Captain John Duggan and his crew McGlashan, Breeze and Chainers are back, this time with a vanilla, boring mission to escort a heavy lifter to retrieve valuable material from a mining planet. Unfortunately the Ghast reached the planet before Duggan and have dug in. The Ghast shoot down Duggan’s ship, leaving the human crew marooned on an unlivable planet with hostile aliens between them and home.
The plot is fast! Duggan must take over the Ghast installation, redirect the weapon to remove the Ghast ship, then get home. Of course he succeeds! The second half the crew goes back on the Crimson, with ever-higher stakes when they discover a second opponent who is even more powerful and murderous. The ending is great.
Once again author James uses the war as a backdrop for his story about people. Bane of Worlds has more plot and less character development than first novel, Crimson Tempest. It is still good, an entertaining, absorbing story.
Bane of Worlds is a segue from the first story – humans vs. Ghast – to a complicated three-way conflict that the rest of the series will explore. It is enjoyable, a fast read that propels one on to the rest of the series.
4 Stars
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