Dreary Geary gets a laugh...

[elfs]

Jack Campbell's The Lost Fleet series is generally humorless, lacking much in the way of a writer's sensibilities: when it comes to foreshadowing, Campbell is Puxatawny Phil. I've started calling it the "Dreary Geary" series, even though I keep buying it (in paperback or epub, at any rate): most of the book is Geary complaining about the rigors of command. Campbell's also From The Fifties; at least Weber pretends there are gay people on Manticore, and there's definitely a gay ol' time going on in Bujold.

One of my biggest complaints about The Lost Fleet series is that the cover art is completely untrue to the main content of the story. Every cover in the now nine-book series shows the hero wearing powered armor and carrying a gun of some kind. Yet the hero is the commander of an armada. He never wears armor of any kind. He never carries a gun. He doesn't even pick one up throughout the entire series. It was, I thought, the stupidest bit of cover art ever.

Which is why I thought this exchange was worth highlighting. Admiral Geary and his wife, who's also a captain is his command (awkward doesn't begin to cover this arrangement) are talking about what they'll do if the other dies in combat.

"Very clear," Geary said. "Will you do the same?"

"What, if you die? The legendary, idolized hero of the Alliance? I'll probably write a tell-all memoir and make more money than I can count. Don't forget that my uncle is not only a literary agent, but he has yet to be caught doing anything unethical. Sleeping with Black Jack. How's that for a title?"

He felt himself smiling. "Can you at least avoid calling me Black Jack while you're making your money by selling the story of our time together?"

Tanya shook her head. "Nope. I'm sure marketing will insist on it. I can just imagine the kind of book cover they'll insist on. Some really heroic pose by you doing something you never did, probably. Maybe in battle armor. With a gun."

Snarking at your own success for the win.

Comments

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the warning. I was thinking about starting this series, but I don't care for books, even a military series, that doesn't have a good joke every now and then.

And the one you did post is about as funny as Henry Kissinger.

[kensaro.livejournal.com]

I think the worst cover art would still be the copy of Riverworld that I once read. Which had a spaceship flying out of a nebula.

[adam-0oo.livejournal.com]

I keep on waiting for him to leave his ship, but I every book I have read of the series involves him walking from his state room to the conference room to the bridge, that is about it.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Exactly. That's the problem. He goes between those three rooms, with the occasional trip down to the chapel.

Worse, the enemies arrayed against him are colorless, bloodless, faceless Government, Bureaucracy, and Aliens.