Kevin Matthew Hayes’s A Struggle Between Two Worlds is a bold and heartfelt space war epic that follows Lieutenant Jaxon, a pilot caught between duty and despair in a solar system torn apart by conflict. The story begins with heart-thumping battles above the moons of Mars, shifts into tense debriefings aboard a massive carrier, and spirals into a deeply human story about faith, loyalty, and survival. It’s part space opera, part war journal, and part meditation on what it means to keep going when everything you care about seems to be slipping away.

The writing doesn’t waste time. It throws you straight into the action with vivid detail and the silence of space pressing in from every side. The dialogue feels natural, even when it’s clipped and military, and that helps ground the futuristic setting in real emotion. There’s something lonely about it all, a kind of quiet heartbreak that runs under the explosions and heroics. I could feel Jaxon’s exhaustion, his doubt, and his fear. I also admired the author’s balance between world-building and humanity. The space battles are cinematic, but what lingered with me were the small moments like Jaxon’s conversations with Quincey, the call home to his wife and daughter, and the silence after loss. Those pieces hit hard.

Sometimes the technical talk about ships and missiles drags on a bit, and there are places where the dialogue leans heavy on old war clichés. But even then, it fits the characters. These are soldiers trying to stay sane, clinging to ritual and bravado to mask their fear. The pacing slows in the middle, but the emotional punch makes up for it. I also liked how Hayes doesn’t glamorize war. The battles are terrifying, not triumphant. Every victory feels costly. By the end, when Jaxon faces Markov one last time, it’s not about pride or revenge, it’s about finishing what can’t be escaped. That ending stayed with me. It felt raw and real.

This book would be perfect for readers who love classic military sci-fi or flight stories that dig into the human heart behind the machinery. Fans of Top Gun, Battlestar Galactica, or The Expanse will find a lot to love here. I’d also recommend it to anyone who wants an action story that still remembers what it feels like to be afraid, hopeful, and deeply, painfully human. A Struggle Between Two Worlds isn’t just about space, it’s about the fight we all face between faith and despair, and the small, stubborn will to keep flying anyway.

Pages: 35 | ASIN: B0FRW5JRRQ