Off Midway Station is the first book in the military sci-fi series Guardians of the Dark, written by Marc Alan Edelheit, and published by Second Sky Books. A story about people that are forced to act under pressure, an underdog that will need to unite his crew to survive an attack, and a unique view into the construction of a spaceship.

A story that starts twelve years before, showing us how Jim Garrett, our main character, is relegated after having to take a difficult decision in order to save the lives of civilians; a career that is neutered before starting. The impossibility of rising doesn't stop him from trying to do his best, commanding the construction of spaceships in order to prepare for the Pulse (an attack that each 50 years is unleashed against humanity).
However, when the attack comes before than expected, Garrett will be forced to take the control of this new spaceship, and learn how to unite the crew in order if they want to keep humanity's hope.

We have a novel with two different parts: a first one that is slow-burned, more centered on the worldbuilding and introducing us to the characters; the construction of this new spaceship takes the focus in what is the slower section of the book, with more technical explanations. In comparison, the second one is really frenetic, putting that action component that characterizes military SF; you will fly through these pages.

Off Midway Station is a great starter to a series that promises much if you like military SF, with a more technical approach at the first half, putting the focus on how that ship is built; Garrett is a total underdog you want to cheer for, and definitely, if you want a really cinematic read, I would recommend this one!

This book was action-packed from beginning to end and I sometimes felt like I needed a breather - just like the characters. I liked the story it was telling, especially about the imminent war and how humanity is preparing to save itself from extinction. I did have a feeling about the enemy though, something just kept on hinting at their revelation.
Some of the things I did, however, find quite boring was the two-page description about how the ships functioned - this is a personal matter as I am not a huge sci-fi person, so I don't care how the ship works, and I knew some people would like to read about that.
Overall, very good writing that really had me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky Books for sending me an ARC for my honest review.

Jim Garrett's career is not off to an auspicious start. After firing the deciding shot to stop a space mutiny, he is simultaneously commended and punished: lauded for his loyalty, but unlikely to ever lead a ship of his own as he dreamed. Years later, he prides himself on his technical work. But his luck may be about to change.

Once every 50 years, an alien threat known as the Push launches an attack. But this time, they're early. And the only defense is an experimental ship, the Surprise. With lives on the line and time no longer on their side, Garrett and his peers must combat enemies both within and without to save lives. But what they discover as they fight could change the course of this battle forever.

Off Midway Station is an intriguing story hobbled by messy pacing. The first chapter, and many chapters in between, are compelling. The late-stage discovery about the Push is a game-changer. However, the majority of the book is taken up with very long play-by-plays of launching procedures, characterization that is told directly after being shown, and long-form worldbuilding. (Note that I am a huge proponent of worldbuilding; however, much of this book read less like a book and more like the Edelheit's worldbuilding notes.) The moments of intrigue and action were there, and were good, but were hidden amongst long chapters in which the entire action consisted of Garrett buying a drink and getting on a train. I respect the author's dedication to realistic worldbuilding; however, I hope that later entries in the Guardians of the Dark series allow the world and character to speak for themselves and flow from scene to scene more naturally.

Off Midway Station, A Book Review

Off Midway Station, Book 1, Guardians of the Dark. Marc Alan Edelheit. 2024.

Your stomach churns. You are fighting to make sense of your world. Then there’s the unrelenting pain and nauseating disorientation.
Once the fog lifts from your brain, you realize where you are and that you are under attack in the cold, unforgiving, blackness of space.

It was a trap!

Lasers, masers and missiles are on a mission to destroy your vessel. Bodies without heads, and missing limbs are floating around you.
More of the dead are everywhere. You are on the bridge of the ship. Your captain is seriously injured but trying to contain the situation.

As the bad actors retreat, the captain will soon make a serious mistake. As a bridge officer you are about to make a decision that can adversely affect the rest of your life.

Marc Edelheit’s Off Midway Station, starts with harbingers of death lighting up the darkness within the cold silence of space. Destruction… The death of thousands... And chaos, slap you in the face.

As a reader you note that the action seldom stops. You do not get to breathe. You do not get to rest.

When a moment of peace finally comes; when you can now take that breath; you know that as soon as you turn the page; it will hit you again with full force. Your adrenaline will be pumping throughout your body. You blood pressure will rise and you won’t put this story down for very long before you feel the need to pick it up once again.

Yes, this is one of those books you will find hard to put down.

This page turner will be released on September 13th. Preorder it now. You can thank me later.

Marc Alan Edelheit is known for his fantasy series of novels and is now building on this to bring you into the wonders of science fiction action.

As far as his fantasy novels go, please plan on reading his Stiger series (Chronicles of an Imperial Legionary Officer, The Karus Saga Books and Tales of the Seventh) and Edelheit’s other books as well. I’ve read them all and was never disappointed.

Preorder here: https://www.amazon.com/Off-Midway-Station-action-packed-adventure/dp/1835259863

Edelheit’s Books in Order: https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/marc-alan-edelheit/

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#dmbookreview
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20% into this book and it was entirely exposition and describing on and on and nothing had happened. Also the main woman character was weirdly feminized and I didn’t like that.

I really enjoyed the first chapter and expected the book to just be a crazy fast paced wild ride, however after the first chapter or two I felt the world building and the character building was far too over explained and it felt like it was dragging on. A lot of the time it felt like I was re-reading the same event or explanation again but with slightly different words. I also had forgotten the main characters first name was Jim and was confused when he was referred to as Jim since the chapter headers and most of the time he was referred to as Garret.

I was pretty bored reading until about 45% when things finally picked up which made the read much more enjoyable, and I also started to enjoy the authors writing much more. I especially enjoyed the witty banter between Stroud and Burns, as well as the slight twists twords the end!

Off Midway Station by Marc Alan Edelheit is a novel for people who like science fiction and especially the military aspect. You will find a lot of words like maser, laser, LIDAR and so on. The heroes are all military people, straightforward, good, good-looking and pretty much without flaws – except for the few ones that aren’t to give the story more flavor. The enemy is the enemy and that’s it. It is an enteraining read, but don’t expect any hard science fiction. I would like the story to move faster than it does, but that is my own personal preferance and perhaps this is the correct approach for the first books in a series. The series is called Guardians of the Dark and it should be interesting to see where it goes.

Thanks very much to NetGalley and Second Sky for sending me a DRC to review!

I'm lucky enough to have gotten an advanced peek at "Off Midway Station". If you are a fan of Marc Edelheit and are familiar with the Stigerverse/Karusverse; then you expect some intense action, blood, sweat, and maybe some tears. This story has all that... in space.

Midway Station is a vast shipyard and fleet staging area, our Captain Garrett is stationed here as a "Job" Captain, meaning the Job is the construction and commissioning of a new warship. His latest project is known as a Mothership. Designed to carry both military and science personnel, while operating deep in hostile territory, and she's nearing completion.

The action begins on the first page, and while it tapers off enough to catch a breath, it doesn't let up for long. There's a point where I realized that I wasn't going to get any sleep (just one more page... just one more page).

As a sailor in the USN, and an Airedale, there was plenty to love here too. The Mothership has her own recently assigned air (space?) contingent, and they will be needing to earn their keep (even though the ship isn't really complete). When describing the Mothership's interior, the hangar spaces, the sights and sounds of the flight deck, I'm not just reading words on a page... I'm there. Watching flight ops. Watching the Marine Detachment jog. Bumping my shoulder on a frame of the ship as I move by someone in the passageway.

This is some great military science fiction. If you are a fan of the genre, then there's something here for you. It's a hell of a ride.

This is an exciting start to a new series by one of my favorite all-time authors!! What sets Marc's books apart from others is how relatable the characters are and how detailed and realistic the action is.

In "Off Midway Station", we meet the main character who perseveres through a military career on the sidelines in an era where an unstoppable enemy returns periodically to chip away at his home territory. Through a series of assignments that others would have turned down, he may now be the only one who can actually stop the enemy advance and save his people from this galactic juggernaut!

I love a good military Science Fiction novel and Off Midway Station seemed as if was going to tick all of the boxes for me. The book opens brilliantly with our main character third in command of a spaceship which has been despatched to deal with a mutiny on a space station. It’s an action packed beginning which sets the scene of space warfare brilliantly.
Then we skip forward 12 years and the author just gets bogged in providing far more detail than anyone could possibly need. There is a whole POV chapter for one of the secondary characters where all she does is check that her ship is working correctly. I understand the need for world building but this just felt excessive and although we were given lots of detail about ship procedures, the author didn’t actually give the reader that much information about the wider situation.
About half way through, everything changed again and we are catapulted into an emergency situation for Garrett and his ship and then the story really takes off. I really enjoyed the second half of the book and was intrigued by the situation between humanity and the enemy that they were fighting.
I will look out for the next in the series and hope that the author resists the temptation to over describe things that really don’t add to the story.
My thanks as always to Net Galley and the publishers, Second Sky, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It appears I'm in the minority here in not feeling the love for Off Midway Station by Marc Alan Edelheit. Which is disappointing, because it's a great premise and where there's action, the story and writing really deliver. But overall, it suffers from over-explanation of details that don't seem to matter to the overall story.

Although there's some build up and tension, the action doesn't really start until the 50% mark. Before that there's a lot of set up and world building, except... I still don't feel like I know a lot about the world! The science and the station, sure, but beyond that? I'm just not invested because I have no idea what's going on in the broader sense of what happened to humanity and Earth. I think this would benefit from some serious editing to keep the story engaging and properly set up for future books. (Chapter 8 for example, which I would title 'Garrett rides a train.' There's no purpose to this that I can find.)

Stars for the action in. the last half of the book and the twist at the end, but it's not a series I'll continue.

I thought this book was very exciting. It had great pacing. Started with great suspense and tension. The beginning got me hooked and kept me interested until the end. The author explained technical aspects well but didn’t let the story get bogged down by them. I am a fan of science fiction and huge fan of authors like David Webber and his Honor Harrington series and I hazard to say Marc’s writing and story telling is at that level!

This looks like the start of a awesome space opera! As a long time fan of Marc Edelheit's work I didn't expect anything else and this did not disappoint The MC is very interesting and goes through some extreme difficulties which only build character. He is not OP'ed, but does make the best of his opportunities and becomes even more interesting along the way. The story line will allow for a lot of development and should keep the reader interested through the entire story arc. If you are new to this author, and you enjoyed this story, then you should definitely consider starting on his Tiger series with Steiger's Tigers, a fantasy series based on Roman Legions.

Exciting space drama, book one series starter. They say you can’t hear screams in space - but beginning and end there’s a lot of screaming going on. Might be yours off course, as the action is full on at these points. You can read this as a stand alone, but it does lead you into book two.Thank you to Marc Alan Edelheit, Second Sky and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine.

Certainly lives up to the subtitle of “A Gripping and Action Action Packed Military Science Fiction Adventure.” We jump right in to a battle and the story line builds from there. The regimen of flight and equipment checks rings true. Bonds that are established early on play an important role throughout the book. Will be reading more of this author’s writings!

Non stop action from the very start , different points of view, felt like I could actually be a movie or TV show if done right , and the description of the people , places, and ships made them seem real .

This book needed a more ruthless editor. The story is good, but it is buried beneath too many adjectives and overly descriptive sentences.

This is the authors first foray into science fiction, being best known for his Stiger and Karus chronicles. This book lives up to the reputatìon established by both those series. The characters are filled out and the story line follows excellently. I cannot wait for book 2 to be released

If you like hard sci-fi this is for you. Lots of detail. Point of view from several different characters. All a set up for the action at the end. This is book one of a new series. Looks to be interesting. Quite a few surprises to keep action coming

Having just concluded my read of Marc Alan Edelheit's "Off Midway Station," published by Second Sky (who graciously provided me with the ARC from which I am working), I am pleased to join those of you who have already discovered this author's formidable talent. Weber and Campbell have nothing on this author in his mastery of the conventions of military science fiction. Edelheit belongs amongst the elite of authors in this genre. "Off Midway Station" is the first volume of a series entitled the "Guardians of the Dark," and I, for one, can hardly wait to read the next volume in this series. In this first volume, the author sets the scene for those to come and gives the reader a lot of room for thought. The book begins with character development which introduces us to the protagonist and those forces which have shaped his character. However, by the middle of the book, the action really begins to takeoff, and from that point on, it is difficult to put the book down. The protagonist's career and experiences exist to prepare him for the numerous challeges he will face in intergalactic warfare., and by the end of the book, it is nearly impossible to put down. If you enjoy well-written and carefully crafted science fiction, you need to pick up a copy of this; you won't regret it!