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.