Tarnished Knight
Lost Stars #1
By Jack Campbell
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The authority of the Syndicate Worlds’ government is crumbling. Civil war and rebellion are breaking out in many star systems despite the Syndic government’s brutal attempts to suppress disorder. Midway is one of those star systems, and leaders there must decide whether to remain loyal to the old order or fight for something new.
CEO Artur Drakon has been betrayed. The Syndic government failed to protect its citizens from both the Alliance and the alien enigmas. With a cadre of loyal soldiers under his command, Drakon launches a battle for control of the Midway Star System—assisted by an ally he’s unsure he can trust…
CEO Gwen Iceni was exiled to Midway because she wasn’t ruthless enough in the eyes of her superiors. She’s made them regret their assessment by commandeering some of the warships at Midway and attacking the remaining ships still loyal to the Syndicate empire. Iceni declares independence for the Midway Star System on behalf of the people while staying in charge as “President.” But while she controls the mobile fleet, she has no choice but to rely on “General” Drakon’s ground forces to keep the peace planet-side…
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I don’t read a lot of Science Fiction – as you might have guessed by know I am much more an epic fantasy kinda guy – however I have read Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet series, And it’s good.
A Space-Opera/Military Science Fiction juggernaut the Lost Fleet series is a tale of two star empires who have been warring for so long neither side can recall why the war started. Into this mix is thrust a man, a legendary hero of early battles thought long dead, who’s just been found in suspended animation in an escape capsule that (after one hundred years) was just about to run out of power. Not only does he recall the military traditions, tactics and disciplines now forgotten by a naval starfleet that desperately refills their ever depleting ranks with soldiers just out of training, but he becomes responsible for getting the remnants of the last major fleet of his peoples navy back home when it is trapped – surrounded – by enemy forces in the middle of said enemies homeworld star system.
Campbell offers an exceedingly readable and fast paced story of politics, human emotion, sacrifice and madness, titanic space battles, duty and honour, and a hint of mystery – this six book series starts
here and is well worth a read.
This new series is a spin-off series that runs parallel to The Lost Fleets sequel series The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier (which starts
here)and while I am woefully behind on this I am looking forward to grabbing a copy of Tarnished Knight asap!
