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)

Brace yourself... This book is like peanuts.

First, let's get the elephant out of the room. Marc Vietor pronounces Iceni differently than Christian Rummel. Get over it. Move on. I thank the reviewers who have commented on it for preparing me for it, but it happens with names (I was three books into Harry Potter before I found out that Hermione is pronounced Her-My-Oh-Nee not Her-Me-Own), it happens with with Worcestershire sauce, and even with tomatoes.

It is great to see the story from a different perspective and the only thing wrong with this is that it is too engrossing. It was very distracting because I kept trying to steal myself away to listen to just a bit more of the book.

For the last three days my personal productivity has been severely harmed by starting this book. The chapters are like peanuts: you can't consume just one.

I am glad that I waited until only a few weeks before the second book is released to listen to this one.

Listening to this book without the Beyond The Frontier series would be ok, but you would be missing some context. I would not recommend this book if you have not finished The Lost Fleet series, however, as you will miss a lot of the back story.

If you have not listened to the Beyond The Frontier series yet. I would recommend that for you read/listen to the books in the order in which they were released: Dreadnaught, Invincible, although you might swap it with this book (Tarnished Knight), Guardian, then The Lost Stars:Perilous Shield (which I am looking forward to). This book takes place during the time line of Invincible.

After listening to this book, I replayed the start of Guardian again. It was interesting how the story seemed to have changed.

Like peanuts, (to complete the metaphor), there may be a few people allergic to change, for whom this book could be very bad.

good

I have enjoyed the books in these series and the other ones as well. I haven't found one I don't like.

Unusual Start for a Space Opera, but Worth It!

We start just as our heroes are starting a rebellion. The characters aren't really "good guys". They rebel against a corrupt government, not to save the people, but because it is the only way to ensure their own survival. They spend the rest of the book fearing plots from each other. It takes a long time for them to come around to the idea of justice and fairness in society. I found myself on the edge of my seat for large sections of this book. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Better than I thought

Listened to all of the black jack series and enjoyed them . Somehow I found this in my library. Not sure when I picked it up?? Maybe it was on sale?? Who knows. Anyway .. I wasn't really interested in listening to the syndicate side of things but I was in a pinch in traffic and needed something to listen to. I enjoyed it more than I thought . Luckily I have the reference of the black jack series . Not sure how it would be as stand alone. I kept hoping for black jack to make an appearance but he did not!!! Dang it!!! I have to get the next book you dirty CEO

The story of warlords or new government?.

Side story about syndic worlds, in fact about "midway" system,
the main gateway to the alien stars.
The book is written in a bit different style from the main series,
it doesn't fill any wholes or doesn't give any additional information,
that may be crucial for the main series.
The story spends more time in ground and political (not exactly intrigue,
because everything is too crude) actions, and yet some space battles also have presence.

When something big and expensive is broken, there's always someone to pick up the pieces.
And when you are stuck in a place, which is necessary to everyone (alliance, syndics, and neighbors)......
The story tells about emergence of local government and warlords in midway and neighbouring star systems.

P/S
There's nothing else I can say without spoilers, except that I expected more, perhaps I'll get my expectations from the next book.

Solid title. But voice has range limits.

STOP! If this is your first Jack Campbell title, then you'll thank me later for following my suggestion to hold off on this title until after you've completed the "Lost Fleet" and the "Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier" series. Don't worry, you're not losing anything by it. In fact, you'll be gaining a great audio library.

For Lost Fleet vets, you'll enjoy this title. But, don't expect a continuation of Blackjack's exploits here.

This title takes a detour down a parallel track -- one that follows the evolution of the Syndic's Midway star system/government. (You may remember CEO Iceni had a small-ish part in one of the Lost Fleet: Beyond Frontier titles. She takes a starring role in this one.)

Suffice to say, it's a culture shift after having you and I grow up in Alliance space.

It's a nice detour, though, that opens up a potentially whole new storyline -- or two -- for Jack Campbell to explore with us.

Also, Audible picks up a new narrator here. In place of Christian Rummel, we're graced with the performance of Marc Vietor.

Mr. Vietor is good -- that is, as far as one good voice can carry the performance. But it may take some indulgence on your part to get used to the limited inventory he has in his character-voice library. With limited range, all the characters end up sounding similar. :( But, don't let that dissuade you. It's not bad. It's good, in fact -- it's just that it could've been better with more diversity in character-voices.

MY BOTTOM LINE: Expect range limitations in character voices. Expect the mis-pronunciation of CEO Iceni's name (also initially annoying). But, the sooner you can get past those two issues, then the sooner you can sit back and enjoy another great story from Mr. Campbell.

As Enjoyable as Jack Campell's Other Work

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't consider this a standalone - and ideally you'll read it between Dreadnought and Invincible since it takes place during the middle of Invincible.

It gives the perspective of the Syndicate World that wants to break free - and the two main characters, Iceni and Drakon, are both emboldened by but also hampered by their Syndicate upbringing. It's a fun read to see them battle their own nature to do what's right for their people.

The characters aren't carbon copies of the Alliance counterparts. They will sleep with subordinates or assasinate rivals. But at the same time, this really does have a smart set of supporting characters that are very real in their own right.

This book really is the best of both worlds - more Jack Campbell goodness but NOT a carbon copy of previous characters in the series. Refreshingly, this includes both ground based battles and space battles.

Good Read

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

Characters only briefly mentioned before, are expanded

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

Cannot recall just one thing

Have you listened to any of Marc Vietor’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Very Good

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

Yes, pretty much did in a very long series of car rides.

Any additional comments?

seemed slow to start but once it got rolling it was a great Listen, It was hard to switch my listening gears after the lost fleet books, and beyond the stars to go behind the syndic scene, but once I did, I got into it.

Good Read

Enjoyed having a story from the siyndicate side. Looking forward to the next one.

Narrator made it a difficult listen

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

I really struggle with this new series. It's an interesting point of view to see what happened in the Lost Fleet books from the other side's perspective. The story isn't bad, but I was disappointed in how the book was written. It lacked the technical detail and excitement we've come to expect from Jack Campbell of the Lost Fleet series. However, my biggest complaint was the narrator. Why is it when a narrator changes in a series, they feel compelled to pronounce names differently? It's extremely distracting to listen to because I find myself wanting to correct the narrator. It's also hard to identify that it's the same character or star system from the previous narrator because they are pronounced so differently. Do they not listen to the books of the previous narrator before doing the recording? You'd think somebody at the production company would have. I really don't care which pronunciation is correct; just keep it consistent.

What didn’t you like about Marc Vietor’s performance?

Quit pronouncing names different from the prior series!!!!

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably.