DOMINION

An alien-warfare trilogy (Empire, 2015, etc.) culminates with white-hat aliens, black-hat aliens, young human survivors, and evil brain-sucking parasites battling to a gruesome finish.

Sound complicated? Not to worry, there's a helpful short summary in the first couple of pages. Advanced human-aliens, the Illyri, have conquered the Earth despite the ongoing civil war pitting the Illyri Diplomatic Corps and Securitat against the Military. Both sides covet an alliance with the Sisterhood, a secretive female society of knowledge brokers. Rebellious Syl Hellais, the first Illyri to be born on Earth, became involved with resistance fighters Paul Kerr and his younger brother, Steven. The brothers were captured, trained as Illyri fighters, and sent millions of light-years away, while Syl forcibly joined the Sisterhood. There, she learned that key members of the Sisterhood, Diplomats, and Securitat have been enslaved by alien parasites, or Others, and then used her immense psychic powers to escape and link up with the Kerr brothers. Now, they flee into a mysterious wormhole from which nobody has ever returned; inside, they discover the Cayth, a collective organism that knows about and opposes the Others but fears annihilation. Ani, Syl’s former friend from Earth, meanwhile, hijacks the Sisterhood and schemes to destroy the One, the Others’ ancient controlling intelligence. Instructed by the parasites, the Illyri dose Earth with Other spores; only a handful of resistance fighters successfully retreat into secure underground bunkers. Tension cranks up as Syl and Paul plot with the uninfected Illyri Military to seize the Sisterhood, unaware of Ani’s presence, while Steven heads for Earth with a small fleet of captured ships. All these well-articulated, intriguing threads combine with solid action to produce a satisfying conclusion.

A yarn that makes little claim to originality but offers appealing characters and an involving narrative to devotees of easy-reading space operas.