Despite being on my TBR list for a while, it was not until a Goodreads giveaway arrived that it shot to the top of the list. Picking it up and reading the first chapter put me right back in the world of NeoG.

Max and Jenks of Zuma's Ghost have a host of problems. Both have been promoted, but their team for the Games have been broken up as their ship's commander and Senior Chief have been reassigned. Will they be able to three-peat as Champions? But before that can happen, they have plenty of problems to solve out in the black. Is their new commander working for the ship or Intelligence? And where does the loyalty of their newest ship's crew lie? Plenty of intrigue and testing of bounds before the book comes to a rousing conclusion. Will be keeping an eye open for other volumes set in this universe.

A worthy successor to the first book! Even though I was very sad to see one of my favourite characters leave, it was more than made up for by the excellent plot, and the return to the casually queernorm, diverse world of the NeoG!

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eArc of this book available to me.

Like the previous book in this series, this one has lots of action, good guys/gals/people, and bad guys. Once again, I really appreciate the vision of a future where non-hetero lifestyles are common and accepted. Here's hoping that the author decides to continue with this cast of characters into more stories.

I enjoyed this book, even though I hadn't read the first one. In fact, I didn't realize this was the second book in a series when I started it, but that didn't really hamper my enjoyment of it. Very fast paced with characters that shine. It takes a while for the story to really get going but then it kicks into high gear. A great read!

<i>Hold Fast Through the Fire</i> is an excellent follow-up to <i>A Pale Light in the Black</i>. Wagers takes everything I loved about the first book (interpersonal conflict, found family, cool space battles) and builds on it in this one. Plus there’s some great political intrigue, some spying, and a whole lot of lying. Which, as you can imagine, leads to some excellent conflict as characters struggle with reconciling the role they have to play with their morals and beliefs.

It was interesting to see how Max, Jenks, and the rest of the Zuma’s Ghost team have grown in between the two books and how they grew during the course of this book. Although this series has all of the trappings of a space adventure, it is, at it’s heart, a character-driven series. I also thought that Chae was an excellent addition to the team, and I’m looking forward to seeing them in future installments!

Overall, the NeoG series is a fun read, full of well-developed characters and great action. Definitely would recommend if you’re looking for a new sci-fi series!

I have enjoyed reading K. B. Wagers before so I asked for this book even though I have not read " A Pale Light in the Black" the first in this series. Big mistake. I had no idea what was going on and I stopped reading.

4.5 stars - it's really only not getting 5 because you absolutely cannot go into this book without fresh memories of book one or the ability to take in a lot of character names, military ranks, and nicknames and just roll with them until they start to make sense.

This book, y'all, took what I loved about the first book (queernormativity, a cast of very interesting and complex characters, and a deep focus on trust and communication) and raised the stakes brilliantly. Where book one was seemingly all about the Games with a little bit of real work on the side, this was very much the opposite with a complex villainous plot that needed routing out, characters undergoing emotional turmoil, frayed trust, epic communication skills and addressing people's needs, queer rep that totally goes above and beyond (in the most amazing way), and using the brief mentions of the Games as a metaphor for the cohesion of the team. Masterfully done, honestly.

The bad guys were a little too melodramatic, but the really great supportive conversations between the good guys was worth it. People apologize sincerely when they screw up. The incorrect decisions are examined to show readers clearly why the things they did were wrong. We normalize therapy and addressing needs rather than wants, asking for permission for intimacy even in established relationships. We get to see grief. We get to see found family at its absolute best.

TL;DR if you like space opera / military scifi even remotely, you need to read this series. It's worth it.

Getting to know the characters and the world of the NeoG (Near Earth Orbital Guard) in A Pale Light In The Black was half the fun. With that basis, the second book, Hold Fast Through The Fire really soars to new heights in K. B. Wagers’ latest thrilling adventure!

Fresh off their second consecutive victory in The Boarding Games, the annual competition among the military branches, the crew of Zuma’s Ghost is dealing with the retirements of a couple of key crew members as well as integrating their replacements into the team. The Games foster bonding amongst the crew and build the trust that is necessary when their lives are dependent on one another out in “the black”. Meanwhile, a task force is being formed to patrol the area around the Trappist station where funds and supplies are going missing, keeping the colonists on the edge of starvation and financial ruin. A conspiracy is discovered which includes trying to start a war with Mars separatists in order to distract from the financial misdeeds. Unraveling the conspiracy, bringing the criminals to justice and staying alive are going to test the NeoG like never before!

The plot moves steadily forward through the first part of the book and then picks up even more intensity as it barrels toward an exciting conclusion filled with battles, explosions and excitement all along the way. As great as the plot is, the relationships between the characters fuel the story. Intensity and depth of emotion pull you in, underscoring the seriousness and tragedy of what is happening. No more so than with Jenks, a five-foot-nothing kid from the streets with a punch that can lift you out of your boots and wrapped in emotional armor that makes it tough for anyone to penetrate.

Wagers marries intense character drama with space adventure, politics, action and mystery. Hold Fast Through The Fire shows just how good this series can be. Fans are going to be excitedly waiting for the next installment. Highly recommended.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

This is the second book in the NeoG series, but the first I've read. I have to admit I felt a little bit lost throughout the book. It's also not my usual genre to read, which probably didn't help. I'm sure many readers will enjoy this book, it just didn't connect with me.
3 stars for the interesting cover and Doge, the robot dog.

I won a copy of this book from the publishers, Harper Voyager, newsletter giveaway. It was fulfilled via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

Hold Fast Through Fire is the second book in the NeoG series. It was a fascinating and unique story and has tons of adventure, fun characters, mystery, and political intrigue.

First, I like that it has a cast of characters with their pronouns and content warning.

Hold Fast Through Fire is a character-driven story so the character arcs are remarkable. I like the dynamics between the characters. They are well-drawn out. I sympathize with some, but I'm not really invested. The world-building is solid and the writing style is engaging and easy to follow. Also, there are some scenes when I just go "???" since it isn't relevant to the plot and the villains aren't the brightest bulbs.

Overall, this is a fun and quick read. It started slow and pick up its pace in the second half. The relationship between characters and the world is excellently written.

Big thanks to HarperVoyager and NetGalley for the DRC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

In K. B. Wagers' "Hold Fast Through the Fire," the NeoG kick ass, take names, and hug each other a lot. The story focuses more on the interpersonal relationships and the battle games between the various military groups. A task force has been assembled to take down the people behind the problem of supplies not getting to the habitats in the outer solar system. Max, Jenks, and the rest of the team on Zuma's Ghost are part of the force.

I usually try to avoid spoilers, per NetGalley rules, but one or two may pop up during this review.

I'm conflicted. The leaders of the task force are all male. They all decide to keep the mission secret from their teams, which are mostly comprised of females. The reasoning behind this is to keep the potential leaks to a minimum. The leaders all recognize that their teams will be extremely mad when they find out they've been kept in the dark. They also don't consider that their team members have unique skills and could have valuable insights if they were only "read in" to the mission. So, when things predictably go pear-shaped with some near-fatalities, and the teams figure out what's going on, there's some well-justified anger. Now, most of the blame has to go to Stephan, as it's his order that gags the other leaders. The most aggravating part is when Max and Jenks pointed out ways they could have helped in specific situations, the guys all say, "yeah, we didn't think of that."

When there are terrorist attacks on various military facilities, Stephan and another task force leader fake their deaths. This seems to serve no purpose other than to send Jenks into a tailspin. Max and Jenks also forgive Luis, Tivo, Nika and Stephan far too easily, in my opinion.

So, I'm conflicted. The physical affection between the teammates felt a lot more like the camaraderie in Wagers' Hail Bristol series. Not a bad thing, necessarily, but I expect this series to be more military than the other. I also can't think of a time where she let her male characters make the female characters feel like crap so much. Somehow, I still liked the story. I think credit for that goes to Jenks and Doge. Doge the robot dog was amazing in this book, and I hope his character progression continues, as well as that of Jenks.

Three out of five stars.

I received an advance copy from HarperVoyager and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A solid job by an author I read as soon as a new book appears. I enjoyed the Indranan books more but the Neo G is well worth your time. I eagerly await the next installment. (PS I almost never give 5 stars).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a proof in exchange for a fair review.

This is the second NeoG book, featuring a military style Coast Guard in space. It is set in an interstellar future but stays local in our Solar System.

Hold Fast Through the Fire is very much a sequel. If you haven’t read the prior book, I think the personal relationships and background would be very challenging, particularly the personal stuff (lovers,friends, family). The mystery thread is fine - Wagers is good at writing about mysteries and conspiracies - but I didn’t feel fully engaged with the various protagonists. The most involving was Chae, the new crew member with secrets; I found them (characters are identified by gender and Chae is non-binary) well drawn and their plight, if unoriginal, effectively portrayed and sympathetic.

I don’t think NeoG comes across as a terribly realistic organization, which obtruded on the text for me. The interstitial boarding games material wasn’t an effective framing device for me, though I appreciated the reduced focus on the games relative to the first book.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for a copy of the eArc of Hold Fast through the Fire. When I realized this was the second book in a series, I put it back into my TBR and picked up A Pale Light in the Black. When I finished up that great book, I dove right into this one.. This series follows a crew of a space coastguard (NeoG) vessel who patrols the shipping lanes of near-Earth colonies. The books are character driven each with an overarching mystery and some military rivalry subplots. Hold Fast includes lots more character development showing just how far some will go to do what they think is right both in service to the Coastguard and for their families. Many relationships that flourish in the first book are torn apart, re-forged, remain fractured or grow stronger, This is for those fans (like myself) of character driven science fiction.

The interpersonal relationships were superbly written. Sham the battles were barely brushed upon.. Oh well the lore make up for it as well. Good addition to this setting

Hold Fast through the Fire by K.B. Wagers, a good book in the series. Doesn't have a stagnation feel to it as some middle books do in a series and its a solid next read.

Doge stole the show for me this time around. I am throughly enjoying this series and can't wait for the next book to come out.

KB Wagers does it again! Interesting use of tech and great descriptions of interpersonal relationships.

🔥Hold Fast Through the Fire by K.B. Wagers🔥

•This story was such a great and unique one. I definitely think K.B. Wagers had a great writing style. In all honesty I don’t really read Science Fiction, but I really was intrigued by this cover and wanted to give it a go.

Such a great premise and such likeable characters. I really do think this story was so fascinating. Also, I was instantly hooked towards the end. Personally, I didn’t really feel attached to the story at the beginning because there was a fighting scene that I thought was a bit boring. The second half definitely did make up for it. I really enjoy those books that have a character driven focus and let me tell you this one is one of those. I really did enjoy these characters.

However, I’m giving this book a 3⭐️ because it felt a bit too flat for me. I tend to not read these genre because of the times the world it’s set on is too vague. I don’t think this was one of them, but I think the story just didn’t really appeal to me as much as I wanted to. The main focus I’m giving it a three star was because of the pansexuality/transsexuality in this book. Do I think the idea of it in these characters and story was a great addition? Yes, absolutely! Do I think it was handled and directed the best way it could’ve been? No. I know it sounds harsh, but I really wish it would’ve been better presented.

Ultimately, this was definitely out of my comfort zone. Considering the first half felt dull, I still enjoyed it overall. The ending was great! I also really liked the characters. I would still recommend this if you’re very into science fiction!•

{Huge thank you to NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and K.B. Wagers for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review.}

Most Japanese books I've read have a list of names, grouped by organizations or people living in a particular place. The idea behind this is to help you keep track of all characters and know where they belong, be it a police precinct or a specific family. It might have to do something with the characters used, but that just speculation on my part. So when I started reading Hold Fast Through the Fire and found such a list, I was excited. My excitement, short lived. The list was meant to indicate pronouns, for instance, a woman would be referred to others as "he", a man, as "they". I don't know much about the correct grammar used when talking to or about pansexuals/transexuals, so what looked to me like a mistake, might not be one: a man referred to as "They" by others, used "me" when referring to himself, and not "us". Not used to reading a book written in this fashion, it took a while to get past it. Maybe is just me, but a bad story doesn't magically turn into a good one, just by adding pansexuals/transsexuals left and right into the mixture, this story did so.

[Blurb goes here]

As you might have guessed from my earlier rant, I didn't read the first book in the series. That being said, I think that behind all the "let's add as many genders as humanly possible", there's a good story, not a great one. The first half of the book seems lazy. One fight scene in particular could have been amazing, but ended up being flat. The story builds up in the second half, which I enjoyed throughout. This is a character driven story, characters evolve as the story progresses. If you are a fan of K. B. Wagers, this is a most read. Sadly, I didn't turned into one by reading Hold Fast Through the Fire. I had fun, though, but not enough to continue reading the series.

Thank you for the free copy.