The Tuloriad (11) (Posleen War)

There's quite a bit of trash talk here about the inclusion of religion in The Tuloriad. Is this a novel with religion as a theme and plot device? Yes. Is it therefore a novel with a religious bias, proselytizing and endorsing a particular religion? No. At least, no more so than it is biased toward Greek Mythology because it uses the Illiad/Odyssey as a theme. In prior "Legacy of Aldenata" (Posleen-verse) books, John Ringo and co-authors established that the Posleen were aggressive, ravenous and thoroughly unsympathetic. However, Ringo's Hell's Faire introduced us to Tulostenaloor, and Tom Kratman & Ringo's Yellow Eyes introduced Guanamarioch, and suddenly we find that Posleen may be smart and even sympathetic (poor Guano, he just wanted. Out. Of. That. Swamp!). In the current book, Kratman and Ringo's major plot explores the redemption of Tulo and his clan following their defeat. In a trip reminiscent of The Odyssey (or even the Illiad, as implied by the title), the Sten clan are just trying to find home, that lost world that birthed the Posleen race. Or perhaps the trip recounts The Exodus and the search for a fabled paradise where the Posleen can live in peace and come to terms with their history. Some decades later, when the human race learns of the Posleen Exodus, they are still recovering from near extinction and the accompanying social upheaval. Some argue that an expedition should be sent to follow and exterminate the Posleen once and for all; however, a missionary expedition is sent instead to determine whether the Posleen can be redeemed and incorporated into civilized society. Starting from a point of view not unlike a "foxhole conversion" The Tuloriad explores the simultaneous role of faith in society and the obligation of leaders to look after the psychological and spiritual welfare of their followers. Sure, this means there is considerable discussion of religion in the book, but rather than a bias to *endorsing* religion, it explores the *civilizing* role of moral faith in society. For those who, upon reading this book, are disturbed by the religious content, please, Please, PLEASE read the afterword. Like many Kratman and Ringo novels, the Afterword puts so much into perspective. Enjoy the book, read with an open mind and consider this - who is more close-minded? The author that dares to incorporate religion in his plot? or the critic who refuses to consider it?

As the title of this review says, I got what I wanted from reading this book and am happy. What did I want? Enjoyment. I picked up a book in the Ringo Posleen universe and just sat back and read and was happy to be lost in this space. The book deals with religion in a number of ways and has views which were interesting, but not compelling. As usual for a Ringo story, the dialog was engaging and fun and fed the plot nicely. While the book is not a "shoot them up" Ringo book, which I knew going in, I thought the characters were interesting and really liked the new nuggets of information and insight into the Posleen universe provided. Seeing things from the Posleen side was fun for me. That and having yet another new mystery players thrown in was nice. My nit to pick is that the converging stories on two different time lines was not clear to me and took me way to long to pick up upon. (even though the chapter headings point this out, it didn't pop for me). This book isn't on the same level of some of Ringo's early writing (There Will Be Dragons)... but it is a good book and it achieved what I wanted out of a book... I enjoyed the time spent reading the story. Success.

Once upon a time the Earth was nice, uncomplicated, and normal. Then the Galactics showed up. They said the Posleen were coming, and the Posleen were hungry. Earth was chosen to provide the armies that would stop the Posleen from eating everyone in the known Galaxy. Unfortunately, the warriors the Galactics unleashed did their jobs too well...you see the Posleen and the Humans were supposed to kill each other off. But the Humans won. So there he was, one of the last remaining Posleen GodKings on Earth. All the rest of the Posleen hordes had been killed. Can he save the Tulor Posleen from complete annihilation, or will his struggle to overcome the nature that the Aldenata built into the Posleen be futile? This is a book that is both full of action and thoughtful. One thinks of Ringo and Kratman as mow-'em-down, high body count mil-science fiction writers, but both are pigeonholed as that too much, I think. Even though Tom's nickname is "Genghis" and Ringo's is "Oh, No, John Ringo, No!" both of them are easily capable of fine storytelling with some significant deep thinking behind the writing. The first books in the Aldenata series make the Posleen into the epitome of horrible alien invaders...not only do they want Earth, but they want to eat Humans..."thresh" they call them. In fact, Posleen will eat anything... even each other. But that's what the Aldenata, a vanished race of superbeings, made them into, not what they want for themselves. The Tuloriad is the story of the Posleen's search for racial redemption. And it is a whacking good story, too. Go buy this book. Walt Boyes Associate Editor Jim Baen's Universe magazine [...]

The primary heroes of this novel are Posleen - savage, man eating aliens that make Nazis and USSR style Communists look like nice guys. The remnant of a defeated people, universally loathed, they fly around the galaxy and try to see if there is any way they could survive, maybe by returning to what they were before they were genetically manipulated to become the monstrosities that they are. I won't bother with the details of the plot, other reviewers already did that. At the end of the day redemption is possible, and it is helped by a human agency which believes itself responsible for redeeming souls. This is an important factor in the book, it is not really about God, but about religion. There are no overt miracles, but the various religious beliefs in the book give the characters (Posleen and human) the strength they need to deal with the difficulties of life. Since we're talking about a Tom Kratman book, life has difficulties a plenty. This isn't a classical Tom Kratman book. The characters aren't really functioning as soldiers, and there are only few battles. Yet on a deeper level, it is a Tom Kratman book because it discusses a factor that makes people strong or weak, which effects their ability to survive.

First off, this book starts well before the "Eye of the Storm" book. So if you are looking for a straight-forward continuation of the Aldenata cycle, this is not it. Also, this is not a smash and bash book. There are no vast armies clashing with artillery and death at every turn. What this book does is ask: How, in relief from the genocide we faced, do we regain our humanity? Is there redemption? Most of the book is the travels of a small group of Posleen as they try to rediscover their roots and attempt to find a new Path for their species. There is also a significant section dealing with human survivors of the invasion trying to deal with a new reality. Can you be true to your religon after what has happened? I think this book was a necessary step towards bringing the Posleen into the 'new' fight alongside of, rather than against, humanity. I DO reccommend this book for anyone who follows the Legacy of the Aldenata universe. I must say that I would NOT reccommend this as a first book or introduction to the world of the Posleen. Of course, I may be a bit snobbish about it, having read all of the books in the series...