The Gardens of Nibiru

Humanity has survived the Toth invasion, and now the crew of the Breitenfeld takes the war to the enemy. Their target is Mentiq, the Toth overlord who rules his empire from the fortified planet Nibiru, surrounded by the galaxy's deadliest warriors and the tribute he has extracted from countless worlds. Lieutenant Hale and the marines must navigate the politics and traps of an alien court as dangerous as any battlefield to complete a mission that could end the Toth threat to Earth permanently.

Luke Daniels brings his characteristic combination of controlled energy and genuine investment to the military science fiction mechanics of the Ember War Saga. His narration treats the tactical problems and relationship dynamics with equal seriousness, which is the right balance for mil-SF that wants to function as more than a series of action sequences. Daniels makes the stakes feel real even in a setting as deliberately spectacular as an alien overlord's pleasure garden.