Reviews

Fearless by Jack Campbell

protoapostoli's review

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Quick read. Not too intensive or thought provoking. If you get through the first book in the series and find that you want to know more about Captain Black Jack, it's definitely worth a read.

peresr's review against another edition

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4.0

Continua la saga militar de Geary, molt distreta, lleugera perĂ² divertida i que enganxa. Recomanable a qui li agradi Forever War o Scalzi.

elsmasho's review

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

kynan's review

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2.0

The story continues...actually, this could almost literally be the same book as [b:Dauntless|112292|Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, #1)|Jack Campbell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309198180s/112292.jpg|108122], it's the same basic plot, leading up to a similar set piece "finale" closing out with a teaser for the subsequent book. The minimal differences come from a new physical location and a slightly stronger threat to Geary from inside the fleet. The major characters reveal slightly more detail with regard to their history but don't develop beyond the boundaries reached in Dauntless. The baddies remain nearly irredeemably bad (to be fair, there are efforts to explain the motivations of the main antagonist) and the goodies continue to lead the charge for universal truth, justice and liberty.

Unfortunately this book continued to strain credulity. There's some really tenuous connect-the-dots going on in the lurking sub-plot. The 100-year war that has managed to pound all traces of intelligence out of the Fleet through raw attrition seemed a harsh juxtaposition against the (SPOILER ALERT: SLIGHT SPOILER IN THIS SENTENCE) sudden discovery of a literal physics genius commanding one of the fleet ships (YOU'RE GOOD TO KEEP READING FROM HERE) and the changes wrought on the fleet by Captain Geary continues to strike me as things that would obvious to even the dullest of people that were still trusted enough to be given charge of what would have to be a very, very expensive piece of equipment (not to mention the numerous lives entrusted to their care).

I'm still reading because the naval theory seems sound (to my civilian mind anyway) and I enjoy that kind of thing. After completing book two I have quite a strong feeling that I know how book three is going to play out and I can't help but feel that this six volume series could probably have been edited down into a more palatable trilogy. But, I've started and I really hate not finishing things so I'm going to push on!

lundos's review

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3.0

More or less a straight continuation of the first book. A few new characters, some other people making moronic decisions and our MC making the right decisions.
The space battles are pretty good (though the two ships hitting each other is too much Star Wars), the building of the legacy is good and the world expands a little. Though, its still pretty superficial.

dotorsojak's review

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3.0

2.8 stars

Very like the other books in this series. There are a couple of good fleet actions. The love affair doesn't work in my opinion, but it's of scant account. The character herself (Victoria Rione) seems like someone who might do something interesting, but JC hasn't figured out what yet. New character Captain Falco is also of scant account. He seems to have been invented merely so that Geary can have a foil. Then he is suddenly sent off stage for a large part of the book. Falco's Hornblower equivalent is "El Supremo" from Forester's first Hornblower: THE HAPPY RETURN (aka BEAT TO QUARTERS), but Supremo is a far more interesting creation. I know, I know--it's not fair to hold up anyone to Forester.

I read this quickly and probably will not read another JC for a while.

innocenthedgehog's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

dan_at's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Fun, fast, perfect palate cleanser.

git_r_read's review

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5.0

Suspense and paranormal make up the majority of Mt Git'r'Read. The remainder leans into other genres including science fiction. It has to be the kind that doesn't delve too much into the weeds of technical and mechanical. Or if it does, written in such a way that it doesn't go completely over my cranium.
Jack Campbell writes the latter. It is still technical, but smoothly done. Maybe because The Lost Fleet is military in nature and I am familiar with that world and that lingo. Also because Jack Campbell is an excellent story teller. It's a superb story that happens to be science fiction in nature.
FEARLESS is the second book in the Lost Fleet series and is as excellent as the first one that had me going out to buy this one within a few pages of starting DAUNTLESS.
Captain John "Black Jack" Geary is beginning to feel at least reasonably comfortable in his role as Fleet commander. He's had continuous difficulties with a few of his other ships' captains, but it is exacerbated when a rescued captain begins to fling his authority around, leading to mutiny.
John Geary just wants to get his fleet home to Alliance safety, but the mutineers want to stand and fight the Syndic.
The first book was mostly Geary accepting his role as Fleet Commander after a century of frozen sleep. He has made progress with most of the fleet acceptance of his training scenarios and reverting back to discipline and routines that seem to have slipped away.
Here he is battling the enemy in the Syndic as well as the mutineers. The way he handles himself, makes his decisions, and treats his crew is watching his dual personalities. Not split, but as John Geary and as legendary "Black Jack".
A superb book and I cannot wait to get the next in the series, COURAGEOUS.
Definite recommend.

veronica87's review

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3.0

Picking up on the heels of [b:Dauntless|112292|Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, #1)|Jack Campbell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309198180s/112292.jpg|108122], Captain John Geary is continuing his efforts to bring the Alliance Fleet home by staying one step ahead of the Syndics. This is a perfectly competent example of military science fiction and Geary makes for a good protagonist, caught between being a man and being a myth. The space battles are presented with the reality that images can only travel at the speed of light so there is always a time delay. Now I'm going to be side-eyeing all the Star Trek/Star Wars battles where everything is instantaneous.

Where the story stumbles, however, is with the relationships Geary has with those around him. Frankly, most of them seem clumsily and hastily constructed. Though the author can write vivid and detailed battles between spacecraft, he is far less adept at managing the maneuverings that happen between people. We get the beginnings of a "romance" between Geary and Co-President Victoria Rione though it feels like more of a friends-with-benefits situation to me. Their conversations feel stilted and awkward, with an overuse of the exclamation point indicating yelling when it doesn't seem natural. However, at least that indicates an attempt to show SOME emotion. Meanwhile, there is the never ending hero worship going on with Captain Tanya Desjani, the only other major female character in Geary's immediate orbit. If anything, this relationship feels even shallower than the one with Victoria Rione. Rione at least sees Geary as a fallible human but Desjani sees Geary as the can-do-no-wrong, mythical, demi-god John "Black Jack" Geary. Ultimately, the most genuine relationship Geary has going on is his friendship with Captain Duellos. Don't get me wrong, there is no in depth exploration of that relationship either and it's limited to brief conversations the two men engage in following each fleet commanders' conference, but at least it feels like a normal and natural friendship.

So, bottom line, the military science fiction aspect of the story and all the technical stuff that goes with it is solid. I can't fault the story on that score. However, the secondary characters have all been very one note up until this point and that is resulting in very superficial relationships which is, sadly, not uncommon for this genre.