I feel I should note that my mockery of this book is not because it is bad so much as because it is mockable.

Right, so Captain John Geary gets into the lifepod, after having stayed behind to cover everyone's retreat, and initiates suspended animation to pass the time until he's picked up. He gets out of the lifepod, and its a hundred years later, mid-battle in the same war, still being fought. Somehow, his defense of the retreating ships is remembered as one of the war's first acts of heroism, and he finds that he is remembered as "'Black' Jack Geary" and idolised.

After he is scooped out of his life-pod, and wandering around stunned, the fleet commander informs him that the fleet's senior staff is going to be going over to the enemy flag-ship to negotiate terms for a truce, and they're going to leave Geary in charge, as he is technically the seniormost officer. "But don't worry," he doesn't say, "They will almost certainly not kill us all and leave you in charge. Taking all our Senior officers to their flagship is a totally un-suspicious demand!"

Shockingly, they are all killed, and the enemy demands the surrender of the fleet. Geary finds himself in command of a fleet he knows nothing about, with knowledge of the tactical situation and military technology that's a mere 100 years out of date.

But even worse, he discovers that in the last hundred years, the navy has become alarmingly slack; they don't even salute anymore, have lost any knowledge of tactical manoeuvring, preferring to hurl themselves defiantly to their deaths, and are accustomed to giving their commanding officer backchat. It is difficult to tell which of these horrifies Geary more.

A great deal of the book concerns Geary dealing with his legend; he insists he is no one special, but also insists on his way or the highway. And, as Geary reintroduces radical ideas like 'not killing prisoners' and 'not walking into traps', those around him are astounded by his brilliance and moral courage. Geary must cope with the twin scourges of his undeserved reputation for awesomeness, and the pressure of being just that much more awesome than everyone.

Also: John, 'Black Jack' Geary, hero of a book written by Jack Campbell. Just sayin'.