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rilkegriffin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
willrefuge's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 / 5 stars
I had a bit of an issue with the later-stages of this book. I'll get to why in detail later (hopefully), but sufficient to say that the alien race we've encountered as our main foe by this point makes a classic movie villain mistake. A mistake that apparently lasts into the next installment. Otherwise LoD is an enjoyable sequel, with further glimpses of earth sandwiched in between extra-solar battles and space exploration.
Grayson returns as narrator, along with some of our favorite friends from Terms of Enlistment. He's still a good lead, in parts telling his tale and adding personal commentary on the state of things. Philosophy, history and what. It's not to over the top or judgy, though. Andrew has yet to get too full of himself.
AoA is in our future here, just you wait.
I had a bit of an issue with the later-stages of this book. I'll get to why in detail later (hopefully), but sufficient to say that the alien race we've encountered as our main foe by this point makes a classic movie villain mistake. A mistake that apparently lasts into the next installment. Otherwise LoD is an enjoyable sequel, with further glimpses of earth sandwiched in between extra-solar battles and space exploration.
Grayson returns as narrator, along with some of our favorite friends from Terms of Enlistment. He's still a good lead, in parts telling his tale and adding personal commentary on the state of things. Philosophy, history and what. It's not to over the top or judgy, though. Andrew has yet to get too full of himself.
AoA is in our future here, just you wait.
amanda1011's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
awwcripes's review against another edition
5.0
Great military scifi; a big improvement over the first novel in the series. I was kinda thrown a bit when in between space battles the main character goes home and takes his mom out for a trip to the Vermont countryside. It was... nice. Kinda got me in the feels and made me text my own mom. Not something I anticipated from a space-marine-fights-aliens type story.
zer0faults's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked most of this book, it just never felt like it came together unfortunately. The action was interesting and well paced, but the characters never really developed to a point where I cared what was happening to them. There is a even a story line that just vanishes into the ether by the end with even a care given it seems. Unfortunately interesting is not enough for me to recommend it on to anyone else, characters are a necessary part of a story and I felt like this was lacking characters I cared about.
Things I liked:
1. The action was well thought out, it was easy to imagine the ships and devastation of strafing runs.
2. The science made sense, but was equally a thing I didn't like which I will get into.
3. The back story of Grayson starts to develop and was interesting, but seemed lacking.
4. The ending isn't happy, which is a good change of pace. Everything didn't magically fix itself.
5. The marine treating them to breakfast was nice and touching.
Things I didn't like:
1. The science, for years the Lankies have been taking planets and no one thought to impact a ship with something big, especially if the idea all along was the ship was organic? This is the very premise of some weapons, that impact and shock wave damage internally. If this whole book was moved up to the beginning of the conflict, this would have been more believable.
2. Grayson doesn't seem to care that people keep referring to PRC people as basically lesser then, even though his mother is a PRC person. There doesn't seem to be any attempt to say "hey, not all those people are crazy welfare killers." Which is kind of maddening, I can make assumptions that he doesn't want to stand out, doesn't want to have an argument he has had before, etc. but the book doesn't give you even a passing excuse on why he accepts it.
3. When Grayson is back on Earth and visiting the small town, the former marine treats him to breakfast. Was this because he was a former marine? Was it because the richer people respect soldiers more? Is the difference because the poor people see HD and soldiers to be the same? There seems to be a bit lacking here that could have been explored before Grayson took off again.
4. He was engaged and then never mentions if again. Not even a care that she is probably dust by the end of the book, not even a mention or thought of wanting to find her, see her again, maybe bump into her, etc. No asking how many other ships may have made it out, etc. Just hanging out with Fallon in the control tower like any other Wednesday. The whole fiance story could have been axed with the Earth visit if they were never really going to explore either.
The story was interesting, the ships, how they get around, what humanity is still doing, who we are fighting. Unfortunately the characters never really develop, or get to a point that you are invested in them or their lives.
Spoiler
Things I liked:
1. The action was well thought out, it was easy to imagine the ships and devastation of strafing runs.
2. The science made sense, but was equally a thing I didn't like which I will get into.
3. The back story of Grayson starts to develop and was interesting, but seemed lacking.
4. The ending isn't happy, which is a good change of pace. Everything didn't magically fix itself.
5. The marine treating them to breakfast was nice and touching.
Things I didn't like:
1. The science, for years the Lankies have been taking planets and no one thought to impact a ship with something big, especially if the idea all along was the ship was organic? This is the very premise of some weapons, that impact and shock wave damage internally. If this whole book was moved up to the beginning of the conflict, this would have been more believable.
2. Grayson doesn't seem to care that people keep referring to PRC people as basically lesser then, even though his mother is a PRC person. There doesn't seem to be any attempt to say "hey, not all those people are crazy welfare killers." Which is kind of maddening, I can make assumptions that he doesn't want to stand out, doesn't want to have an argument he has had before, etc. but the book doesn't give you even a passing excuse on why he accepts it.
3. When Grayson is back on Earth and visiting the small town, the former marine treats him to breakfast. Was this because he was a former marine? Was it because the richer people respect soldiers more? Is the difference because the poor people see HD and soldiers to be the same? There seems to be a bit lacking here that could have been explored before Grayson took off again.
4. He was engaged and then never mentions if again. Not even a care that she is probably dust by the end of the book, not even a mention or thought of wanting to find her, see her again, maybe bump into her, etc. No asking how many other ships may have made it out, etc. Just hanging out with Fallon in the control tower like any other Wednesday. The whole fiance story could have been axed with the Earth visit if they were never really going to explore either.
The story was interesting, the ships, how they get around, what humanity is still doing, who we are fighting. Unfortunately the characters never really develop, or get to a point that you are invested in them or their lives.
dale_in_va's review against another edition
2.0
Not as engaging as the first book but if you liked the first one it is nice to see what happens in this next chapter. Sounds as if there is another book in the works.
cbacisor's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
claytell's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the series enough to read book 2. It was a bit of cliffhanger in one and I was curious enough to know what happened next.