Pros
- Some excellent ground battle scenes filled with action and suspense
- Story universe feels dynamic and “lived in” despite being first book
- Leaves enough mystery in the story to engage readers and leave them wanting more
Cons
- Could use some more space battles to make the story more interesting
- More information about some of the aliens or galactic political setup
Gold Squad Review
Perhaps the most important lesson readers can take away from Gold Squad by M. V. Viltch is that one should always pay attention to fine print: in the end, it’s what forces Jake Adlar from his lackadaisical attempt to get a desk job in Space Force to the Legion, Earth’s military force created to fight the relentless Synths, robotic aliens that are invading the galaxy.
For most people, the transition from desk job to frontline trooper takes some time. But Jake is thrust into the role when the Legion sends a request for replacement cannon fodder and he is one of the fortunate chosen ones volunteered to heed the call.
Jake isn’t quite the studious type, so his failed attempt to pass the desk job exam lands him in the ground forces. Neither is Jake the charismatic type, and much like his failure to charm women, he fails to get into the good graces of his commanding officers.
A chance encounter with a commanding officer allows Jake to see something he shouldn’t have seen, and this results in his transfer from a squad that cleans up after the battle to Gold Squad, a frontline elite squad dropped into the battlefield to clear out aliens.
It’s in Gold Squad that Jake proves himself. Not only does he survive his first mission, a feat that many rookies and even some veteran soldiers fail, but he also manages to save his squad leader from a personal vendetta that would otherwise result in his death.
Jake’s reputation in Gold Squad continue to climb from his successes, and as he slowly acclimates to his role in the Legion and his role in the squad, he becomes a more lethal soldier, a far cry from the bullet sponge others had written him off as.
The ground battle scenes in the story are fantastic and filled with graphic depictions of intense battles and slaughter, making the book a real page turner.
While there aren’t many alien allies in the Legion fighting alongside humanity, what aliens do exist, like the native wasps or bees, evoke a sense of mystery. Both characters in the story and readers don’t really understand the natives, giving these natives a sense of mystery and intrigue, with their behavior providing a certain tension and suspense.
Even if the story has a sense of dynamism thanks to the intense battles, there is a bit of a lack of storytelling with regards to the galactic context—why are humans fighting against the Synths? Who are these galactic overlords, and why are some aliens allowed to “play both sides” of a war? These questions remain unanswered in this first book.
Gold Squad by M. V. Viltch is an action-packed military science fiction book that provides a strong foundation for the Earth Legion series that is sure to entertain and intrigue readers.
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