Lines of Departure

Frontlines, Book 2

By: Marko Kloos

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Vicious interstellar conflict with an indestructible alien species. Bloody civil war over the last habitable zones of the cosmos. Political unrest, militaristic police forces, dire threats to the solar system....

Humanity is on the ropes, and after years of fighting a two-front war with losing odds, so is Commonwealth Defense Corps officer Andrew Grayson. He dreams of dropping out of the service one day alongside his pilot girlfriend, but as warfare consumes entire planets and conditions on Earth deteriorate, he wonders if there will be anywhere left for them to go.

After surviving a disastrous spaceborne assault, Grayson is reassigned to a ship bound for a distant colony - and packed with malcontents and troublemakers. His most dangerous battle has just begun.

In this sequel to the best-selling Terms of Enlistment, a weary soldier must fight to prevent the downfall of his species...or bear witness to humanity’s last fleeting breaths.

©2014 Marko Kloos (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Hooked!

Just finished book 2 and downloading #3 right now! I'm burning through these while working and driving. Great story! No complaints :)

Great stuff!

Could have had more in depth scientific principles and tech. Still best read this year!

My ears

Really enjoying the story and the narrator does a great job and has impressive range; but I could do without all the yelling.

The yelling is far too loud when compared to the normal narration.

I understand completely they're in combat and folk yell, but I find myself constantly adjusting the volume while wearing headphones.

Which isn't the narrators fault, but rather whoever mixed and equalized the volume - or in this case, simply didnt.

Marko Kloos Rocks!!

What a refreshingly different military space opera! I certainly didn’t see the surprising turn of events coming! And Luke Daniels does his usual great job of narrating the action.

I can’t wait to start listening to the next book in the series! Kloos is officially now one of my favorite authors!

The only thing I am having trouble swallowing is the idea of an alien that is 80 ft. tall.

Entertaining soft science fiction

The story is entertaining and I enjoyed it. However, if you're looking for hard science fiction, meaning physics are obeyed, Lightspeed matters, etc., this might not be the book for you. If you're willing to put that aside, it is an entertaining story.

Narrator makes this great story even better

I finished this book and can't wait to move on to the 3rd. i like how then author doesn't make Grayson a super hero who takes Command and saves the day every time. sometimes shit goes really bad with no happy resolution.

Top tier book

Love the narration, love the first person. All done flawlessly! Didn't have any point where I wasn't engaged.

The series really picks up steam

For five years now humanity has been falling back. Although we have had limited success in ground skirmishes against the Lankeys we have lost every single space battle against them. Colony world after colony world has fallen and the Lankey siege ships appear to be indestructible. Once they arrive at a planet they are able to land troops and terraform it to their needs quickly and efficiently. Despite this harsh reality, the North American Commonwealth and the Sino-Russian Alliance remain bitter enemies and they continue to fight against each other over the colony planets that do remain under human control. Even Earth itself has deteriorated as the two-front war sucks away all the resources and civil unrest has become the norm.

Within the beleaguered armed forces Andrew Grayson has become a combat controller and he plays a key role on the tip of the spear. Although he longs to be able to leave the military and return to Earth to spend time with his girlfriend, Andrew realizes the harsh truth that there won't be an Earth to return to if he doesn't do his job. He continues to put his life on the line time and time again for a military brass that doesn't have a moral compass or even the intelligence to focus their attention on the Lankeys. After being assigned to a disastrous invasion force, Andrew finds himself being sent to the ass end of the galaxy to help garrison and protect a remote moon. When access to Earth gets cut off and his military task force turns on the civilian population of the moon Andrew must decide if he is going to blindly obey orders or if he needs to become more than just a cog in the machine.

This book is a notch above the first one because it really hooks you in as Andrew's character starts to develop. Andrew has to make some tough calls as he tries to juggle protecting and supporting his Mom back on a crumbling Earth, maintaining a relationship with his remote girlfriend, and protecting humanity from annihilation. Desperate times call for desperate measures but how far is too far? Is it worth any price to guarantee the survival of the human race?

Marko Kloos offers up more solid military sci-fi with this one and then blends in some interesting character development to go along with the high paced action. As far as the series goes i went into this one unsure about it and came out eager for the next book, Angles of Attack. Luke Daniels does another excellent job on the narration and I feel he does well voicing the military characters. Battle stations! Battle stations! All hands to battle stations. This is not a drill.

Pure Militart SciFi Entertainment

I really enjoyed the first book in the Frontlines series, so giving book two a shot only seemed natural. I really hope that Kloos can create the same magic, the same intensity, the same well developed story. Many times a second book in a series will lack in the same energy and intensity as the first. I really hope that Kloos can keep this from happening.

I have suddenly found myself listening to more military science fiction than ever before, and I have to admit that I love it. Every author letting their imagination go wild and create awesomeness from nothing.

Lines of Departure is, so far in my opinion, even better than the first book. Filled with meticulously crafted military battle scenes. Enough action was packed in to get me jacked like I drank too much coffee. I listened to this in one sitting and I think many other will do the same.

Kloos was able to dynamically evolve all of the characters that I loved from the first book. While introducing many others. A majority of the story took place on a distant ice planet where the situation becomes FUBAR. I can’t say much because I do not want to give anything away.

If you enjoyed Terms of Enlistment you will love book two. If you were on the fence about book one you will love book two. I cannot wait until book tree comes out as I will be waiting in line for it.

In over 1000 audio books that I have listened to in my life. I have never heard a performance like the one Luke Daniels gives in Lines of Departure. He injects every sentence with so much energy and emotion. Daniels is truly at the top of his game. While there was a plethora of characters for Daniels to keep straight, he gave each their own voice with ease. At part he made me jump out of my seat by actually yelling when a character was.

Another reason for the success of this audio performance was Daniels ability to change the pacing on a dime. Slowing down for the sentimental parts. Then exploding into a frantic blitz action and battles, without missing a beat.

Audiobook purchased for review by the ABR.

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great part 2

The story is well written and a good read. A fitting part 2 with lots of twists and turns. I could still do without all the extreme swearing and wish more authors would skip adding unless words just to sound tough. The storywould not have suffered if it had been excluded.

But the story is well put together and riveting. I am anxious for book 3