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Dauntless was just what the doctor ordered. The last couple of books that I read were slow, plodding things - all about immersion and realism. All of that was great, but sometimes I want a book to reach out of the cover and slap me in the face with bigger than life action. Rest assured, Dauntless delivered.

Black Jack Geary is picked up by a passing Alliance warships. Frozen for a hundred years in deep-freeze hibernation, he was lost and presumed dead. He awakes to find the Alliance still locked in a desperate struggle against the Syndicate and himself as a kind of iconic war hero archetype. Black Jack finds himself abruptly thrust into a leadership position and forced to deal with a severe case of hero worship. Fortunately, Black Jack is more than up to the challenge and he promptly whips his fleet into shape, first escaping the Syndicate trap and then defeating a pursuit force.

Dauntless does what it does very well. The action is quick and well crafted. I love the fact that these star fleet books are basically ships-of-the-line in space. I love big ship to ship battles where grapeshot fills the air along with smoke, guns and cutlasses. My college physics is a little rusty, but I felt like he did a good job of handling starship battles at relativistic speeds - yet the story kept the flavor of the ships-of-the-line. I also liked Black Jack's emphasis on the rule of law and playing by the rules of civilization - not barbarians. Good for all of us to ponder in this day and age.

A couple of odd things about the story. First, the religion felt very generic and sterilized. The alliance fleet pretty much exercised a form of ancestor worship. That combined with sayings like "the living stars" kind of fell flat with me. I felt like the author wanted to have some sort of belief system in the story but didn't want to show favoritism to anyone faith. Not a big deal, but it felt artificial to me. Next, some of the story line felt very formulaic. I can't say that I was surprised about anything that happened (expect for one revelation towards the end of the book). That predictable story line isn't all bad. The book is good enough on its own merits. It was a very fun read.

Four broadsides out of five.