Written by Ryk Brown

Number 13 in The Frontiers Saga

Publisher: Ryk Brown
Pages: 559
Genre: Space Opera, Science Fiction
Published: 2015-04-01
Original Language: English

The liberation old worlds… The addition of new allies… The fall of a regime… The death of a trusted friend… The Aurora begins clearing a 20 light year sphere of safety around Earth, taking out Jung forces as they liberate the core systems. However, Captain Scott and the Alliance quickly discover that not every world wants to be liberated, and the Jung have a few surprises of their own.

Read from 2021-02-07 to 2021-02-25
Read in English
Rating: 4/5
Review: A Show of Force felt a little different from the previous books in the Frontiers Saga, and it’s a difference, and a change, that I welcome.

The stakes of the series has been raised over the last couple of books, and while the previous books have had a tendency to feel (not without exceptions) like it’s not a question of whether our heroes will win, but how, this book adds some, not necessarily needed, but certainly welcomed, nuance to that feeling. As the costs of winning becomes more apparent, the approach the Alliance has to take in the battle against the Jung no longer feels like a matter of winning or losing – it feels like having to decide what the best possible outcome might be, and how to get there.

Aside from that, this book also had some twists, and added some new elements to the story, which I didn’t see coming at all. Again, not needed, but very much welcomed.

All in all, this book did take a while to ramp up, but once it got there, it became a more wholesome book than what I’ve been used to from this series.