2 AND 1/2 STARS.

I admit I was surprisingly entertained reading this book. Maybe my opinion is a bit clouded since my father was a Captain in WW2, but I had a good time with it. Sure, most of it is predictable with very little added to the genre, but it had loads of energy and the constant technical problem solving situations kept me on my feet. I'm curious to see how this unfolds into an ongoing series.

My big criticism is that it appears everyone but Captain John Geary is quite a few notches down on the intelligence and common sense scale. The way things are written, the Alliance could never have made it this long without him. Using his past strategy as part of their mandatory war tactics is foolish, since every scenario has different variables to consider. After the hundred years Geary was away, it's very hard to believe the commanding officers assumed that there is only one way to go into battle.

If we are to stick with these characters through numerous books, I think more time should be spent on character development, and not just with the main character, John Geary. It would also be nice to see more human decisions rather than the constant cookie-cutter reasoning based on honor. Making mistakes would give the world more realism, and heighten the danger for the Alliance. "Dauntless" is a promising start to a continuing story, but right now, for me, the series is on probation. I will proceed with caution.