Andreas' Other Books - (Q-R by author)

Ahmed Rashid - Taliban

Non-fiction about the history and present of Afghanistan. Although written before 9/11, it gives a clear picture of why events turned out the way it did. At times heavy and gloomy reading, it is nevertheless very interesting. The author's conclusions may be a little biased, but it is hard to argue the fact that foreign influence (or lack of it) in Afghanistan served the purpose of the emerging Taliban regime. One could almost see this as a sort of manual in how not to perform foreign policy.

Paul Reiser - Babyhood

Cute and vaguely fun nonfiction about having a baby.

Alastair Reynolds - Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days

I was at the bookstore the other day and saw this in the "New Science Fiction" section. It's an unusual book: A small hardcover (almost as small as a paperback) with two novellas (Diamond Dogs and Turquoise Days), both set in the "Revelation Space" universe). Diamond Dogs is much less epic than his novels, more of an idea piece, and although his prose is tight and elegant as ever, some of the passages seem just a bit too stilted. I think the short length of each novella (only about 110 pages) may be cramping the author's distinctive style. Don't worry too much though. Alastair's universe is still a very cold, enigmatic and frightening place which cares not a jot for humanity. I expected him to solve the riddle of the story, but he has chosen to let the artifact therein serve a more sinister purpose. Very elegant and more than a little spooky. Turquoise Days is more of a vehicle to give interesting tidbits of information on the Pattern Jugglers (an alien life form). Although the main character is engaging, and the story well rounded, Diamond Dogs is definitely  stronger. 2003

Anne Rice - Interview with the Vampire; The Vampire Lestat

Hugely succesful vampire tales. There is lots of eroticism and violence, but in the end I found that Anne Rice was a wordcrapper. The (admittedly good) story gets lost in all the sensual descriptions and emotions. I gave up in the middle of Lestat, but if you are into this kind of thing, there are more books in the series.

John Ringo - The Council Wars Series

There Will Be Dragons

The first volume in Ringo's vision of a fallen utopia. Mankind is free of want and ill-timed death. People can do what he or they wishe with their long lives. But there is trouble in paradise. The council that rules the "Net", the information system that provides for mankind, has fallen out in factional disputes that lead to war.

Greeat fun as usual with Ringo. Mother, a watchdog AI, does not interfere very much after the fall, but certain restrictions apply. For example, the amount of explosive force that can be applied is limited, making firearms well nigh impossible, as well as high energy industry. Society is back at a very early industrial level. The struggle in the beginning is just survival. but the war is not over...

One thing I don't understand is the cover. Well, I do "understand". It's there to lure readers. And while the character depicted is, in fact, in the book, and she does, in fact, look exactly like that, I think it gives an unfortunate false impression about the contents. Not that I don't enjoy looking at it ;-)

And by the way, Bun-Bun is back in a very weird way! 20041231

Emerald Sea

The sequel to "There Will be Dragons" has a bit of a disconnect compared to the earlier novel. It seems Mr Ringo had an idea about underwater action and aircraft (ahem, dragon) carriers and went with it. It's all good fun for a fast read, but hardly what I would call profound. If you like the other Ringo novels, you'll probably enjoy this one. Dark humor, cool action scenes and likeable characters.

The short story at the end, "In A Time of Darkness" is about one of Paul Bowman's concubines. The denouement is unexpected but it mostly serves as filler. 20060129

Against the Tide

Book three in the series improves dramatically compared to the dissapointing "Emerald Sea". Ringo takes us back to the main action of the war, where a battle for control of the Atlantic (ahem, Atlantis) is brewing. The UFS Navy is in terrible shape, so the Queen sends Edmund (with Herzer in tow) to take over and sort it out before New Destiny tries to invade.

Good, clean fun in other words. Plenty of action, laughs and horrible puns (e.g. the SEAL team is made up of humans changed into seal-form). If you enjoyed "There Will be Dragons", you will enjoy this. 20060825.

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Book four involves a showdown of sorts, as both sides jockey for control of a ship full of fuel coming in from the outer solar system. The fuel is destined for the reactors powering the council's interests. As usual, Herzer is in the thick of it. And oh yeah, there are orcs in space, but nothing much is really made of that.

This may be the last book, but the conclusion isn't unambiguous. The story is rather simplistic. While Ringo is always entertaining, the epic dimension was missing. If you read the first three books, you'll enjoy this, but I still felt that it was a bit phoned in. 20080204

David Weber and John Ringo - The March Upcountry Series

Is reviewed here.

John Ringo - Ghost

I came in expecting special forces action. And yes, there is a lot of that. Quite good too. What I didn't expect was all the erotica. Which is also good if you're into that sort of thing.

Our hero, Mike Harmon AKA "Ghost", is an ex SEAL trying to get by. Through somewhat random circumstances, he ends up foiling a terrorist plot to kidnap and torture American college girls. Now rich with reward money, he moves to the Keys. And ends up foiling a plot to place a nuke on American soil. After that, he ends up in Russia, where he... You get the picture. The book is episodic, with three quite distinct parts. Constant are the visceral, brutal, violent action and the explicit and kinky sex.

A fun read, but not for the liberal. ;) The hero's views are quite, ahem, radical when it comes to terrorism and how to deal with it. There is, somewhat unexpectedly, quite a bit of deep thought between the lines. 20061208,

John Ringo - Kildar

Mike Harmon of Ghost is back. While Ringo could have continued to write episodic novels about covert operations ad infinitum, he wisely decided to take the character somewhere completely different, both literally and figuratively. Having established that the Ghost is a filthy rich badass former SEAL who likes rough sex and killing bad guys, Ringo decided to make him every man's wet dream.

While driving through Georgia (the country not the state), Ghost is snowed in in a remote mountain valley. On a whim, he buys the local caravanserai, which also comes with a large farm and most of the valley. He thus inherits the local retainers, a group known as the Keldara. These brew the best beer he has ever tasted, and (it turns out) are of an ancient warrior breed. He proceeds to set up a militia to combat Chechen incursions. He is also saddled with a harem of rescued former sex slaves. Storywise, this is more of a set-up book for further novels than anything else. In fact, there are already three more sequels in the series.

It all beggars belief a little, but Ringo is unapologetic. There's also a strong underlying message of the American Way being superior, especially to "ragheads from central Asia". Ringo has written a modern equivalent of John Norman's Gor Books. There is even a reference in the book. I enjoyed reading it and, like the first, it's a real page turner. It won't win any literary awards, but that is hardly the objective. Ringo knows exactly which buttons to press with the average male. Sometimes it borders on the insultingly blatant, but that's ok.

John Ringo - Choosers of the Slain

In the third book, things really start to heat up. Ringo takes us on a tour of the white slavery movement in Eastern Europe as a senator "hires" Mike and his Mountain Tigers retainers to find a girl caught up in prostitution and slavery. The subject matter is quite awful but such is reality.

Ringo is really hitting his stride here with great action scenes and development of the characters. This book also inserts some leverage against various officials. Useful in future installments. As with the earlier books, I couldn't put it down. 20071116

John Ringo - Unto the Breach

Books four has Mike and the Mountain Tigers has them recovering a WMD from nearby Chechnya.

This is peraps my favorite so far. It starts a bit slow, but the last 150 pages or so are basically one long battle with more excitement and fast moving twists than you can shake a Keldara axe at. At the end, some secrets are revealed. And Mike is broken psychologically. Very nice. 20071120

John Ringo - A Deeper Blue

Book 5 sees the usual gang take on smugglers and terrorists trying to bring off a nerve gas attack in Florida. But there's a twist. Events in Unto the Breach have left Mike in deep depression. As he works on that, he isn't afraid to step on toes in order to get things done.

This one is quite a ride, and the familiarity of the territory (the Keys, mainland Florida and the Bahamas) makes it all flow smoothly. The culture shock on both sides between "by the book" US law officialdowm and "get it done" Keldara is played for lots of laughs. Reading between the lines, though, is an astute critique of current US anti terrorism efforts and the debate surrounding them. 20071123

John Ringo - Into the Looking Glass

An experiment gone wrong opens a gate to another planet. Pretty soon more gates start to open. Mayhem ensues as evil demonspawn aliens pour through some of the gates and try to colonize by exterminating those pesky humans. Hot shot physicist, renaissance man and generally cool guy Bill Weaver teams up with some seals to figure things out and contain the threat.

As can be expected with Ringo, there's a lot of action, all of it good and exciting. However, the books does get a bit bogged down in the physics of it all. The writer has painted himself into a corner here. The gates and their function are pretty pivotal to the story, but the explanations required for that angle are sometimes yawn inducing, getting in the way of the action. Note that quantum physics actually interests me but that's not why Iread the book. Still, if you enjoy Ringo, don't let that stand in your way. Plenty of kick-ass action as well as a not so hidden ringing endorsement for Bush and his administration. 20070417.

John Ringo & Travis S. Taylor - Vorpal Blade

The sequel to "Through the Looking Glass" takes up the story over ten years later. The US is launching its first startship, based on a nuclear submarine and and alien propulsion system. The novel follows the mission. It is an escalation of encounters from very mild to extremely deadly, with quantum physics sprinkled throughout.

Unlike "Through the Looking Glass", which I was somewhat disappointed with, I thoroughly enjoyed "Vorpal Blade". It is a fun romp with the right doses of humor and action. The characters are engaging, fun, well-written. You really get a sense of being with them on the starship. Fun! 20091104

John Ringo & Travis S. Taylor - Manxome Foe

During the second mission of the A.S.S. Vorpal Blade, the crew is tasked with a long duration mission in order to investigate what happened to a far-flung research outpost with which contact has been lost. Big space battles with the Dreen ensue, as well as an encounter with an ally.

Just as in "Vorpal Blade", the tone is light hearted, with a lot of dry humor pervading the text. No plot development is too hyperbolic for the authors, and therein, in my opinion, lies the charm of the series. It is almost a guilty pleasure. While the physics and logic are unassailable, the attitude is pure sass. 20091222

John Ringo & Travis S. Taylor - Claws that Catch

The third mission of the Vorpal Blade, now actually Vorpal Blade Two, has the crew looking for an ancient artifact. Far from stagnating, the plot thickens as a new commanding officer and various crew members enter the mix. The just don't "get" the Blade and its odd denizens. The ensuing conflicts and madcap hijinks are central to character development.

After finishing this one, I find myself wanting more. As mentioned in the Manxome Foe review, these books are just plain fun. The characters are likeable, the humor is dry and the pages just want to be turned. 20091222 

John Ringo & Tom Kratman - Watch on the Rhine

This book is part of Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata universe. It deals with the defense of Germany. In what initially seems like a Faustian bargain, the Germans rejuvenate a whole lot of old SS soldiers to form the cadre for their elite defense forces. They even resurrect the SS unit names and eventually the infamous double flash insignia. Much thoughtprovoking discussion ensues. The authors treat the subject matter in an adult manner. It's a tricky subject, but they pull it off.

The action contained is great. The combat scenes are, as expected, intense and well written. The characters, major and minor, are all well fleshed out. The flashbacks into the past of various SS officers, especially Brasche, are excellent and used well throughout as a backdrop to the main action.

If you like the other books in the series, you will like this one. But it stands very well on its own. No doubt many would hate this book for the hated symbols it portrays and the notion of reawakening a buried evil. But as discussed in the text, symbols are not absolute. I urge readers to approach the text with open minds. 20070627

John Ringo and Julie Cochrane - Cally's War

This book is part of Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata universe. Set about fifty years after the Posleen War, its main character is Cally O'Neal, daughter of Mike O'Neal. Her father believes her dead, but in fact she is an assasin and intelligence operative for a secret organization known as the Bane Sidhe. The purpose of the organization is to resist the autocratic rule of the Darhel. But that's just the backstory. This novel deals with how Cally has to assasinate a counterintelligence officer. And falls in love with a rival agent. It's complicated.

There is much to like about this book. Cally herself is deeply flawed mentally. She wears different identities like personae, she is probably over 70, but with rejuvenation the body is still fine, and still lives like a twenty year old. The bad parts are the very long introduction. Before we get to the main action, half the book is spent on what is basically a tangent. While it neatly sets up Cally's character and backstory, I still felt that it could have been trimmed. Especially since the conclusion feels hurried, with some characters barely getting a personality before playing important parts.

If you have read the other books in the series, you may like this one. But note that there are no Posleen to fight and it's not really about combat. 20070812

John Ringo & Michael Z. Williamson - The Hero

This story is set about a thousand years after the events chronicles in the "Legacy of the Aldenata" series. A Darhel, known for being the puppetmasters of humanity a millenium ago, and also for being incapable of killing, is assigned to a Deep Reconnaissance Commando team due to his psychic ability to sense living beings. The rest of the team is made up of humans. They are sent on a scouting missions to a planet held by the "Blobs", a mysterious enemy. While there, they find an Aldenata artifact, and the team sniper betrays the team, killing almost all of them in a bid to secure the valuable artifact for itself. The Darhel now has to evade the sniper and eliminate him as a threat, despite his racial inability kill.

This book is a very tight knit drama of a few individuals. The psychological aspects are very interesting, delving into motivations and character. It wasn't too engaging, however. The first half is basically set up for the chase in the second half, and the chase, though interesting, felt a bit long by the end. If you are interested in special forces and sniper operations, it is an all right read, but despite its exposition on Darhel physiology and psychology, it does not add very much to the Legacy of the Aldenata universe. 20081016

John Ringo - Princess of Wands

An ordinary Southern homemaker, Barbara Everette has three kids and a full life. She is the epitome of the churchgoing soccer mom, with the only slight quirk her prowess at martial arts. But on a weekend off, she ends up foiling the attempt of a demon to take over a village in the Louisiana bayou. And then things get even weirder as she is recruited into a super secret organization that battles supernatural beings as they manifest on Earth.

Once again Ringo manages to write a page turner. The prose and action are excellent as usual, and peppered with the author's dry humor. Just like Ghost, the novel is episodic, although the characters could hardly be more different. Barb is a very unusual SciFi/Fantasy heroine, being a deeply religious woman who deems the man (even her useless one) master of the household. It is interesting to see how Ringo makes this trait her very strength in her battles against the forces of darkness. There is a also quite a bit of fanservice, as Ringo drops Barb in a typical SciFi convention replete with the requisite authors, geeks and role players. Making the villain a thinly disguised David Drake who hates and envies a thinly disguised Robert Jordan is a nice touch. Unfortunately the convention is also the novel's weakness. Too many characters are introduced at the event, and the plot does not flow very well at this point.

While it is not the best Ringo plot wise, the quality of the writing is high as usual. Quite entertaining. 20071012
 

John Ringo & Travis S. Taylor - Von Neumann's War

In the beginning of this book, various professional and amateur astronomers notice that Mars is changing color. It is becoming slowly less red and more grey. Eventually, the figure out that it is being consumed by Von Neumann machines. For those who aren't familiar, these are machines capable of replicating themselves. A team of Very Smart People in Huntsville, Alabama ends up developing the concepts for and leading the defense. If the location sounds familiar, it is the site of the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Redstone Arsenal, some of the premier rocket design locations in the United States. The book starts fast, and gets faster, as reconnaissance is sent to find out more about the Von Neumann "probes" and they eventually attack Earth. The "motivation" of the probes is interesting. They only kill as a side effect. Mostly they just grab anything metal, including dental braces, cars, metal eyelets out of shoes, dog tags and rebar out of buildings, to make more of themselves. The story focuses on the Very Smart People, and they are quite a fun bunch of rocket scientists.

This is what happens when you combine Ringo, known for fast moving prose and a twisted sense of humor, with Taylor, who can write one heck of a fast moving plot. Hold on tight! Just like in his other works, Taylor's story creeps up on you. It starts very small and by the end the fate of the world is at stake and the action scenes crowd each other out on the page. The initial alien attack conveniently lands near Paris. I say conveniently because the US can be the Last Citadel. I suspect it also gives our authors a chance to destroy France. ;) This book is great fun, the science is fascinating and the main characters sound like a group of people I'd like to have a beer with. 20081020

 

 

Kim Stanley Robinson - The Gold Coast

One of three novels circling around the future of Orange County, California. The Wild Shore is somewhat postapocalyptic, Pacific Rim is Utopic, and The Gold Coast is weirdly dystopic, if you could call a simple continuation of today's trends that. I have only read this particular volume and it falied to grab at me. Nothing special.

Kim Stanley Robinson - The Mars Trilogy

Consisting of Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars, the series is spectacularly wide ranging and epic. It is very well written and researched and pretty enjoyable. My big gripe is that Robinson tries to do everything. In other words he wants to explore so many things that the main push of the story gets lost in the rush. Or maybe this is less of a story and more of a chronicle. Or something. Anyway I'm happy I read it but I would not slog through it again.

Kim Stanley Robinson - Antarctica

Kim Stanley Robinson reprises his Mars Trilogy in a way. Here we again have a story about grass roots insurrection, freedom and societal evolution. But no story, or did I miss it again. This was fun since I am interested in Antarctica, but pretty forgettable otherwise.

Patrick Robinson - Nimitz Class

Rather good technothriller about a Nimitz class carrier getting destroyed. Patrick Robinson's debut. He tries to be Clancy, but like so many wannabees, he fails when he moves out of the military and into the political and administrative arenas. Cool submarine stuff though.

Patrick Robinson - Seawolf

Competent thriller about a US nuclear attack sub that falls into Chinese hands. Not really much to write home about. Read some Clancy instead.

Barnaby Rogerson - The Prophet Muhammad

A biography of Muhammad. I should qualify that: A rather short and basic biography of Muhammad. Since I knew next to nothing of the man or the birth of Islam, this served as a good primer. Rogerson has been a guide in the Middle East for over two decades, and it shows in his writing. Lots of details of places, just like a guided tour. However, it is not terribly engaging reading once you get past the places to descriptions of people and events. There is also the issue of mystical revelation. Rogerson treats this rather well, without judgement. He simply describes Muhammad as having visions. He focuses more on Muhammad's reactions to the visions that about the visions themselves.

If you're looking to start a serious study of Islam and/or Muhammad, this is a decent starting point. If you simply want to learn a little bit about Islam and/or Muhammad in a short reading, you could read this and stop. As I said, it is rather short. 20060903

J.K. Rowling - The Harry Potter series

Delightful fantasy. Although aimed at a younger audience, it works very well for adults. Contrary to what some people think, the contents are quite deep. Rowling is a masterful author, with a beautiful style and characterisation second to none. I have read the first five:

• Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US edition)

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The themes developed in the book go much deeper than the story, especially the (mostly peaceful) conflict between "Muggles (normal people) and those who practice magic. It is also interesting to see how Harry Potter grows up book by book.

As the series progresses, it becomes darker and darker. The dark lord Voldemort, and his ties to Harry Potter's past, take on ever greater importance. While Harry's schooling is always at the center of the story, it is clear that great events are afoot in the magic world. The paralells to today's distrustful world are readily apparent.