This book is a fun mix between The Expanse and Game of Thrones (think Ring Builders + the Night's Watch) with a little Star Trek thrown in for good measure. The characters are two-dimensional but entertaining. I wasn't expecting a lot from the series because it sounded like it was really derivative, but it comes together in a way that is highly entertaining and wound up being a page-turner that I had a hard time putting down.

Two drawbacks in the story that really jumped out at me are that I had guessed the plot by about 65% of my way through the story and that Cavalon Mercer is too handy a character, by which I mean that he always knows exactly what needs to be known to make a situation work. It comes off as a little too perfect. But again, if you go into the story with the right expectations, you can still really enjoy it.