by J. S. Dewes ★★★★★
I was hooked on J. S. Dewes' "The Divide" sci-fi opera from the opening moments of her first book The Last Watch, and I was even more bought-in when Book 2 (The Exiled Fleet) came out just four months later and was even better than the debut. Both of these were published in 2021, and after the speedy sequel, it has felt like an eternity to get to The Relentless Legion. But here we are, and thankfully it was worth the wait.
And now, the disclaimer:
If you have not yet read the previous books in The Divide series,
STOP READING THIS NOW!
My review below will contain major spoilers—recaps, even— for the first two books, but not for this latest installment in the series. If you're new to these books and curious about what all this 5-star space opera talk is about, check out my review of the first two books here.
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Because it had been several years since I'd last spent time with Adequin Rake, Cavalon Mercer, and the rest of the Sentinels, I had to go back and reread the last half of The Exiled Fleet to remind myself where things left off. So, to save you the trouble, here's a quick recap of The Exiled Fleet (at least the last half):
The Sentinels are at an impasse—they need a fuel source, and the only way to obtain it requires biometric access from none other than Augustus Mercer. Cavalon (Augustus's grandson) knows that Augustus keeps a genetic backup of himself in his bedroom at Mercer Manor, and so with no other options, he and Adequin Rake embark on a quest to retrieve it. After obtaining the bio-signature, Cavalon realizes Augustus's genetic code matches Cavalon's exactly, which means he's not Augustus's grandson, he's actually Augustus's clone. During the mission, they also download data that reveals Augustus Mercer's endgame: launch a bioweapon that would kill anyone infected with the Viator mutagen. As they flee from Mercer Manor on Elyseia, Cavalon is seriously injured (his left arm is severed below the elbow). He's able to be saved and extracted to their ship, but in the process the team is forced to leave Rake behind to be captured. When he regains consciousness, Cavalon is furious, but eventually Jackin North trades himself for Rake. Augustus Mercer values North even more than Rake, since North is the only person who knows the location of Mercer's wife Corinne, who North extracted to a blacksite years earlier. North leaves the Sentinels with coordinates to Corinne's location—an outpost on a planet called Akhet— so that they can evacuate her to a new safe spot in the event Jackin is unable to withhold the information under Augustus Mercer's torture. Lastly, as Rake, Cavalon, and team are fleeing across the galaxy and under heavy pursuit, they realize that there is only one way to avoid capture: they must evacuate the ship and turn it into a bomb that will prevent their pursuers from continuing to track them. Of course, one person must stay behind to trigger the bomb, and Cavalon and Rake try to "outmartyr" each other for that dubious honor, with Rake eventually prevailing after knocking out Cavalon. She puts him on a ship to safety, and she appears to be doomed before she is teleported at the last instant onto the Viator ship captained by Kaize. When asked how they got to her in time, Kaize says it was "caelestis", or "the will of the universe".
The Relentless Legion picks up at that point: North is captured and being interrogated, and Rake and Cavalon are holed up on Akhet with the rest of the Sentinels and Corinne Mercer, preparing for war. Augustus Mercer plans to launch a bioweapon that will wipe out half of humanity—anyone with the Viator mutagen—and Corinne and Cavalon have come to the conclusion that there is no way to stop the weapon. The only solution is to cure the Viator mutagen, something that humanity has spent the last hundred years unsuccessfully trying to do.
The first act of the book is a bit slower, with a lot of time spent on setting up the remainder of the novel, but once the story finds its firm footing, it barrels ahead during the second and third acts. The characters we came to know and love from the first two books are back and well established, and because we know them that opens the door to a deeper exploration of portions of their psyches and relationships. One thing The Relentless Legion doesn't do as much of as previous books in the series is completely zig when you think it's going to zag. That unpredictability was a staple of the first two books, and while there are plenty of unexpected occurrences, Dewes is on a mission to wrap things up, and any more drastic adjustments to plot would make that impossible.
And wrap things up she does, in a satisfactory way. There is room for more story if she wants it and she leaves the door open for that, but The Relentless Legion puts a bow on a terrific trilogy and one that I would highly recommend.
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