Unfortunately for me, this military scifi was, for more than 50%, on-leave scifi, vacation scifi, visiting mum scifi, getting engaged scifi and so on. Then, from what was actually milscifi, most is still not about the interesting enemy, but other humans. Then (2), there's a huge, mutinous lack of discipline that I, as a real officer, did not find believable and also really not enjoyable (maybe civilians enjoy rebels, but soldiers not really). Then (3), worst offender for me: POSSIBLE SPOILER all of humanity couldn't find a solution for yearsfor a specific problem and then bang! a small team finds it immediately AND it is the simplest one, that even a Neanderthal would have thought first (I am not kidding, the idea is at that tehnological stage and a natural, reflex reaction for any humanoid).
On the other hand, I still greatly enjoyed the writing and the narrative flow. Kloos is an excellent writer, but with a big deficit on original ideas and, here, a propensity for bang! lucky save again! And again! And again!
I will read the rest of the series, though, as it still is very good escapist literature. ( )

Kloos, Marko. Lines of Departure. Frontlines No. 2. 47 North 2014.
Lines of Departure, the sequel to Terms of Enlistment, is an above-average military space opera. Author Marko Kloos gives his protagonist an identifiable voice and a more nuanced personality than one finds in the genre’s heroes. Andrew Grayson, now a sergeant, is given more tactical responsibility for battle planning in the two-front war in which he is engaged. Much of the character drama involves recalcitrant troops, bone-headed bosses, and a long-distance love affair. Thankfully, Kloos is not as wedded to the Starship Troopers model as he was in Terms of Enlistment. Lines was nominated for a Hugo, but Kloos withdrew it from consideration because he opposed the right-wing group that nominated it. It was up against Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Problem and Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice, so stood little chance of winning. 4 stars. ( )

I guess you would call this military hard science fiction. Our heroes are on a wintery moon 30 light years from earth doing detailed military attack and defense against other humans and against almost bulletproof aliens. Fairly credible lead characters and realistic depictions of career soldiers struggling with loyalty to a morally bankrupt tottering regime trying to keep Earth from collapsing. ( )

This is not my genre. Military sci-fi that's light on the sci-fi? No thanks. But somehow, this is compelling stuff. I can't even pinpoint why. I liked Andrew much more in this book than the first one, he's still growing up but at least he spent some time appreciating his mother. There are some casual racism moments (eight) on the part of the author. But really, this is very unobjectionable fare. I'm chasing the 4.8 potential of the fifth book due to FOMO. ( )

I am rather late to the party on this series. I just happened to stumble onto it by accident. A happy accident, I might add. I am not normally into military Sci-Fi because all the battle scenes I don't find interesting regardless of how well written. However, the plot is just so good and the characters so relatable I have totally fallen in love. Thankfully the battle scenes are not overly long and drawn out. The author did a wonderful job of providing well written, suspenseful conflict without boring me. Kudos there.

I also appreciated the attention given to the subplots. It gave the story dimension and the overall movement of the story was better for it. Throw in a fabulous main character and you can't help but enjoy. Excited to read the next book. ( )