Hold Fast Through the Fire
by Wagers, K. B.






"Zuma's Ghost has won the Boarding Games for the second straight year. The crew...all come together to form an unstoppable team. Until it all comes apart. After a plea deal transforms a twenty-year ore-mining sentence into NeoG service, Spacer Chae Ho-ki earns a spot on the team. But there's more to Chae that the crew doesn't know, and they must hide a secret that could endanger everyone they love"-





The Near-Earth Orbital Guard Interceptor ship, Zuma's Ghost, has a new commander: Nika Vagin, Jenks' brother, returning from his stint with Intel, and a new ensign, Chae Ho-ki, from the Trappist colonies. The only problem: both of them have something to hide and it's messing up the dynamics of the team. When Zuma's Ghost is sent to the Trappist system, it becomes a target of a deep conspiracy to disrupt trade and reignite a war with Mars. Loyalties and relationships are tested in ways they might not survive, and a shocking tragedy strikes deep. This second entry in the NeoG series (after A Pale Light in the Black, 2020) packs an emotional gut punch. What makes Wagers' work stand out in the field of military science fiction is how characters rely on forgiveness, kindness, and trust to solve challenges. They're vulnerable, share their emotions, and rely on each other, and Wagers shows how this can be people's greatest strength-a bracing contrast to the typical braggadocio of the genre. Their talent for creating characters readers care about is on full display. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.





The Near-Earth Orbital Guard Interceptor ship, Zuma's Ghost, has a new commander: Nika Vagin, Jenks' brother, returning from his stint with Intel, and a new ensign, Chae Ho-ki, from the Trappist colonies. The only problem: both of them have something to hide and it's messing up the dynamics of the team. When Zuma's Ghost is sent to the Trappist system, it becomes a target of a deep conspiracy to disrupt trade and reignite a war with Mars. Loyalties and relationships are tested in ways they might not survive, and a shocking tragedy strikes deep. This second entry in the NeoG series (after A Pale Light in the Black, 2020) packs an emotional gut punch. What makes Wagers' work stand out in the field of military science fiction is how characters rely on forgiveness, kindness, and trust to solve challenges. They're vulnerable, share their emotions, and rely on each other, and Wagers shows how this can be people's greatest strength-a bracing contrast to the typical braggadocio of the genre. Their talent for creating characters readers care about is on full display. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.





Seamlessly blending elements of military science fiction and space opera, the second installment in Wagers' NeoG series-after A Pale Light in the Black (2020)-continues the exploits of the crew of Zuma's Ghost as they patrol the solar system as part of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard, the space equivalent of the Coast Guard. Having won the annual Boarding Games-a team competition among various military branches-two years in a row, Lt. Max Carmichael is concerned about her ship's chances against other NeoG teams in the upcoming preliminary competitions as key crew members have retired and new, untested personnel have joined the ranks. The focus on the competitions is all but forgotten, however, when the crew is deployed as part of a task force to ensure safer trade routes around a remote Trappist station where invaluable funds and supplies have gone missing. The task force uncovers a grand-scale conspiracy in which those behind the plot are attempting to ignite a war between the military and Mars separatists to draw attention away from their nefarious dealings. The storyline gets exponentially more complicated when members of the Zuma's Ghost realize that one of their own is being blackmailed and forced to help the ruthless conspirators, who will stop at nothing to keep their maneuverings a secret-even if it means murder. Although the storyline is powered by an impressively intricate plot that features mystery, intrigue, and nonstop action, it's the deeply developed characters and the dynamic relationships among them that fuel this narrative. Wagers creates a cast of characters that are not only authentic, but endearingly flawed. Many characters are memorable, but it's Chief Petty Officer Altandai "Jenks" Khan who steals the show. So much more than a proverbial badass ("I'm just the weapon you point at whatever you want destroyed"), she has an extensive backstory, and her relationship issues with those she loves are worth the price of the book alone. Top-notch character-driven science fiction. Copyright Kirkus 2021 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.






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