Points of Impact (Frontlines)

While a little bit slower than the other books in the series, Points of Impact sets the tone for what is ahead.

I feel many of these books have provided a good entry point for anyone, but I'd recommend a new reader start at the beginning, or with another novel in the series.

I live how the author keeps the story and characters so interesting without losing the readers interest. I’ve read many series where the story becomes boring and sometimes you have to struggle just to stay focused on it. Can’t wait for the next installment.

From the first book of the Front lines series you can't help but feel a personal connection to the characters involved. Its straight forward read with great depth. My hats off yet again to Marko for a great read. I'll be anxiously awaiting the next one...

This was one of my favorite series, but these last two books...I can’t help but feel like nothing has happened towards developing the story, progression, or resolution of the series. The book can be enjoyable, the battles were written well, but overall it feels like the author is running out of new material. If I skipped reading this book, I suspect that I wouldn’t have missed anything in the overall storyline of the battle against the lankies

Marko Kloos writes very well, the description and dialogue is great. I have bought all the books in this series. I gave 3 stars because there is ZERO advancement in the story of who the Lankies are and they rehash the same story in a planet they had already been fighting the same boring enemy. Please Mr. Kloos, next book in the series should reveal way more of the enemy or have a new plot line. The stories are now boring and predictable even if you have very nice dialogue. Please.

As of this latest Front lines book Marko Kloos is now my favorite living science fiction author. For those of you that read Mr. Kloos no explanations are necessary. If you haven't it's time to get with the program.

Look, this stuff is not fine literature and will not occupy a "special " place on the bookshelf (does anyone still buy hardcover books?). Having said that, I blew right through this one too! When will see book 7?

Another excellent story for Andrew Grayson in his, and Earth's, struggle against the lankies. I feel like I have grown with Andrew's career and can't wait for the next chapter.

********** SPOILERS *********

I do not see Andrew and Halley retiring just yet. That sajd, whatever they do, I hope they both live a bit longer before heading to Valhalla.

Watching Andrew Grayson’s career, life and outlook change through this series is just as enjoyable as reading all the great action Kloos writes. Keep them coming. If you kill off Halley I’ll land a drop ship on your foot.

The author toggles back and forth from great technical descriptions of military gear and happenings to deep human relationships. The series is a fast all absorbing read....and I thank him for his artistry with the written word.

Still a good series of books but the main character is becoming a whiney little cream puff. His outlook is becoming tiring to read and his anger at his superiors over military matters is unbelievable to say the least.

This writer stays consistent without moving into predictable cliches. The story develops in a very interesting way and with a nice balance between challenging and pleasing the reader. Difficult to put away once you're submersed. Can't wait for the next episode.

I was excited to dive back into the battle against the Lankies, but was sourly disappointed with how little action as well as short the book seemed. The 70-80% of the book felt like a set up for one fight. We get it, our hero has PTSD. The world has left him behind. Let's get on with the story. You will enjoy the book if you've made it this far. That being said, our dear friend Marko could have sped it up a bit.

When are we going to get Lanky Motivation. A Lanky perspective. The Lanky home world.

Six books in, it's time we get some meat on the bones. Instead of a halibut, Marko is serving us mackrel.

A book that does nothing to move the series forward. A new type of powerful human ship is constructed and tried in battle with mixed results. There is a little action towards the end but most of the book is the characters walking listlessly through their daily existence. We still have nothing on the origins or motivation of the Lankies. For the first time in this series I found myself skipping ahead to see if anything was going to happen. I may not bother with #7 when it does come out.

Overall this was an excellent book/series. The only thing that bothered me a little was that the MC lives to much in the past, but this did not take away from the story. I would recommend this book/series to anyone that likes military action or space operas.

I have been enjoying the Frontline series for years, ever since the first book Terms of Enlistment caught my eye when I was flipping through my kindle looking for a new read. I can safely say that it is one of the best sci-fi series out there, especially hard, military sci-fi. That being said, I think that Points of Impact is probably the weakest in the series so far.

What Was Good: One of my favorite aspects of the Frontline series is that the main character, Andrew Grayson, is not the focal point of the galaxy. Yes, we the readers follow along with him and he is often in the action, the fate of humanity does not rest entirely on his shoulders. He is a Soldier, one of many, and so I never have to worry about suspending my disbelief about him always being at the center of things. His experiences take place within a larger and ever moving world and it feels that way. Part of that kind of story telling involves showing some of the down times as well. It can't always be explosions and firefights as anyone who's ever been in the military can tell you. Those down times can be boring to write and Kloos does an admirable job of keeping the story moving along interspersed with brief bits of conflict or potential action throughout the long build up of the book.

Kloos' writing style makes it hard to put the book down even when there isn't a whole lot going on and there is more of that in this installment than in the other five. One important topic that Kloos tackled more so in this book than in the others is Grayson's combat fatigue. Not just PTSD but serious combat fatigue after having been on the frontlines almost continuously for the better part of a decade with hundreds of combat drops to his name. Grayson has been a dedicated and stalwart trooper up until this point and now we see the wear and tear, mentally and emotionally, build up.

Kloos continues to do a fine job of world building and setting description. The action(what little there is) is again well done and intense. Even the space battles, which Grayson has little to do with and within the book take hours, are smoothly done in a way that keeps the tension level high. One thing that I really enjoy about the Frontline series is lack of a "clean" ending. By that I mean that things don't wrap up smoothly like one expects from a Disney movie. Despite humanity's best effort, the battles often end in defeat, stalemate, or a Pyrrhic victory. That level of grit and "realism" are what keep me coming back to the series.

What I Didn't Like: So the book is fairly uneventful. After the last one which was action packed over the course of a few days, this installment meanders over the course of several months with only minor spurts of excitement. It's understandable given the type of overarching story that Kloos is trying to tell, and again realistic in a military sense, but doesn't make for the most gripping of tales when it's 3/4 of the book. With the exception of some minor personal conflicts and the veneer coming off of Grayson after fighting for so long, we don't get to see much in the way of character development for him or his wife. I would bet that a lot of these things are being set up for the next book and in that sense, this was a necessary addition in order to segway into the next stage of war with the aptly named Lankies.

Additionally there were several continuity errors and editorial misses that showed up the kindle version. So much so that Kloos set up an error page to address them. While not the end of the world and I believe he is working on fixing them, it is a bit sloppy. Perhaps he should slow down a bit in the editing phase for his next entry as I do not recall seeing this many errors in all of his other books combined.

Overall I would recommend this book as a continuation of this awesome series, it is nice to get an update on our heroes and see how the tide of the war is turning. While not the most exciting of the series it is still solidly written and well worth the buying price. I am excited to see where Grayson will end up next and eventually how his story will conclude.