Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Charles Kern’s Haldane Endures follows Kertis Andor Haldane, Sovereign of the five-world Haldane Hold, as coordinated attacks push the Human Imperium toward open war. Communications begin failing across Haldane territory, leaving Kertis to act on fragments of information as rival powers move against his people. High Admiral Kender Gracean tightens his influence over Space Command as violence spreads through the Imperium. Tiara Carmada advances her family’s campaign against Haldane through the Triumvirate, a political alliance already hostile to Kertis’s Hold. On Middenlore, military commander Nadia Kilgore leads a refugee column through worsening destruction, as fleet commander Emerson Haldane receives Admiralty orders that make little sense. With enemies closing from several directions, Kertis prepares a counteroffensive meant to protect his Hold and answer the assault itself.

Charles Kern’s Haldane Endures is a brilliant military space opera, and the enormous Imperium gives the story an exciting sense of scale. The worldbuilding is fantastic, especially when Cali’etta Adain, Kertis’s sworn Life-ward, remembers her training at the Kloster, where the Geom-Beop turns swordsmanship into a formal martial tradition. I also love the characters, and the cast is exceptional. The expectation is excellent leads, but the author goes further and fleshes everyone out. JoAnna EdenStar, a former Haldane operative leading the cybernetically rebuilt Ghastlies, is a favorite, and her hard-edged personality fits the unit perfectly. The science fiction elements are creative and blend organically into the futuristic world, from Gate travel that links distant star systems to the glowing Rifts that can open a path between faraway locations. The pacing keeps moving as separate conflicts widen across the Imperium. Well-written and genuinely expansive, readers who enjoy military space opera with interstellar politics will adore this.