Ed

Not that I disliked the "weird aliens" introduced in the first book, but this humans-only followup was a nice break.

I've only heard these first two books, so I don't want to rush to judgment. The aliens in book one seem so alien it's a little difficult to relate. In this book, we have humans with accessible human motivations. The setting is good sci-fi, the main characters evolve, excellent second book in the series. Definitely enough for me to get book three.

I liked John Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata. In that series, we saw the author's conservative views but they were part of the story. In this book the same views are preachy and shallow. The book wants to be a young republican's fantasy: Blowing stuff up, speeches on the virtues of conservatism, and blondes in heat (yes, that's correct, blondes in heat.)

While these older books in the saga aren't necessary to understand the newer books which feature Miles, they do add a lot of depth. It's great to understand the background and motivations of the characters that take secondary roles in the later books.

I'm enjoying this very much. I think the method is sound, and I'm learning.

There are a couple of issues specific for American listeners. The Spanish is pronounced in a way that is uncommon in the Americas. To those of us accustomed to hearing Spanish spoken by Central/South Americans, it sounds affected.

Even the English part can be a challenge. One of the "memory hooks" - for dos (two) was "it sounds like doss, to sleep". This had me totally confused and I looked it up. Apparently it's a British word.

Regardless, I think this is well worth the cost.