Exodus Empire at War Book 5: Ranger

"Two possibilites exist. Either we are alone in the universe of we are not. Both are equally as terrifying"
                                                                                                                                        - Arthur C Clarke

Doug Dandridge has produced another big hitter with the fifth instalment of his Exodus at War series: Ranger

I have loved this series since I picked up the first one back in the day simply because the title caught my attention when I was procrastinating from finishing my own work. I fell in love with the epicness of human civilisation throughout the galaxy that Dandridge created and the brilliant details that he goes into with the space battles and every aspect of the world.

The character of Cornelius Walborski is introduced early in the books and at first I was not a fan of the character and just wanted to get back to other aspects of the story (I thought that of Sean at one point as well and I was happy to be wrong about that as well). Cornelius quickly proves himself to be an interesting character, driven by emotion and a thirst for revenge. I found it strange when I was disappointed that he did not factor in to book 4 and I was shocked that book 5 would be dedicated to his character. I was interested to see how it would be. 

Dandridge himself explains at the beginning that this book would feature not on the epic space battles that we had grown used to and the reign of the Great Emperor Sean and his many troubles ruling a vase empire at war with its ancient enemy. I was a little worried as whilst I had enjoyed the previous sections of past books that featured ground combat I was not sure how an entire book would fare. 

The book begins with Cornelius' training as he joins the ranks of the Imperial soldiery. He then moves on and goes through how he joins the ranks of the elite Rangers. Whilst this is happening across the human empire a young girl and her family get caught up in the invasion by the Ca'cas. The early stages of the book remind me greatly of Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. 

The few appearances of Sean Romanov, Emperor of the human race and much loved central character makes the book feel like a brilliantly placed side story to the the bigger war. The introduction of a new client species of the Ca'cas and their feelings towards their masters that they obediantly serve I am sure will bring further intrigue as the books continue. 

The book itself is a very good length and fits brilliantly in to the overriding story ark. I will enjoy getting back to the bigger war in the next book, but I will also feel a little saddened that the focus will be taken away from a brilliant character.

Great book, great series. Keep watching the skies for the next instalment.

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