'Ever since the Green Poison epidemic transformed the United States, the Division has worked tirelessly to push the nation back from the brink of collapse. The new food infrastructure brings hope… until Division agent Maira Kanhai finds an alarming disruption in the critical Texan oil refineries: a group of environmental extremists set on keeping the transformed world free from fossil fuels. When Maira’s Division cell is dispatched to secure the area, they discover a private military outfit acting as warlords of the hurricane-ravaged communities. As tensions between the factions come to a head, an old enemy emerges intending to destroy the Division, forcing Maira into a choice that will make her a hero or villain, and question what the Division stands for.'
The first book in the new series of The Division novels, The Division: Recruited, introduced readers to the world of the popular video game where much of humanity has been wiped out by a deadly virus; as well as the series protagonist Maira Kanhai. Following the events of that book, which our group of heroes barely managed to survive, we return once again as Maira gets sent out on an even more dangerous mission; one that could have repercussions for thousands of survivors.
Following the event of the last book things have begun to get better for the survivors of the Green Poison pandemic. The rogue Division agents have been neutralised, and the fighting between the bandit groups and the Freighties has died down, allowing the altruistic Freighties to use their trucks to deliver much needed food and supplies to survivor communities around the country. However, when Maira learns that there's a growing disruption to fuel supplied in Texas, she and her new team are tasked with travelling there and securing the much needed fuel.
Alongside Maira is Leo, who worked with her in her cell since she was recruited into the Division, as well as former military medic Colin, and sniper Yeong-Ja, Maira sets out to find out what's causing the issues with the fuel. However, when the team arrive in Texas they find allies under siege, a military group trying to bring peace through force and control, and environmental extremists wanting to return society to simpler times. As the team try to prevent all out war they end up stuck in the middle, and fighting against another threat lurking in the shadows.
The first book in the series was an enjoyable read, one that introduced those who hadn't played the game to this world, and did its best to establish some interesting characters. And whilst it was a good read, this book is probably a better one. Perhaps it's the benefit of it being a sequel, so some of the characters have had a chance to settle in a bit, or maybe the story just works better than the first; whatever the reason, The Division: Compromised is pretty much everything that I could have wanted from the sequel.
The characters that I liked from the first book returned, and whilst one of them was relegated to a support position because of injuries they sustained in the previous entry, Maira and Leo were good characters to bring back. They had an easy rapport with each other, and the focus on Leo in this book was a really clever move for building on the one one character from the first book that was probably served least there. The new characters were also welcome additions. Yeong-Ja was almost a bit too much like Leo to begin with, a character to didn't speak much, but as the book went on and we saw more of her it was clear that she was a very different kind of person; one whose quiet exterior was hiding a bit of a joker. Colin, as well as becoming the teams medic, became our secondary protagonist, and several of the chapters were written from his point of view. Adding this new POV was interesting, and it gave us some insight into important characters and events that would hold a lot of weight for the rest of the book. It also could make the next book in the series (if there is one) more interesting to have two POV characters based on how this one ends.
As well as a better focus on characters the action in this book felt a lot tighter than the first. There was less of it, and the times where the characters were forced to pick up their weapons and take lives were given more importance in the story. The first book had the team being assaulted from all directions multiple times, but here the team are more proactive, and often end up choosing to go into battle, rather than having it thrust upon them. They get to choose the fields of battle, they get to make the sudden strikes, and whilst it doesn't always mean that they win it does give it a very different feel.
As mentioned before, the book has an interesting ending. I'm not going to go into that for spoiler reasons, but I will say based upon how things wrap up at the end of this book any future book is quite possibly going to be the most intriguing yet. Having very much enjoyed both books in the series I'm hoping that we do get at least one more.
Whether you've played the games or not, or whether you've read the first book or not, The Division: Compromised is a entertaining and enjoyable read that people are going to love. It works brilliantly as an addition to the games, and as a sequel to the first book, but if you're coming to this completely fresh it stands well enough on its own to keep you entertained throughout.
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