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.

Steadfast (The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier) by Jack Campbell

Science Fiction

From Goodreads: 

 Geary and the crew of the Dauntless have managed to safely escort important alien representatives to Earth. But before they can make tracks for home, two of Geary’s key lieutenants vanish. The search for his missing men leads Geary on a far-flung chase, ultimately ending at the one spot in space from which all humans have been banned: the moon Europa. Any ship that lands there must stay or be destroyed—leaving Geary to face the most profound moral dilemma of his life.

To make matters worse, strains on the Alliance are growing as the Syndics continue to meddle. Geary is ordered to take a small force to the border of Syndic space. But what he finds there is a danger much greater than anyone expected: a mysterious threat that could finally force the Alliance to its knees.

As Geary spearheads a desperate battle to protect the Alliance against a shrewd and powerful enemy, he’s left with just one question: Who are they?

I said when Campbell started the second series featuring Jack Geary I did not see how he could keep the same level of tension that he had in the first set of books.  After reading the first Beyond the Frontier books I admitted he has succeeded.  I was expecting the same in Steadfast but it just was not there.  What was there was information needed for the story to continue but it just was not exciting.  I kept reading expecting the book to pick up but it did not until the very end.  That part was exciting and sets up the next book.  If you are a fan of the series as I am you will want to read Steadfast and like me you will be looking forward to the next book.  Just don’t expect the same level of tension that is present in previous books.  Instead Steadfast is like many middle books in a series it is just a filler to set up the next book.

Ace published Steadfast by Jack Campbell in 2014.