ridel reviewed Fearless (The Lost Fleet, Book 2) by Jack Campbell
Review of 'Fearless (The Lost Fleet, Book 2)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I am biased because I effectively jumped straight from Dauntless to Fearless, so as far as I'm concerned, this is just the second part of a single novel. As such, I found Fearless to be an excellent novel but I can see that as a standalone novel, it doesn't 'do' enough. Similar to Dauntless, the novel feels like it's far too short, as if there's only two acts instead of three. The writing is great though, and the action is thrilling. You will blow through the page count with a smile on your face, so what more can I ask?
Well, as the back of the book will tell you, this novel's enemy isn't the Syndics, but rather the Alliance fleet itself. The mutineers follow a trend of being one-dimensional though, with few positive traits and even less competence. I prefer my antagonists to be competent, sympathetic, and nuanced. We …
I am biased because I effectively jumped straight from Dauntless to Fearless, so as far as I'm concerned, this is just the second part of a single novel. As such, I found Fearless to be an excellent novel but I can see that as a standalone novel, it doesn't 'do' enough. Similar to Dauntless, the novel feels like it's far too short, as if there's only two acts instead of three. The writing is great though, and the action is thrilling. You will blow through the page count with a smile on your face, so what more can I ask?
Well, as the back of the book will tell you, this novel's enemy isn't the Syndics, but rather the Alliance fleet itself. The mutineers follow a trend of being one-dimensional though, with few positive traits and even less competence. I prefer my antagonists to be competent, sympathetic, and nuanced. We learn precious little of the Syndics, and generally I don't know enough to even fear for the Alliance Fleet. The stakes are high, but since we never really know what's coming next, there's not enough foreshadowing to create tension or suspense.
As such, The Lost Fleet continues to be an easy read -- fun, full of action, and unabashedly black and white. I recommend them, but I don't think they create enough emotional investment for you to look back on these and say they're the best.
