Frontlines Books in Order: How to read Marko Kloos’s Series?

The Frontlines is a military science fiction series written by German author Marko Kloos (also known for The Palladium Wars series). Taking place at the beginning of the 22nd century, the story mainly revolves around American Defense Corps officer Andrew Grayson who’s taking part in a war between a Western and an Eastern power bloc, but also against an alien threat.

How to read The Frontlines Series in Order?

1. Terms of Enlistment – The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements: You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world . . . or you can join the service.
2. Lines of Departure – Humanity is on the ropes, and after years of fighting a two-front war with losing odds, so is North American Defense Corps officer Andrew Grayson. He dreams of dropping out of the service one day, alongside his pilot girlfriend, but as warfare consumes entire planets and conditions on Earth deteriorate, he wonders if there will be anywhere left for them to go.

• Lucky Thirteen (short story) – The story of rookie pilot Lt. Halley’s first drop ship command.
• Measures of Absolution (short story) – In the aftermath of the Battle of Detroit, Corporal Jackson finds out how the 365th AIB got a mauling in the Public Residence Clusters, and why the Territorial Army may have lost control over a big chunk of Detroit.

3. Angles of Attack – The alien forces known as the Lankies are gathering on the solar system’s edge, consolidating their conquest of Mars and setting their sights on Earth. The far-off colony of New Svalbard, cut off from the rest of the galaxy by the Lanky blockade, teeters on the verge of starvation and collapse. The forces of the two Earth alliances have won minor skirmishes but are in danger of losing the war. For battle-weary staff sergeant Andrew Grayson and the ragged forces of the North American Commonwealth, the fight for survival is entering a catastrophic new phase.
4. Chains of Command – The assault on Earth was thwarted by the destruction of the aliens’ seed ship, but with Mars still under Lanky control, survivors work frantically to rebuild fighting capacity and shore up planetary defenses. Platoon sergeant Andrew Grayson must crash-course train new volunteers-all while dulling his searing memories of battle with alcohol and meds.
5. Fields of Fire – Mars has been under Lanky control for more than a year. Since then, the depleted forces of Earth’s alliances have rebuilt their fleets, staffing old warships with freshly trained troops. Torn between the need to beat the Lankies to the punch and taking enough time to put together an effective fighting force, command has decided to strike now.

6. Points of Impact – Earth’s armed forces have stopped the Lanky advance and chased their ships out of the solar system, but for CDC officer Andrew Grayson, the war feels anything but won. On Mars, the grinding duty of flushing out the twenty-meter-tall alien invaders from their burrows underground is wearing down troops and equipment at an alarming rate. And for the remaining extrasolar colonies, the threat of a Lanky attack is ever present.
7. Orders of Battle – The future for Major Andrew Grayson of the Commonwealth Defense Corps and his wife, Halley? Flying desk duty on the front. No more nightmares of monstrous things. No more traumas to the mind and body. But when an offer comes down from above, Andrew has to make a choice: continue pushing papers into retirement, or jump right back into the fight? What’s a podhead to do?
8. Centers of Gravity – Stranded light-years from home, Major Andrew Grayson and his crew are on a desperate mission to discover the Lankies’ secrets. Soon enough, Andrew’s operation becomes an expedition to hell. The odds against his small crew are stacked high. Of all the mysteries of space, how to escape with their lives is the greatest unknown of all.

Frontlines: Evolution

1. Scorpio – It’s been eight years since an alien invasion drove a small surviving group of settlers to seek refuge in an underground shelter. Cut off from the rest of humanity, the ragtag band has maintained a narrowly functioning colony due to communal effort and salvage runs. Alex Archer has her own duties as a dog handler. While this off-world colony may be harsh, Ash, Alex’s black shepherd raised to sense threats, makes living in it a little nicer. But the tenuous hide-and-seek with the monstrous species known as the Lankies is about to come to an end for Alex and her close-knit crew of soldiers, techs, and friends. When a salvage operation goes catastrophically wrong, the Lankies home in on the humans. With hopes of a rescue long faded, all Alex has left is will-and the fear that there’s so much more to lose.
2. Corvus – Coming soon

Frontlines: Requiem: The Graphic Novel

Published in 2016, Frontlines: Requiem is a four-issue comic book series that features a new stand-alone story set within the action-packed military sci-fi world of Marko Kloos’s Frontlines novels. The story is not written by Kloos, but by writer Ivan Brandon with artwork from Gary Erskine. It’s better to have read the first books in the series before reading the graphic novel.

• Frontlines: Requiem: The Graphic Novel – Colonel Soraya Yamin, commander of the battle-ravaged space control cruiser Phalanx, engages the Lankies, a merciless alien species, in an apocalyptic assault over Mars. The Lankies, who have outgunned, outmaneuvered, and outfought humanity at every turn, have been menacing Earth’s colonies. But now they’re suddenly in our solar system, decimating the NACS fleet and swarming toward Earth itself. Facing insurmountable odds, Soraya must make a fateful choice between her sworn duty and the loved ones she desperately wants to protect.

If you like the Frontlines reading order, you may also want to see our reading order for The Odyssey One series, or The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.