Here we find book two of this series. It's kind of regular in the aspect that it's life, as we know it. A single warship, seeking an alliance. The navy and military aspects were strong, but not overbearing. The story is complex and has everything you'd expect in a Sci-Fi tale.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

Sorry, I did not realize this was a sequel to Vanguard. Since my request for Vanguard was declined, there seems to be little point in reading or reviewing the sequel. Thanks anyway.

Ascendant by Jack Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rob Geary and Mele Darcy are called back to help. Once again Glenlyon is in danger after losing one of their two warships. This is military space opera as Geary and Darcy arrive in time to help defend their neighbor Kosatka from attack. While this victory is important all know that they are still in great danger. All of the important characters play a part in Ascendant. There is a very loose web being woven as the colonies realize that they need to work together of be defeated. Geary and Darcy get back home and the stage is set for the next round in the war. For fans of the Lost Fleet series look for the one sentence hint about how the war in that series came about.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

If you have enjoyed Jack Campbell's other series, Lost Fleet and Beyond the Frontier , and Lost Stars , Genesis Fleet series will feel familiar. The writing style, space opera and military strategy are all here. It is a prequel series. Ascendant is the second book, following Vanguard by three years.

The series could be read by those not having read the other series. It is rather fun and comforting to be with characters having the last names of those to follow 100 years later. And I like the style so I have read them all. I liked the audio as well and have bought some of them.

In these new frontiers, the governments and businesses are new; nothing is quite setup or established. Well, the spacecraft may follow old Earth checklists a bit too rigidly. Overall, people need to make decisions about who they will be and how they will live. The Genesis Fleet series is most like the Lost Stars series because of the new governments being created. At the very beginning, it felt slow only because it is so similar but it got interesting quickly as the world and characters, plus space battles, charged into action.

The stories are Jack Campbell classics of people with character strength and compassion and intelligence. The characters are exceptional; people you would want to know, at least, the good guys. The bad guys are not well developed. I do love the space battles and the ground battles. The technology discussions around repairs and battles are also fascinating to me. There is even some humor! I love these stories.

"We could use some beer. And we're a little low on ammo and other supplies. But there's no beer at all."

Ascendant is the second book in Jack Campbell’s Genesis Fleet series, a prequel series to his beloved Lost Fleet books. I enjoyed Vanguard, the first book in the series, even if I found it a little slow-going. So much of its word count was tied up in laying the groundwork for the series that there was less space available for the kind of tight, suspenseful action that Campbell excels at. The scales have tipped back in that direction for Ascendant, and it’s a slightly more satisfying experience because of it.
Campbell’s plots tend to be straightforward and uncomplicated, and Ascendant is no exception. Rob Geary and Mele Darcy, the heroes who helped affirm Glenlyon’s independence from the imperialist ambitions of the Scatha star system in Vanguard, are called back into action when the freighter Claymore is destroyed in an attempt by Scatha to cut off Glenlyon’s trade routes. Geary takes the warship Saber to the Scatha-occupied system of Jatayu to investigate, and possibly avenge, the attack on Claymore, and in the process discovers that Scatha has sent an invasion force to the Glenlyon-allied system of Kosatka and leads the Saber there to help them defend their home.
The bulk of Ascendant’s page count finds Geary’s “space squids” and Darcy’s Marines hanging on by a thread as they try to outpunch, outshoot, and outstrategize the Scathan attackers, and this is for the best. I love Campbell’s massive space battle sequences, where precision matters most – one slight miscalculation can lead to total disaster, and the loss of one ship can erase any chance of victory. Campbell’s characterizations and plotting are merely adequate to the task, but he really knows how to keep a reader gripped by his action scenes. Ascendant is like a good summer action flick – efficiently entertaining and smart enough to satisfy its target audience, though hardly anything to keep your brain cells churning once its over.

I was a fan of the first book and I am a fan of this second book. Jack Campbell has a way of bringing something so colorful to life that I can imagine myself in this world he has created. This story is another heart stopping sci-fi with wonderful characters and unique space battles. I really go into this one and I know you will too.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Space adventure at its finest. This book has tons of action, intelligent characters, underdogs who beat the odds - all the hallmarks of a Jack Campbell novel are here. Humans doing their best against overwhelming forces, taking their wins and losses and still remaining decent, true to who and what they fight for.
One lone ship with a new commander, untried marines and several recently settled worlds surrounded by aggressive neighbors. World councils reluctant to spend money on defence. Now they must band together or surrender their freedom.
I received this book from NetGalley to read and review. Thanks to all.

Second in the Genesis Fleet prequel series, covering the early years of Glenlyon and surrounding colonies, as they work to build up their defenses against those bent on conquest.

Interesting characters and exciting, non-jingoistic military action make for a fine read.

In a universe of faster-than-light travel, humanity has rapidly expanded to new worlds. Most of the settlers are looking for freedom and peace and to leave behind past lives and past failures, but some of the new world powers instead seek domination of others. Three years after the colony of Glenlyon successfully countered such an invasion, Glenlyon is again threatened. Rob Geary, a former fleet officer, and Mele Darcy, a former Marine, lead a group of mostly untried recruits to defend their planet, but soon Geary has to decide if the best way to protect Glenlyon might be to help the colony of Kosatka, which is also under attack. Already at work to save Kosatka are their former allies Lochan Nakamura, a self-described failed politician, and Carmen Ochoa, whose early life in the crime-ridden anarchic colony of Mars had given her survival skills she had hoped never to need again. The future of their respective worlds depends on them.
There were more battles in Ascendant than in Vanguard, the first book in this series, which is not something I would normally consider a plus, but in Campbell’s hands even I enjoyed them. Jack Campbell is a Naval Academy graduate and retired naval officer, and his professional expertise lends a very authentic feel to his novels. The reader gets a vivid sense of the best of military dedication, ethics, and bonding, as well as the frustrations of dealing with the (mostly civilian) bureaucracy! The military tactics and battle descriptions are convincing and interesting, and I was especially entertained by some clever tricks the good guys pulled on the invaders.
What really makes me come back to Campbell’s writing, though, are his characters. These are real people, who react as real people do and cause the reader to care about them and the problems they face as they risk themselves to defend their families and their worlds. The following is a good example of Campbell’s blend of military thinking and genuine humanity:
“Carmen took a look back at the park, wondering how much longer those trees would stand. If the fight went on for long inside the city, the enemy would realize those leaves offered too much concealment. A single overpressure munition would strip the trees of leaves and bark and smaller branches, leaving bare trunks where a small, cultivated forest had once stood.
Somehow the thought of that bothered her more than the craters in the streets and the holes in some of the buildings.”
Although they are clearly part of their series, both Vanguard and Ascendant have natural and satisfactory conclusions, but I recommend reading them in order, both to avoid spoilers and because of the strong character development that begins in the first book. I highly recommend this series and look forward eagerly to the next installment.
Stellar military SF!