Resolute

April 4, 2022
Where a famous western says to print the legend, this sincere military space opera, the second in Campbell’s The Lost Fleet: Outlands series (after Boundless), prefers to highlight the honest truth of its star, Adm. John “Black Jack” Geary. Thawed out of suspended animation after nearly a century, Geary finds that his historic sacrifice has become the stuff of legend and feels forced to live up to an unearned heroic reputation. Thrust into command of hundreds of Alliance warships, he must also become a diplomat and a counterterrorist as his orders put him into close cooperation with former enemies and first contact with the alien Dancers. While working to understand the melodic Dancer language, Geary and his allies must also uncover a mutiny that threatens to destroy the developing human-Dancer entente and run the gauntlet in a test of honor when humanity’s newest extraterrestrial contact, the Taon, invite Geary’s armada to visit their home system. Thirteen volumes in, the Lost Fleet series maintains both its ability to put characters through the rigors of military action and to keep its central figure from losing his guileless outlook and unpretentious charm. This is another winner. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary.