Leviathan

The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, Book 5

By: Jack Campbell

Narrated by: Christian Rummel

The Lost Fleet delivers thrilling combat on a grand space-opera scale. Now Admiral John "Black Jack" Geary embarks on a brand-new mission - to defend the Alliance from itself - in New York Times best-selling author Jack Campbell's latest action-packed novel....

Two Syndicate World star systems have fallen prey to a mysterious fleet of warships - a fleet controlled entirely by artificial intelligence - that is now targeting Alliance space. The warships are no mystery to Geary. They were developed by his government to ensure security but malfunctioned. If the Syndics learn the truth, the war with the Alliance will resume with a vengeance.

As the government attempts to conceal the existence of the AI warships - and its role in their creation - Geary pursues them, treading a fine line between mutiny and obedience. But it soon becomes clear that his fleet is no match for the firepower of the machine-piloted armada.

With the help of the Dancer species of aliens, Geary has tracked the AI ships to their secret base in the supposedly mythical Unity Alternate star system where his fleet, the last hope of the Alliance's future, will end the conflict at any cost....

©2015 John G. Hemry (P)2015 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"One of the best military science fiction series on the market." (Monsters and Critics)

Still The Best Space Opera Out There

I am very impressed at how good this series is even after all these books. I never get tired or bored - or feel that we have retreads of the same story. Campbell manages to up the game every so slightly and effectively with each book - going places I would never have imagined. It's made for wonderful reads that I can't put down (or, in this case, stop listening to the Audible version).

Story: The Dark Ships - a fully automated fleet of highly maneuverable ships - has attacked human worlds. It's clear the AI has gone rogue and is using its own justifications to eradicate humanity. Geary's fleet is at a disadvantage - but if he doesn't confront the Dark Ships, too many people will die. Forced into a head to head confrontation at a secret star base, all his cleverness will not be able to get him out of this battle without losses. For once, he will have to rely on the intelligence and the sacrifices of those under him.

At first, I did not think the story would be as engrossing as it ended up being by the end. Most of Geary's traps in previous books were avoided through quick thinking and some luck. But the situation facing Geary now is either to battle head on or run and allow the Dark Ships to destroy worlds. It makes for taut reading as the losses start to mount in the Lost Fleet. There is also interesting information given about the Dancers and the Kiks as Geary learns more about them.

Leviathan does conclude the story arc resoundingly, if tragically. I listened to the audible version and it was smooth as the previous versions, using the same narrator. I hate to have to wait another year for the next book.

A Good Ending

I have listened to all the Lost Fleet books. they have been well written, and given me a much better perspective of the realities of space travel. Leviathan is a good cap stone to this aspect of the story. Christian Rummel did an excellent job. He has on all the List Fleet books.

Another wonderful Black Jack episode.

Battles won. Heroic warriors lost. A glimmer of hope for the Alliance. Will mankind never learn from its past?

good ending to a great series

it was a good ending to a great series.. I recommend starting from the beginning with the very first book.

A Terrific Finish

Although I may have personally wished for an Epilogue that saw Dauntless arriving at Unity and numerous Senators held to account, I believe someone said, 'that would be over egging the pudding'.
"Leviathan" completed the pattern that was satisfying and left no ends undone.

Alas the last book.

Please make another one Jack so that we can see the mystery of the dancers. And please give Black Jack some vacation days!

great adult science fiction

a wonderful read. a great serious keeps your interest to the end and keeps you wanting more. I like the fact that there's not a lot of profanity in it yet it's a great adult science fiction series. thank you Jack Campbell

A good end to a great series.

it will be great to see what else the Admiral gets up to, the possibilities are Boundless for a follow up. ;)

What an exciting conclusion?

This again was a great book by the author. the story float along nicely and continued the same theme as a previous titles in the series.

I was completely taken in with the characters and the plot and was disappointed when the story ended. I just can't get enough of Blackjack Geary!

if you listen to the other titles in the series you'll be happy that you listen to this book as well. thank you Mr. Hemry.

I still love the storyline, but...

I feel like Mr. Campbell is just milking the character and situations. Honestly I wouldn't be bothered as much if he didn't mention certain things constantly; all character dev information that you would know if you read any of the books in either story arc. For example, how many times does it need to be pointed out about Geary's century long hyper sleep? There must be a length that Mr. Campbell needs to hit.

I will continue to buy the series, but I'm more interested in the parallel series at this point.