Blood of the Cosmos

Blood of the Cosmos by Kevin J. Anderson is book 2 of the Saga of Shadows series.  The story is set in the same universe where the Saga of the Seven Suns took place.  In this volume we find the humans & Ildirans continuing the fight against the Shana Rei (aliens intent on destroying all life) and their robot allies.  Anderson, as is his habit, tells the story by hopping around from character to character.  The technique plausibly allows us to follow events across a galaxy wide setting.

The story is quite entertaining and ends (as you’d expect a middle series book to) with a cliffhanger.  Although you could definitely read the book without having read the Seven Suns series you will need to have read book 1 of this series --- The Dark Between the Stars.  The series is recommended for lovers of good old fashioned space opera.