Tarnished Knight

The Lost Stars, Book 1

By: Jack Campbell

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author puts the Alliance fleet’s enemy in the spotlight as the people of the Syndicate Worlds attempt to rebuild their lives after Admiral John “Black Jack” Geary defeated them....

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....

If their coup is to succeed, Drakon and Iceni must put their differences aside to prevent the population of Midway from rising up in rebellion against them, to defend Midway against the alien threat of the enigma race - and to ferret out saboteurs determined to reestablish Syndic rule....

©2012 John G. Hemry (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Military science fiction at its very best..." (Catherine Asaro, Nebula Award-winning author of Carnelians)

Excellent read (listen)...

This is an excellent book! (Since there is a word count minimum... thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty.)

Learned a lot about the Syndicate worlds

What did you love best about The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight?

If you enjoy the Black Jack series, you should enjoy this. Fills in background on some of the Syndicate characters met in the Black Jack series, and provides insight into the Syndicate worlds structure and history.

Any additional comments?

Cliff-hanger ending left me anxious for the next in this series.

A good beginning...

The story is almost as engaging as the Lost Fleet books. However, if one hasn't read the Lost Fleet books the story and setting could be a little confusing. Marc Vietor's performance was good but not great; at times it was hard to distinguish the different characters. Christian Rummel has a much larger range of character voices and I wish he were narrating the Lost Stars as well. Overall a good beginning to another series of books from Mr. Hemry.

Good Alternative perspective

If you could sum up The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing Alternative Perspective

Which scene was your favorite?

I won't state one so I don't spoil anything, but in general, my favorite scene were when the main characters were trying to figure out each others angles and if the other could be trusted.

Any additional comments?

The book is similar to what the fall of the USSR was like for people. Russian's lives were dominated by government their whole lives, and once it fell, they had freedoms but didn't know what to do with them. Take the make characters as Ukrainians that have just left the USSR but have to fear Russia's heavy handed tactics that are not limited to economic or political aggression.

Bold view of the other side of the coin! Awesome!

What made the experience of listening to The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight the most enjoyable?

It is rare that you get a series like the Lost Fleet that is so good and so long and then a new series pops up that gives you a view of the story and what is happening from the other side. Getting to see both viewpoints is an amazing thing, and having an author that does it as well as he does is fantastic!

What other book might you compare The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight to and why?

Well, naturally I'd compare it to the Lost Fleet series since they are so intertwined. However, reaching outside the box, I might compare this to the Legion of the Damned Book 1 because they both deal with an enemies destruction, chaos, trying to create or restore order and rebuilding what you can with what you have. Both are great books!

Which scene was your favorite?

A specific scene? I don't know the whole book is so damn good. But my favorite point in the story would be when both CEO's, who are trying desperately not to be CEO's anymore, realize that they just might, might be able to trust one another.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Sure I wanted to, and just about did, although I didn't listen to all of it in just one sitting, I hungrily ate the story up as fast as I could. I can't wait for more!!!

Any additional comments?

ALL of the book by Jack Campbell/John G. Hemry are awesome, I have purchased and read them all and I recommend them to anyone.

Great book

What did you love best about The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight?

Great job by the author of getting readers interested in new characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight?

The attack to get the new battleship.

What about Marc Vietor’s performance did you like?

He did not hurt the story in anyway.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Where the revolution begins.

Lost Fleet still author's best but this is good

Like the continuation and tangent storyline for the syndic systems though could do without some things and a bit more of the captivating space battle scenes from Lost Fleet but this will probably improve as the characters evolve and now that the Enigmas have arrived...

It's A Great Story....

Love me a Jack Campbell story and I love the story told from a completely different point of view, but this one has some difficulties that could have been easily avoided I think.

One, both of the previous series, that this one is a spin-off of, were told from a single view point. The title of this book seems to promise more of the same or at least focus on the Tarnished Knight's character. Instead it includes everybody's point of view and everybody's character! It's only a little off-putting but a different title would have cleared things up.

Two, I was a little put out by the lack of distinctly different voices between distinctly different characters. I had a hard time keeping track of who was talking in the beginning chapters because they were very similar.

Three, there is a huge continuity problem with name pronunciation between series.

Outstanding!

Really, really good story. Only bested by it's predecessor series, The Lost Fleet. If you like that series, you OWE yourself to listen to this one!

Great start to a new spin off series

A corporate communist society, that was defeated, it’s citizens rebelling. I suggest you start with the lost fleet series, which I enjoyed, this time from the other side, for fans of military science fiction, well done, very good characters, and pacing, topped off with strong narration