Cheers to @travelingcloak for this wonderful review of The Exiled Fleet! 😆💙👏
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📖BOOK REVIEW📖
Title: THE EXILED FLEET
Series: THE DIVIDE #2
Author: J.S. Dewes @jsdewes
Publisher: Tor @torbooks
Publication Date: August 17, 2021
Synopsis: The Sentinels narrowly escaped the collapsing edge of the Divide.
They have mustered a few other surviving Sentinels, but with no engines they have no way to leave the edge of the universe before they starve.
Adequin Rake has gathered a team to find the materials they'll need to get everyone out.
To do that they're going to need new allies and evade a ruthless enemy. Some of them will not survive.
Review: “If we get so caught up in survival… what’s the point?”
I singled out this quote from the book, because I think I have asked myself that question every page of this series. It is also one of the things I have absolutely loved about the first two books in THE DIVIDE: the fact that on every single page from beginning to end the characters’ lives have have been in jeopardy, one way or another. No breaks, no let up. Pure, unwavering peril.
But, that is also where THE EXILED FLEET variegates from THE LAST WATCH. In the first book, they were constantly fighting for their lives. In this one, there are not many actual fights; the danger comes from the fact that the crew needs to figure out a way to get unstuck from their current situation, with supplies, food, and morale dwindling by the day. It’s the continuous threat of everything going to shit at any second that makes the book what it is: an edge-of-your-seat space thriller.
I’m addition, the book dives deeper into the past of the characters. As expected there are some surprises and reveals (OH THE REVEALS!!!!!), and the difference in circumstance actually allows for much more emotional exploration than the first book - a welcome addition to the storyline.
And the narrative overall is much more expansive, which is not necessarily an easy thing to pull off when the book is about a contracting universe. But the author makes it work.
In all, I found this to be a great read. THE EXILED FLEET hits all the right notes, and I diligently await the next installment.
