Valiant (The Lost Fleet, Book 4) by Jack Campbell
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Book Reviews of Valiant (The Lost Fleet, Book 4)
Book Review: Somebody show the lady the door...
Summary: 3 Stars
I will assume that if you are reading this that you have read the previous books so unlike the author, I will not re-cap the events of them for you and assume you know what is going on.
This series is a good idea. It has a good premise. The battles are well done if at times a little hard to follow. Now for the things that continue to annoy me:
Victoria Rionne: Please kill her. Or transfer her to one of the Callas Republic Ships. I have never liked her character, I don't know anybody who does, and she grows more annoying with every page. She must be suffering from continual PMS, hormone imbalance, schizophrenia, and multiple personality disorder. She is simply the most annoying character in the books. I hate the way she always uses his full name all of the time "I don't know john Geary. Hello John Geary. What do you expect John Geary? You make me so angry John Geary. I urge you to reconsider John Geary." SHUT UP! Nobody talks like that. And the scenes with her and Geary are just bad. It reminds me of the dialogue between Anakin and Padme. Seriously. I like to think of myself as a very well rounded and mature adult, but reading this makes me feel like a kid. "Please get back to the ships and the lasers." Mr. Campbell, Senator Rione needs to STFU and GDIAF.
The Non-believers: Okay, I can see how in the first book there might have been some non believers in the fleet as to Geary's ability to command them. As an active military man with 16 years of service and multiple combat tours, I really do. However, so far Geary has managed to completely demolish 4 fleets that each outnumbered his tiny battered survivors 3 to one and come out with only minor losses. This in a time when the fleet would have admittedly (by everyone) have been destroyed 4 times already. Yet people still question him and his ability to lead the fleet into battle. Why? This made sense the first book. But now? This guy has proven himself to be George Patton, Robert E. Lee, and Chester Nimitz all rolled into one. And these people still question him. This makes no sense.
In closing I will say that these are good books, and enjoyable (and also extremely short, he could probably combine them into a trilogy instead but hey, more money this way) to read. I know they are not meant to be high philosophical lectures or treatises and I do not treat them as such.
I just wish he would kill Rione.
Book Review: Frustrated and OMG! Space porn!
Summary: 3 Stars
There are series of books that you look forward to, like the Prey series, the Dresden Flies,or the Plum series, because you care about the characters and the author doesn't disappoint his fans. That is how I have felt about the The Lost Fleet series, but not now. I have written some of my best reviews when comes to this series, but the last one and this one have begun to wear on me. The news is that the characters are still growing and interesting and... well that is all there is, character developement plus a guide on how to command and war dehumanizes man. Oh yeah, there is porn in space and it is deadly. Wow just what I need to be remind of. Look this book is almost 300 pages long. There is one terrific battle sequence at the first of the book and a short battle at the end. In between the two is Geary leaving one woman for another and finding out he can't have the new woman until the fleet gets back home, which means a lot of cold showers for both of them. Seriously there is a great deal of talk and talk and ...well talk. I have compared the first two of the series to Johm Wayne movies, the last one to a breather for the author, and now I am just frustrated over the lack of anything remotely looking like action or movement. Oh I will buy the next one and I will hope it will return to the style of the frist two books, but I am not sure.
P.S. I know this may sound petty, but I really hate the cover of this book. It has nothing to do with anything that happens in the story. The first two covers were very good and the last one of kind of strange looking, but this one, oh brother. That makes my point when I am paying more attention to the cover and not to the book there is something wrong and it is no me this time.
Book Review: A good read
Summary: 3 Stars
Another good read book.
People who expect too much will be disappointed (like some of the reviewers), but people who just want a good read will like it.
It has drama, good battles, plausible technology and decent characters.
Why would his enemies want to still get rid of him even though he keeps winning? I find that totally plausible and even likely, people are not logical and they can be jerks just for the sake of being a jerk and once they've decided that someone is the enemy, it might require them to admit they were wrong and far too many people can never do that.
I would not say that this is the best book in the series, but I awaited it eagerly and finished it in one sitting without being bored.
It's a good read and possibly trite and predictable (you know the good guys are going to win, but, well, duh. As if you thought that Sauron was going to get the Ring back too).
As for the aliens, I'm gonna have to disagree that they are setting up another series, there is something in this one that seems to explain why the aliens are doing what they are doing. There have been hints in other books (book 3 had a bunch) that make them look not necessarily like bad guys. But that's just my opinion.
I hope Campbell does more books, but I just don't see him setting up another series with a war against the aliens.
Book Review: The Lost Fleet becomes the Lost Series
Summary: 3 Stars
Lets face it this series is never going to be considered one of the greatest ever written but frankly its also a fun series.
Overall the tone doesn't change much from the last book with the fleet still trying to stay one step ahead on their way home and Black Jack dealing with idiot leadership and a love triangle which does drain a bit. In this aspect I agree with some others that a four part book with more in each book may have made the whole stronger as then it may not have seemed to drag on so much with some parts that didn't help the overall story. I wanted to give the book a higher rating but after nearly skiming most of the book I just couldnt.
While a lot is finally dealt with the reader eventually comes to the conclusion that some of the characters are simply overly dense to the point of nearly comedic in their reactions to Gerry.
Still, this one seems to finally draw to conclusion some events (love interest, and enemy fleets) as they near their destination while ramping up the alien aspect of the overall arch. I look forward to the final 2 in the series and hope to see a new (hopefully condensed) series related to the actions of his return and what becomes of the universe post return.
Book Review: Starting to Drag
Summary: 3 Stars
I agree with everyone else who said this book was a step back from the previous three. The battles felt flat, I'm starting to get tired of the stock "isn't it funny how the Navy still does ____ but no one remembers why?" type scenes, and there was absolutely ZERO character or plot development in this chapter of the overall saga
Basically, other than having two people admit they're attracted to each other, nothing special happens for 300 pages.
Valiant felt, to me, like it was rushed out to satisfy a schedule. I had alot of trouble visualizing the things that the book was describing, a first in this series, and when I got to the end of the book I felt like I'd just read the first chapter of a story
Loved the first three, hope the next two are WAY better than this. If book 5 isn't a big step up I won't bother with book 6