Pros
- James McGill manages to stumble through saving the planet yet again
- A little family reunion
- Conflict gives Earth more of a sense of imminent danger or devastation
Cons
- There aren’t many negatives for those who have stuck around this far with the series—any faults perceived with the series still remain—namely, McGill’s womanizing
Edge World Review
Edge World by B. V. Larson gives James McGill yet another excuse to have a fun romp with another alien beauty. Fans of the Undying Mercenaries series know what to expect, and the author delivers.
The structure of the story is a little strange—almost as though there are two stories crammed together into a novel to extend its length. The first involves Earth’s moon. The second involves a world at the edge of Province 921, the section of space that Earth resides in.
Normally, the books in Undying Mercenaries focus on one major conflict, but the two seemingly disparate conflicts in Edge World a sense of being slapped together. The first conflict is close to home and involves Earth’s moon. In contrast, the other conflict is at the edge of the province in which Earth resides, giving a breadth to the conflict that feels a bit too artificial.
Readers learn a little about how the Galactics divide their control of the galaxy, and it seems a little silly. The Galactics divvy the galaxy up through region of space rather than by planets. The result is that planets move in and out control of a faction as they make their journey around the galactic core. It doesn’t make sense, but I suppose this minor detail isn’t significant to the overall story or series.
Despite the two seemingly separate conflicts, fans of the series get to see more of how McGill stumbles through his life and manages to save the world yet again. At this point of the story, McGill’s penchant for both women and the ability to come up with the perfect solution isn’t surprising. However, the ending isn’t wrapped up as nicely as other books in the series.
There’s almost a teenage fantasy quality to the story that’s similar to the daydreams many teenage boys harbor during a particularly boring lecture in class: a group of ninjas attack the school, and our teenage hero saves the day and so earns his pick of the girls. In McGill’s case, it’s not ninjas. Instead, it’s vicious teddy bears or giant saurians.
In fact, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that this entire series is the result of a fantastical imagination of one bored James McGill. Imagine this: It’s a quarter past ten. James is sitting in Mrs. Hawley’s third period American history class. She’s droning on about the ratification of the amendments to the Constitution.
James, our protagonist and average C student, has slipped into yet another daydream about how he, the hero in all of his fantasies, has saved the world time and time again.
Edge World by B. V. Larson isn’t going to surprise many fans of the Undying Mercenaries series. While the threat of the loss of the revival machines may appear great, it’s pretty clear that the loss of such a plot device will make future stories more challenging considering McGill’s habit of dying. Still, details throughout the book regarding the Mogwa and the Skay point to some future plots that may be exciting.
Read reviews of other fun works by B. V. Larson and other authors.
