Star Divide, book 2 of the Ken Lozito’s Ascension series picks up immediately where book 1 left off. Kylan, Zack and the rest of the crew have been transported via wormhole to an unknown star system that they presume is related to the observation station back on Pluto. During this adventure, they encounter the alien race that built the observatory and surrounding star shroud as well as another alien race living in that star system and the alien race they were warned about. As with the 1st book, the relatively short story ends on another cliffhanger.
The sci-fi elements are mainly limited to alien biology with wings or treebark like skin, but are mostly anthropomorphised humanoid creatures. There is implant technology that allows interface with an alien artificial intelligence which incrementally upgrades all the human tech. For what little humanity has to offer, Kaylan is a bit too ready to lend assistance on the expectation of returning to Pluto to rescue her captain, left stranded with presumed injuries.
There’s also a bit of discordance with humans being regarded as “primitive” and not ready for entry into the galactic federation. This is contrasted with the resident aliens of the star system already being in the federation, but upon first contact with another alien, a social foo-pah is taken as such offense that a duel to the death is initiated. In addition, in spite of this race having some degree of scientific sophistication, at least interplanetary travel capability, and familiarity with alien species beyond their star system, they have no planet wide governmental authority (in that they let a local, largely rural group handle diplomatic affairs) and don’t even monitor spaceship activity around their planet. Finally, there are two opposing alien races vying for power in the federation and Kaylan and crew naively assume the first group that tells them they’re the good guys are being truthful.
The narration is respectable given the range of characters of both genders as well as the various alien races. Overall, the pace is smooth and moves quickly, although there is the feel of a made for Netflix / Amazon series where each book is handled as a season with the requisite cliffhanger to hold the audience for the next round.