The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught

Not only will the scope and breadth of the evolving story line continue to fascinate ...but the characters evolve as the story unfolds as well. Parallels to present day world political and military make this book (and series) a pleasure to read and enjoy.

The latest lost fleet leaves you hanging at the end. If you cannot stand knowing what will happen next, then wait until the next book is out. Nothing like a cliff hanger! I recommend this book. I have enjoyed the entire series.

David Weber must have helped Jack write the first 300 pages of this book because that how the Honor series books are. The first 3 quarters of the book is build up to very little Fleet action. I just hope the next book in this series is better( action wise )that is.

Campbell's entire "Lost Fleet" series is a classic use of the "flawed hero" character. Confronted with surprise problems with impossible odds, conniving politicians and devious colleagues, hero Jack Geary rises to victory again and again. Well worth the read; very much a reinforcement for how the good guy sometimes does win. No deep moral tales, no confusing philosophical quandaries, the "Lost Fleet" series reinforces the value of basic leadership attributes - loyalty, perseverance, selfless duty, and moral courage. What more could you ask for?

Great escapist fun for those with some respect for the military and a dismay for politics and big business. There's nothing deep, no lessons to live by, just a vacation for the reader that likes to see the good guy win in the end against the bad guys. The author is fairly skilled with crescendo sine waving action that keeps the reader turning pages. Perfect for long travel when you want time to pass quickly. I've read all the novels in succession and I suspect that may be necessary to be carried along or captivated by the story line.

Without giving spoilers away, the Lost Fleet isn't so lost anymore. The banter of the characters shows and builds on what they all went through before; and the gentle hand of showing the fine line between political maneuvering and military orders is explored quite well.

I really liked the premise posed in the first half of Dreadnaught: You've won your war, now how do you learn to live in peace when your economy is geared to weapons production and continuous war is all anyone alive in your society has ever known?

The answer, in the second half of the book, is you go pre-emptive and start another war - or two. Against two enemies who hated each other until you came along.

Is any of this sounding familiar?

I very much enjoyed the previous six books in this series. However, I was a bit disappointed in Dreadnaught. The story just ends. It is like this piece was the initial, story development, portion of a single novel. It isn't complete. All the strings are just left hanging. I guess I need to buy the $13 sequel to get the complete story. Let's see, $8 for the first half (Dreadnaught), $13 for the second half (Invincible)...that's $20 for the complete story. Sigh, I don't think so.

This book was a quick read and enjoyable but disappointing. It's book 7 in a series of 6 and is really just a rehash of what's gone before. Jump between a few star systems, Fight a few syndics. Same old problems. Same friends and same useless politicians. Not much new info about the enigma and a final jump into another frying pan then - nothing. Wait another year and shell out another $13 for the same story rerun.

I like the series but I was really hoping for more from this one. I only gave it two stars because it was 40% of a really good book.

This book was a quick read and enjoyable but disappointing. It's book 7 in a series of 6 and is really just a rehash of what's gone before. Jump between a few star systems, Fight a few syndics. Same old problems. Same friends and same useless politicians. Not much new info about the enigma and a final jump into another frying pan then - nothing. Wait another year and shell out another $13 for the same story rerun.

I like the series but I was really hoping for more from this one. I only gave it two stars because it was 40% of a really good book.

Unsatisfactory ending of the series. No surprises in the plot, no suspense. Characters are changed or have lost definition and depth. Dialogues are long and tedious. Ridiculous and implausible events, especially on "humanity's return" to the solar system. And, well, rather boring. Read something else, I wish I had done so.

Beware of lacking information on these "bargain priced" books that say sold by the store. The one I got had a nasty dust jacket and smelled musty. This should have been noted on the page. I shouldn't have been surprised by this. I would not have bought it if it said "used" or less than new condition and especially not if I had known about the dust jacket. Hardcover itself is also slightly bent at the top.

I truly enjoyed Campbell's lost fleet series until the last couple. A bare minimum of action, and a plethora of fairly boring verbage, and an ending that is insulting to the reader. Read this guys first few books, but don't read this latest bloated book, or the one before unless it is the only book you have on a desert island. Don't blame the store. Just blame Campbell or his ghost-writer. I shan't be buying any more of his books.
Cheers,
Seth

The first book in the Beyond the Frontier series. I took a break from this universe and read a few books in between, before continuing on with this series. Only 2 weeks has passed since where we left off in the last book, and Campbell wastes no time jumping back into the action. I'm not sure how much time (if any) the author took before beginning to write this newer series, but I felt like there was a slight shift in his writing style. Not necessarily in a bad way, I'm still enjoying the characters, there is just far more secretiveness happening. I was used to people's intentions being revealed fairly quickly in the previous books. Even by the end of this book, we're left wondering just what the hell Rione is up to. It was always fairly transparent which characters were out to get Geary and what they were planning, but now it is all very mysterious. I also noticed that the bridge crew suddenly have names, instead of just "the watchstander said," or "was stopped by a crew member." etc. etc. That was different. I was a bit underwhelmed by the story in this one, but I will continue on, and finish the series.

Overall I was a bit disappointed in this book. My first complaint is that it’s listed as the first book in a series (The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier #1) but it’s really the continuation of another series so while it tried give the reader enough background on the characters I felt it came up a bit short in that respect (what’s up with the whole ancestor thing?). Second was for a sci-fi book the technology felt a bit bland. Where is the item(s) which makes me think “damn I hope I’m alive when they come up with that”? Third is that whole book is a bit slow. There are some action scenes and some high drama items but I felt for a space-military book it was overall a bit slow. All this considered it was a solid three stars then came my biggest pet peeve where the book doesn’t resolve anything at the end. I can’t stand it when I’ve felt like I’ve invested all this time (and money) into a book which is just meant to get me to buy the next one so sadly I had to bump it down to two stars. On the flip side it is well written and the story is interesting and I think would fit in great as part of the series just not on it’s own.

If you are already familiar with Jack Campbell's military sci fi `The Lost Fleet' series you will know that his central character Captain John `Black Jack' Geary has woke from a century of survival hibernation and found himself taking command of the Alliance Fleet in the final throes of a long and bitter conflict with the Syndicate Worlds.

`Dreadnaught' finds Geary promoted to Fleet Admiral with the adoration of the people and the mistrust and suspicion of politicians who are convinced that a living hero can be a very dangerous thing.

He is now charged with command of the newly formed First Fleet with its maiden mission to probe deep into the territory of the mysterious enigma alien race. Geary knows that members of the military high command together with the government fear his staging a coup so he cannot help but wonder if the `First' is being deliberately sent to the far side of space on a suicide mission.
Once again Campbell has set things in motion for another thrill ride which offers plenty of questions and problems for our erstwhile hero to solve and challenge in true Geary fashion: head on.

This finds him dealing with married life (to Captain Tanya Desjani), peace, bureaucracy and a dangerous mission into the unknown accompanied by marines and twenty one civilians who are dubbed `Intelligent nonhuman species experts.' This is an interesting crew and it made a nice change to have a plot focussed on exploration and discovery rather than on war.

Once again Campbell manages to keep his sci fi rooted in some kind of reality; his hero has all the contemporary problems of budgetary constraints, self interest and plotting to contend with. There is also the interesting triangle of Senator Victoria Rione, Tanya Desjani and Geary.

This is a galaxy clearly scarred by war with the old divisions still rife and some new problems on the horizon. Campbell manages to keep you on your toes with his `enemy within' feel that pervades the novel.

What I particularly enjoyed was the more introspective and contemplative nature of this outing. Geary soon realizes that peace can sometimes be much more dangerous than war!

This is a cerebral adventure that is packed with incident, seeing diverse people untied out of necessity and mutual need. Factor in a vastly advanced and unknown alien race to make contact with and you have all the ingredients in place for a well-crafted, suspenseful and satisfying read. I am sure that this will further please Campbell's legion of fans and leave them wanting more.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book version of The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught by Jack Campbell. Fans of Jack Campbell (John G. Hemry) might point out there is an entire series before this one. But I came upon this book first, so I guess I will go back to the beginning now.

The good news is that I didn't feel lost and plan on reading / listening to all the books by Campbell before and after this one.
At first, I was worried, because the novel begins with sizable portion of information dump disguised as dialogue (probably meant for readers like me who skipped the first series). But it wasn't long before I became attached to the characters. I wanted to know more about the Enigma race that threatens the Alliance. These pathologically secretive space farers frustrate all efforts to communicate and standard operating procedures seem to be self destruction rather than surrender.

The political and administrative details were handled with some skill. Not boring at all and a good contrast to the battle scenes.
I would recommend this book to friends.

I really enjoyed this book, it comfortably transitions from the old into the new. The politics was interesting and fun. For those who have worked in behemoth organizations, and familiar with supply chain, you will like the new officer with whose job was to "Confuse Requisition", yet stay with strictly the rules. This book really has a lot going on, Mr Campbell has set the stage for the coming fight with the Enigma Races,the back story with the Alliance Government, the personnel relationship with his GrandNiece living up to the Geary name. Questions like "is he being setup to fail?" and why lie about the second fleet size? keeps the reader engaged and definitely wanting more.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to seeing how it plays it. My only 2 criticism is that it should have been longer, and the role of the Dreadnaught was not a major player in this novel so I did not get the tie in to the name of the novel....unless the Dreadnaught refers to the the really really big big *******(I leave it out for those who have not gotten to that part yet) that Geary discovers in the end.

The Lost Fleet war is over and the Syndicate Worlds have been defeated. Now we have the politics of the Alliance and what happens to the peace.
Geary's married and again sent out. Now he goes to find out about the Enigmas, the aliens encountered by the Syndicate Worlds.
Geary, and the Alliance, must learn to deal with both the Enigmas and tread warily with a weakened Syndicate government and those worlds seeking independence from Syndicate control.
A fast and enjoyable read.

I really liked the first series of these books. In descending order, the space battles were entertaining and very convincing (I'm an expert obviously :) ), the characters were reasonable and the whole military ethic a bit ho-hum in places (OK so I get that discipline and obeying orders are important, but as the series so amply illustrates, only if the person with the right skills is actually in command.)
So why can't I finish this? Perhaps because there is no sense of threat and we're back to the characters, about which I just can't get myself to care that much.
Perhaps I need to plough through this to get to the next one.

EDIT: I left it alone and then did plough through it and founding it rewarding, the author on form. Upped my stars from three to four.

**SPOILER ALERT**

In this first book in the series "The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier" Jack Campbell reunites the original cast and sends them back to Syndic space and beyond into Alien space. Geary has married the captain of his flagship and run away for a time, but his responsibilities have pulled him back to the fleet to save the Alliance again. Behind the scenes, new forces are trying to manipulate both him and the government. His new assignment is to take command of the first fleet. Two additional fleets have been created, first and second fleets. As he sets offc on his new mission, various unknown agents attemp to cripple his Fleet and divide his command...

I found this book very readable and the story flows very well. The action is fast-paced.