TERMS OF ENLISTMENT by Marko Kloos

Narrated by Luke Daniels

We Take What We’re Served and Ask for Seconds

We just entered our first bug war and we’re the bugs

I would classify this as a coming-of-age tale, but it does not feel like YA fiction. This is a decent unpretentious entry in the thriving category of formulaic military SF. Of course, there’s a reason there are so many examples of this sub-genre—the almost constant bristling-with-ordinance-action keeps the listener eager to find out what happens next. Kloos provides plenty of stereotyped Drill Sergeant and gung-ho Jar Head types to satisfy us Full Metal Jacket fans. Just don’t expect much deep soul-searching introspection here.

Luke Daniels’ performance elevates this rather pedestrian Starship Troopers clone into an engaging entertainment that feels like a summer block-buster action movie. The most notable characteristic of Daniels’ performance is that his normal third-person voice-over tone is so different and distinctive from his character voices that when the characters are on stage they really pop out of the background. Based on this performance I will seek out other Luke Daniels books. If I do buy the next book in this series it will be less for the Marko Kloos writing that the Luke Daniels reading.