Steadfast

The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, Book 4

By: Jack Campbell

Narrated by: Christian Rummel

New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell’s action-packed Lost Fleet series has propelled readers from deep space to the very edge of their seats. Now Admiral John “Black Jack” Geary embarks on a thrilling new adventure to defend the Alliance and safeguard the future.

Geary and the crew of the Dauntless have managed to safely escort important alien representatives to Earth. But before they can make tracks for home, two of Geary’s key lieutenants vanish. The search for his missing men leads Geary on a far-flung chase, ultimately ending at the one spot in space from which all humans have been banned: The moon Europa. Any ship that lands there must stay or be destroyed—leaving Geary to face the most profound moral dilemma of his life.

To make matters worse, strains on the Alliance are growing as the Syndics continue to meddle. Geary is ordered to take a small force to the border of Syndic space. But what he finds there is a danger much greater than anyone expected: A mysterious threat that could finally force the Alliance to its knees.

As Geary spearheads a desperate battle to protect the Alliance against a shrewd and powerful enemy, he’s left with just one question: Who are they?

©2014 John G. Hemry (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Another great book in the series

What made the experience of listening to Steadfast the most enjoyable?

The narrator really brings the characters the story and characters to life in my minds eye. This is another great book for this series. I can't stop listening. The characters and storyline is one of my favorite of all time.

What did you like best about this story?

The unfolding of some sort of Alliance conspiracy.

Which character – as performed by Christian Rummel – was your favorite?

Blackjack of course.

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

The saga continues.

Any additional comments?

I just can't wait for each release. I hope there are 300 books released for this series.

Bringing a great series back in focus

With the end of the last book (Guardian) and the beginning of this book, it felt like Jack Campbell had kind of lost the direction he wanted to take this series and was hunting for a new direction, which he finally does by the end of the book. The one thing that really saves this story and finally gets the story line back on track is all the clues and intrigue that takes place in this story concerning the behind the scenes threats to Black Jack and the Alliance. It really seems to have become more of a sci-fi mystery novel than a pure military sci-fi, and it really grabs your interest. By the time you get to the last third of the book the author really has the story rocking again, like he did in the early books of this series. In fact the greatest disappointment is when you come to the end of this book. This book is a definite need to read if you follow this series in order to get needed back story and clues for future stories. Also, while having a bit of a fuzzy storyline at the beginning, it really comes into sharp focus at the end. I really HOPE that the next story in this series comes out soon. It really has a great cliff hanger!

PS. This book also contains important clues pointing to the next possible storyline in the Lost Stars series

Fantastic

Another fantastic installment of this book series. I am looking forward to reading the next book.

A lot to like here

Really good narration. Interesting plot with nice mix of overall story, good battle scenes, interesting characters and political intrigue.

great

If you could sum up Steadfast in three words, what would they be?

Another great The Lost Fleet story. I see Jack becoming the politician, which does want to become.

Keeps getting better

The complaints I've had before are pretty much fixed: review of previous incidents for those beginning with is novel have been toned down. No longer are obvious strategies bizarrely missed for extended periods to give a far lower than common denominator of reader the opportunity to figure it out before the characters.

The dialogue between enemies is really superb, the plot twists keep one guessing. Geary is growing up and not whining so much about being Black Jack. Campbell is improving with each book in this series.

Let's change credit - better late than never...

I have been amiss twice and I want to correct it now. First, I apologise to Mr. Hemery, (? Spelling), for using the name Henry in a previous review and I still am not sure that I spelled it right. Secondly I would like to personally congratulate Mr. Rummel for an outstanding presentation throughout both series of the Lost Fleet. His ability and agility in changing dialects and going from male to female voice pitches brings the story to life. Thanks to both of you for the fine entertainment.

Please never finish this series

I look forward to every new Black Jack novel. Steadfast feels like 3 mini stories, which was new. But still enjoyable. Bring on the next installment!

Bridge book between two story lines

Any additional comments?

This books only purpose was to bridge you from the storylines of the past to move you to the next "threat". I enjoyed it but, it felt like the author had a lot of ideas that didn't get fleshed out in this book. As you read it, tangent story lines come and disappear without being followed, leaving you wondering why he even brought it up in the first place. Out of the Lost Fleet books, this is my least favorite. However, after reading this book, I am more excited about the next one, as the book does a great job of setting up a few cliffhangers that should come about next book in the series.

Good story,but a rushed narration

Let me begin by saying I waited a very long time for this book to come out. I downloaded it the morning it came out and had finished it by the end of the day so it's fair to say I was looking forward to it.

The good: The book continues the series nicely and takes some interesting turns and twists that you really won't expect (nothing more about that here). The writing style has matured or at least settled into a good rhythm.

The bad: Christian Rummel is a good narrator but I think this book was narrated as quickly as possible then not proofed at all. He will change pronunciations of the same words during the book (and words he has never mispronounced before), also there are a couple of spots where he just seems to plow through the material without really giving it any thought which is very unlike him.

The bottom line: I listened to this book twice before writing this review and overall it's a darn good book. It's a real shame about the cliffhanger at the end because you'll want the time to be put into the next book to solve the issues we have here but at the same time you'll want it out NOW.