The Lost Fleet

[rhondabrwn]

Just finished reading the entire "Lost Fleet" series by Jack Campbell and was fascinated by the space battles depicted. It was the most realistic and believable system that I have ever encountered since it accounts for the physics of starship combat when moving at 30,000 Kilometers a second including distortion of visual and sensor data of objects moving at such incredible speeds. As I was reading it, I just couldn't get the idea out of my head that this would make one heck of a space battle simulation game.

I would view it as something like "Total War in Space" with strategic movement of fleets between star systems using jump drives or the HyperNet which then drops into a tactical display within the system. Sounds a lot like the "Total War" series in concept doesn't it?

Anyone else read the series and share this vision?

If you haven't read the series and are a sci-fi buff, then I highly recommend it.

If you are game designer... think about this for a new product!

[joeblack1862]

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn

Just finished reading the entire "Lost Fleet" series by Jack Campbell and was fascinated by the space battles depicted. It was the most realistic and believable system that I have ever encountered since it accounts for the physics of starship combat when moving at 30,000 Kilometers a second including distortion of visual and sensor data of objects moving at such incredible speeds. As I was reading it, I just couldn't get the idea out of my head that this would make one heck of a space battle simulation game.

I would view it as something like "Total War in Space" with strategic movement of fleets between star systems using jump drives or the HyperNet which then drops into a tactical display within the system. Sounds a lot like the "Total War" series in concept doesn't it?

Anyone else read the series and share this vision?

If you haven't read the series and are a sci-fi buff, then I highly recommend it.

If you are game designer... think about this for a new product!

Are these available via Kindle?

[joeblack1862]

I was a bit lazy there....

Just checked and the answer is... not for the UK, damn.

[rhondabrwn]

Yea, I read them on Kindle. I probably wouldn't have bought the series in paperback as I have way too many books piled up everywhere in my bedroom. Hah... and now I have books piling up on my Kindle screen [:D]

Seriously, getting a Kindle has "rekindled" my love of pleasure reading.. I carry it around with me and pop it open at every free moment. Somehow it is so much easier to read on it with my aging eyes... less glare... easy to read type... variable type size... and it always remembers where I left off when I closed it. And now they have a Kindle 3 for $139 available next month.

It makes a difference if you are in the UK for a Kindle download? Wow... I had no idea there were geographical limitations on downloads. [:(]

[joeblack1862]

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn

Yea, I read them on Kindle. I probably wouldn't have bought the series in paperback as I have way too many books piled up everywhere in my bedroom. Hah... and now I have books piling up on my Kindle screen [:D]

Seriously, getting a Kindle has "rekindled" my love of pleasure reading.. I carry it around with me and pop it open at every free moment. Somehow it is so much easier to read on it with my aging eyes... less glare... easy to read type... variable type size... and it always remembers where I left off when I closed it. And now they have a Kindle 3 for $139 available next month.

It makes a difference if you are in the UK for a Kindle download? Wow... I had no idea there were geographical limitations on downloads. [:(]

I love the Kindle as well but I do get seriously frustrated by the books I can't buy here in the UK. I often spot a book I like the look of (this happens most of all in Sci Fi section) and it will tell me not available (even a large number of the free books are only available in the US).

I am going to stick with it until my next upgrade, but if this continues then I'll look at alternatives. I like the look of the iPAD, but not the price.... although I hear books are cheaper (don't know the availability) and ofcourse you get color/colour [:)].

[nelmsm1]

I'm reading the series right now and loving it. I've got to agree with the Kindle re-energizing my reading habit. I think you've got a point about the books making a good space game. If you are in the UK and can't get a book available in the US then just set yourself up an account with a US address. When I went to look for the first Flashman book it was only available in the UK so I set up a second account using the address of the Imperial War Museum and was able to buy it. You'll have to download it to the computer and then upload to the Kindle but it can be done.

[itchy01ca]

Sins of a solar empire. It's what you're looking for  

[Brigz]

Thanks rhonda....just downloaded the first volume for my nook. And you are right, these ereaders have revitalized the reading experience. Still like "real" books but having a nook or kindle just makes it much more versitile. And it's so easy getting books. It took just a few minutes to log on and download the book. They aren't kidding when they say "read instantly".

[jomni]

So will this finally turn into a space simulation game with no sound effects?

Hey cool! I can buy it online from my ususal ebook store (Kobo).

[RyanCrierie]

So another person has discovered the Lost Fleet Series!

I discovered it back in 2006/07; when only about one or two books had been published; liked it, and followed it; waiting intently for each new book to be published. Oh the agony of waiting!
 
As I summarized the series:
 
"Has a very strong feel similar to the “rag-tag fleet” of both versions of Battlestar Galactica. Ships have FTL, but all sensors are speed of light. Weapons are “magi-tech”, except for kinetic kill projectiles for planetary bombardment; and while ships have to fly a semi realistic trajectory through a solar system, they have much lower reaction masses than known systems."

[David Heath]

Hi

I had a Kindle but it was to small for my hands and I kept hitting the advance page when I didn't want to. I have since sold my Kindle and got an iPad and I in love with it. I get the best of both word with my Kindle app, iBook and many other book apps. I must admit I spend most of my time reading Star Wars books but this sounds like a book I going to need to look into.

David

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[ezzler]

It memorises your page eh?
I have something that does a similar job on my analogue information hand-held portal.
Its called a bookmark.

[Hertston]

Another potential reader here.. how does this series compare with David Weber's Honor Harrington books, if anyone has read both?

[rickier65]

rhonda,

thanks for the recommendation. I mentioned to my wife, and she's gone in and ordered it from the Library (yeah the old fashioned format). We're always interested in new Sci-Fi.

Oh, and I just ran into the term 'Far Dareis Mai ' in my reading - I had thought it might be something from the Navajo culture, but now I see I was mistaken.

thanks
rick

[RedArgo]

I picked up Dauntless for my e-reader. I had just finished Mission of Honor by David Weber and was looking for some new sci-fi. So far it seems good. Much shorter than the Honor Harrington books.

Bill

[Deathtreader]

ORIGINAL: Hertston

Another potential reader here.. how does this series compare with David Weber's Honor Harrington books, if anyone has read both?

Hi Hertston,

I have a complete collection of both series.... but in old fashioned books. Can't quite make the jump to eReaders yet.

To answer your question, I'd say both are equally well written and entertaining. Both take place in well fleshed out universes with plenty of action and believable characters.
Overall the tech base is lower in "Black Jack's" universe than in Steadholder/Duchess Harrington's. For example, instead of flashing thru a solar system in hours at 100,000 gravities it takes a few days at at maybe 1000. Things like that...........

I will say that if you enjoy Honor Harrington you'll most likely enjoy the Lost Fleet series as well.
Happy reading.......

Rob.

[Joram]

I read the first two and then gave up because it was obvious they would be lost forever. The first one was interesting but it went way downhill in the second one. I didn't think it felt that realistic to be honest though not being a navy man, it's subjective. Weber and Drake are more entertaining though I couldn't speak to the realism though it feels pretty real while you're reading it.

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Joram

I read the first two and then gave up because it was obvious they would be lost forever. The first one was interesting but it went way downhill in the second one. I didn't think it felt that realistic to be honest though not being a navy man, it's subjective. Weber and Drake are more entertaining though I couldn't speak to the realism though it feels pretty real while you're reading it.

No, they aren't lost forever and it has a happy ending. You might want to give the series another shot as I never got tired of it or felt that the series was being dragged out to pad sales (like Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series started dragging and not getting anywhere).

Someone mentioned "Sins of a Solar Empire" - the difference between this sim and "The Lost Fleet" is what plagues the battles in most Space Sims... ships have to slow to a crawl so that they can sit there and shoot missiles and particle beams at each other. Given such an environment, combat has to be mutually accepted or one side should be able to disengage at will and refuse combat with a superior enemy force. In the "Lost Fleet" universe ships are moving at incredible speeds and spread over such a large area that commands can take 5 minutes to reach the units most distant from the fleet flagship. If there is anything a bit fantastic, it is probably the inertia dampers that allow crews to survive incredible levels of deceleration and maneuver as they "come about" for another pass. Flipping a ship and using main thrusters to reduce speed from 30,000 kilometers a second to reverse direction or make a turn within a few minutes is a bit incredible.

If I was designing a game, I'd probably slow things down quite a bit, but still have a battle system that featured realistic moving combat with an option to view a firing run that took a split second in real time in super slow motion so you could appreciate the action. Alternatively, you would do what "Black Jack" Geary does, consult your fleet display for a readout of hits and damage received and inflicted and then issue your fleet orders for the next fleet maneuver. That reminds me a bit of a WiTP battle display that you can watch play out or hit ESC and just jump to the "bottom line" of results.

"The Lost Fleet" has "Fast Utility" ships (which are too slow and constantly under threat) that can turn raw materials into power units, missiles, and other armaments to keep the fleet supplied. Finding sources of raw materials in the planetary system encountered is one of the constant challenges "the lost fleet" faces in the series (with unique methods utilized to find resources). Ship damage can also be repaired following a battle (to some extent... some ships do have to be scuttled when damaged past a certain point). At the strategic level, the game could include the introduction of reinforcements fresh from the shipyards, but with inexperienced crews. During the "lost fleet's" epic journey they destroy so many enemy ships that they begin to encounter "green" crews facing them. The game wouldn't have a time scale for an economic sub-system of colonization, new ship design, and so on...it would play out in a few hours. Perhaps, the starting situation could be varied, of course, with players building their starting fleets on a point system that could include design of new classes of warships.

I suppose we could consider this an "Operational Level" space combat battle sim with strategic movement to tie it all together.

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Rick

rhonda,

thanks for the recommendation. I mentioned to my wife, and she's gone in and ordered it from the Library (yeah the old fashioned format). We're always interested in new Sci-Fi.

Oh, and I just ran into the term 'Far Dareis Mai ' in my reading - I had thought it might be something from the Navajo culture, but now I see I was mistaken.

thanks
rick

Nope, it's from "Wheel of Time" (translate as "maidens of the spear").