Eye of the Storm (Posleen War)
by John Ringo
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Book Reviews of Eye of the Storm (Posleen War)
Book Review: Vintage Ringo Military SF!
Summary: 5 Stars
After finishing the first 4 Ringo Military SF novels covering the very (satisfyingly) bloody Posleen war, Ringo collaborated with both Julie Cochran and Tom Kratman to produce several decent "sidebar" Posleenverse novels; of these I definitely enjoyed the Kratman collaboration better.
In the present novel, the Posleen are just about wiped clean from the Darhel controlled planets; the redoubtable Michael O'Neal is now a Lieutenant General and field commander of the Armored Combat Suit 11th Division. Through a combination of Darhel treachery and slimy collaborators within the Galactic Fleet, the ACS division is destroyed. Mike O'Neal is on trial for treason (actually a conspiracy to get rid of the enormous debt the Darhel owe to Mike as "prize money"), but his daughters Cally and Sohon Mentat Michelle collaborate to spring Mike from durrance vile.
Many of the more interesting and memorable characters form the earlier novels resurface in this one: Colonel Cutprice, Tommy Sunday, Sergeants Wacleva, Mueller, and Jake "the Snake" Mosovich, along with Captain Keren. Characters from "Watch on the Rhine" and "Yellow Eyes" are also resurrected: William Boyd, "Daisy Mae", and Jeff McNair, along with Dieter Schulz and Generalfeldmarschall Muhlenkanpf. Many new characters are introduced, both young S.S. and Sohon Mentats.
All of these characters are masterfully blended into development of a formidable fighting force to oppose the newest threat to the various races of the Galactic Confederation, the Hedren.
This novel is very obviously a springboard to a new series; not very much combat action until the final chapters. As any good novel within this particular Genre, it's a "cliffhanger" type ending.
What I liked about the novel:
(1) Great cast of familiar characters!
(2) Wonderfully disgusting new enemies!
(3) The Darhel are finally brought down!
What I disliked:
(1) Having to wait until the next "episode!"
Book Review: Could Be Better
Summary: 3 Stars
One of the things that made John Ringo's "Legacy of the Aldenata" so special early on was the sudden and rapid mobilization for war that Earth struggled through. It combined human ingenuity with bureaucratic laziness into a tremendous and enjoyable first novel. The only first novel I had ever read which was better was written by John Scalzi. Ringo had an instant fan after I read "A Hymn Before Battle" and the follow-ups, "Gust Front, "When the Devil Dances" and "Hell's Faire".
So when the publication date for "Eye of the Storm" was released, I was thrilled beyond belief. I had high hopes for this series, especially after his collaboration projects with other authors in the Aldenata universe. And at first, I was not disappointed. Politics, war and a scheming alien race made the beginning chapters tremendously enjoyable and a fast read. I was thoroughly hooked, and enjoying the romp Ringo was putting me through.
Suddenly, however, the story changed. The original tale captured in the early chapters of "Eye of the Storm" seemed to spin into something far more familiar and puzzling. The military build-up was similar, the ignorant politics and lazy bureaucrats eerily familiar and even the aliens were familiar. I was puzzled and flipped back through it. No, I hadn't accidently picked up my copy of "A Hymn Before Battle". My confusion grew, then turned to annoyance. The story was nearly identical to "A Hymn Before Battle".
The story bogged down in the end, save for the Mentats and their subsequent battle. That was entertaining and brought the story up out of my personal abysmal dregs. I was sorely disappointed in the ending, which seemed rushed and not very descriptive.
If you like the earlier Aldenata books, you'll like this one. It's not entirely horrible, but the author could have done better with the story telling.
Book Review: terrific military science fiction thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
As the Posleen horde invade the Earth, Lieutenant General Michael O'Neal is shocked with the proof he has found that that the Machiavellian Darhel oligarchy of the Galactic Confederation has controlled humans like puppeteer with puppets; most humans are pleased with the arrangement. O'Neal considers a countermeasure, but his vaunted military unit is destroyed by the more powerful Galactic Fleet and he is arrested as an insurgent heading to Fleet Penal Facility after a rigged trial.
However, the Hedren attack the Galactic Confederation putting it at risk of being conquered. The only person capable of a military counter attack is heading to prison. Darhel leader Tir Dal Ron must decide between freeing O'Neal to lead the human troops or watch his Confederation go down in flames; if he chooses his prisoner he must also find a way to persuade the general that saving the Darhel is the only way to save his species.
The latest in the Human-Posleen saga (see A HYMN BEFORE BATTLE and SISTER TIME) is a terrific military science fiction thriller with social and political implications. LTG O'Neal struggles between the desire to overthrow the oligopoly and the knowledge people are satisfied with their lot. As always the battle scenes ring true and are great fun to follow. Although some key points set up in previous entries in the saga (helps to have read them though not absolutely critical) are flash-points instead of developed consequences of prior actions, fans will enjoy John Ringo's exciting return to his human-Posleen worlds as a new threat has arrived.
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: Gets pretty silly
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me preface this with the fact that I have read all of the books in the series so far.
When I read this book I had visions of old 80s cartoons (Star Blazers), comic books, and heavily inspired by the Babylon 5 TV series.
I won't spoil much. I like how the loose threads got tied up from the Cally's war series and the Mike O'Neil series. However, there were many silly points in the book (for example a ship entity, channeling the Andromeda TV series), the Ebay like auction (even referring to Ebay itself...which is bizarre in a mil SciFi book), the whole concept of the masters who have masters (who presumedly have masters themselves)...The usual ANCIENT UNSTOPPABLE EVIL... It just goes on and on.
Also there were points where you could just skip and not miss anything. The very LONG section on the Ebay bidding, the very boring section on the training. The only truly exciting parts were the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages, and everything in between is just filler, boring, trite, ideas stolen from a mishmash of sources which makes no sense. Its comically entertaining in that regard. The first and last part save the book, and I still look forward to the next in the series. Hopefully John Ringo isn't channeling Robert Jordan with windy, complex plots and a zillion characters. Keep it simple, write what you know, and lose the pop culture references.
Book Review: So much potential, so little follow through
Summary: 3 Stars
After the disaster that was, "Honor of the Clan" I decided I was through spending money on this series. I was still curious about it, interested in knowing how it progressed and what happened next but there was no way in Hades I was going to BUY the next book.
Then I found it in the Baen Free Library and decided to read a few pages.
A few pages turned into a several pages and then a few chapters. I almost made myself late to class. I ended up reading it in class. I thought about it all the way home. For the first 250-300 pages I was absolutely, completely, and totally hooked. But then the plot's progression came to a near total standstill and the next two hundred pages were full of details, details, and more details. Side plots, new characters, and one piece of ultimately irrelevant data after another. A lot of it was interesting. Ringo is nothing if not a good writer. But there was like two to three HUNDRED pages to slog through before the story started picking up again.
Then, just as things were really starting to get interesting again the book ends. Just like that. It ends. Obviously if I want to know what happens next I will have to read the next installment. I hope it too is included in the Free Library (or at least at my local library) because--again--there is no way in Hades I am paying for it.