The Exiled Fleet
The Divide series, Book 2
J. S. Dewes
Tor
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The Sentinels were supposed to be humanity's protectors, posted at the very edge of the universe beyond the galactic rim as guardians against the alien Viator threat. In truth, they were a dumping ground for the System Collective Legion's criminals and misfits and political embarrassments... and now, they're supposed to be dead, abandoned by the government that sent them there, to be replaced with mindless hybrid clones.
They don't know about the ship full of survivors.
Led by former war hero Adequin Rake and disowned royal heir Cavalon Mercer, the Sentinels have abandoned their loyalty to the Legion that left them for dead when the Divide - the barrier between the end of the universe and the nothing beyond - began to collapse. Rake now sees the Legion and the System Collective for what they truly are, a corrupted force that's at least as dangerous to humanity's future as the long-vanquished Viators (who are not as extinct as the public has been led to believe, and also not at all what they appeared to be). Part of her oath was defending the human race from all threats, and right now the biggest threat is coming from within. Before she and her mismatched command crew can deal with that threat, though, they still have plenty of obstacles to overcome, as the Sentinels are still stranded and literally starving at the edge of nowhere.
REVIEW: The story picks up not long after where the first one (The Last Watch, reviewed here) ended, with Rake, Mercer, and their allies struggling to leverage what little resources and knowledge they've gained toward their greater goals of justice, vengeance, and (first and foremost) getting back to galactic civilization without their former colleagues gunning them down the moment they return. Also like the first book, the action is close to nonstop, with complications fouling up even the simplest of plans. It sometimes comes close to exhausting, and once in a while it toes close to the edge of plausibility (even given the inherent handwaving in space opera action adventures), but it makes for solid entertainment. As a counterbalance to all the external action, Rake and Cavalon have both accumulated significant mental and emotional scars in their lives and during their previous adventures, scars that cast shadows over their thoughts and decisions going forward and add extra weight to the firefights and danger they're constantly facing. The two outwardly mismatched duo come to rely on each other as anchors against the perpetual dark undertows threatening to pull them under, a bond that's deeply emotional yet blessedly nonromantic; theirs are the bonds of shared trauma and combat, of understanding where the other one's been and when they're sliding. Around them are the usual collection of side characters, some returning and some new, with fresh faces and sacrifices. Along the way, they unearth more pieces of the greater puzzle that continually upend everything they thought they knew, from the political landscape to family secrets to even the basic physics of the universe. Also like the first volume, it ends less at a definitive conclusion than at a temporary resting point along the greater arc, a pivot point marking a new direction and resolve going forward. I'll be keeping an eye out (or an ear, as this was another audiobook via the local library and the Libby app) for the next installment, which may not drop until next year. Dang it...
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