A worthy successor of Messiah Complex

You should definitely read before MESSIAH COMPLEX. MESSIAH WAR I think is not a must.
In general it is absolutely gripping story in which there are also some tragic losses.
At the end there is a good cliffhanger, which gives room for further developments of the story.
Even the character style appeals to me absolutely and varies in Leuf history not too much.
From me an absolute buy recommendation, because it is one of the best stories.