The problem I have with this book (and the series so far) is that it's much the same as the first. A space battle, a mutiny thrown in which is never resolved, a jump, another space battle, a painfully awkward romance between Jack Geary and Victoria Rione, and that's about it. I like the way Campbell (Hemry) handles the space battles but they are getting repetitive and the Alliance always wins. The inclusion of the jump gates as potential weapons is a nice concept but undeveloped. Likewise the romance was a long time coming (no pun intended) and when we get there it's really rather dry to the point I wondered what they saw in each other. The other characters seem to exist mostly as props, and there is no overriding mythology driving the action, it seems like paint-by-numbers. The mutiny looked like it would raise the stakes but by the end of the book I'd completely forgotten about it. The stakes need to be raised, and soon, or this will become a series I just won't follow any more.

Well, Fearless, was better than Dauntless. I'm not sure what the major difference is between the writing of the two books, perhaps it is less self doubt, and just I feel more engaged with the book. I had a real hard time getting into the first book.

I HATE, HATE, HATE, the author's use of Italics. I find it to be very distracting.

I LOVE, the fact that the author acutally takes into account space/time delay when dealing with communications. It's not instant communication like Ansible (Ender's Game) or any other faster than light communication.

It makes for a very interesting view on space battles.

Jack really does a great job grabbing your attention. He makes you want to know what's going to happen next. Part of his success is character development. You believe in these characters.

His understanding of the battles is inspired and he gets the points across to the readers extremely well. The characters jump off the page and you can really lose yourself in the book. Sure, we 'know' there is going to be some sort of success in the end, but you really want to experience the ride. Jack really pulls you along.

The story isn't new, the 'reality' of the physics of the battles is interesting, the desperation of Black Jack Geary is palpable. Well done!

Very fun. This is my first space opera series. The premise is good. I can see where the author is starting to repeat sections. Almost as though its from a military mind that must repeat it for the rest of us dunces who can't retain it unless its repeated endlessly... Now that is getting tiresome.


On a scale 1 to 5, Five is Best:

Villian: 4
Plot: 4
Creativity: 4
Uniqueness: 4
Humor: 2
Bringing the sexy: 0
Passion: 5 stars (for duty & honor ) 4
Laughs & Amusement factor: 1
Silly Whiners who get on your nerves: 2.7 (and growing)
Lazy Author repeating too much from prior chapters: 2.5

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. On the one hand, the overall plot was intriguing and kept my interest. On the other, some of the things his characters say ring so false that it became hard to continue somewhere around the middle. While Geary's relationship with Rione develops, the way it unfolds leads one of the worst-told romances I've ever read. These two characters spend most of their time very wary of each other, with Rione acting as a combination of Geary's conscience and his suspicious monitor. Lots of back and forth trying to probe each others' motivations and hammering out an awkward working relationship. Then things get romantic, but nothing changes. They have basically the same conversation over and over, which grew tedious, and I found myself wincing at the dialog. Rione has this weird quality of being both professionally detached and shrewish. It's not very convincing.

I really wanted to like this book as much as the first, but it just felt like there was a lot of repetition and one-dimensional characters. Perhaps military sci-fi isn't my genre. I'm not sure I want to invest more time in reading the next books in the series.

Good storyline continues to be well developed and written. Characters first introduced in Dauntless are becoming fleshed out and believable. The true enemy is slowly being introduced... I expect the series to continue becoming better and better.

This is the second book in the Lost Fleet series and it does not disappoint. The space battles are presented in crisp clean prose, with believable attention to physics. The hero, John "Black Jack" Geary evolves and changes under pressure and even, with due discretion, acquires a girlfriend. There's stronger speculation about the existence of aliens as a driving force for the 100 year old war.

My biggest complaint is structural. Book One: Dauntless and Book Two: Fearless could have been combined in a single volume. The story arc would have been a lot stronger that way and a certain amount of repetition designed to bring the out-of-sequence reader up to speed could have been eliminated. As it is, I feel that the overall arc of the series has just barely crept forward. And the author is not really exploring the psychological complexity of his characters. Some of the dialog is just daft (Scottish dialect for whacko) instead of striving for depth.

But I love the way Jack Campbell writes his action sequences. He manages to capture some of the agonizingly slow motion imposed by the vast distance of space and combine it with an ability to keep the reader on the edge of the chair. I'll keep reading and hoping for more. In some ways, Jack Campbell is the science fiction equivalent of Dick Francis in the mystery genre: he's a slick stylist with a knack for action.

OK, here's the good. Jack Campbell describes fleet operations in a believable manner. Frankly, I believe his fleet structure would work better than the pseudo ship of the line fleet structure used by David Weber.

But Weber has already done it (and done it, and done it, and...). Weber also included a rich universe, a good deal of romance, and a lot of involved politics. Mr. Campbell has thrown in some cardboard cutouts to ask leading questions of his hero.

Oh, yeah. Are there aliens in this universe? I don't know. Stick around for book six.

There's nothing new here. There is no personal story here. There is no human story here. There's a lot of inspirational interludes where the author uses the mythical "Black Jack" to opin on the santity of life and playing by the rules of war. There's also a number of set up characters who (amazingly enough) turn their life around just knowing that good old Black Jack believes in mercy and honor.

Please.

Sorry, for a writer with an easily readable style, I think Mr. Campbell is wasting his talent. After he finishes paying some bills, I would like to encourage him to write a well balanced novel that depends on human characters and emotions almost as much as the battle scenes.

This book was very entertaining to read. It's not an in depth collossal and extravagent work of sci-fi but an interesting take on the whole "lost hero refound to save the world in the nick of time". I literally couldn't put the book down and finished it that night, much like the first one. Others have given a really good synopsis of the book so I'll skip that part.

What really draws me into this series is the balance between the action and the dialogue. The space battles are done in a way that leaves you biting your nails. Sure you know what's going to happen and most likely how it's going to end but how he takes you through it is the exciting part.

All in all, this is a great book and a great series! I highly suggest it for anyone wanting some fast and troubled heroes facing impossible odds!

This was a wonderful and fasinating sequel to the series. Reading the first one gave me a bad impression of this series. After reading this, my opinons and intrests have completed fliped over. There is so much more action and subjects going on the story. Overall, this a great sci-fi thriller and would reccomend this book to anyone with sci-fi intrests.

I have read the series and am awaiting the next installation due out this summer (08). Not going to go into detail, just trust me on this one. Awesome book!

Campbell can write. This is not so much sci-fi as it is just a good military adventure story set in space. Concerns fleet commander, lengendary "Black Jack Geary" who's forced back into command after being found in deep space adrift in an escape pod after a century of "sleep" so to speak. Campbell can write, and anyone who enjoys a good military yarn, be it with Horatio Hornblower or Teddy Roosevelt in charge, will enjoy the on-going trials and tribulations of Campbells character. This is the second in the trilogy and I can only hope there's more to follow.

Jack Campbell offers readers two great reasons to love this book (and the entire Lost Fleet series): unique space combat and an interesting hero.

Campbell's battles resemble ponderous navel engagements rather than high-flying dogfights. Governed by the laws of physics, the action is unlike anything I've seen or read before in the genre.

The protagonist, John "Black Jack" Geary is a man out of time, revived after 100 years in suspended animation. Now he must lead a fleet of ships trapped behind enemy lines and struggling to survive. The author gives us access Geary's innermost thoughts and fears and questions, creating a compelling character.

The book moves quickly and while this book is entertaining in its own right, one can sense that bigger and better things are to come.

I admit I'm just a dilettante when it comes to knowing anything about battles or the military, but I do enjoy reading military SF, and I enjoy reading this series so far.

It has the initial, intriguing situation of a legendary hero seeming to come back from the dead (or rather life-suspension for a century in a damaged escape pod), just as the Alliance Fleet has been lured into enemy territory and a trap that wipes out the commanding officers, leaving Captain "Black Jack" Geary in command.

This second installment continues the story. It, like the first book, ends in a good place. Yes, they are NOT home yet... they are still the Lost Fleet of the title, but the story arc is there and I found it very satisfying. While continuing to try and save the Fleet, against great odds, continuing to try to establish confidence in his command (and his own self-confidence), another conflict arises in the figure of a rescued POW--Captain Falco, a famous hero whose situation seems to echo Geary's own, and a man who expects to take up his former place as leader of Alliance ships...

Personally, I wouldn't mind if this series is dragged out forever at this rate. I am in for the long-haul and enjoying the ride.

There is some more character development here which is good. The title comes from the Fearless Task force which does the heavy lifting in an attack on a syndic system which is not on the 'net (possibly alien .technology which allows instantaneous transitions between interfaces). The interfaces are difficult and expensive to build so "marginal systems" don't get them and are left to wither away as they get little or no traffic.

There is a Syndic labor camp and one of the people rescued is one Falco a hero and charismatic figure believed dead for years (somewhat like John). His victories in the past were often pyrrhic and he likes the current "approved" approach "tactics we don't need no steekin tactics, just kill them all!"

Unlike another reviewer I am not going to blow the plot here but say that it is good. John faces some interesting choices and challenges and some of the characters are better developed. A little more humor would help and while the author is praised for not ignoring annoyances like the speed of light he doesn't really account for them. For instance there are no relativistic effects what would cause discontinuities in perception of another ship. Time which doesn't exist see The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics (warning Theoretical Physics conceptually difficult but only requires basic trig) runs differently depending on how the different ships relate in Lorentzian space. (Speaking as an orbital mechanic where special relativity [doesn't include gravity and problems like black holes] matters.) Also the Captains conferences would have to occur with the ships really really close unless there is some undisclosed technology that eliminates the time lag due to the speed of light. I have been in video conferences over long distance and they are very difficult due to speed of light delays on satellite signals.

Overall and improvement over the Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1).

BTW accelerating from 0 velocity at .2 light for an hour would get you v=1/2*a*TT (time squared) or v= .1*300000m/sec*7464960000 or which would lead to a velocity of 1119744000000000m/sec which is imposable (exceeds the speed of light). I am not going to address this further but if some one is interested leave a comment and I will respond.

I consider myself a avid reader and am a fan of the Honor Harrington series I own them all. I compare this book to that series in the space battles are somewhat similar, so if you enjoyed the space battles in the Honor books this will fit right in. But other then the battles being similar this series rocks! This series is so fast paced its very hard to put down, I loaned my first two books to a couple Honor fans and they have since purchased their own copies and like me are eagerly awaiting the new novel. If you like good sci-fi give this series a try, the main character is believable and his faults and strengths are highly likeable.

An exciting book that I couldn't put down! The author keeps the story moving swiftly through intense battle scenes and continuous challenges to the leadership of the Fleet commander. Captain John Geary is embattled on all sides, fighting a bitter enemy known as the Syndicate, struggling with mutinous members within his own fleet and feuding with an icy, female, political leader on his own flagship. This book is filled with great descriptions of space battles and is a great study in the challenges of leadership. A must read for any fan who enjoys Naval action!

A solid sequel to Dauntless, the first book in this space opera trilogy. Writing, plot, and character development continue to be solid. Campbell again makes clever use of some traditional literary devices, in this case a doppelganger theme with the incorporation of a character who is the mirror image of the hero of the series. In this book, there are some scenes that deal with issues of military ethics - treatment of prisoners and interrogation - that have a strong contemporary resonance.

First, a complaint. These books are clearly designed as a series. Now, where an honest author such as David Weber or S. M. Strling would have given us a single 900 page volume, this author gives us three 300 page volumes, even though the three could have easily been published as one.

That said, these books, even if painted on a futuristic space opera canvas, address the age old issue of military mind rigidity, stupidity, idiocy. History is full of examples of battles where at least one side is a mob of individual warriers, competing for glory among themselves. Caesar's campaigns in Gaul provide the perfect example.

The best example to relate to these Lost Fleet books is that of the idiotic French knights at the battles of Crécy and Agincourt (read Barbara Tuchman's "A distant Mirror" for a delightful tale of a century's worth of such foolishness). Contrasting such mindless behavior with its opposite, military discipline, is the basic premise of these books. The story line follows the process of gradually transforming the protagonist fleet from a mob into an army.

As such, this series is different from the normal run of space operas, and -- even though I could criticise various things about it, were I in a nitpicking mood -- thought provoking. So, according to me, it merits a 5-star rating.

The review and comments by Mr. McCallister have pretty much hit all the points about the book to tell you if it might be your cup of tea. With perhaps one exception, the ability of the books to stand on their own. Again a personal preference, and this appears to be one of those series that falls somewhere in the middle - not as standalone as some of the greats, like Miles Vorkorsigan (Bujold), or the Laiden novels (Lee, Miller), or even Kris Longknife (Shepherd), but nowhere as badly done as the artificial division of "The Final Encyclopedia" into 2 volumes.

Perhaps it will be a series more like Honor Harrington, some novels in the series stand alone well and others not quite, though hopefully none of those *really* aggravating cliff hanger plots.

Unlike a John Scalzi novel which goes on my pre-order list instantly, I might try to wait, at least until there's a plot with some sort of resolution to the original objective of the first book (getting the fleet home). Of course, because it's such an enjoyable read, that plan is likely doomed!

I hope there are plenty of novels in this series (or longer ones), but I also hope I don't have to wait too long for resolution of some of the plot story lines...

Imagine that you're a sailor in a space fleet far from home. Your fleet is running from a larger enemy force, fighting hit and run battles when it can. You're trapped in the space ship that you've been assigned to. Day after day, its either your assigned tasks or the fear of infrequent battles. The food is bad, you dream of open skies, the touch of your lover. You have no idea when you're going to get home, or even if you're going to get home. The mission just goes on and on.

If you can imagine the scenario above, then you can pretty much imagine the contents of Fearless and its predecessor, Dauntless. The books just go on and on, one space battle after another, where we're only distracted by the inner turmoil of the fleet commander. Dauntless was engaging, but Fearless was just more of the same. After a while I felt like I was trapped in the space fleet with the protagonists. The idea of reading book three, Courageous (to be released in December 2007) really is not appealing. The books just get claustrophobic and boring after a while.

I liked Dauntless ever-so-slightly better, but this was still a solid read and highly recommended if you like space operas ala David Weber. Great premise and action packed. A little predictable at times as you are told "something didn't look right" and you knew there would be something that wasn't right and that Black Jack Geary would figure it out and win, but this is fun sci-fi - not Old English Literature - so it accomplishes its goal.

My biggest complaint about this book is the early exposition which is to bring you up to speed if you haven't read the first book in the series (Dauntless) or if you haven't read it in a while I guess. That is tedious and it pops up from time to time in the book. But I suppose that is one of the challenges to writing a series.

I'm definitely pre-ordering Courageous (Book 3) and Valiant when possible. Highly recommended if you like space operas.

If I could give this novel 6 stars, I would. Like its prequel ("THE LOST FLEET: DAUNTLESS"), "THE LOST FLEET: FEARLESS" delivers drama and action in spades. This novel is, I believe, the better of the two novels because Jack Campbell (the author) really begins to define and develop the primary characters, and he gives us a major hint about the real motive(s) behind the Alliance/Syndicate War. I cannot wait for "COURAGEOUS" to come out in autumn 2007! As I recommended with my review for "DAUNTLESS", if you like this genre of fiction, read this book!

I consumed Dauntless and Fearless on a recent airplane trip. They're OK but not great entertainment. Character development seems to be the missing ingredient. Relatively few characters have common sense and that's just not natural. Everyone but the main character is binary and uncompromising at random, critical points in the narrative. Other than the main character, there's no one else that I found likable or entertaining.

I just finished devouring the second book this weekend, and did enjoy it quite a bit. One bit of criticism I might throw out, is that I tended to over analyze some of the influences of the book.

Whether intentional or not, you might catch a glimpse of:

Honor Harrington (On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1)) from David Weber

Adama and Roselyn (Battlestar Galactica - Season One) from Battlestar Galactica

Nicholas Seafort (Challenger's Hope (Seafort Saga)) from David Feintuch (which I've heard is based on Horatio Hornblower (Horatio Hornblower Collector's Edition), but I cannot compare them firsthand.)

Overall, a very enjoyable read, I'm recommending it to my friends.

Prediction-without-giving-away-too-much: I strongly suspect one of the supporting characters will turn out to be an Artificial Intelligence. :) Let's see if book three gives that up or not.

I enjoyed both of the Lost Fleet adventures very much and am looking forward to the third. I agree that the writing and the characters are not great, but I stayed up until 3a.m. to finish the book; I was that hooked into the story. Reminds me of watching a *good* Bruce Willis movie -- I did not want to think profoundly, I just wanted to be entertained. These two books accomplished that and the third one is on my wish list waiting for the publication date. Thanks, Mr. Campbell.

This is not the worst book that I have ever read but man it is close. Flat characters and the plot went nowhere. You can tell the writer is setting up a series but how he expects it to sell is a mystery. Do not waste your money.

Between this book and the first in the series it took only four days to read....I couldn't put them down! Excellent character interaction.

While we are use to our hero's being perfect and all knowing, this space opera shows us the human being behind the man who is put on the hero's pedestal. While the first volume 'Dauntless" rates 5 stars, the second Fearless goes down to 4 (probably only because I wanted more than 293 pages, and I hate waiting for the next volume). Definitely a great read with an original storyline.

As another reviewer mentioned, these books are surprisingly hard to put down given the essentially predictable plot and characters. The second in this series is not quite as good as the first, but its OK enough to recommend to someone who liked the first.

What I liked: Space battles, plot line including what may be another intelligence in the universe.

What I didn't like: -SPOILER WARNING- The relationship turning sexual between Co-president Rione and Geary. Come on, the tension between them was a very good thing in the plot (see BSG: Adama-Rosylynn), and it was so obviously going to happen that it would have been far better if it didn't. It was just too easy and predictable. Blah.

Preface: This is the sequel to the excellent Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1), wherein we met John "Black Jack" Geary, a captain who was long thought to have been killed in a battle a century earlier. Centuries into humanity's future, colonies have spread out to the stars, and eventually settled into two groups: the Syndicate (authoritarian regime that de-emphasizes individuality, akin to the Communism of China or the Soviet Union) and the Alliance (a group of allied democratic colonies, akin to NATO). A century before the events in the first book, war broke out between the Syndicate and the Alliance and, in the first battle, Black Jack Geary sacrificed himself to save a convoy of ships. But, he was not killed, and survived, in stasis in a lifepod, only to be rescued a century later. As Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1) opens, John Geary is just being revived as an Alliance Fleet falls into a trap, with all the senior officers wiped out. Black Jack Geary inherits the mantle of leadership, and manages to get his "lost fleet" part of the way home.

The sequel: This story picks up right where the last one left off. The Lost Fleet goes into a Syndicate star system, does some damage, and rescues a group of prisoners of war. In that group is Captain "Fighting" Falco, a man known for many bloody victories, in which both sides took equally heavy losses. Falco is arrogant, ruthless, and power-hungry, as he sincerely sees himself as the savior of the Alliance. He promptly challenges Geary for leadership of the fleet, and eventually leads a mutiny.

With about a quarter of the Lost Fleet now gone, Geary continues to guide the remainder back toward Alliance territory, in as unpredictable a manner as possible, and while causing the Syndicate severe damage along the way. Geary also continues to try to come to grips with how much has changed during his century of stasis, while reintroducing forgotten values and tactics to the Lost Fleet. But, he is not done with Fighting Falco.

What I liked: There is a nice balance between action sequences, dialog, and philosophical introspection. John Geary's character continues to develop, especially as romance and friendship both come unexpectedly into play. Geary also faces temptation, as he is given almost complete obedience by his officers and the opportunity to enact revenge, without questioning or second-guessing. Will he stick to his values, or will he vent his rage? Two of Geary's officers, Duellos and Cresida, also experience good character development in this sequel. I like the writing of Jack Campbell (a.k.a. John Hemry), as it flows well and creates one of those "I don't want to stop" experiences.

What I did not care for: In my opinion, the author missed a chance for this to be an even better story than it is. I have to be careful about making this point, as I do not want to divulge too much of the story, but there is eventually a major confrontation between Geary and Falco, but the Falco character, by that point, has changed in such a way as to make the confrontation almost meaningless. When Falco first enters the story, he is a powerful, charismatic, but flawed man, who could go toe-to-toe with Geary. This prepares the reader for an eventual showdown between two heavyweight contenders, like Muhammed Ali and Joe Frasier. But, instead of being treated to "The Thilla in Manilla," it's more like Joe Frasier stepping into the ring, right after his right arm was amputated. Falco has so changed, by the time the showdown occurs, that he is clearly out of contention, and is no match for Geary. If the author had kept Falco more intact, we (readers) could have had a lot more drama and complexity to the story, which could then have carried over to the next book in the series, Courageous (The Lost Fleet, Book 3). Perhaps, Falco will be rehabilitated and again be a match for Geary. I hope so, as I want Geary to defeat Falco, instead of winning by default.

What baffled me: Uh, where does the title come from? I kept expecting Geary to move from the Dauntless to the Fearless (another ship in the Lost Fleet), but Fearless does not play a significant role in this story.

Conclusion: This is good military science fiction. Despite the flaw in the story-line involving Falco, it's a good read, although not quite on a par with John Scalzi's Old Man's War or The Ghost Brigades.

Fearless was a lot more predictable than its predicessor, therefore loosing some of the excitement of the first one. I was not especially fond of the transition Co-President Rione made, which is the storyline that cost this book a star. Everthing about this book feels like the middle of an arc, building to a bigger conclusion.

Overall, still a a fun read with lots of destruction and the introduction of a possible greater evil that will come to play a larger part than the Syndics.

Anyone whos a nitpicker for Hollywood space physics will instantly love the action of Campbells space battles. The lag between communication and observation, the reletavistic effects on firing and navigation, not to mention the nail-biting atmosphere of "Are we dead but just haven't gotten the memo yet?"

And the drama fan will love the chracters. While a sparse handful are a bit cookie-cutter: The blowhard eltist antaganistic ship captain, the cold, calculating bueracrat, the characters in Fearless do what very few sci-fi characters mangage nowadays, and seem like real people. They grow, evolve, and learn.

Last but not least, the odd Horatio fan will love the main character. Although his flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants style starts to get a bit grating, especially since he's managing to do almost anything but, Captain Jack Black's intelligence and wit, not to mention his sense of (gasp!) morals and ethical rules of war, would find a welcome home in fans of almost any genre

The second in the series is just as interesting as the first. As the story unfolds, the battles continue to be great. And, there are hints of even more adversaries in the future. Can't wait!

One of my great regrets is that C.S. Forester died after only penning about a dozen Horatio Hornblower books.

Fortunately, Jack Campbell appears to be able to channel CSF.

As a young fan of Star Trek back in the 60's, I often heard James Kirk called a "Horatio Hornblower in a starship." Pah. Black Jack Geary, Campbell's hero in this book and its predecessor, is THE stuff.

If you like "fish out of water" stories, this book is for you. If you like naval strategy stories, this book is for you. If you just plain enjoy a rip-snortin' tale, this book is for you.

Now, if Campbell would just get finish the third book...

I like the plot, it's an easy read. I would like to see these books made into a movie(s). Very good strategies in the battle scenes. Very enjoyable.

I think most of the other reviews of this book will have given most of you a good idea of the storyline. It's basically a continuation of the first book, where a fleet of "good guys" is trying to escape from the bad guys, lead by the hero, who happens to be the only human in the Galaxy left who is capable of indepedent thought and lateral thinking.

Overall it's quite enjoyable, but leaves us with several unanswered questions, such as who the mysterious "others" might be influencing the bad guys, and what the poor Captain is going to do once they actually do get back home. You can just see all this bruhaha and politics starting over again.

One thing I did find confusing though was the actual number of ships in his fleet. In the first book, it said there were less than ten. Then in this book, he is able to divide the fleet up into smaller divisions with support craft.

Anyway, I'm waiting eagerly for the next book. I just hope it allows the fleet to achieve something besides sheer survival and personality clashes.

I applaud Mr. Campbell for taking naval fiction into the future instead of yet another rewrite of the Napoleonic war. He has obviously given great consideration to what a space battle would entail--no other science fiction author has, to my knowledge, dealt with the issues presented by ships that can travel at appreciable fractions of the speed of light.

To fully understand these books one must realize that they are not primarily science fiction; rather, The Lost Fleet is a book about leadership, honor, morality and the fighting of war. A Fleet that had lost the nuances of military strategy, with commanders who vote on strategy and then undertake heroic but idiotic frontal assaults has been taken over by a survivor from a prior battle who possesses an understanding of lost tactics and strategy as well as an outdated sense of honor and morality that has been sacrificed to expediency in the endless war.

Book Two adds a couple new wrinkles not the least of which is our hero's realization that there is a very, very dark side to an advanced technology developed during his hibernation. In the same fashion that nuclear weapons changed warfare; "Black Jack" Geary figures out that a new power has emerged and must decide what to do with the knowledge he possesses.

Campbell focuses on his leader and while ostensibly about space battles this author is merely developing a fascinating character. Like O'Brian's Captain Aubrey, John Geary's faith in his training and leadership skills unites a fleet and provides for some excellent adventure. These works are very well written and are a cut above most offerings of the genre to which they supposedly belong. I look forward to following Geary's adventures.

I enjoyed reading these 2 book in the series so far, and am really looking forward to additional installments... it's just taking too long for me! I love the characters and how they are developing. I was disappointed in how the auther moved romance into the series. I felt it was not necessary and found those areas of the book very skimmable. However, that doesn't deter me from looking forward to more of the adventures of the "Lost Fleet", and hope that he moves away from this romance relationship angle.

"Fearless" is an excellent sequel. In addition to creating a compelling page-turner, Campbell has used the first two books in the series to illustrate the importance of ethical conduct and discipline in military conflict. Although the theme is repeated throughout both novels, you do not feel like he is beating you over the head with his point. He has integrated this theme quite well within his text and it's a logical extension of his plot and character development. As military science fiction, it is interesting that he is not fixated on technology, but sticks primarily to tactics and strategy. The technologies he posits are advanced, but they don't detract from the story line. A good seafaring story set in space. Bottom line is that the author spins a compelling space yarn w/o burdening the novel with gimmicks. Character development has a few rough edges, but the story is solid and worth reading. I am looking forward to the third book in the series!

I just finished both books in the series and loved both books. I will be waiting for the third book in the series. You can easily finish the book in two or three days reading so its not really technical reading but the story and characters are just entertaining.

I just finished both books in the series and loved both books. I will be waiting for the third book in the series. You can easily finish the book in two or three days reading so its not really technical reading but the story and characters are just entertaining.

This book finally gets the overall plot moving and gives purpose to the sun loving space battles from book 1

DAUNTLESS set us up with the situation. A fleet is cut off deep on enemy territory due to treachery. It faces a long voyage home and possible annihilation at every step. The fleet is commanded by a hero who has no desire to be a hero. He had been presumed dead for a century but found alive in a stasis pod. This reluctant hero must hold things together and keep his subordinates from doing anything stupid or obvious.

In this installment, the fleet is on its way. It is handicapped by the rescue of another hero from a POW planet. This guy is a primadonna who needlessly wastes lives and who wants to be in command. For him, the frontal assault is the answer to everything. When that does not work, he plots his own little coup with disaffected elements of the fleet.

The hero wants to get his people home but is not adverse to causing some mayhem for the enemy along the way. The way, though, is the LONG way home, where the enemy does not expect him. This makes his subordinates even more fearful of their chances.

It is a compelling story reminiscent of Xenophon's 10,000 and the ANABASIS.

You've been stranded in space, locked up and kept in stasis in a rescue pod. Then there's a fleet, picks you up, welcomes you on board as a legendary hero. Obviously someone didn't keep his mouth shut when they left you to die in defense of their retreat... But had they known you would have survived, they might not have mythologized you quite so much. Anyway... All command officers are executed by the enemy and you have to sort it out.

This is the second book. In the previous one, you save your fleet from annihilation. In this one, you start pounding away at the enemy.

What is rather strange is that it's quite difficult to stop reading. It's not written terribly well. There's too many long monologues. There's not quite enough actions. The space battles sometimes makes you think of the early books of R.A. Salvatore, losing himself in descriptions of fights of which you knew they wouldn't end with the death of the hero. There's not much psychological development of the main character (or actually, of any of the other characters). There's a little too much omnipotence of Jack Geary (obviously, because the author Jack Campbell sees himself as a Jack Geary in real life).

So. This story is really a tale of morals on why the military has the rules it has (discipline, order, military justice etc. etc.). The enemy is the bad guys mainly characterized by the fact that they aren't good military (i.e. don't have any honor, mistreat prisoners etc. etc.).

And yet... It's not really bad either. And quite difficult to stop reading. I think I'll have to buy the 3rd book in this series as well.

I am waiting impatiently for Book 3.

I paid full price for one and two.

A great read, kept up all night -- suspense, great heros, greater villains and a mystery to keep you in suspense.

Nice follow up but a little repititious, very similar to the first book in many respects

Hard to believe it, but for all that this work is involved in the culture of the military, it is not miliporn. Fans of naval engagement science fiction will like the work because much of it rovolves around big engagements. Fans of space battles that address the issues of distance in space and ships moving along realistic trajectories will like this work.

But what is exciting, so far is, that the work is unfolding at a good pace. Character development and the larger pic subplot is slowly unfolding from the first book, to the next. Instead of trying to cram everything into one work on the hope there will be a sequel, the author is trying to build a true story arc.

Does the book have problems? Sure, even though good, the characters are given short shrift. Some of the reactions of characters seem a little over the top. That all said, this is a very well done work and an interesting read.

On top of the mysteries provided, is the great question will the main characte allow himself to become a shadow of a character or a person in their own right. So far the author has done an excellent job of keeping the tension in that question as the character develops.

Read it. Its better than Orphanage,or the Clone Republic series beats anything by Drake, and can hold its head high next the Helmsman series.

As other's have pointed out that this book is really setting up the next book, if not the entire series as some of the hinted "inhuman" concepts occurs again but never really explored in depth.

As in the first book (Dauntless) the space battles are detailed and well executed. If you haven't read the first book then I would recommend reading it, although not completely necessary, but i think you'll miss some of the finer details without it.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the hinted plots play out.

Reason for the 4 stars is for 2 reasons, the book was a little short in it's content (although that didn't hurt the story, I just like long stories) and it took a year for it's release after the first book. Hopefully the next book will come along a little quicker this time.

I truly have become a fan of Jack Campbell. I'm a long-time reader of hard Sci-Fi and this has hit the mark dead-on. I don't go into some of the other reviewers depth when reading a book. I drop any preconceptions of what I expect of a book and just READ it. If the story makes me happy, its a good book. This is a GOOD BOOK. The first book set up the story line and the second fleshed it out a bit and set me up for the third. I, like another reviewer here, despair at the wait between books, but I can't change that.

If you like well thought out space battle sequences with believable technology, these books are for you. If you like the military point of view on ethics and morals, these books are for you. If you like good old shoot-em-ups, these books are for you.

Don't over think your Sci-Fi, just read it. I whole-heartedly endorse this series and truly believe they would be enjoyed by most Sci-Fi readers.