
Now, those of you who barreled into Varandal system with the once-Lost Fleet... You might hope that Geary and Co. go back to finish off the enemy... They will, but first he must win over the quarrelsome Council. For that, he gets help from Co-president Rione, an old love. A lot of previously discovered information is reviewed, and they send his replenished fleet out. The usual traps await him before he corners the remaining enemy. Then the mysterious enemy challenges Geary- how will he cope with them? Still, Capt. Desjani is tantalizingly out of reach.
It is smoothly written, fast paced, reminiscent of World War II Pacific battles.
Note to publisher: the covers are UNREAL! The character is posed like a space marine; a real sailor might be posed beside a warship, his post in the ship, or over a wrecked enemy ship. I can tell you that if I saw the book in a store, I would not pick it up to look inside.

This novel is the sixth in a six-book series of military SciFi by Jack Campbell. If you've already read the first five parts, then you're going to end up picking up this one as well, so you might as well stop reading this review, order it, and start reading the conclusion because you're going to have to see how the story ends. If you haven't started the series yet, then go back and search for 'Dauntless' and start reading at the beginning. You'll quickly be hooked.

As far as volume six itself, it continues the story and the tradition of the other volumes. The first half of it I found a bit slow-paced with the action ramping up near the middle and continuing throughout the latter half. It's a good enjoyable read that you'll have trouble putting down. I completed it in two sessions only because I was just too darn tired the first night to read it straight through.

Although it would be difficult to fill the shoes of this series, I'm hoping Campbell does continue another series in the same universe. The technology and the military action makes for a good read, and although this volume largely resolves the storyline he's left just enough working room to spawn it off into another series if he wanted to go that direction.

The only drawback was the lack of a kindle version at this time. Other readers have dinged the rating due to that. I won't because I don't feel like it was the author's fault. I read volumes 1-5 on the kindle and it was quite disappointing that volume 6 was restricted so that United States residents were prevented from downloading it (both on amazon and on mobipocket). Unfortunately, I had to resort to one of amazon's competitors and download it in their competing ebook format and go through a bunch of needless steps to shoehorn the thing onto my kindle. It would have been much preferred if amazon and penguin would sort out whatever differences they have and get this flowing to the kindle again. I'm going to avoid pengiun SciFi books until it's straightened out. It's unfair to the reader to make volumes 1-5 available and then restrict volume 6.

Each book in the series has been better than the last! The current book, the last in this series, hits the right balance of character development, attention to detail, and classic space opera adventure.

As usual, Campbell (Hemry) concentrates on issues of honor and proper military conduct. He does not disappoint. There is plenty of action and he provides the reader with plenty of discussion of combat tactics among spacefaring fleets. The interactions between the various characters are well-done. Highly recommended!!

I've seen discussions about the lack of a Kindle edition. I too find it annoying, but does not impact my review of the book. I downloaded the B&N reader for my iPhone and downloaded the book from them. Worked great. Its a competitive business and there are alternatives!

Victorious closes out the initial plot arc of the Lost Fleet. John Geary, finally having returned to ALliance space, is promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, and sent back into Syndic space, to force a peace treaty by attacking the Syndic homeworld. And the alien race, having sat so quietly in the background, finally begins to move.

The plot follows the tpyical course of naval battles, and even the main character remarks several times on how clautrophobic his world had been for the past 5 books. This is at little too drawn out, but the political maneuvering and doubletalk are almost as intrinsic to the book as the military aspect.

The only problem is the military aspect is way overblown. The characters cling to honor in a way that the samurai order who've thought it too astringent. This makes some of the interactions between the two main lovebird characters borderline ridiculous, like a knight and lady of old forced to love at a distance, which of course never sunk to impropriety. And while I managed to follow the fleet maneuvers fairly well, I'm an aerospace engineer, with a brain for 3-d geometry and a fairly good grasp of how stuff behaves in space. Anyone without understanding of either geometry or able to visualize shapes will still find a large portion of the action to be so much gobbledygook.

Overall, the book manages to end well, with a sweet closeout and the potential of further plot without leaving groaning cliffhangers.

Continuing on Book 5, Black Jack has reached alliance space and now deals directly with the civilan leadership and then moves on back to Syndic space and eventually the aliens....

I was shocked that the book actually finished and tied up several plot lines and did not leave us hanging as some authors/publishers tend to do to the fan base. Overall delightful read and with rumors that the author plans another series... I can't wait.

Many books covering this much ground tend to drag out. The first 5 books in this series were fantastic but covered relatively brief periods of time. This book covers a lot of ground very quickly and does so by dispensing with any filler. It's a satisfying conclusion to the series and one of the best SCI-FI series out there. On par with David Weber's Honor Harrington novels and in some ways better. The author has avoided the trap of stretching out a lucrative series once he's got the reader hooked (aka Robert Jordan) and ended up with something of a masterpiece of modern military sci-fi. One thing Ive always wondered, the covers have nothing to do with the book but they all share a theme...were they made for a different book? I would say that this series places John G. Hemry (the authors real name) firmly in the ranks of the top 10 sci-fi writers out there today, if not the top 5.