"Wagers’s second NeoG novel serves up buffet-size portions of everything their fans have come to expect: dug-in friendships, action, impossible odds, and clever dialogue that always hits home...Wagers’s characterization plumbs incredible depths, particularly with street rat–turned–engineering chief Jenks, a brain with vicious fists. Wagers’s fans should snap up this fun, thrilling latest." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Wagers’s sharp prose highlights the fast action and dialogue they’re known for, bringing to life this story of found family, talent, and hard punches." — Library Journal (starred review)
"Although the storyline is powered by an impressively intricate plot that features mystery, intrigue, and nonstop action, it’s the deeply developed characters and the dynamic relationships among them that fuel this narrative. Wagers creates a cast of characters that are not only authentic, but endearingly flawed...Top-notch character-driven science fiction." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Hold Fast Through the Fire is an ambitious, outstanding breath of fresh air in the military SF genre, and I would recommend it even to those who may not think of themselves as military SF fans.” — Chris Kluwe for Lightspeed Magazine
“If Wagers didn’t serve, they certainly got the skinny from somebody who lived it and it shows. They spin a captivating sea-story in space. As an ex-Coast Guardsman, I appreciate that what the crew lacks in gear, they make up for in heart. Semper Paratus.” — Nathan Lowell, creator of the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, on A Pale Light in the Black
“Every character is someone readers will enjoy spending time with, and exploring the characters’ relationships is the heart of the tale. […] Wagers’ first book in the NeoG series is an unexpected and refreshing twist on military science fiction.” — Library Journal on A Pale Light in the Black
“Wagers delivers a space adventure that’s a found family story that’s an interstellar conspiracy story that’s... it just keeps going! Fierce, rollicking, kind, intimate and vast. If A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet had more kickboxing matches and death-defying space rescues, this would be the book. Go Neo-G!” — Max Gladstone, author of Empress of Forever, on A Pale Light in the Black
“Wagers kicks off the NeoG series with this fun, feel-good space opera. This effortlessly entertaining novel is sure to have readers coming back for the next installment.” — Publishers Weekly on A Pale Light in the Black
“Great characters and white-knuckle tension. Recommended.” — Gareth L. Powell, author of Embers of War, on A Pale Light in the Black
★ 2021-05-05
Seamlessly blending elements of military science fiction and space opera, the second installment in Wagers’ NeoG series—after A Pale Light in the Black (2020)—continues the exploits of the crew of Zuma’s Ghost as they patrol the solar system as part of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard, the space equivalent of the Coast Guard.
Having won the annual Boarding Games—a team competition among various military branches—two years in a row, Lt. Max Carmichael is concerned about her ship’s chances against other NeoG teams in the upcoming preliminary competitions as key crew members have retired and new, untested personnel have joined the ranks. The focus on the competitions is all but forgotten, however, when the crew is deployed as part of a task force to ensure safer trade routes around a remote Trappist station where invaluable funds and supplies have gone missing. The task force uncovers a grand-scale conspiracy in which those behind the plot are attempting to ignite a war between the military and Mars separatists to draw attention away from their nefarious dealings. The storyline gets exponentially more complicated when members of the Zuma’s Ghostrealize that one of their own is being blackmailed and forced to help the ruthless conspirators, who will stop at nothing to keep their maneuverings a secret—even if it means murder. Although the storyline is powered by an impressively intricate plot that features mystery, intrigue, and nonstop action, it’s the deeply developed characters and the dynamic relationships among them that fuel this narrative. Wagers creates a cast of characters that are not only authentic, but endearingly flawed. Many characters are memorable, but it’s Chief Petty Officer Altandai “Jenks” Khan who steals the show. So much more than a proverbial badass (“I’m just the weapon you point at whatever you want destroyed”), she has an extensive backstory, and her relationship issues with those she loves are worth the price of the book alone.
Top-notch character-driven science fiction.
