Lines of Departure is the second publication in the Frontlines series by Marko Kloss.
The novel picks up after a five year jump from the conclusion of Terms of Enlistment. Humanity is in a three way war between the two major Earth factions and the Lanky threat. These aliens have made significant progress in their incursion into human controlled space. As the people in power on Earth scramble to form an organised response, Andrew has to deal with the situations he is put in by the chain of command. At heart this novel serves as a direct continuation of the first encounter section of the previous book, but at the same time part of it also ties back to Andrew’s ties to the Territorial Army.
From sub-genres you can expect to see a strong emphasis on action and dramatic elements. The strong romance aspect of the previous book is temporarily dialed back in this installment due to the direction of the series’ plot. And in terms of other elements you can also expect comedy, world-building and a few philosophical themes interspersed throughout the novel.
In terms of lessons Lines of Departure adheres to practically all the lessons I covered in my review of Terms of Enlistment. It also expands on a couple of them, like the author’s approach to depicting an asymmetric war. At the same time it serves as an interesting example on how to make changes to sub-genre composition mid series. As it almost completely removes the romance elements which featured heavily in the previous book and in the subsequent sequels in the series. For a more in-depth explanation of these and more, watch the video linked at the top of the page.
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