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A review by righteousridel
New Frontiers by Joshua Dalzelle
4.0
The True Sequel to Warship
New Frontiers is everything I wanted out of Counterstrike. Terran politics are back in the limelight, there’s plenty of bloody space combat, and despite the aggressive pace of writing, we’re treated to diverse perspectives on the fate of human civilization. And while readers can always nitpick and find topics they wished were better explored or expanded upon, the novel is entertaining and will keep you glued to its pages until the conclusion.
The cast diversifies as Wolfe fades into the background and the story becomes that of an ensemble cast. Celesta Wright isn’t a drop-in replacement for Wolfe, and is joined by other returning characters including Marcus and Pike. And while there are many narrators, there’s really only one plot that’s advancing. By splitting the story across so many POVs, the singular story feels epic in scope while being exceptionally fast-paced.
The plot picks up several years after the Phage War, which is both expected given this novel kicks off a new trilogy, but also disappointing as the immediate nasty aftermath of Terran politics never gets fully explored in-situ. Skipping the grim internal strife leaves me feeling cheated, as the author jumps to new coalitions and power blocs without development. At least these results feel organic instead of a TV-show style reset to the status quo! Still, these subplots are more bark than bite, and I’ll be harsher in the future if this is part of the author’s writing style.
With lots of squadron-level combat, species-wide stakes and brand new aliens threatening humanity, New Frontiers is a natural successor to Warship. You get more of everything, wrapped into a tightly-plotted and entertaining package.
Recommended.
Giving Pike his own narrative is excellent, and though he is still a personified plot device, we finally get insight into his motivations and the approach to his spycraft. The moral quandries that Pike routinely has to navigate, and his motiviations that result in him upending the status quo, has made me appreciate the character as more than just comic relief.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of our Chief of Staff / Admiral… Marcus suffers as his character feels ill-defined, and falls more and more into the trap of being an angry police chief where his star pupils won’t listen to common-sense. Does he have a personality other than “power hungry” and “annoyed by the main characters”?
The anatgonists of this series continue to be underdeveloped. I’m not sure I even know what either alien looks like by the end of the novel. I don’t want a repeat of the engimatic Phage. It’s plausible this is a consistent weakness of the author.
Finally, there’s a serious philosophical point to explore about how the Phage was actually keeping species apart for their own safety. I’m not sure if the author recognizes this result in his worldbuilding. At the beginning of the Black Fleet series, humanity was alone and thought there were no aliens. Three novels later, we’ve got 4 alien species (one of which is entirely destroyed). Was it the Phage that kept everyone separated? They clearly didn’t kill every species, as literally there are new ones that are capable of threatening a divided Commonwealth.
I do hope the author recognizes this in his worldbuilding. Rather than just pulling new species out of his hat as he needs new antagonists to write about, the entire galaxy and its history needs to make sense!
Series Overall Spoiler-Free Thoughts
★★★★☆ New Frontiers (Expansion Wars Trilogy, #1)
★★★☆☆ Iron & Blood (Expansion Wars Trilogy, #2)
★★☆☆☆ Destroyer (Expansion Wars Trilogy, #3)
The is the second trilogy that started off well but ran out of steam. I find myself always wishing there was more: more substance, more consequences, more variety. While Joshua Dalzelle is excellent at setting things up, he’s just unable to deliver.
★★☆☆☆ - Not Recommended with reservations. This is more re-make than it is a sequel, and only true fans will stick with it.
New Frontiers is everything I wanted out of Counterstrike. Terran politics are back in the limelight, there’s plenty of bloody space combat, and despite the aggressive pace of writing, we’re treated to diverse perspectives on the fate of human civilization. And while readers can always nitpick and find topics they wished were better explored or expanded upon, the novel is entertaining and will keep you glued to its pages until the conclusion.
The cast diversifies as Wolfe fades into the background and the story becomes that of an ensemble cast. Celesta Wright isn’t a drop-in replacement for Wolfe, and is joined by other returning characters including Marcus and Pike. And while there are many narrators, there’s really only one plot that’s advancing. By splitting the story across so many POVs, the singular story feels epic in scope while being exceptionally fast-paced.
The plot picks up several years after the Phage War, which is both expected given this novel kicks off a new trilogy, but also disappointing as the immediate nasty aftermath of Terran politics never gets fully explored in-situ. Skipping the grim internal strife leaves me feeling cheated, as the author jumps to new coalitions and power blocs without development. At least these results feel organic instead of a TV-show style reset to the status quo! Still, these subplots are more bark than bite, and I’ll be harsher in the future if this is part of the author’s writing style.
With lots of squadron-level combat, species-wide stakes and brand new aliens threatening humanity, New Frontiers is a natural successor to Warship. You get more of everything, wrapped into a tightly-plotted and entertaining package.
Recommended.
Spoiler
The following is in spoiler tags, and I say so since some Goodreads clients may not respect it. You’ve been warned:Giving Pike his own narrative is excellent, and though he is still a personified plot device, we finally get insight into his motivations and the approach to his spycraft. The moral quandries that Pike routinely has to navigate, and his motiviations that result in him upending the status quo, has made me appreciate the character as more than just comic relief.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of our Chief of Staff / Admiral… Marcus suffers as his character feels ill-defined, and falls more and more into the trap of being an angry police chief where his star pupils won’t listen to common-sense. Does he have a personality other than “power hungry” and “annoyed by the main characters”?
The anatgonists of this series continue to be underdeveloped. I’m not sure I even know what either alien looks like by the end of the novel. I don’t want a repeat of the engimatic Phage. It’s plausible this is a consistent weakness of the author.
Finally, there’s a serious philosophical point to explore about how the Phage was actually keeping species apart for their own safety. I’m not sure if the author recognizes this result in his worldbuilding. At the beginning of the Black Fleet series, humanity was alone and thought there were no aliens. Three novels later, we’ve got 4 alien species (one of which is entirely destroyed). Was it the Phage that kept everyone separated? They clearly didn’t kill every species, as literally there are new ones that are capable of threatening a divided Commonwealth.
I do hope the author recognizes this in his worldbuilding. Rather than just pulling new species out of his hat as he needs new antagonists to write about, the entire galaxy and its history needs to make sense!
Series Overall Spoiler-Free Thoughts
★★★★☆ New Frontiers (Expansion Wars Trilogy, #1)
★★★☆☆ Iron & Blood (Expansion Wars Trilogy, #2)
★★☆☆☆ Destroyer (Expansion Wars Trilogy, #3)
The is the second trilogy that started off well but ran out of steam. I find myself always wishing there was more: more substance, more consequences, more variety. While Joshua Dalzelle is excellent at setting things up, he’s just unable to deliver.
★★☆☆☆ - Not Recommended with reservations. This is more re-make than it is a sequel, and only true fans will stick with it.