Not that he was ever subpar, but Joshua Dalzelle has noticeably honed his craft since the beginning of the Omega Force series. Throwing in a few blockbusters in the form of the Black Fleet trilogy certainly hasn’t hurt. But I admit I’ve been waiting a while for Paul Heitsch to finish the narration on this, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Like all the others, this book is action-packed with just the right amount of irreverence. But unlike a lot of other novels in the genre, Dalzelle has brought a depth of character to each individual. This is particularly relevant in this edition.
Without giving too much away, we learn more about our favorite battle synth than we ever have before. We take potshots at our favorite mobster’s fortress, just because. Earth is dipping its toes into the cosmos in the way Earth does best (with just a little bit of overkill). And the ConFed is getting tested by all of the galactic superpowers we have learned about thus far. And that’s just scratching the surface.
I really hope we get to Book 10 soon, because the cliff we are left hanging onto is not an easy one.
Thanks for such a fun series, Mr. Dalzelle.