SPACE is a silent and vastly dead expanse, yet filled with marvels of life, twists of physics, furnaces of unimaginable fire, and wastelands of matter-shattering cold. There is no greater ocean for humanity to sail, no more perilous journey, and none more yearned for by generation upon generation. Tentative steps into the endless frontier inevitably are loosened into giant leaps, but adventure brings with it failures as often as glory.

Light years from Sol and the comforts of home, humanity’s greatest leap lay strewn across hundreds of miles, now little more than smoldering wreckage of dreams feebly forged into reality. The once sleek and vaguely arrowhead shaped craft so many people cheered on its way was drifting wounded and listless. The daring vessel, audacious by design, the main body accompanied by four sets of engines jutting from either side, shot through space scattering bodies and shards of metal and freezing vapor leaking from its own wounds. It was the culmination of centuries of leaps and stuttering steps forward in science and engineering. The Argos, now rent down the middle nearly in half, the scar running forward from the reactors at the aft reaching for the bow.

Bodies floated in space, some of them sucked out so suddenly into the void that the immortal looks on their faces weren’t even surprised. They had been asleep, or monotonously going through their shift, now they were frigid corpses floating amidst the charred debris. Summersaulting about its axis three quarters of the Argos continued to make an orbit around a red and purple planet, no sign left of the assailants.

New_Frontier_11-11 (Kindle Locations 44-56).

Competition can be a great thing. People work harder and faster when they are competing. It is human nature to desire victory, whether we admit it or not. Sometimes competition can go too far. The desire to be the best can change to envy or greed, and the motivation to create is replaced by the need to destroy. Jeremy Lee’s novel, New Frontier, is a science fiction rollercoaster ride that tells the tale of man’s first steps outside of the solar system, the competition to be the first, and the people who will do anything to win.THE GOOD

 Where to start? This was a really good book. The story is strong and well written. There was enough science involved to make the setting plausible, but not so much that it seemed implausible or something that the reader could not relate to. The book’s theme is timeless and it is easy to draw certain parallels to the modern world. The combat, whether person to person or ship to ship, was well written with a pace that kept the pages turning. There are a lot of characters in this book, and they all manage to retain their unique place in the story and setting, even though none of them would qualify as a main protagonist.

THE BAD

There are a lot of characters. Seriously, there are a bunch of them and the author dedicates time to just about anyone with a name. It is not really a bad thing, but the lack of a main character can make the ensemble seem a little on the chaotic side. Adding to this is the way the story is written: non-chronologically. The book jumps back and forth in time and space in order to give the reader little glimpses into the lives of the characters and the events that are unfolding. It is a little jarring at times, but I honestly can’t think of a better way for the author to bring the story to life.

THE TAKEAWAY

I really enjoyed this book. I devoured it in only a couple of days and I would easily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction or espionage. This book is one you are going to want to read on a lazy weekend, because if you pick it up only once in a while you might just lose your place amidst the time warp of chapters.

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