A Just Determination

JAG in Space, Book 1

By: Jack Campbell

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Equipped with the latest weaponry, and carrying more than 200 sailors, the orbiting warship USS Michaelson is armored against the hazards of space and the threats posed in the vast nothing between planets. But who will protect her from the threats within?

Ensign Paul Sinclair is assigned to the Michaelson as the ship's lone legal officer, a designation that carries grave consequences when the ship's captain, Pete Wakeman, is ordered to return to port for court-martial. His crime: ordering the destruction of a civilian research vessel. What happens when a man of power breaks a law that reaches across the universe? The answer is for Sinclair to expose or to conceal, actions that could destroy the futures of both men.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction written and read by author Jack Campbell.

A Just Determination was originally published as "by John G. Hemry".

©2003 Ace (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Great story and insights into a NAVY officers life

John G Henry aka Jack Campbell is a great story teller. His books make out a rather large portion of my library because of this. He makes his characters interesting, thrilling and you get compassion for/against the characters in all of his books. As such, it's always a good book, a good read.

The JAG in space series is no exception. But if Mr. Henry thought he was writing about a fictional space navy, he's severely mistaken. The science in these books don't work - not even close. When the mechanics of driving "space" ships are described, all I see his real navy ships and real sea-bearing ships as they dock, operate, move etc. - everything is very 2 dimensional in this series - very little is up/down - it's all about that 360 degree space a NAVY officer would know on earth. So there's some insights into how life working on these sea-fearing vessels that stay at sea for months at a time is. What stresses, and what kind of work an (line) officer of the Navy would face, the bureaucracy that governs everything from deployments, to orders, to personnel matters. And that just makes the books more interesting - behind the fiction is something learned, something communicated about the sacrifice our sailors make.

Nick Sullivan makes this audio book worth a listen. There's very little "said X" but through voice inflections you get a real sense of which character is talking. It's a very clear voice, engaged and knows how to create the drama the book contains. And what seems to happen less and less, Mr. Sullivan is the performer for ALL the books in the series so there's consistency.

And while the story is fiction, it doesn't take a genius to recognize some of the events Mr Henry must have been part of during his service in the US Navy. An interesting career which I'm sure has given him lots of materials for books to come.

I didn't deduct ratings for the issues I have with the books. I can overlook them although at times parts do bother me during the book. As I already mentioned, this is supposed to happen in space, but still up is up, down is down at all times. Navigation is all about movements on the same plane. Some fictitious ship functions like the camouflage system using cameras and screens are just head-banging "absolutely not possible". It's like the position of the observer isn't even considered when the system is described. Motion in space doesn't have "stop" - you don't slow down by cancelling propulsion (real ocean vessels of course do slow down). Then there's the constant assumption that the bridge on a space going vessel would have much in common with that of sea-fearing vessels. No windows, no view - it's all screens and sensor data - but for some reason, a big part of the structure provided in the book has electronic ears/eyes in a different area that has to tell the bridge what is going on. It makes no sense that visual presentation of what sensors are showing is outside the vessel wouldn't be visible on a bridge where no windows exist. But of course it makes sense on old navy vessels on the ocean. This kind of stuff is annoying but if you instead of thinking "space navy" think "real navy" it's a very interesting story that keeps you engaged and hence these errors aren't a problem.

Mr Henry has a different series "The Lost Fleet" where he attempts to better describe the physics of space going vessels. In there the idea of the Z axis all of a sudden appears and becomes important, although the concept of "up and down" still seems to be earth-bound and earth defined. What I'm trying to say is, don't read this to listen to a good description of what a potential future space fleet will look like. Read this as a description of what current naval warfare looks like, and you will like me start to really like the stories.

great story as usual with Jack Campbell

well done great detail about naval protocol. made it seem real. it's worth reading the next few see where this storyline goes.

a severely underrated science fiction novel

John Grisham in space if you don't immediately smile at the proceeding phrase then this book probably not for you. the science fiction is just about as hard as it gets no magic minerals hear the laws of physics are firmly adhered to. and speaking of law the legal situations are portrayed with enough detail to make any John Grisham fan cackle in glee

the characters are flashed out nicely so that you actually care about what happens Paul and his shipmates

performance is the usual audible frontiers some people love it some people hate it there's really nothing remarkable about it

A Reasonably Good Story

This was a good story but much less exciting than the Lost Fleet series. Recommended if you like day to day life of a junior officer type stories. But set in space in the future. The narration wasn't bad but not as good as some I have heard. Overall, between the narration and the story, I did find the pace a bit slow at times.

Heart throb dull story.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. Not Jacks best. Filled with navy trivia (ex navy). Dull day to day living, court room accounts, very predictable story and out come. Dumb stand by hero at end of story.

What could Jack Campbell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

some action in story line.

Which character – as performed by Nick Sullivan – was your favorite?

none

Did A Just Determination inspire you to do anything?

not read any more in series!

Entertaining

Paul was an interesting ensign, especially regarding his morals, but I guess he wouldn't seem realistic to most people if he doesn't have a weakness.. I would have enjoyed it even if he made all the right choices. This great story was more about the the ships legal officer than about the lawyer.

This is NOT Blackjack Geery!

An introduction by John G. Hemry (the author's real name) tells us that the series's title (JAG is Space) is a pure rip-off of the TV series. In fact the central character is not JAG at all, but a brand new ensign joining his first billet, on a medium-sized "US Navy spaceship". Ensigns always get a primary mission and several secondary missions. Paul Sinclair gets stuck with "Legal Officer". Campbell/Hemry could just as easily have situated this book in today's Navy. The congruence is about 99%. The ship is nothing particular, with good officers and lesser ones. The captain is a careerist, but no more so than many in the armed services. Then "stuff happens", and Ensign Sinclair must make some tough choices.
This is a book about the military... in which there is almost no action. It is not about war, it is about sailors and about one man's apprenticeship of duty.
HIGHLY recommended.

An interesting change of view

Like the Lost Fleet series show a military from the point of view of commanding officers, this book shows a story from the point of view of a regular Ensign. If you liked John G Henry's The Lost Fleet series, you will like this one. It does not have alot of space combat, but the characters are interesting and the Narrator is good.


Note: It seams that the author got really irked by getting told to change "happy" for "glad" since it's the second time it is referred in one of his book.

Not bad but not Hemry at his best

Jack Campbell/John Hemry presents a slow, methodical Space JAG story with glimmers of his future brilliance. Great characters and conversations with interesting interactions among a crew. Good insights into Navy discipline.

True Depiction of the Navy

First off, I was a little hesitant to listen to this book because of the bad reviews but I took the plunge and it was worth it. Jack Campbell has served in the Navy and knows that navy life isn't very exciting. Campbell describes the day to day life a young ensign straight out of the Navy Academy. Campbell has also obviously read the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) and the JAGMAN (Judge Advocate General's Manual) and the Manual for Courts-Martial because he depicts a very realistic court room environment.

The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that A Just Determination is a lot like the Caine Mutiny just in space, however I enjoyed this a lot more than the Caine Mutiny.

The only unrealistic thing is that one officer in the course of his three year tour of duty on board his ship would be involved in four separate court martials, but that's the only way to make it into a series and the whole series is amazing.

A must read for military, sci-fi, and lawyer fans.