Mini review: And the Mighty Will Fall, by K.B. Wagers

 And the Mighty Will Fall, by K.B. Wagers, is an enjoyable, exciting, occasionally intense, adventure set in space in the semi-near future. Earth is still the center of human civilization, but it has numerous outposts. Mars was settled long enough ago to be on the brink of winning its freedom after a lot of struggle, pain, and deaths. The protagonists of this book are members of the Near Earth Orbit Guard, kind of like a space coast guard, dealing with terrorists who take over a large orbital platform in order to make a violent political point.

This is actually the fourth in a series, but billed as a stand-alone novel in that universe, and I thought that was quite reasonable. Information was given as needed to understand what was happening, and I had no trouble with distinguishing the major characters or following the action.  I do take issue with descriptions of this book as "Die Hard on a space station" because that led me to expect a heist twist, which never happened — the terrorists really were terrorists, intent on sharing their pain and grief. 

I was interested that in using a coastal-type guard that often focuses on saving lives, Wagers had their characters extend a few more chances for redemption to some of the terrorists than  I would have expected if they had been serving in a more militaristic space navy or army. Most of the terrorists were intent on taking revenge for people they'd lost in the struggle for independence, but some were able to see the futility and cruelty of their own acts, and work to avert more tragedy.

Shaun Duke and I interviewed K.B. Wagers about their work recently on Shaun's Twitch network. This interview will eventually appear on YouTube and as a podcast, but for now, here's the Twitch link:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2308665562

Enjoy!