Ascendant is Campbell’s second book in his prequel series to the Lost Fleet. Rob Geary’s colony world of Glenlyon is under threat again and the government must once again turn to Rob to save the day. Whilst their fellow colonists on Kotsatka are facing internal revolution funded by their and Glenlyon’s common enemies and who inevitably are going to need guess who to save their day as well!
Although great fun adventure science fiction, these are definitely on the lighter side of my reading. The heroes are just a little too darn heroic:
“I’m not in this to build a career,” Rob said. “There’s a job that needs doing, and I’m doing it.”
“You’re a Marine. Which means you get the job done and done right.”
But that sort of stuff aside this is good adventure space opera but with a significant portion of ground military action making it more comparable with the Lost Stars Syndicate spin off than the Lost Fleet series itself. The writing is, as ever, reasonably slick and easy to read. The characters are a little too perfect. Yes, they have their flaws but they are just so earnestly and uncomplicatedly good that there were times when a nearby bucket could have been useful! But it is without doubt another instalment of good fast paced military science fiction and that’s something I can get behind so long as it isn’t quite as nauseous as some examples of the genre that I have come across.
4/5 stars (just)
Although great fun adventure science fiction, these are definitely on the lighter side of my reading. The heroes are just a little too darn heroic:
“I’m not in this to build a career,” Rob said. “There’s a job that needs doing, and I’m doing it.”
“You’re a Marine. Which means you get the job done and done right.”
But that sort of stuff aside this is good adventure space opera but with a significant portion of ground military action making it more comparable with the Lost Stars Syndicate spin off than the Lost Fleet series itself. The writing is, as ever, reasonably slick and easy to read. The characters are a little too perfect. Yes, they have their flaws but they are just so earnestly and uncomplicatedly good that there were times when a nearby bucket could have been useful! But it is without doubt another instalment of good fast paced military science fiction and that’s something I can get behind so long as it isn’t quite as nauseous as some examples of the genre that I have come across.
4/5 stars (just)
