First Line of Defense 2

First Line of Defense, Book 2

By: Benjamin Kerei

Narrated by: Travis Baldree, Gary Furlong

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Morgan Mars is doing everything he can to protect humanity from alien invasion.

But even his new organization, The First Line of Defence, isn’t enough to save what’s already lost. Sectors are collapsing like dominoes as the aftermath of the 20th Cycle invasion leaves everyone trapped in the falling Sectors. No one knows what to do. No one, that is, except Nicholas Thistlebush. He has a plan to save Sector 6. The only question is, what will it cost him?

©2024 Benjamin Kerei (P)2024 Podium Audio

Question on existence, done in a fun Sci/fi way.

While a departure from book 1, it is a great, fun alternative perspective of the Great Game.

Not what I expected

It's not very similar to the other books by Benjamin Kerei. It doesn't even feel like it's in the same universe as the first book and only has brief appearances by Morgan. I can see how this might have been a chance for the author to play with different concepts, including some psychological trauma, but it really didn't fit well with the first book.

There were some interesting developments, but since they were with Morgan and weren't the focus, they feel brushed over.

disappointed

Before this I've loved every book released by Kerei and the first of this series is one of my favorite books. Was really hoping for another book that was 80% station defense and development, 10% nation and alliance building, and 10% family and out of game strategizing. what we got was 80% horrible new character that felt like he was written while on a bad drug trip, and 20% Morgan with hardly any of his time spent on station defense and development. Hoping this gets put to the side as a bad side story and the series returns to greatness in the future.

Absolutely hooked

Loved both narrators. Great story. Can’t wait for that next one. When does it come out?

What a beautiful Painting

The first book in this series almost lost me. By the time I was half way through this one I was ready to quit the series. I only stuck around because I was at work and bored.

I am glad I stayed with it. It was like watching one of those speed painters, the ones that paint backwards and upside down. At first your hoping it's worth the time. Then you get annoyed and a little angry. Then you finally start to see something in the painting. By the time the painter finishes the painting the right way your amazed and let breath.

During the last half of the book I cried, laughed, then cried some more. Thank you Benjamin, Travis and Gary for the beautiful painting you made for us.

Felt Like Filler

There was retcon shenanigans; A new MC that took up most of the book; and not a lot of progress made. IMHO this is a filler book ( or maybe 2 filler short stories rammed together.

Alright, here’s a spoiler alert. You’ve been warned!

The new MC is an atheist who gets power that he thinks resembles those of the Christian God (they don’t, btw). This leads to him and others philosophizing as well as him going insane. The insanity part isn’t so bad, but there’s nothing even remotely interesting about the junior apologetics course. Also, this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but if God is as powerful as the Bible portrays,why on earth would the apparent age of the universe prove anything? The MC literally starts off as an archeologist who’s researching ruins put there at the start of the game and he can’t put that together?
On to the retconning. Remember that sign over everybody’s head that lets everyone else know what bad things they did? Poof, never happened. The eradication of all the baddies? Poof, just a bit of population control so some are still around. I’m not even going to get started on Morgan’s new “wife”.

All in all, this book was about the author wanting to write a one-off MC story in the same universe, with a much different tone and a little set up for Morgan’s eventual return. If he’d just done that as a start to a new series, I wouldn’t have minded, but doing it when I was expecting station silliness or at least a fun team-up against a kraken (as depicted on the cover). Instead I got an atheist’s guide to being an agnostic.

Different from the First, Perhaps Even Better

In addition to Morgan, there is a new main character. Usually, I find that adding both a new main character and a new narrator tends to detract from the experience. However, this book is impressively good! The political and emotional elements, as well as the plotlines, are so masterfully crafted that they made me wonder about the high level of intelligence and emotional understanding required to achieve such depth.

Initially, I was skeptical about Nicholas's storyline, but it brought tears to my eyes several times. It also explored fundamental theological questions from a thought-provoking perspective, earning an incredible level of respect from me. The exploration of existential crises and the emotional range of the AI and similar lifeforms added further depth to the already well-developed characters and storylines.

Overall, don't be put off by the lower ratings. Be prepared for a more mature storyline with a dual focus on Morgan and the new main character!

confused by 2nd narrator at first.

honestly both performances were well done. just a bit of a suprise at first. store was a little more of a slow burn. a greater depth to the mental aspects of this new world. excited for the next book!

Wished Simple Mike killed Nicholas

Story was entertaining but I hated Nicholas. The worst kind of person. A selfish coward he does however grow as a character at the end of the book.

Glad I stayed

I was really upset when the pov changed, thankfully it isn't permanent and it switches between both. The main character from the last one is in about 20% of the book witch kinda sucks but the new character's story is very interesting and I found myself looking forward to his part of the story just as much as the original mc. I hope the author keeps up with this series because I'm liking where it's going and what I've read so far.