Sixth in a series called Frontlines, this military science fiction tale caught me up in its deathly struggle from the start, and I hadn't read the earlier books. Intrigued, I checked on the author Marko Kloos and found he's received a Hugo nomination. POINTS OF IMPACT feels a lot like current wars to start, but the field of operations is Mars. This is a Mars which has been bombed and irradiated to try to rid it of Lanky invaders; giant aliens from beyond our solar system which have been killing human colonies on other planets. Whew, had to catch my breath!

Crash-landed on the barren red planet, with a time limit for survival set by his suit's capability to resist radiation, CDC officer Andrew Grayson is already exhausted from the struggle to pick off Lankies outside their tunnels. A veteran of the long war, he's the best hope green Lieutenant Brassey has of reaching safety.

We also see the hardships of a military marriage, with Andrew's Earthside leave taken to coincide with his wife Halley's leave from her pilot base on Luna. They don't get together often, and Andrew has been redeployed onto a brand new ship, which will soon be headed who knows where. Top secret missions aren't likely to be safe, but at least it's not in some metal-fatigued tin can. While we often get memories of the previous years of war, I was pleased that they were not given in flashback.

I was fascinated by the wealth of detail about the political, economic and defensive situation; of course, with five previous books the author has had time to figure it all out neatly. The combative nations of Earth had to put differences aside to counter the new threat. By this point, the military is starting to get real food again. Makes sense, there has to be some incentive to make it worth the struggle. But with three hundred billion humans... Let's read that again: three hundred billion in the population and no safe planet to colonise! It's a sure bet that most people eat glop.

Parallels with The Forever War must have been mentioned by others, so I'll just confirm that if you enjoyed Joe Haldeman's classic you will find a similar look and feel in POINTS OF IMPACT by Marko Kloos. This tale is a testament to the necessity of cooperation and forward planning. I will be reading more of Marko Kloos, a German native living in New Hampshire. He writes a mean battle.