Of all the books in the Galaxy’s Edge series, this in makes the most sense! Maybe it’s because everything that has happened in the past 17 books now comes to an end, maybe! You start off a hundred years before the present just to get Tyrus Rex and Casper Sullivan into the book, I guess. That part worried me because these two did things in the past that had significant impacts on the future, but it’s also hard to tell what those impacts were.
It’s better when you actually get to Chapter 1 and find that you’re now in the present and back with Captain Keel, Kill Team Victory and Zombie Squad. Those are definitely some names from previous books that you should be very familiar with. They all are on the planet Kima which in other times went by a different name, one you’ll be familiar with. They are specifically inside a vault which contains a lot of Savage artifacts. Most of these artifacts are about the life and times of a guy name Thomas Roman. Who he is will be reveled in the story as you read through it. But, it’s important to know that this vault must be protected from the Savages at all cost.
Why wasn’t exactly spelled out, but you’ll read that it is going to cost a lot to protect this vault. A lot of known characters are not going to make it through this book. There is a entity called the Golden King and he intends to access the vault and will do so with all his might. He also had control of about all the “alien” races in the galaxy. They are doing his bidding one way or another. The lead aliens are the slave traders Gomarii. They are working with the Hool and the Zhee with all three plus the Savage Marines being the bulk of the Golden Kings army. They are attacking every Republic planet now when the Republic is just beginning to recover from Goth Sullus. The Golden King also has Reina, Prima’s supposed mother and Prisma. What’s going on between those three is a story all by itself.
The Legion and in particular the, 131st Legion, led by General Chhun are attempting to fight back these Gomarii attacks but the General believes most of them are a feint covering up the real fight which he believes is to be on Kima. Against the concerns of the Legion Commander and the Republic Senate, he’s moving his Legion forces to Kima. It’s hoped that he won’t be too late. There are other forces that the Golden King intends to bring into the battle that are far, far worse than the aliens he has currently fighting for him. How they are going to stop those “things” is not a problem the Legion can solve. It’s going to have to have help from someone or something if the galaxy is going to escape from the rule of the Golden King.
There is a lot of fighting in this book and most all of it makes sense. You’ll get a better understanding of how several of the characters in previous books relate to each other and what their part was in this story. I often wondered how a new character in a new book fit into the over all story-line and most of those questions are answered in this book. I don’t want to go into details on what happens because you do need to read and understand everything that happens here for all the rest of the story to make sense.
It’s been a long, long journey from book 1, “Legionnaire” to now. I’m actually surprised I stuck with it because a lot of these books just didn’t make sense. Many of them were off-shoots just written about one character and how he/she came to be. I’m still not sure how Prisma came to be and where she got her powers. I know that Reina was not her real mother, but Prisma has come a long, long way from the little girl that wanted to kill Goth Sullus.
So, 18 books and that’s it. Doesn’t appear to be any more in this series and that’s the way it ends. Everything kind of gets wrapped up and it’s a good ending, a long journey, but a good ending.