Courageous (The Lost Fleet, Book 3)

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Editorial Reviews:

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.

Customer Reviews: Read 49 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Space Opera At Its Best!! December 30, 2007
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

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!!

5 out of 5 stars

No longer running December 22, 2007
12 out of 17 found this review helpful

Black Jack Geary is a Hero (notice the capital). A larger than life military hero who rescued his comrades against impossible odds. And died fighting. At least, that's how the story goes until Jack is rescued from a stasis pod. And ends up in charge of a space fleet on the run (yes, there are downsides to being the oldest officer by a few centuries). Jack not only has to flee from the enemy fleet. He's also constantly on the run for the Spirit of Black Jack Geary, whispering in his ear to take control, call the shots, be the man he can be. And I'm leaving aside the aliens who're lurking backstage.

Joking aside, this is an excellent book! The first two parts of 'Lost Fleet' held a lot of promise, as does this one (managing that in itself already isn't quite bad for an author). Where the previous books were perhaps a little weak, this book excels: it brings the characters to life. Vividly. In subtle shades, with believable challenges.

The ending makes you long for the 4th installment. Suddenly this military SF turns into a road movie: Jack has traveled, resisting his evil twin Black Jack Geary. Then he's forced to look Black Jack in the face, to see him reflected in the eyes of the people around him. He braces himself, gets a grip and decides to face the future on his own terms. He turns around and... (Now we'll just have to wait for part 4)

2 out of 5 stars

Repetitive. And redundant. And it repeats itself, also. January 16, 2008
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

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.

4 out of 5 stars

In space nobody can hear your ship explode - battles galore December 18, 2007
9 out of 13 found this review helpful

Captain Geary is still lost in Syndic space with the remaining Alliance fleet having to fight his way through each system as the Syndics wise up to some of his tactics. This book has a lot of space battles and a deepening awareness by Geary of the political problems back in Alliance space. What it doesn't deliver is much in the way of resolutions. It comes across as a middle book which teases you for the next instalment. This is apparently a 4 book series so I will be interested to see how this all plays out as Geary is one of those literary characters who grow on you.

3 out of 5 stars

More of the Same. Not Cambell's best. January 4, 2008
8 out of 11 found this review helpful

Pity poor Jack Campbell.

He writes two military sci fi books in a market chocabloc full of similar books and both score consistently high ratings, which is why I bought and read the first two books in this series. The second ends on a precipice and many readers, like myself, are sitting on the edge of seats waiting to pick up the third.

Alas, the third comes and goes, and I cant help but feel my good mate jack has let me down. Just more of the same. More running, another internal Captain raises their head to spite ol' Black Jack Geary, and there's still the tantalising hint of aliens in the background pulling Humanity's strings.

I heartily recommend this "Lost Fleet" series, but as a stand alone book, this third installment is rather bland.

I guess even the more talented authors out there run out of puff from time to time. But never fear, for I shall be there for the next book.

I notice most of the "we found this review useful" ratings are for those who rated the book highly and those who gave 3 stars or lower arent rated at all.

Dudes, this is not a popularity contest.

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