Courageous (The Lost Fleet, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The kind of hero Hornblower fans will love!"
-WILLIAM C. DIETZ

Praise for The Lost Fleet series:

"The most believable space battles I've ever seen anywhere."
-DAVID SHERMAN

"Good fun."
-DON D'AMMASSA

"Thoughtful and exciting...loaded with edge-of-your-seat combat."
-ELIZABETH MOON

Product Description

The Lost Fleet continues its perilous journey home.

Badly damaged and low on supplies, the Alliance Fleet is raiding Syndic mines for raw materials-and Captain "Black Jack" Geary hopes they can continue to remain one step ahead of their enemies. But the Syndics are the least of Geary's worries when he learns of the existence of aliens with the power to annihilate the human race.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ace; Ace Mass-market Ed edition (December 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441015670
• ISBN-13: 978-0441015672
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,990 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 3 in The Lost Fleet Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Book 3 and 4 should've been book 3, January 30, 2008

By	Brian Long "Brian" (Ogden, UT USA) - See all my reviews

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The first and second installments of this plot line were incredible, but the latest chapter in the Lost Fleet series seemed to drag along like a dying bovine. Captain Geary is still submerged in the political warfare and logistical nightmare of being stranded behind enemy lines. And to make matters worse, the Syndicate, enemies of Black Jack Geary's Alliance, has wizened from the rag-tag group he initially encountered, and are quickly relearning the lessons of wars past.

The possibility of a third party operating behind the scenes was what had me eager for this volume, but that is addressed in only the most passing sense. The plot is essentially a rehash of the first volume, and has many if not nearly all the elements from both volume 1 and 2. While certain new threads are introduced, this entry did little more than move pieces around a board, rather than have any actual play.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Space Opera At Its Best!!, December 30, 2007

By	A. Stagg (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

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Courageous is another enjoyable addition to Jack Campbell's Space Opera series and you won't be disappointed. Jack Campbell's (John Hemry) writing style improves and solidifies with each book and his storytelling remains consistently strong. As far as the technical knowledge and military expertise wrapped into his novels, Campbell/Hemry is one of the best!

I continue to enjoy the way he mixes his expertise in military tactics with the problems and challenges of military leadership. He obviously draws from his own past experiences in the military, but adroitly adapts these "lessons-learned" to the unique universe he has created with the war between the Syndics and the Alliance.

The aspect of this current installment that has improved the most (in my opinion) is the way Campbell discusses the personal lives and relationships of his Officers. The writing style dealing with personal issues in this current novel is much more fluid and woven more tightly into the overall novel.

As always, I now look forward to the NEXT installment! Get busy and publish the next one Jack!!

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Repetitive. And redundant. And it repeats itself, also., January 16, 2008

By	DarkSock (Biloxi, MS) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed the first two books; they were enjoyable space operas with well-designed space battles that combined real-world physics with engagingly written strategy. Unfortunately this third installment shows a pattern of formula that is becoming increasingly predictable.

The only two fleet clashes have the 2-dimensional Syndics being routed yet again; what little tension there is centers around dwindling resources. And enough with Rione, who went from an interesting character to a bi-polar shrew in one book flat; enough with "Ooooh, you're becoming The Great Black Jack Geary" nagging already. The hint of the triangle between Geary, Rione and Desjani has also fizzled into a gossip-fest; is this a war fleet or a junior high school?

The writing has also suffered; the dialogue between Rione and Geary was so mechanical I had to speed-read through it just to stay awake. And the revalation of Desjani wanting to be a book publisher and the slam on literary agents was a nerdy and downright embarrassing "inside joke" that detracted badly from the story.

Even the cover art went down a notch; did the artist even look at the previous covers? Geary went from looking like Lou Diamond Phillips to a crudely drawn Captain Reynolds from Firefly; what's up with that? (We all know Black Jack Geary looks like Hugh Jackman anyway. Or is it just me?).

The first two books are good enough to entice me into giving Book 4 a chance, and the "cliffhanger" ending of Book 3 gives some promise of this series getting back into gear, but one more "filler" book like #3 and I'm done.

Get it in gear, Black Jack Campbell! You owe me $5.