This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Iron Wolves
Series: Galaxy’s Edge: Order of the Centurion #2
Author: Jonathan Yanez
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mil-SF
Pages: 212
Words: 62K
| Synopsis: |
From Galaxysedge.fandom.com/Publisher’s Summary
The Iron Wolves are a company of legionnaires whose legendary exploits date back to the Savage Wars. When they are invited to be guests of honor at a ceremony on a small, backwater planet, they look forward to some precious time away from the constant conflicts of galaxy’s edge.
But when a neighboring country invades, disrupting the ceremony and killing innocents, the Wolves are forced to make an impossible decision. Aid a people pleading for their protection… or obey the cynical orders of their Senate to stand down and see how the dust settles.
Taking their careers and lives into their hands, the Iron Wolves and local militia form a brotherhood determined to fight for what they believe in. War is on the wind, the battle is at hand, and the Legion is on the move once more.
| My Thoughts: |
This is the first GE book truly written by another author. While Anspach and Cole’s names are on the cover, this is all Yanez. As such, it is a very different book from what I’ve read before. In many ways, it was almost straight up Mil-SF, just like the first book that kicked this whole series off, Legionnaire (by the by, can you believe it has been over 2 years since I started in on the Galaxy’s Edge series? And man, it is still going wicked strong!). There was no space opera about this novel, only the grim side of a war for a Republic that was downright dirty.
The main character, Sam, is a real basketcase. He suffers from flashbacks & nightmares and has bad enough anger issues that he’s constantly being busted back in rank. His life is the Legion though and there is nothing he won’t do for his brothers, including disobey direct orders from their Point Major, who is safely ensconced in a spaceship high above the world.
I understood what Yanez was writing here and why he wrote Sam as he did but I did not enjoy it nearly as much as some of the other GE books. Without that space opera element, that “fantastical other”, Mil-SF has to be really interesting to keep me engaged.
I’ll definitely be adjusting my expectations for the rest of this sub-series. Hopefully that will be enough to keep me motivated.
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
Kept thinking a GE book was something published by General Electric.
LikeLiked by 3 people
You are not alone. I’m always hesitant to use that abbreviation because I think the same thing 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
What order are the Centurians in? Alphabetical? Chronological?
LikeLiked by 1 person
By Order of Atomic Weight. They have official weigh-ins each week to determine that weeks order.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The timeline must be a doozy to keep control of for the authors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. They must have hired someone whose only job is to keep track of the “history”, especially as more sub-series get farmed out to other authors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m imagining a ginormous spreadsheet 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s how I’d do it anyway 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d have a huge wall chart with pins and string and pictures and everything!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like that guy from “A Beautiful Mind”…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Missed that one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
While I think the person who the movie is based on is a horrible person, the movie itself was fantastic.
Russel Crowe did a great job. It’s as close to a biopic as I’m ever going to watch (despite all the biopics Dix watches and reviews)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will look into it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It must be really hard to come up with new ideas for sci fi. Maybe just having stories in a sci fi context qualifies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That definitely seems like what is going on here.
LikeLike
Interesting how you didn’t bash on this as much as I’d have expected based on the rating and your love for this franchise. Goes to show that it’s just a personal preference thing, regarding the subgenre. Good thoughts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have to admit, there was a part of me that wanted to bash on it, but I like the overall series so much that I cut this a lot of slack.
The real question will be the next book. I’m hoping that my stopping Max Brand is a good indication that I CAN stop a series if it’s not working for me.
And thankfully, there are several other Galaxy’s Edge sub-series to try out 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person