Fortress Frontier

Executive Summary: I thought this was much better than [b:Control Point 11783484 Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1) Myke Cole https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309460843s/11783484.jpg 15964749], possibly because Colonel Bookbinder was FAR more likeable to me than Oscar Britton.Audiobook: Korey Jackson once again does a good job. He's well-spoken and easy to hear and understand. This isn't a must listen, but it's definitely a book that works well in audio.Full Review[b:Control Point 11783484 Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1) Myke Cole https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309460843s/11783484.jpg 15964749] was a pretty good debut, but it had its issues. You could tell it was Mr. Cole's first novel. It felt clunky in places. I also didn't like Oscar Britton very much. That last point might have been intentional by the author though.I was glad to discover that while this book continues the story of the first, it's largely told from a new viewpoint: Colonel Alan Bookbinder. He's VASTLY more likeable to me. That made a huge difference. It's hard for me to root for a character I don't like and it's hard for me to root against the protagonist.In addition both the writing and the plot seemed more polished. Many of the events of the first book were in shades of grey. I never knew what I was rooting for half the time. I like that sort of story in general, but the execution frustrated me at times.This one felt a lot more black and white. There was plenty of conflict Bookbinder had to deal with without him needing to be an asshole about everything. I think if Oscar Britton was more sympathetic to me, it might have worked better. In addition, Bookbinder is a character I can identify with better. While he is a military officer, he's an office worker and an administrator instead of coming from a combat background.The pace of this book was good. The world building is fairly light though. You get more character development and personal history than you do of an explanation for magic, the source or how the world reached the point it was at.For a middle book, I found this very enjoyable. Since I'm writing this review after having finished the next one, I can say that it's my favorite of the trilogy. That's pretty rare for me. In fact I can't recall another time where I enjoyed the middle book the most. It does suffer a bit from “middle book syndrome” though. It feels a bit transitional at times.That said, I really enjoyed Bookbinder and his journey from normal office worker to major player in the world of militarized magic. I enjoyed this one so much, I jumped immediately into the final one.