Max Dupont stars in his own adventure in the second installment of the Broken Union series, taking place one year after Ancient as the Stars.

Captain Maxine Dupont of the Earth Union is a rogue. A maverick. A clear-headed arbitrator of right and wrong– rules be damned.

But even Max stumbles when he encounters his latest challenge. The Union is collaborating with former enemy Mars to fix the collapse of interstellar travel, but at the cost of vulnerable citizens. Max has to figure out where his loyalties lie–and if treason is a price he’s willing to pay for doing the right thing.

Meanwhile…

Lieutenant Ren Yilmaz has finally found a crew. A home. A rewarding career, on the ESS Knight.

But Ren gets drawn into a web of espionage. Her captain, Max, has shady dealings with anti-Union rebel groups and assigns her shipmates off-the-books tasks. It’s Ren’s duty as an officer to investigate. Snooping can be disastrous. Not only would she be betraying her newfound family, but Ren has secrets too–and if she digs too far, her own past as a spy could get spectacularly exposed.

As tensions mount, the choices Max and Ren make will test their loyalty not only to the Union, but to each other–and the crew they call family.

I’ve read Ancient as the Stars which is in this same series and therefore I had high expectations of this book. Loyalty to the Max didn’t disappoint.

This time, we get a glimpse of Max and his crew, of which Ren is one now. On the ESS Knight, she has found a family to belong, one which accepts her without question, but Max is always a maverick who must forge his own path.

With interstellar travel being impossible, the ships are stranded, but Max is not someone to sit idle. He recruits Ren into some espionage, which leads to some discoveries. Some of them are things Max never wanted anyone to know.

With her trust in her captain faltering, Ren has to make a choice. Does she follow Max or betray him and the crew that she calls family?

What I loved the most here is Max’s voice. It is so distinct from Ren’s or Karenna’s. It’s reflective of his whole personality where he appears larger than life even as he is combating chronic pain. Max’s backstory and thoughts reveal so much about him as a character. I loved him in Ancient as the Stars and I love him even more in this.

Chronic pain/illness is not often seen in speculative fic, so I was really glad to see it here. If you love space operas, conflicting loyalties, complex characters who are very relatable, and an intriguing plotline that makes you question who is in the right and who is in the wrong, you will love this book.

Also, queer and chronic pain rep.

You can find Loyalty to the Max here!