The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell

I’m going to say it: this is one of my absolute favorite series of all time. It ranks up there with Dragonsong and Dragonsinger, when I thought there couldn’t ever be a book I liked as well as those two.

I’m not sure exactly why I love this series so much, but maybe because I like the hero (Geary) and heroine (Desjani) quite a bit. The story conflict is also compelling and makes me root for him all the more, and there are moments of humor to lighten the mood.

Here’s the back cover blurb for The Lost Fleet: Dauntless, book 1 in the series:

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century, and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who has emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief.

Captain John "Black Jack" Geary's legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic "last stand" in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics.

Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance's one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic "Black Jack" legend.

***

There are 6 books in the Lost Fleet series, and the story continues directly in the Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier series, and then continues in the Lost Fleet: Outlands series (although the first book in Outlands just came out).

I pretty much devoured this series when I started it. I went from book 1 in the Lost Fleet all the way to book 5 in the Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier (Outlands wasn’t out yet).

I think I tend to like when heroes are immediately thrown into a fire pit of conflict, against impossible odds, and they manage to turn things around by their wits and their strengths. Jack Geary is a hero like that. He’s not perfect and he’s actually quite humble most of the time, but he always does his best and strives to do the right thing no matter what.

Desjani is a little starry-eyed in this first book, but her character develops in later books and becomes one of my favorite heroines of all time. For some reason she reminds me of the character Jo Lupo from the TV series Eureka, and I always imagine it’s Jo when I read (or listen to) her dialogue in the book.

I actually really enjoyed the audiobook for this series. Christian Rummel is absolutely wonderful with all the voices he has to do.

This series is also very clean, very little (if any) swearing. There’s a little premarital sex, but it’s nothing graphic.

There are two side series, the Lost Stars series and Genesis Fleet series. I didn’t actually care much for Lost Stars—I didn’t find the characters to be very sympathetic, or maybe they just weren’t to my taste.

However I really enjoyed Genesis Fleet. The series takes place several hundred years before the Lost Fleet so the characters aren’t the same, and you can read it without reading the Lost Fleet. The style and tone is similar to the Lost Fleet and I really enjoyed it. Book 1 is Vanguard (The Genesis Fleet Book 1).

I simply can’t rave enough about this series. If you enjoy space opera like Star Wars or Star Trek, you might enjoy this one as much as I did.

Comments

Camy's Big News about a new (old) series!

I joined two Christian suspense multi-author anthologies that will release next year in May and October! The May anthology is Danger in the Shadows , and the October anthology is Don’t Blink . I have taken down Year of the Dog from my blog and will instead finish editing/rewriting it for the May anthology, Danger in the Shadows . I decided to do this because I was only working on Year of the Dog sporadically, and I wanted to set a deadline for myself to finish it sooner. To complicate matters, I’ve been unhappy with my decision to leave Sushi and Suspicions as a stand-alone rather than putting it in a series. And I’ve also been unhappy with putting The Lone Rice Ball as a 5th book in the Sushi series when it’s more romantic suspense than the other books in the series. Now that I’ll be writing Year of the Dog for the anthology, and because I haven’t yet released Sushi and Suspicions and The Lone Rice Ball as individual ebooks, I decided to switch things around. I’m rem

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

One-Skein Pyrenees Scarf knitting pattern

I got into using antique patterns when I was making the scarf my hero wears in my Regency romance, The Spinster’s Christmas . I wanted to do another pattern which I think was in use in the Regency period, the Pyrenees Knit Scarf on pages 36-38 of The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work, volume 1, by Jane Gaugain, published in 1840. She is thought to be the first person to use knitting abbreviations, at least in a published book, although they are not the same abbreviations used today (our modern abbreviations were standardized by Weldon’s Practical Needlework in 1906). Since the book is out of copyright, you can download a free PDF copy of the book at Archive.org. I found this to be a fascinating look at knitting around the time of Jane Austen’s later years. Although the book was published in 1840, many of the patterns were in use and passed down by word of mouth many years before that, so it’s possible these are

Irrational loves

Captain's Log, Stardate 10.09.2007 Today I went to lunch with my friend Dineen, and afterwards, we headed into Borders just to browse. Borders has this section full of cute little notebooks. Small ones, big ones, colored paper ones, you name it. They also have pens and wallets and zippered bags and iPod cases. I must have spent at least thirty minutes just going ga-ga over the stupid little notebooks! What is it with notebooks and me? I can count the number of them that I’ve actually filled on the fingers of one hand. I have them all over the house, most with only a page or two written on, and an entire BOX of new ones in my closet. And I keep coveting more! This thing with notebooks is completely irrational. I cannot understand it, and I cannot stop it. I also cannot seem to fill them with any speed. And considering how much I like to talk, that’s pathetic. I should at least be able to spout nothings enough to fill a few. But when I open it to write inside, a part of my brain sud

I'm a favorite blog!

Captain's Log, Stardate 06.28.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is THREE WEDDINGS AND A GIGGLE by Liz Curtis Higgs, Carolyn Zane, and Karen Ball. My Monday book giveaway is CONSIDER LILY by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THREE WEDDINGS AND A GIGGLE and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. I'm a favorite blog! Tricia Goyer conducted a small blog survey, and she compiled a list of favorite blogs from the survey participants. Tricia also blogs at Gen X Parents and WriterQuotes (where I'm a contributor--every Monday is my Health and the Writer column). Novel Journey - Gina Holmes, Ane Mulligan, Jessica Dotta - author interviews blog Author Intrusion - Lisa Samson Faith in Fiction - Bethany House Fiction Acquisitions Editor Dave Long The Uprising - Lisa Koons Rhythms of Grace - Marilynn Griffith Ch

Romance, Adventure, Beauty

Captain’s Log, Stardate 06.17.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is RV THERE YET? by Diann Hunt . My Thursday book giveaway is A SOUNDING BRASS by Shelley Bates . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for RV THERE YET? and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Blog Bible Study on CAPTIVATING : The guided journal is good, although it does bring up more questions for me than answers. The authors talk about Shame that inflicts women because we don’t measure up to what people or the church tells us we should be—godly women, patient, sweet, yada yada yada. The problem is, I don’t feel shame. I feel more rebellion. I don’t desire to be like that. I’m happy the way I am. I’m very happy not being a sweet person, serving in the church kitchen. I’m very happy being blunt and straightforward, telling people “no” if I don’t have time to help. I’m very happy being a little i

French trellis scarf

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.19.2008 Just to warn you, I might have several knitting blog posts this month since I’m finishing gifts. I just completed a beautiful scarf from Victorian Lace Today in a taupe heather color wool laceweight yarn. I’m very proud of this scarf because it’s the first time I knitted with beads. I used these “crystal honey” color beads that I added to the florettes on the two end borders and in lines along the sides of the scarf. (If you’re on Ravelry, more info on the yarn, needles, etc. is here .) This is what it looked like while I was still knitting it. And this is the finished product. These are low resolution pictures. If you want to see higher resolution pics, you can visit this album in my Photobucket.com account .

Snickers pictures

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.16.2009 Hey, I figure if other people can post pictures of babies and grandkids, I can post pictures of my dog, right? This is Snickers with her favorite toy, her yellow ducky. Actually, its color is more of a "bright" slobber ecru. Try to smile, don't look so sad, this really isn't that demeaning... Let's try to distract her with food so she'll look perky. Oh wait, put the food near the camera, not in your hand... Except now she looks sad and pathetic as she stares at the hot dog, waiting for it and wondering why we're torturing her. "Are you stupid humans done YET???" "While you try to figure out your camera, I'm going to sleep, which I could do better if you'd stop sticking this stupid duck under my head."

Search This Blog

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter