For those of us who have been following this story, this is the book we’ve been waiting for. The Confederation, which actually means the Morag, is going to get hammered by the combination of the Human Empire and the humans of the Solar System. We read about the build up of the massive human fleet in the previous book and now we’re going to see just how many allies we have in the old Confederation. These alien civilizations are tired of being controlled by the telepathic Morag who have use their abilities to enter the minds of alien leaders and influence outcomes in the Morag’s favor. Some believe that we wouldn’t be on the bring of war with the humans had the Morag not been leading the Confederation.
So, this book is about the build up of the entire human and alien fleet that is preparing to depart Lormallian space for their target – the capital planet of the Morag, Morag Prime. Of course, the humans and aliens allies know that this won’t be an easy battle. They expect the Morag to have a sizable fleet protecting their home planet, possibly over 5,000 vessels in orbit with more coming and going each day. It won’t be an easy battle, but one that the humans are almost sure they well win. Once that’s done, they intend to ensure the Morag’s entire military capability is eliminated.
Meanwhile, there are other things going on. Admiral Collison had been running a fleet behind enemy lines causing all sorts of destruction. With Rear Admirals Barnes and Carrie each commanding half of Admiral Collison’s fleet, they had split to attack more targets and cause much more destruction. They were after small Morag units protecting shipyards and terraformed moons in Morag systems. The destruction of the shipyards would soon seriously begin to hamper the Morag’s ability to provide ships for its fleets and also cause fear among the Morag since they were not used to any kind of alien attacks. The Morag had reined supreme in the Confederation for so long, they thought they were above being attacked by anyone.
But, the enemy is also getting ready to do something that the Human Empire was not aware of and certainly not prepared. The Druins have gathered a large fleet and are prepared to attack the Human Empire on their own. They need to make a decisive strike against the humans and have found out that their opportunity to do so was perfect. With the combined human fleets gathering to attack Morag Prime, the Druins Admiral figured Golan Four would be wide open. And he was partially right.
So, were the Human Empire and alien allies going to destroy Morag Prime only to find out that Golan Four had also been wiped out. What would that do to the Human Empire? And on top of this, there was something strange going on at Falton Two. This planet appeared to have humans in charge right in the middle of Morag controlled Confederation space. Human stealth scout ships had observed Morag’s visiting the planet and apparently getting along well with its human leaders. Could it be that the Morag and these Falton Two humans were friendly only because these humans were also telepathic? The Human Empire hadn’t made contact with the humans of Falton Two but just observed them and were seeing some strange things for sure.
Finally, it appears that the Morags have some kind of secret weapon or something they thing they can spring on the humans that might stop their aggression. Could this secret weapon prevent the humans from destroying Morag Prime? If so, it must be pretty powerful. But, what could it be.
So, you’ll get to the end of this book and for the most part, you will be satisfied with the way it ended, but then again… it doesn’t end the way I would have liked. As you know the authors daughter has taken up the completion of this story started by her departed Father. She has done a remarkable job, but now appears to be wanting to move on to more stories under her own name. I’m all for that, but I wished this book had a cleaner ending. I’m not sure I want to follow where this now new series will lead.