The Lost Fleet - Dauntless Jack Campbell Ace ISBN: 0-441-01418-6 Fiction, Military Science Fiction Reviewed by Chris Gerrib

The war has been going on for a century, and is a bloody stalemate.  In an attempt to break the deadlock, the Alliance launches an attack deep into Syndic territory.  It is a disaster, and it looks like all is lost.  The only hope is Captain “Black Jack” Geary, a man thought dead a century ago.

This is the basic plot setup of John G. Hemry’s (writing as Jack Campbell) book The Lost Fleet: Dauntless, book one of a two-book series of military SF action.  Geary faces a number of problems, not the least of which is that he is worshipped as a hero, but knows all too well that he is just a man.  His other big problem is that, in the century of fighting, tactics and strategy have regressed significantly.  Most fleet actions are the space equivalent of a cavalry charge, and about as subtle. 

Although this seems counter-intuitive and has lead to some negative reviews, history provides plenty of real examples.  For instance, Robert E. Lee, retreating from Petersburg, lost a third of his army at Five Forks because they were no longer able to execute a simple retreat.  In WWII, the Japanese air forces, unstoppable at the start of the war, were by the end completely ineffective at anything but kamikaze attacks.  In short, a student of military history understands that this can happen.

Fans of David Weber or Elizabeth Moon will thoroughly enjoy the fleet-level action, unique world-building and political intrigue of this book.  Buy it today.

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