Amazons, Lost Fleets, and Lying In The Rye
The biggest news in the publishing world over the past week centered around what can loosely be described as a playground stand-off between Amazon and Macmillian over eBook pricing. As many Macmillian published authors and their fans took sides over the disagreement, I spent that time finishing book three of the The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell, Courageous. Fortunately these books weren’t affected by that recent event.
So far there have been five books to The Lost Fleet series with a sixth due out at the end of April 2010.
Starting in 2006 with Dauntless, the storyline follows the tribulations of Captain John “Black Jack” Geary assuming the command of a fleet of warships 100 years after he was presumed dead when his own battleship was destroyed in an epic battle that transformed him into a mythic hero. Using coordinated battle tactics and an adherence to command authority, he uses the techniques which were forgotten during the past century he spent in hibernation to bolster his fleet’s ability to wage war in an effort to successfully return the fleet to its home world.
Jack Campbell is actually a pen name for John G. Hemry who has authored two other series, Stark’s War and Paul Sinclair (aka JAG In Space), among many short stories, some of which have appeared in Analog magazine. He’s a retired United States Navy officer and draws on his experience while writing.
So far, I’ve read Dauntless, Fearless, and Courageous. I wish I could remember how I came upon the series but it wasn’t until book five, Relentless, was published. But before I read Valiant and Relentless, I’m going to take a detour from space battles by taking a trip with an American classic: J. D. Salinger’s The Cacher In The Rye.
J. D. Salinger passed away a short time ago on January 27 due to natural causes. It occurred to me at the time that I had not read any of his works. I’m assuming that The Catcher In The Rye was among the many reading assignments I was given in school which I deftly ignored throughout. So with book in hand, I start making up for lost time.
