KCR: The Lost Fleet #2: Courageous (novel)

The lost fleet series is about a man who does what he can to keep a fleet together, so he can see home again. However, much of the "action" consists of verbal byplays between John "Black Jack" Geary, the main character, with his officers and other people such as Co-President Victoria Rione, who's Geary's lover. This is the third book in the series, so it's hard to explain this book without explaining the background..

Background info: The Alliance has been at war with the Syndicate (Syndics) for over 100 years. A major alliance fleet on the way to attack Syndic homeworld was repulsed by an ambush and superior numbers. The battered fleet also recovered John "Black Jack" Geary, lost in space in cryo-sleep for 100 years from a previous action. During that time, Geary became a legend. Now that he'd came back in the flesh, fleet regulations made him the most senior officer in the fleet, Geary takes over as the new fleet commander, trying to take the battered and bruised fleet with its marines back to the Alliance. But many in the fleet are afraid of Geary, or want to protect their own powerbase...

This book is just a continuation of the previous action, as nothing was really resolved. Instead, a few bits of information have been revealed. The hyperspace gates have given the Syndics a strategic advantage, but Geary's fleet is also sensing that the Syndic civilian populace may not be fully behind the war effort as it seems. However, there seem to be hidden menace hiding in the background. What is this menace?

While each book adds a bit to the story, there's also no sense of completion. If you prefer serial fiction, give it a try, as this book will drag into 7-10 books easily.

Rating: read one and see if you like it to keep reading