The Lost Fleet: Valiant

Jack Campbell

Geary dives back to the scene of a loss and mops up. The fleet is limping along, needing supply and for the first time, detractors are starting to actively resist his leadership. And the alien theory is gaining steam.  The battle science in this installment is particularly good, albeit a bit drawn out. And the discussion of how effective the AI is based on Geary not matching the patterns of the last 100 years is fascinating. Can't wait to get full alien involvement... 

4 stars (out of 4)

The Lost Fleet: Courageous

 Jack Campbell

In this installment, Geary leads the fleet back toward Alliance space, trying to get to a system with a hypernet gate they might be able to use. They are still one step ahead of the Syndicate and sowing seeds of discontent with the civilians (simply by not wholesale murdering them). They run into a massive roadblock while trying to take a hypernet gate, and are starting to suspect alien influence. After a big loss, do they retreat, or continue to attack? 

4 stars (out of 4)

The Lost Fleet: Fearless

Jack Campbell

John Geary continues to lead his fleet trying to get back to Alliance territory. He is teaching the military how to be disciplined again, teaching new tactics and dealing with internal strife as rival captains question his every move. In the end, his legend keeps growing as he keeps winning battles (here he helps destroy a Syndicate shipbuilding system) in this military science fiction. I particularly like the battle story telling as we are treating battles of massive distances accurately. The biggest skill that Geary has is that he can direct a battle with "time-late" information. That is, what he is seeing is "old information" since distances are so big. His fleet is spread across portions of a light hour, so he can't give real-time instructions. That strategic barrier alone, treated well, makes this series worth reading. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers

edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

A collection of short stories in military science fiction and space opera. Normally I don't like short stories so much, but these are all solicited by authors with established series. And the stories are prequels, back stories or interstitials that illuminate the worlds they have created. The fact that a short story is backed by a world allowed me to dive in and enjoy. And leads me to hunt out some of these series. Of particular interest are 

• The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell
• Crimes against Humanity by Susan R Mathews
• The Lensmen by EE Doc Smith
• The Confederation Series by Tanya Huff
• Kangaroo series by Curtis C Chen
• The Liaden universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
• The Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepherd

4 stars (out of 4)

Kingdom of Copper

S.A. Chakraborty

Book 2 of The Daevabad Trilogy

A fantasy story set in the east, with eastern mythology. I was not quite as much in love with this 2nd book. It took some work to get through. The political background was more confusing than needed and I really only found myself interested in one plot thread. Like any good fantasy epic, there were 3-5 concurrent threads interwoven. In the end (about 2/3 through) it picked up steam again, focused on the Ali-Nahri storyline that was most interesting and set the stage for a potentially interesting final volume. The plot here continues to follow Nahri as one of the last remaining Daeva healers as she is politically wed to the emir, in love with the emir's brother (but also hates him for having killed her bodyguard). Add to this the fact that the bodyguard (Dara) is not dead but returned to life as an ifrit warrior controlled by Nahri's thought dead mom who really only has deadly revenge on her mind. Oh, and the racial-political tensions in the city are at an all time high. 

3 stars (out of 4) 

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless

Jack Campbell

John Geary is a captain in the Alliance Navy. He is rescued from his life pod, only to find that he has been floating in the pod is suspension for 100 years. During that time, the battle that he was just fighting in turns out to have been the initial battle of a 100 year war, and that he has become a legend (Black Jack Geary) for his heroism. Cut to the present and Geary is thrust into the role of fleet commander for the alliance fleet that is deep behind enemy lines and trying to get home. But the tactics of the "modern navy" make no sense to him. And he must reform the fleet while fighting and running. Really fun opening book in this Lost Fleet series.

4 stars (out of 4)

Waypoint Kangaroo

Curtis C Chen

Kangaroo is the codename of our protagonist. He has the natural ability to open a window into a parallel universe, and uses this to store things. This is particularly useful as a field operator for whatever he needs or for whatever he need to bring back. Chen has created a fascinating world and this is lighthearted space opera storytelling at its best. Kangaroo is sent on vacation to Mars while the home office is being audited. On this cruise, he encounters a conspiracy and a hijacking and a girl and ... well, just a little bit of everything. Clever story and fun. 

4 stars (out of 4)