A Hymn Before Battle (Posleen War Series #1)

I bought this book based on the fact that author David Weber decided to co-write other books with John Ringo. I loved this novel and was amused by his putting David Weber into the book as a interstellar battle consultant to the military in the first few chapters. The characters were wonderful and you hated to see anyone die. I can't wait to read the next book, and I just saw that book 3 will be released in 2nd quarter 2002, so I won't have to wait too long to continue the series. His thoughts into what warriors must go through and what their last thoughts might be seems authentic. Yet there is an underlying humor that never lets it get too grim to enjoy. The characters are all real and have real feelings. Must have military Sci-fi.....Buy it!

Perhaps the most difficult obstacle that a Military Fiction book must face is the sense of realism. This is a still more daunting task when you are presenting a military story in a Science Fiction milieu. For a first time writer this is often an impossible task. Many of the well-known authors in Military Fiction are technically competent, but often it is in their later novels that they finally show character development. In Military Science Fiction the list of authors who are technically competent as well as who posses the ability to create characters that one cares for is vanishing small.This is not the case with John Ringo and "A Hymn Before Battle". The fact that the reader immediately feels the protagonist is "real", carries this book over the initial first time writer jitters. Lt. Michael O'Neal comes to life in this book. By the time you finish you will be able to tell a police sketch artist how to draw him.Furthermore, the reader will also be able to feel that they care about Mike O'Neal's wife and children, the members of his scratch platoon, and even a Medevac pilot who makes a brief appearance.To this Ringo adds military reality. Despite the super suits that the soldiers wear, lack of sleep becomes an enemy as well. As anyone who has served in a combat arm will attest, this is a very real threat. Extended combat operations take their toll on soldiers both physically and mentally. In real life and in this book.That is the key to this book. All of the action that one expects, plus the added personal touches that makes a book both realistic and memorable. Those who think that Military Science Fiction novels are merely exploding spaceships; would be well advised to read this book. It develops into a real page-turner that leaves you ready for more of Lt. Michael L O'Neal.Kalilover

I have been reading this in pieces since it was available online at Baen. Take a little Heinlein, a little Clancy, mix in the imagination of this great new author and you have one of the best new SF books to come along in years. A stunningly realistic book that shows what would happen if today's soldiers wer forced to fight tomorrows war. Ringo accurately portrays the United States military, especially the Airborne warriors and writes a story that is amazingly real.Read this book and then read it again so you catch all of the action. I sincerely hope that there is more to come from John Ringo.

It's books like this that make me a loyal Baen Books reader.John Ringo has crafted a universe in which some aliens, themselves incapable of violence or, apparently, military strategy, have decided to use humans as literal "army ants" to destroy some other aliens who have been taking their worlds away from them one by one. And, of course, once the job is done and we're no longer needed...Of course humanity has long had a history of wriggling out of binds and generally playing merry hell with expectations made of it, and in this book, we are no different. I won't spoil the fun, but it's interesting seeing Ringo deal simultaneously with High Strategy and Low Tactics at the same time, while giving us characters we can care about and follow around as they attempt to keep humanity alive.This is the first book in what promises to be a series well worth following. The ending ties up the current set of loose ends very neatly, but I'm already salivating in anticipation of the sequel, which will be out in April, 2001, and I've already bought my "webscription" copy.Read it and enjoy. Me, I'm going out to get a copy as a gift for my brother, and watch the smile on his face.

There's a new name on my "must buy" list, John Ringo. Not many authors make it, and only two write military fiction -- Clancy and Bujold. As for the rest, Ringo just left them in his dust!You want a gripping storyline? It's here. You like characters so real, you could be standing in their skins? You got 'em. You're looking for sheer storytelling power that grabs your mind and heart and will not let you go? Be prepared to sign up for the duration.Learn a new definition of "long-range patrol." Know the frustration of dealing with higher-ups who care more about scoring points with the brass than about fighting the battles... or keeping their troops alive. Live the fear and confusion of broken comms, fractured chains of command, desperately depleted supplies, and an unstoppable enemy coming straight down your throat. Look out over shattered rubble that used to be a city and wonder if your hometown will be next. Knowing it will be.This is life and death, glory and shame. This is combat as I've seldom seen it portrayed, with the human spirit stripped down to the bare essentials where it, alone, can say whether to go on or lay down and die.Ringo said he wrote this for soldiers. As a veteran, myself, I say, "Thank you, John. You did us proud."So move over, Clancy. Edge over a bit, Bujold. John Ringo deserves to share that spotlight. I can hardly wait for the next installment from this incredibly talented storyteller.