The Galaxy is ruled by a single Empire—but the Imperial Throne is empty. The machine races demand a turn at the job, but the organics refuse to allow it. For more than a century, the Galactics have battled for supreme power. War and instability reign in place of peace, with every species spread over a hundred billion stars suffering as the Empire decays.
James McGill discovers a scheme is underway. A new power is rising, determined to snatch the Throne from all the rest. Will this unite the Galactic Empire, or destroy it utterly?
Find out in THRONE WORLD, the thrilling 21st book of the Undying Mercenaries series. With millions of copies sold, USA Today Bestselling author B. V. Larson is the king of modern military science fiction.
Another McGill book comes to an end and there was just something not right about this one.
1) There seemed to be a continuity error or at least as I understood it. At the end of Book 20 Graves was executed and imprisoned for 2 years and demoted to Centurion. But at the first meeting he's back and a Primus again.
Also, feels like a missed opportunity for comedy gold. At the end of Book 20 I genuinely thought it was being set up that McGill would be a Primus and Graves a Centurion and Graves would have to take orders from McGill (through gritted teeth no doubt). I would have paid to read that.
2) McGill always played the buffoon which was fine but now he seems genuinely stupid. Not sure where or how that transition happened.
3) The deployment to Nebra just felt a bit naff. I would much rather there was more focus on Central and its politics. Accept thats a personal preference.
I've been in this series for a long time now. Twenty One books deep and I'm still going and reading them. I think that speaks volumes about this series. It is just so much fun and I look forward to each and every book (even if I do think Larson pumps them out a little too often 😂)
There isn't much to say about this series at this point that you wouldn't know 21 books in. I will say that this book is definitely in the top 5 of the series to this point. I really enjoyed this one and felt like the story is going to go to some wild and fun places in the future.
Tbh, the quality of the story and overarching plot felt pretty flimsy on this one. I don't expect some grand space opera here, but the characters interactions and motivations felt exceedingly less real and/or meaningful in this one.
Best guess is that the author has some idea for what he wants to do next and needed to "set the stage" so-to-speak, but this book was pretty lame and could have used a bit more work imho.
Guess we will see if this is worth continuing with the next book.
Disaster has struck for our favorite Legionnaire James McGill! Yes, his daughter Etta is going to marry a Hog! That’s right a Hegemony soldier and although McGill’s first instincts was to kill the guy when they first met, he didn’t due to his daughter standing right there looking at him. Apparently, Etta and his Hog (Derek) had met while Etta was working at Central HQ. They dated for a while and then Etta decided she wanted to go back to Dust World for some strange reason. And the Hog followed her out there. McGill had found out that the Hegemony manned a transfer gateway to Dust World for some strange reason and two Hogs were usually assigned as guards. This duty was usually given to those who had thoroughly pissed-off their superiors and were just short of getting executed. But, James also found out that Derek (Hog) had volunteered for the assignment once he knew Etta went to Dust World!
McGill just couldn’t kill the guy since he was so obviously enamored with Etta. So he had convinced both of them to come back to Earth and have the wedding at his parent’s house in the Georgia Sector. He had hoped that the weather or bugs would have been so bad that the wedding was called off, but that didn’t happen. In his embarrassment, McGill didn’t invite any of Legion Varus to the wedding except for Carlos. Why he asked him wasn’t explained, but he was a Med-Tech now so if something happened to Derek, maybe Carlos could bring him back to life. Della, Etta’s mother was also there and as you know she was also a Scout for McGill Legion Varus Unit. She didn’t seem to have a problem with who her daughter was marring.
So, that was done and McGill even drove the new couple to Orlando, Fl so they could begin their honeymoon. That’s when he got the call from Galina. She wanted James to complete the task she had asked him to do at the beginning of the last book. That was to find out where the former Consul was being held. They knew he had been executed but that also believed that his brain was being kept in a jar in the very bottom of Central HQ in the area known as the Vault of the Forgotten. This was a subbasement floor number -525 or something like that and no one that James knew of could get there due to security requirements. So he had to devise some kind of plan to get past all that security. Now this turns out to be only a side story to the rest of the book.
While at Central HQ, Tribune Winslade found out he was there and told him to come immediately to his office. This was highly unusual for Winslade who usually didn’t want to have anything to do with McGill. Except Winslade was about to enter into a meeting with a client offering a new Legion contract. All three Legions would be competing for the contract once they found out what the job entailed. Winslade invited McGill to the meeting since the client offering the contract was none other than Supreme Admiral Sateekas, a Mogwa and friend of McGills, sort of, anyway.
During the meeting, Sateekas introduces to strange aliens that looked like a cross between monkeys-raccoons-skunks standing about three feet tall. The contract called for one Legion to escort Sateekas and various VIP Mogwa while they were on the home planet of these Nebrans. Now Nebra was in the mid-zone of the Galactic Empire, very, very far away from Earth. No other Legion had ever operated that far from Earth so it was something of a mystery why the Mogwa had need of an Earth Legion. Each Legion bid with the first offering a discount, the second offering an even bigger discount and then Winslade for some reason blurted out he was willing to offer a 25% discount. At some point in time, each of the Legion Tribunes had to approach Sateekas and the Nebrans. They touched each of the Legion men, button here, a strap here acting as if they hadn’t seen normal clothing. Then one oddly enough reached for Legion Victrix Kraus’ service pistol and before anyone could stop it, the Nebran had shot the Tribune dead!
Of course everyone was stunned except McGill. He had drawn his service pistol and shot both Nebrans in the head immediately after they fired the unfortunate Tribune’s weapon. Everyone recovered from this action with Admiral Sateekas commenting that it went as expected with McGill present, but he accepted Legion Varus’ contract bid. So that deal was done and a recall was sent out to all Legion Varus members.
Now, McGill noticed that due to his participation in this meeting he had some special clearances that might just get him where he wanted to go, or at least down to a level where he could get the help of one of his not friend Agent Dickson. This does work and McGill will find himself actually in the Vault of the Forgotten, but he doesn’t find Drusus but he does die! Now, who’s going to get McGill a revival since he might have been doing something illegal when he died. It does happen though only a few months later and while Legion Varus is already headed for Nebran. McGill has been considered AWOL for two months so he has to figure out how to overcome that obstacle right off the bat.
This book is just as crazy as the rest of them. James McGill comes very close to getting permanently dead, but he always manages to get a revival for some reason or another. One thing I don’t understand is that in the last book, Primus Graves, McGill’s immediate boss, was sentenced to permanent death and reduced in rank to Centurion after the debacle on Crystal World, but here he is back at his normal job. Something to missed between books I think. As expected, there’s nothing indicating this series will continue, but I believe it will. Someone just has to come up with a new story-line and James McGill will be back, I’m sure.
I only like them, not crazy for them. I'm getting tired of the implicit mysogeny, and the theft of location and character names. Trantor? Mogwa? Asimov and Cooper are spinning in their graves. But they are entertaining and quick reads.
Not as much of a page turner as some in the past. Gone down the Galina path so much I don't get as excited for a relationship that is languishing in the doldrums.
I wonder if it is necessary to retrace relationships if you're into the 21st installment. Maybe some of the former lovers not heard from lately the answer would be a yes. For the immediate circle friends, enemies, relatives, and acquaintances maybe not so much.
Now this Raash character is developing to be a funny straight man that I imagine has the same personality as Drax the Destroyer from GOTG. Full of bravado sometimes misplaced. That tail...
This book has a predictable ending and it ended a bit too soon for my like. However, I like the characters, the premise, and the adventure to alien worlds....and - haha - "tricksy."
At the end/about the author, BVL is entertaining requests for "world" ideas. For example a world made up of Turov clones. This would blow my mind.
I've read every book in this series and will continue to do so. The first book was a little rough but interesting in a cartoonish way. But with each book thereafter, the characters become fuller and, for me, very likable. I think McGill is one of the funnest people I've ever had imagined for me. The cast of characters flesh out a little bit more with every book. What starts out and probably remains shallow with the first and individual books becomes a well rounded story full of people I feel I've met as I continue thru the series. Mr Larson develops his characters slowly, avoiding quick love stories and the like. He develops depth of relationship slowly, as he does with the development of the arc of the greater story. He doesn't write himself into corners. Thank you for this gift.
McGill is at it again. The big lumix is lured into an extremely dangerous that is highly likely that he would be permed if caught. What could entice a man to risk it all? Only the female wiles. But wait! That’s not bad enough for McGill. He gets himself in restricted areas that usually turns out poorly for him. That is what happens here where McGill finds himself in a top level intergalactic contract negotiations for a cushy security detail job. There’s no such thing has a “cushy job” for Legion Vargas. Of course, McGill is always responsible for any failings, troop lose, screwed up orders, or disasters, whether he is actually responsible or not! With McGill, you get Reacher, Bond, and Mr. Bean rolled into one!
I've been a long time reader and fan of Larson, but this book seems to have been put out without much concern for quality. There's so much repetition of content early and midway through that it felt as if the book was being written by an ai. Either the book was being padded for word count or Larson hired a new editor who's not up to scratch. Also the continuity error with Sargon not being selected and then magically showing up. Had sounded like we were going to get to know a new character, something that's helpful after 20 books, but then new person was magically replaced by Sargon.
Overall, still decent read, but honestly expect higher quality from such an experienced author.
Throne World is another strong entry in B.V. Larson’s Undying Mercenaries series, delivering the nonstop action, military chaos, and sharp wit that define the saga. As book 21, it deepens the political intrigue of the galaxy while throwing James McGill into yet another high-risk, high-consequence situation where survival is anything but guaranteed. The story does a great job of balancing large-scale interstellar conflict with McGill’s personal struggles, questionable decisions, and trademark irreverence. Rather than feeling repetitive, this installment raises the stakes and sets the stage for future conflicts, making it an important bridge in the overall arc of the series. Throne World is an entertaining, fast-moving read that keeps the momentum of Undying Mercenaries going strong.
In my audio review, I said McGill had to be a bad grow because he was not his usual self.
He was dumber than usual. No cunning, flashes of brilliance in his idiot savant ways. Indecisive most of the book except for the first encounter with the skunks.
Way too accommodating, especially with Raj. Kill that damn lizard already. Also, a bit of a bleeding heart. McGill has been to many worlds and killed many alien species, but now he has a problem even though he can't stand them?!
All I can think of is he was a bad grow since he changed from the beginning of the book, to when he was first on the ship.
I think B.V. Larson should finish the series. This volume is one of the worst of the series. Hardly any side story, marginal action and the part that is there is so repetitive from earlier books, nothing new in it. And the stupidity of McGill gets worse and worse, down to borderline irritating. The books are starting to feel "off", too much mass production, or AI supported writing? And then a rating of 4.46? I wonder, like you see often here on GoodReads: do all of the good readers actually read the book, or simply rate it before it is even published?
The primary story is similar to the previous 20, another world another race, another conflict What drags the whole thing up is the underlying story of earth's desire to become prominent in the galaxy. It's slow and it's taking forever to get there, but the intrigue draws you in and keeps you turning the pages, trying to learn more. The last 20% of the book focuses more on earth's plans than the "World" story and McGill and Gallina feature heavily in the scheming involved. It makes up for what I thought was a lackluster world story
I was enjoying this book as I have many of the others But it seemed to end rather abruptly. I was just getting back into the whole I was just getting back into the whole ecosystem of what's going on and remembering past adventures. Hopefully the next book comes out soon to conclude the current drama that is going on between galina and her father. The fate of drusus is also a question I want to answer So looking forward to the next installment quickly.
If you like the previous books this one is excellent. It provides more of what is going on in the galaxy politics but story still centers on McGill. This time he follows orders and still get into trouble. I like the series and I recommend reading it. Only drawback is you need to have read previous books to fully understand references.
Another excellent tale in the saga of Legion Varus in general and James McGill in particular. Highly enjoyable, can't wait for the next installment in the Undying Mercenary series to see where the legion - and it's most disreputable century in to next
Once again James McGill leads Legion Vargus into a questionable quest, this time midway to the center of the galaxy. When Seetekas shows up you know things will go sideways. Entertaining as always B.V. Larson keeps me wanting more. Book 21 is never a dull moment of fun and action. I can't wait for number 22.
How does Larson keep coming up with original ideas? McGill is an interesting character who is a mix of idiot and genius. I get frustrated with him and then he pulls off something amazing. Anyway, I will keep reading this series as long as new stories come out.
Glad to see effort to resuscitate Drusus. I briefly saw a parallel to Gaza in Nebra, which got me upset. I don't believe Larson is a political animal. Looking for more episodes post Drusus revival.
As usual BVL has produced a highly detailed complex Undying Mercenaries adventure. The only flaw I thought in the book was BVL rehashing James McGill's alleged flaws over and over and over in the first half of the book. Regardless the book is very good!
These are starting to be one and the same book after book. It needs more back story like earth gaining tech and doing secret missions etc to free itself of the galactic empire
The undying mercenaries saga just keeps getting better and better. For a 21 book series the plot doesn't get old or stale. These books are always a fun and good read .
Another entertaining novel by B.V. Larson and the continuing saga of the Undying Mercenary series! I love how all the characters evolve and we are introduced to more of the core Galactic politics. Looking forward to many more iterations of this series.
I save the Undying Mercenaries books for days I really need the laugh or adventure. It never fails to stay true to the protagonist personality and colorful characters that flow in and out of his orbit.