Seeds of Earth (Humanity's Fire)

Seeds of Earth (Humanity's Fire) - Michael Cobley 

The book opens onto a last ditch rearguard battle against generic "bug" aliens while  three colony ships try to make their escape, which didn't leave me with much hope.
I was soon thankfully proved wrong.  The tale rapidly moves on 150 years to the survivors of a colony ship and their struggle to survive and flourish in a hostile galaxy.
Revolves around several main characters, telling an intertwined story from several viewpoints, and does it quite well.  Not a particularly easy read but doesn't drag, plenty of different factions and alliances to get your head round though.
An interesting twist at the end, which can be spotted earlier if you pick up the clues, whether this is intentional I don't know but they're there.
Lives up to the quote on the front...