Space Opera Fans discussion

The October 2025 Limited Pick is Frontier Incursion by Leonie Rogers. Please use this thread to post questions, comments, and reviews, at any time.

Official description:
For Shanna, joining the Scout Corps had been a dream come true. The Scouts were charged with expanding their knowledge of Frontier, a hostile planet their ancestors had crashlanded on 300 years before. As the youngest in her class, Shanna struggles to find acceptance and respect amongst her older peers - a task made more difficult by the fact that she has not just one, but two of the colonists' huge feline companions, their starcats.On a routine patrol, she and the other cadets are swept up in the greatest challenge yet to be faced by the settlers of Frontier. Now they find themselves on the very frontline of a war they knew nothing about, and possibly the Federation of Race's last chance against the hostile Garsal. Suddenly their world has changed, and in ways never dreamed of by Shanna and her fellow scouts.

We have discussed this book before but it’s been a long time.

2019 discussion here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I’ve read this book at least four times, usually bingeing the trilogy. I’m going to try to reread it in October, and look forward to discussing it.

I’ve started my reread. I note that the author is Australian, for those participating in the continent challenge. This is the first book of a YA trilogy that I have reread several times.

Ach Teresa, after really not enjoying our September books I'd decided to give our "picks" a miss this month - but the fact that this one ticks the LIMITED, YA, and "Continents" threads makes it irresistible so I've just downloaded a copy.

As far as the continental challenge goes, my memory of the series does not have any obvious Aussie culture. My reread so far just has spellings (ise vs ize) and word choices (revise vs review).

I should probably mention that this book has no scenes inside a spaceship that is in outer space. There are scenes inside a spaceship that has landed. There are aliens. It’s more planetary romance than space opera, but it’s on a planet other than Earth, with characters who either arrived or whose ancestors arrived via spaceships.

I've just started this one.

I will read almost anything with cats in it. (Provided it's not stupid.) Enjoying this one so far.

I’m about 40% in. While the action switches between three or four points of view, the vast majority of it is from Shanna’s POV, and the glimpses of Anjo and aliens are quite short. I’m fairly confident I’ll manage to finish my reread.

Interesting idea that minor evolutionary changes in the human population of Frontier are due to contact with local parasites. In only 300 years? I think that's a little suspect, but WTH, let's go with it.

There’s a better explanation in a later book of the trilogy. (Trying to avoid spoilers)

Teresa wrote: "There’s a better explanation in a later book of the trilogy. (Trying to avoid spoilers)"

Good to know. Thanks.

Of course being able to turn invisible is hard to swallow….

Teresa wrote: "Of course being able to turn invisible is hard to swallow…."

Yes, I had trouble with that too. Even if you accept that it's just fading into the background. How does a human change her skin, and clothes, to match the background. I suppose it might be similar to the abilities of octopuses and cuttlefish. Except for their clothes.

But I still really enjoyed this book. I was up until 4 am last night finishing it. I'll do a review in a day or too.

I’m at 93% so will finish later today.

Question for those reading this book: do we want to continue in the series? And if so, using this thread or holding off to see if book 2 is chosen as November Limited Pick?

Teresa wrote: "Question for those reading this book: do we want to continue in the series? And if so, using this thread or holding off to see if book 2 is chosen as November Limited Pick?"

I haven't fully decided whether to continue with the series. At the moment I'm inclined to read at least the second installment. However, knowing myself, if I don't do it right away, I might not ever. Since my TBR is towering.

On the other hand, we still seem to be struggling to get nominations for new monthly readings.

So, I could go either way.

And finished. Normally I’d binge the rest of the series immediately but I’m still more comfortable reading fantasy and romance than SF, so I’ll wait. No clue what I’ll be reading next.

I'm just over half-way through at the moment and enjoying it much more than I'd expected. But its probably a bit early for me to decide if I definitely want to read the rest of the series.

We'll be opening up for November nominations tomorrow, so if anyone wants to carry on with the series, they could nominate book 2 tomorrow.

If we do decide to carry on with the series it would probably make most sense to continue using this thread for comment and discussion - and just use the "November choice" thread as a placeholder.

Finished Frontier Incursion today - a pleasant read which I enjoyed far more than I expected to. Its very much a YA book in my opinion (and that is not in any way a criticism); while I enjoyed it and found it a change from my normal reading, I'm not sure that I want to read the rest of the series. I rated it three stars, which felt a bit mean as my initial reaction was to award it 4 - but I felt I was making some allowances for it being YA, and accepting things that I would otherwise have been critical of.

In summary, an enjoyable book that I'm glad to have read - so "thank you" to Teresa and Betsy for nominating and seconding it. I hope some others in the group will consider reading it this month, and sharing your thoughts with us.

Has anyone else in the group read Frontier Incursion, and do we have any more comments on it?

Does anyone have any thoughts on the covers of the "Frontier" trilogy? I am not particularly a cat-lover but have nothing against them, but I find the covers of this series a bit off-putting for some reason (other than their dullness). If I saw these books on display in a bookshop, I wouldn't even bother to pick them up, which would be a great pity as I enjoyed Frontier Incursion and I'm think of continuing with the series.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find these catty covers simply "blah"?

John wrote: "Is it just me, or does anyone else find these catty covers simply "blah"?."

I agree. And I'm a cat lover. Because of that, I might pick them up in a bookstore, but the artwork is rather sophomoric and, as you say, "blah". It does not really engage me other than a knee-jerk response to cats.