#dan krokos

Book #159 of 2018:

The Black Stars by Dan Krokos (The Planet Thieves #2)

This is kind of an odd sequel. In place of the action-packed military sci-fi of the first book, the child cadets are now back at their academy, resulting in more of a classic boarding school adventure (with an eventual return to combat at the end). It's a little like Ender's Game crossed with Harry Potter, especially once the students start poking around outside of class hours to uncover a deadly conspiracy. There's a fair degree of clunkiness along the way, but it's still overall a fun time. If author Dan Krokos ever returns to this series -- which still has plenty of dangling plot threads -- I'll definitely be reading on.