Myke Cole: Military and Magic

Myke Cole is rather infuriating but I mean that with all admiration. Each book I’ve read of his was better than the last, and the first was excellent. He is the creator of the Shadow Ops universe (first trilogy: Control PointFortress Frontier, and Breach Zone) and the second, which is set previous to the events in his first (Gemini Cell and Javelin Rain). Mr. Cole draws on his experience as a military officer, security contractor, and cyber warfare specialist to imbue his books with a gritty military realism that is reminiscent of Griffin’s Brotherhood of War series and Bunch and Cole’s Sten series, the difference being that one was realism and the other science fiction. The Shadow Ops universe is military and magic.

What happens when humans in the world as we currently know it discover how to use magic? How would our government and military react? How would people, both collectively and individually, react to a sudden influx of magical power? The military aspect of the books interacts with a creative magical system to form a compelling backdrop, but the soul of these two series is how people cope when everything they thought they were changes and everything they thought they had is gone, often with no warning. The books in the Shadow Ops universe are entertaining and thought provoking, and I highly recommend them. For more information, check out Myke Cole’s website.