This was author John Ringo's second book, and in the dozen or more he's done since, he's yet to come close to surpassing it. The premise isn't new - alien invasion - and neither are any of the concepts, but Ringo's handling of them is well-informed and contemporary. Essentially, the US military is set against carnivorous aliens. Ringo did some time in the Army and knows it well; it's a great look at how the Army really works,...
0Report
Aliens have invaded the Earth before...but dammit! John took it to new levels.First, as an military engineer veteran, it was gratifying to see the Engineers given prominence. Prominence? Hell! They taught the Posleen PAIN! There's very few alien invasions that can't be resolved by the suitable application of a few million tons of claymores and C4. But there's more than that. He managed, technically, to portray combined...
0Report
Aliens that act (mostly) alien, intrigue, conspiracy, dastardly back-stabbing, bureaucratic SNAFUs, good soldiers and armies hung out to dry by (and for) politics, overwhelming odds, and humanity's back now squarely up against the wall... Yup! Ringo still has all the right stuff. Ringo makes the most of his material, and while he still makes a few jarring mistakes along the way, and his characterizations are still fairly weak,...
0Report
For all of those who quibbled about things like smoking , you obviously have no idea what the life of a soldier is like. As a former 82nd airborne trooper, a lot of what he writes stikes a cord in me. This is a very well paced series with well developed characters, and the posleen basic ineptitude is more than made up for in sheer overwhelming numbers. I am eagerly awaiting Hell's Fair and any follow on books. Weber and Drake...
0Report
Considering Mr. Ringo is from my neck of the woods, this might seem a bit biased. However, "Gust Front" (like the "A Hymn Before Battle" before it) is a great read. It is a well crafted book that brings the reader into almost instant empathy with the characters. Combine that with a fairly realistic grasp of tactics and a knack for describing them, and you get one marvelous read. If you like Military Science Fiction, I...
0Report