“The Lost Fleet: Valiant” by Jack Campbell is his fourth installment in the military sci-fi series. Once again Mr. Campbell’s writing is excellent and his technique in portraying the overall continuity and logistics of ship-to-ship battles are some of the best I’ve read. What I felt was missing in this chapter were Captain Geary’s three tiered self-rationalization for many of his motives and subsequent actions. I felt that this ongoing internal dialogue of Captain Geary was what set him apart from many of the cookie cutter characters I’ve read in the past. In any case, this was a decent volume and I shall be picking up the next chapter soon enough. ( )

If you like military SF at all, you should be reading this series. After a century of war with the Sydicated Worlds, the Alliance fleet, led by the reluctantly legendary Captain "Black Jack" Geary, is trapped deep in enemy territory, trying desperately to get home with technology that could finally win the war. If they fail, the Alliance is left with no defenses to speak of.

This is the fourth book. It's as good as the others, with the familiar space battles, fleet politics, and ethical questions. New treacheries unfold, and potential allies are found in unexpected places. Captain Geary's fundamental decency continues to stand him in good stead. And he remains clueless about women. (To my mind, those are the weakest bits of the series, but you don't read military SF for the romance.)

This is very much a middle book, with all that implies, but it's well worth reading. Start at the beginning, not here, but don't skip this one. ( )

I was looking forward to this as the series has kept my interest so far, but now it seems to be rehashing the previous plots. Did anything new happen?

Do we not see the plots of the previous books,

Flee from the enemy, can't seem to shake them, have a battle, survive, find a new idea based on an old idea, have plotters and detractors, fight the feelings of love...

This book didn't move enough of the overall plot. Perhaps Campbell got a multi book deal and is stretching it. ( )

These books are pretty much like candy...a quick, pleasant hit with not much nutrition. :-)

Imagine E. E. "Doc" Smith writing a Hornblower novel and you sort of have the plot basis. If Campbell doesn't get the fleet home and turn the novels in another direction, I think they will get boring soon. However, for the moment they are a trashy diversion from anything serious and I suck them down in a couple of hours. ( )

The Alliance Fleet let by John Geary isn't back to Alliance Space yet, but they are still alive and fighting. Somehow Campbell makes this book worth reading, even though it seems like it should be just a repeat of books 2 and 3. Definitely worth it if you are a fan of this series. ( )