Christopher G. Nuttall is the author of more than 100 novels. Debt of Loyalty was published in 2020 and is the second book in his Ember of War series. This is the 2nd book I completed in 2023.

I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of delivering a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to some violence and mature language, I categorize this novel as R. The primary character is Admiral Lady Katherine Falcone.

The Commonwealth has been engulfed in a civil war. Falcone had to make a hard decision as civil war became inevitable. Should she stay loyal to the King and the colony worlds or remain with the Tyre Navy and her family. She has sided with King Hadrian and has enabled his escape from Tyre.

The planet Caledonia has become the rebel stronghold and has allied with a handful of colony worlds against the Commonwealth parliament.

Falcone had to make a hard decision as civil war became inevitable. Should she stay loyal to the King and the colony worlds, or remain with the Tyre Navy and her family.

Falcone is given command of the King’s fleet and engages the Tyre forces. They skirmish, but the big battle will be in Tyre space. The plan is risky, but if the war is not taken to Tyre, Caledonia will fall under attack. Falcone wants to win the engagement and bring the civil war to an end. She may have to settle for striking a hard blow and withdrawing in defeat.

I enjoyed the 10.5+ hours I spent reading this 401-page science fiction novel. With this book, I have read six excellent books by Mr. Nuttall. The others are The Oncoming Storm, Falcone Strike, Cursed Command, The Hyperspace Trap, and Debt of Honor. While this novel can be read stand-alone, the novels listed above, except for The Hyperspace Trap should be read first. I enjoy ‘space opera’ stories, and Debt of Loyalty is one of the best. The plot is laced with action, politics, and intrigue. I like the cover art chosen for this novel. I give this novel a rating of 5 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Continues the story of Kat Falcone, Admiral in the Commonwealth, just recovering from a war with the Theocracy, now forced to choose sides in a civil war between the House of Lords and the King. She chooses her friend and king over family and allies and war continues. Only time will tell if she made the right choice.
Excellent characters and world building but seemed to drag a bit now and then. Lots of different POV s adding background made for a slower pace novel but put all the pieces together.

i enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really enjoyed this as a scifi read. I hadn't read the first book but I still enjoyed reading this anyway.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Not the best spce opera I've read but not the worst. As usual the combat in cold dark space is the most enjoyable part. When the author tries to give an in-depth discussion of interstellar politics the narrative starts to get a little dry. I would like to have seen a little more passion and emotion from the heroine, Admiral Kat Falcone.

Kat is back and with her return so do the problems. There are enough space battles for any military science fiction fan. Look for friends to be on separate sides. The readers get to follow the important characters on both sides. There is tension and betrayal as the battle for control pushes on. I think someone is being set up but will have to wait for the next book to know for sure

Debt of Loyalty by Christopher G. Nuttall | Aug 7, 2020 | 47North

Nuttal follows up his smartly written Debt of Honor with the second book in his Ashes of War trilogy, and it’s every bit as good as the first, if not better. It’s a blend of space navy Mil-SF and political intrigue with a British flavor, which is only natural for the Scottish-born author.

The King, having refused to cede his war powers following a conflict, fled the Commonwealth’s core world of Tyre rather than face impeachment, and took half the fleet (and one its best strategists) with him. Now it’s a civil war, with the colony planets siding largely with the King…they always felt slighted by the House of Lords on Tyre anyway.

Who has the moral high-ground is left for the reader to decide. The King has done a lot of underhanded things in his efforts to gain power, but he might say that the end justifies the means and that the House of Lords had shown that it was unable to look beyond its corporate profit sheets to face a looming political crisis from outside Commonwealth space. The House of Lords would point out that the King engineered a war that led to millions of deaths in order to gain power, but the proof is hard to get, and the King’s followers are now out of reach plotting their attack on the home system to return the King to power. The colonies, of course, are each out for their own survival, which is pretty fair, considering that nobody else is looking out for them.

Fortunately for the reader, there are main characters you can like. On the King’s side, there’s Kat Falcone, who left her father’s corporate world to join the Navy and is now an Admiral and advisor to the King leading the fight against the House of Lords’ fleet. Her bother Peter stayed, and is now Lord Peter, instrumental in forging war policy for the Lords. Kat’s opposite number, William McElney, was Kat’s XO during the war and is now the highest-ranking Colonial in the fleet. Neither have supreme command, but they’re the ones getting the job done. Friends and comrades before the split, now adversaries.

There’s plenty of Mil-SF fleet action in Debt of Loyalty, but the political intrigue is just as well done. The book does stop a bit abruptly, promising the conclusion in the next volume, but I wouldn’t let that put you off. It’s a really well-conceived and plotted story.

I thought I had read the first book but turns out I hadn't. The story still made sense, so picking it up midstride didn't cause any heartache. Not a bad political intrigue novel, but I would've preferred more space battle action. There were also a couple of phrases that were reused many times, the most obvious one was "the shit hit the fan." You could almost make a drinking game from it, although not so much towards the end of the book. Not bad, but not stunning.

This is a fantastic sequel. The book is very intriguing and the characters are very idealistic. At times, they may seem a little too principled or naive, but that is from an observer who can clearly see both sides of the argument. The drama and tension through the book is palpable and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

This is a follow on book to Debt of Honor and continues the plot of the first book. I enjoyed Nuttall's second novel and was happy the level of writing was as good as the first book. The storyline had some good twists and turns to keep you engaged.