Ok, how does somebody survive almost a year of unadulterated torture at the hands of his worst enemy? Really doesn’t seem possible unless you happen to be Ethan Irons, formerly of Earth! If you’ll remember at the end of book 2, Ethan had traded himself for his Son who had been captured by the evil Akakie Serapis. (Oh, before I forget, this alien civilization called Akakie is some kind of joke name thought up by the author. I sure would hate be saying that out loud in an audio book!) So, Serapis has Ethan somewhere on a ship in the depths of space constantly torturing him mentally if not physically. If he had been tortured physically, there wouldn’t have been much of Ethan left for the rest of this book. I think Serapis was mentally trying to break Ethan, but Ethan was a Marine and he wasn’t going to be easy to break.
Meanwhile, a few other things were going on in the galaxy. General Maada and Colonel Xornaa had spent the last year desperately trying to find Ethan. They weren’t having much luck and now realized they might have to move on to other things. This really pissed off Jarred, Ethan’s best friend and also a Marine. He didn’t understand how they could just give up on Ethan after all they had been through together. But, it is what it is. Serapis didn’t want to be found so he wasn’t. And there was actually something else happening in the galaxy that was going to involve everyone far beyond just those looking for Ethan.
A huge black starship aptly named the “Leviathan” had just arrived in orbit over Aerthos. A booming voice came from the huge ship over every communication system on the planet. This voice stated that this was “Ultima” and he had come to seek retribution on this planet and its civilization. It seems as though a long time ago, this planet’s military had been involved in the destruction of an artificial intelligence civilization that had become hostile to others in the galaxy. These living beings deemed this AI civilization should die so they destroyed its world or so they thought.
Now Ultima was back with a ship far, far more advanced than anyone could imagine or equal. He told the people of Aerthos that they were doomed and he began systematically destroying every city, town and village on the planet. He eventually cracked the planet into ensuring this civilization would never have a place to call home. But, Ultima wasn’t just satisfied with only destroying the Aerthosians. He had decided that all living beings needed to be wiped from the galaxy and he had the means to do so.
It wasn’t long before General Maada heard about the destruction of Aerthos and unfortunately, several more planets and their civilizations. He knew that his home world would soon be on the list to be destroyed but even gathering all the military assets of all the remaining civilizations, he didn’t know if they had enough to defeat Ultima. Then the thought of the unthinkable! He was going to offer Serapis an opportunity to join forces with those he had tried to destroy in order to save everyone!
As hard to swallow as this deal was going to be, it was alleviated by the return of Ethan Irons! Yes, he showed up at the home of Xornaa who was taking care of his son Jamie. Ethan was surprisingly more physically fit than he had ever been. While his mind was being tortured, his body was actually kept in great shape by Serapis. But, he was back and he was going to help in the fight against Ultima.
So, that’s their new enemy. Seems like they can’t have much rest in this galaxy. If it isn’t Serapis destroying worlds then now you’ve got Ultima doing the same thing. How are they going to defeat him and will Serapis actually work with those he had previously tried to destroy? It’s going to be a strange ride and nothing should be surprising.
While it almost sounds like this could be the end of the series, it’s not. The next book, “Fury of Temporal War”, is available on Amazon and probably brings another enemy into the picture (or book!).
==[Note: As of 12/03/2023, this will not be published on Amazon since I have been banned from posting reviews for some unknown reason. Once the ban is lifted, assuming it does get lifted, I’ll go back and post this to Amazon.]==