Book Review Series: Drysine Legacy, Book 2 in the spiral Wars

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Drysine Legacy picks up right where book one leaves our heroes: aboard the UFS Phoenix. They are still grappling with the fallout of a terrifying truth—that the galaxy is far more dangerous than they assumed, and there is much more at stake than just the fate of human politics. Eric Debogande is easing into leadership at a rapid pace at the start of book two, largely because he no longer has a choice. He has been presented with an impossible task: make allies among other races—races that, mere months ago, were at war with humanity. Other races still were believed to have been extinct for the last twenty-five thousand years.

In my opinion, Drysine Legacy is where this series hits its stride. Giving it a second read, I believe it to be the strongest of the first five books in the ten-book series that comprises The Spiral Wars. Joel Shepherd gives us his characteristic all-knowing narrator who weaves a vivid story; each rivet of the Phoenix feels tactile, each round fired from a Marine’s rifle reverberates, and every choice the command staff faces feels earned. So do their sacrifices.

Along the way, we see a moral compass in our main characters, Eric Debogande and Trace Thakur, that continues to be the guiding light for not just their crew, but the galaxy at large. Shepherd paints them as larger than life at times, but never inhuman—and that may be his biggest strength. There is something special about rooting for heroes organically through their interactions and actions, rather than just because they’re the POV you’ve been given. With these two, it is a natural progression; by book two, you truly want them to succeed.

In Drysine Legacy, new alliances are formed as new enemies are unmasked, and the conflict scales from a spat between political parties in Human space to a galaxy-spanning, species-hopping fight for survival. Amidst all of this, the character dynamics of the UFS Phoenix continue to be the glue that binds the story together, preventing it from feeling too large or overreaching. I encourage fans of Military Science Fiction and ensemble action-adventures to jump into this one headfirst—you will be rewarded.

Five stars and then some.