I returned to the main storyline of Nick Cole's and Jason Anspach's military sci-fi book series called Galaxy's Edge after a little over two years. And it was as if I never left.
Prisoners of Darkness, book number 6 in the main series picks up the story immediately after the end of Sword of the Legion.
Since there will be potential spoilers, consider yourself properly warned.
The recurring theme of the series about "Points" being omens of ruin brought upon the Legion by the House of Reason takes the center stage in PoD. Cole & Anspach are not here to reinvent the wheel, but instead to provide entertainment for their readers.
The book is a breeze to read through, while the story continues to expand. The new and ominous threats that were in the previous books only myths, legends and rumours don't take the center stage, but they do make their presence known.
If in the past the theme was that maybe parts of the Republic were corrupt, but the rest was either ignorant or stupid, this time around it is shown that there really is no saving the Republic, neither from the enemy, nor from itself. It's just too corrupt, too stupid, and too ignorant all at the same time.
The newly formed Empire on the other hand has its own set of problems, but we only get to see a glimmer of those.
Still the story focuses on Major Owens who was designated fall guy for successfully thwarting the Empire, and thus sent to a prison planet, where he discovers he's not the only Legionnaire to be sentenced to forced labor just because he did things right. What is more, the Republic he spent his life fighting for, is actually working with the slavers, and the prison planet is the prime location for all those whom Republic deems undesirable for one reason or another - wrongthink included.
On the other hand we have members of Victory Squad who are determined to save their wrongly convicted superior officer from hell even if it means going against the Republic. Even if it means working side by side with smugglers, pirates, and slavers.
All in all, Prisoners of Darkness provides entertaining read for anyone looking to get their dose of military sci-fi. What it does lack in comparison to the previous instalments, is the ability to play on the reader's heart strings. The moments are still there, but they are few and far between.
I give it 4/5.
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