The universe is at war. Tyler Stone, a member of the elite guard of his people, has joined forces with his former enemies. Stone now knows that the current war has been manufactured to placate the need for more slaves—a move necessitated by the spread of a deadly virus that is killing off huge portions of human chattel.
Complicating matters is the Saint, a leader who craves world domination. He begins to unite the planets through a religious doctrine, and its disciples are more than willing to throw themselves between a bullet and the Saint.
Stone must confront his own heredity, loyalty, and destiny while he and his companions battle against forces from all sides to stay alive and sort out the truth in the world and in each other. Guns, swords, knives, and fists are the tools of the trade here, and fans of military science fiction and action/adventure in general will enjoy this slam-bang escapade played out on distant worlds.
This is the second book in the author's "Gateway" series. I enjoyed the first one and was looking forward to getting into this one. The first third of the book was a little slower paced and I was starting to think that this story would be one of those filler in-between books that spends a lot of time setting things up and creating a thorough background, etc. Not that there are anything wrong with those books, especially in a lengthy and detailed story. But I confess, I'm an action junkie and a third of the way through this story, BAM! The pace picks up and never lets up. Kudos to the author for managing both to give a lot of background, increase the scope of the story, and still give an exciting, rip-roaringly good, action-filled adventure. Some of the characters have come to grow on me, in particular the pilot and engineer of the Hydra. But my favourite is still Emily Martin. Holy smokes. You can't help but love her one minute, and be annoyed at her the next. But she's never, ever, boring. The majority of the intensity in the story is generated by her character and I love how her character is either 110 percent in the enemy's face, or completely incapacitated. There's no in between. So now I'm anxious to find out how things are going to unfold. I can't wait for the next book!
What an excellent continuation in the Gateway series! Full of action and situations that will get your heart racing. Brian Dorsey has created a world that is completely believable. It is rare that a story gets my hackles up, but I can seem to count on Brian to do just that.
I think that Veterans will really enjoy this series. Mr. Dorsey is able to write from the perspective of a Navy Veteran, so those who have served will really be able to relate to some of the situations. That's not to say that those who haven't served won't enjoy it, as it is an excellent glimpse into the hardships of war and the trials of combat.
I highly recommend reading this series. Best to start off with Gateway, and be sure to read the Draxius series as well - they are a wonderful backstory to Emily Martin. I'm not sure how many books Mr. Dorsey has planned for this series, but I'll keep reading 'em as long as he keeps writing 'em.
Although I very much like the characters in this book, I felt many of them took far too much physical damage and kept coming back for more. Even with all the pain and healing meds available, some of it just wasn't believable. Other than that, this was another good book in the Gateway series and I look forward to the next book.
I like where this book took the series. The author has begun focusing more on the conflict between cultures rather then just the physical conflict between the empires.
The new characters and schemes of this book were a nice touch but ending felt a little rushed. Another few pages would have given it some meat rather then felt like a rapid decent landing for the book.