Reviews

Legacies: Galaxy's Edge Season Two Book One by Nick Cole and Jason Anspach Book Review

In Legacies [Amazon link], Jason Anspach and Nick Cole return to the Galaxy’s Edge universe. Season one ended in a conclusive and quite satisfying fashion, but sufficient mysteries remained to leave us all waiting for more. Those mysteries only deepened as Cole and Anspach filled out their universe, showing us the horrors of the Savage Wars and the birth of the Legion, telling stories about Rechs the feared bounty hunter and showing us the ordinary heroism of the men and women who were inspired by those who dared to stand up to the post-human Savages.

Legacies: Galaxy’s Edge Season Two Book One by Nick Cole and Jason Anspach Cover art by Tommaso Renieri Galaxy’s Edge Press (May 4th, 2021)

Answers to all of that and more is delivered in Legacies. Yet, for as many mysteries as Cole and Anspach answer, two more arise hydra-like to take their place. I am dying to talk about it all, but for this review I shall resist. Even though I feel I have been vindicated on several points. There is a lot of fun to be had here for devoted fans of Galaxy’s Edge, and I wish them all Godspeed.

I will however emphasize what the cover blurb says. This journey brings with it more death, destruction, and loss than I would have believed possible. The galaxy is still a dumpster fire, and you had best be prepared for that. A new threat to the galaxy is looming, and those who see it coming are preparing for war.

The first book of Season Two is quite a bit different than Legionnaire. I’m not sure you can catch lightning in a bottle twice, and Legacies doesn’t try to be another version of Legionnaire. We in fact already got another version of Legionnaire in Takeover, which used to be the first book of Season Two but then stuff happened. Rather, what we get is something like a more refined version of the second book, Galactic Outlaws, which was intensely divisive among the fans for how different it was from Legionnaire, and how it switched mood and POV so rapidly.

At this point, I feel Anspach and Cole have mastered the technique. Even now, I still find Galactic Outlaws a difficult read. Others do too. Legacies could have been two or even three shorter books each telling a unified story, but the ability to shift back and forth between the different characters and different threads without losing the thread feels like it works this time. There seems to be a kind of synergy between the different events in the book, such that if they were separated into different volumes you would have a story that wouldn’t quite live up to its potential.

Dead like Deluvia?

And what a potential it is! What really makes a space opera shine is the grand sweep of its story. Huge battles, rival factions jockeying for position, intrigue and skullduggery. We aren’t quite yet at the point where the epic battles are going down, but all the rest is here, and you know the battles are coming. All the work that went into creating this universe is paying off now, with the promise of more to come.

Why not come along for another mission out past Galaxy’s Edge? What else lies in wait, in the darkness, biding its time?

You can still get Legacies direct from the authors today at their website, or you can pre-order on Amazon for release tomorrow. I received a free review copy from the authors.

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Galaxy’s Edge season 1:
Legionnaire: Galaxy's Edge #1 Book Review
Galactic Outlaws: Galaxy's Edge #2 Book Review
Kill Team: Galaxy's Edge #3 Book Review
Attack of Shadows: Galaxy's Edge #4 Book Review
Sword of the Legion: Galaxy's Edge #5 Book Review
Tin Man: Galaxy's Edge Book Review
Prisoners of Darkness: Galaxy's Edge #6 Book Review
Imperator: Galaxy's Edge Book Review
Turning Point: Galaxy's Edge #7 Book Review
Message for the Dead: Galaxy's Edge #8 Book Review
Retribution: Galaxy’s Edge #9 Book Review