The Ubezhishche and the Elysians are on the verge of a possible war. Syova is an Ubez soldier, and after his ship is destroyed, his escape pod is picked up by an Elysian ship.

This has a compelling intensity to it. Syova knows the reputation of Invictus and her captain, and he’s fairly certain he will keep being treated with decency -- but he still has to deal with being interrogated, and imprisoned, and with not knowing what has happened to the rest of his team. (Meanwhile I was fairly certain that Neumeier wouldn’t take things in a direction that I’d find dark and horrifying, so I felt free to enjoy feeling sorry for Syova, and wanting to see his situation improve.)

Captain Ila and others amongst her crew are concerned about Syova’s wellbeing, but they have other priorities and other plots in motion, and they can’t discount the possibility that Syova is a deep cover agent.

I really liked that concern for Syova. I also enjoyed the mystery, figuring out who these characters are and what’s going on. The book ends in a fairly dramatic and abrupt fashion, which made me almost wish I’d waited to read this until part two, Invictus: Crisis, was released. ( )