A good science fiction writer can make
a space battle exciting. A great science fiction writer can make
conversation just as exciting. Jack Campbell is a great science
fiction writer.
Jack Campbell, in fact the pen name of
John G. Hemry, arrived on the scene some time ago, with his
now-completed six book Lost Fleet series. The series chronicled the
efforts of a massive Alliance space fleet to escape from deep inside
the territory of the Syndicate Worlds, an enemy state with whom the
Alliance has been at war for a century and who has managed to lure
the Alliance fleet into a potentially catastrophic ambush. The
fleet's only hope is Captain John 'Black Jack' Geary, a fabled
Alliance hero found drifting in a survival pod, a man a hundred years
out of his time and a captain several ranks out of his depth. But
the war has been a slaughter on both sides, with the institutional
wisdom of both state's star fleets completely wiped out, and Geary, a
well-educated product of a less rushed era, may well be the greatest
fleet commander of this time.
In the follow-up series, Lost Fleet:
Beyond the Frontier, Geary is tasked by the Alliance leadership to
once more lead the Alliance fleet into danger. This time, however,
his orders are to go beyond Syndicate Worlds space, to explore what
seems to be the realm of the first non-human sentient species
humanity has ever encountered, and one that seems as paranoid as it
is hostile.
Oh, did you assume the Alliance was
humanity, and the Syndicate Worlds were the aliens?
That's one of the more notable aspects
of Campbell's work; the man is absolutely miserly with description.
I originally picked up the Lost Fleet somewhere around the middle,
and there seemed no reason not to assume the Syndics, as those in the
Syndicate Worlds were referred to as, were non-human. More than
that, even, Campbell at no point provides any real description of
Geary himself, or the other key characters in the series, leaving it
pretty much entirely to the reader's imagination to visualise who
these people are and what they look like. In the hands of a lesser
writer this would seriously hamper the reader's ability to immerse
themselves in the story, but to Campbell's credit he writes with a
spare but powerful style, emphasizing dialogue and conflict, both
military and interpersonal, over adjectives. The result is a
pulp-style novel in the best sense of the word, a fast-pace story
that whisks the reader along so fast they don't stop to wonder about
little things like what people look like.
With the first book in the Lost Fleet:
Beyond the Frontier series, Campbell really pushes his talents to the
limit. For a book about a powerful military fleet venturing out to
confront hostile aliens, most of the book revolves around Geary
struggling to balance the demands of the much-maligned government,
the orders of a frankly moronic headquarters, and factions within the
fleet who would be more than happy for Geary to overthrow the lot of
them and crown himself king, or at least president-for-life. But
rather than be dragged down by what could otherwise have been a dull
series of the brilliant Geary running rings around these
future-rubes, Campbell gives us a man who still believes in the
ideals of the century-old, peace-time Alliance, not the admittedly
squallid realities of an Alliance that's been feeding men and women
into a meat grinder for a hundred years, with all the social damage
such actions would bring. So while he could easily disregard the
politicians and the bureaucrats, trading on his status as a living
legend and folk hero, Geary finds himself constrained by his sense of
honour to abide by the laws of the Alliance, no matter how unworthy
those who make and implement the law may seem. Campbell never tires
of giving Geary a problem and then forcing him to think his way
through to a solution, one that balances four different factions'
demands, the best interests of the fleet and of the Alliance, and his
own personal honour all at the same time, and as a result even
Geary's more mundane struggles make for compelling drama.
You don't have to have read the
original Lost Fleet series to pick up Lost Fleet: Beyond the
Frontier, but I would definitely recommend it. While Campbell does a
serviceable job of catching new readers up on the broad strokes,
there are a whole host of events, characters and details he glosses
over, and while none of them are vital, knowing about them would
greatly increase the appreciation of the story Campbell is telling
with this latest installment in the life of 'Black Jack' Geary.
No comments:
Post a Comment