Product Description

pompous and sloppily written, Saturday, February 06, 2010

Ringo has written many well received books, but this one appears to have been sloppily written. It reads like a mixture of Heinlein in his didactic mode and Ayn Rand, with the pomposity and verbosity of the latter showing through. There is little in the way of nuance in Ringo's text. The third person narrative has a repeated tendency to hit the reader over the head with its libertarian viewpoint. If you disagree with the latter, then unsurprisingly you'll find little else to like about the plot, since the viewpoint is hard to avoid. But suppose you are a libertarian. Even in this case, if you have enough discerning ability, you should not like this book. The pretentiousness of the narrative overplays its message. Toning it down would have made the plot more interesting.

Another way to look at this is by analogy. Consider Wells' classic The Time Machine. Widely read, even though Wells interspersed his political beliefs in it, because the overall plot is gripping and taut. In contrast, there is Bellamy's Looking Backward 2000-1887 (Oxford World's Classics), written around roughly the same time as Wells. Bellamy's writing is turgid. He also put his political views into his book. But he couldn't match Wells as an intrinsic writer. Which is why Bellamy's book is far less remembered, and was never made into a movie, for example.

As for the sloppiness? The best example is the continual use of the words "off of". Once you notice it, it becomes hard not to. This "phrase" does not appear [often] in the dialog, where perhaps it might be forgiven as a reflection of actual spoken word. Instead, it appears in the editorial narrative thread. Annoying to those readers who prize good writing. In every instance, the sentence could have been cleaned up. But Ringo has chosen to write this book in an overall breezy informal third person style. He has not always done this, and the style can grate.

Rating: 2 out of 5

fun thriller, Thursday, February 04, 2010

The Grtul came first constructing the Gudrum Ring to expand trade by making Earth a galactic partner. Humans reacted with trepidation and adulation as the global economy begins to go galaxy.

Three peaceful years pass with earthlings growing in confidence that they are equal trading partners. However, everything changes abruptly when the Horvath arrive in warships. They destroy several metropolises as a warning. Terra is theirs. Entrepreneur Tyler Vernon knows that the entire galaxy loves maple syrup and that no military martinet species is going to prevent him from selling Vermont style to customers. He considers smuggling, but knows a cost benefit analysis suggests the maple Syrup counterinsurgency might be a better way to kick the Horvath off earth.

The concept is terrific with its obvious parallels to the current global economy as John Ringo combines a hostile alien planetary takeover with musings on the convergence of science and economics that in modern times make it difficult for an individual to Live Free or Die trying. The story line drifts between a hyperspeed shoot em up revolution and turtle-speed dialogues on the economic-science convergence. Both prove interesting, but also overwhelm characterizations including the maple syrup entrepreneur. Still fans will enjoy Mr. Ringo's combining of economics, science and alien invasion as overall this is a thought provoking fun thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Rating: 4 out of 5

Troy... does this this mean there will be a trojan horse?!, Thursday, February 04, 2010

Absolutely fantastic book for anyone who loves military SciFi or someone who has enjoyed Ringo's previous works. I am about 75% through and I have to recommend this book, although the wait for the sequel to this and Ringo's other ongoing series will be agonizing! One note, this reads very much like other Ringo books, with the slow, methodical start involving the set up but after this it is brilliant. Thank you John Ringo, although next time put some more chemistry for us chemists, I applaud the biololgy/virology you stuck in here, and the physics/astronomy is always good, but lets have some chemistry next time!

Rating: 5 out of 5