Leviathan (The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier #5) by Jack Campbell

Science Fiction/Space Opera

What Goodreads Says:

“One of the best military science fiction series on the market,” (Monsters and Critics) The Lost Fleet delivers thrilling combat on a grand space opera scale. Now, Admiral John “Black Jack” Geary embarks on a brand new mission—to defend the Alliance from itself—in New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell’s latest action-packed novel…

Two Syndicate World star systems have fallen prey to a mysterious fleet of warships—a fleet controlled entirely by artificial intelligence—that is now targeting Alliance space. The warships are no mystery to Geary. They were developed by his government to ensure security, but malfunctioned. If the Syndics learn the truth, the war with the Alliance will resume with a vengeance. 

As the government attempts to conceal the existence of the A.I. warships—and its role in their creation—Geary pursues them, treading a fine line between mutiny and obedience. But it soon becomes clear that his fleet is no match for the firepower of the machine-piloted armada.

With the help of the Dancer species of aliens, Geary has tracked the A.I. ships to their secret base in the supposedly mythical Unity Alternate star system where his fleet, the last hope of the Alliance’s future, will end the conflict at any cost.

I was disappointed in Steadfast, the last book of the series, but Campbell is back on track with Leviathan.  Once again Geary has to save the Alliance.  This time he has to save it from its own mistake.  He does not do it alone. The final save comes from a very unlikely source. 

If you like space battles, interesting characters, unusual aliens and impossible odds Leviathan is for you.  It can read as a stand-alone but read the entire series starting with The Lost Fleet for maximum enjoyment.

Ace published Leviathan by Jack Campbell in 2015.

I received an ARC of Leviathan from Netgalley in return for  an honest review.

Guardian (The Lost Fleet) by Jack Campbell

Science Fiction/Space Opera

From Goodreads:

"Admiral Geary’s First Fleet of the Alliance has survived the journey deep into unexplored interstellar space, a voyage that led to the discovery of new alien species, including a new enemy and a possible ally. Now Geary’s mission is to ensure the safety of the Midway Star System, which has revolted against the Syndicate Worlds empire—an empire that is on the brink of collapse.

To complicate matters further, Geary also needs to return safely to Alliance space not only with representatives of the Dancers, an alien species, but also with Invincible, a captured warship that could possibly be the most valuable object in human history. Despite the peace treaty that Geary must adhere to at all costs, the Syndicate Worlds regime threatens to make the fleet’s journey back grueling and perilous.

And even if Geary escortsInvincibleand the Dancers’ representatives safely unharmed, the Syndics’ attempts to spread dissent and political unrest may have already sown the seeds of the Alliance’s destruction."

This is short and sweet this time.  I have followed this series from the beginning.  Guardian has the same cast of characters and is a continuation of the previous Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier books.  Guardian is a good story but for me it lacked the tension that was part of the previous books in the series.  I could not tell from the ending if this was the last book in the series or if there will be more.  If there are more I will continue to read.  

I think reading this series from the start is the best way to know what is going on.

Ace published Guardian by Jack Campbell in 2013.