Citadel

Troy Rising, Book Two

By: John Ringo

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Of all the hosts of Eurotas, the Troias were the most fell. For they were born of Winter.

Between the Solar Array Pumped Laser and Troy, the two-trillion-ton nickel-iron battlestation created by eccentric billionaire Tyler Vernon, Earth has managed to recapture the Sol system from their Horvath conquerors and has begun entering the galactic millieu. But when the Rangora Empire rapidly crushes humanity's only ally, it becomes clear the war is just beginning.

At the heart of nickel, iron, and starlight are the people, Marines, Navy, and civilians who make Troy a living, breathing, engine of war. Survivors of apocalypse, they know the cost of failure. If this Troy falls, no one will be left to write the epic.

Citadel continues the saga begun in Live Free or Die, following the paths of several characters during the first years of The Spiral Arm Wars, culminating in the First Battle of E Eridani.

Listen to the first book, Live Free or Die.

©2011 John Ringo (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Boyett's] voice is clear, and he affects slightly different voices to differentiate between the various characters. The overall result is effective, and listeners will be drawn in." ( AudioFile)

great book

I liked this book. it was sort of slow in the beginning but the ending was worth it. i can't wait for the next book.

The author really hits his stride on this one

If we are lucky, from time to time the juices flow and creative inspiration makes it a very good day ( or days ).
Rarely do our efforts really bloom into fulness. When a reader gets a story like this one, one that grabs him or her - things like sleep are forgotten.
I have paused in my fifth ride through this story to encourage all of you to GET THIS SERIES!!
As a rule I must wait quite a few years before re-reading a favorite story ( I literally have well more than a thousand titles in my SF collection ( hell, there are more than a hundred on my phone ) ). This book is an exception to this rule. I first read this series in February of 2016. I got the Audible narration last year - its terrific!
There is no time to waste!

GREAT SERIES

Where does Citadel rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

GOOD BOOK I DON'T RANK BOOKS OTHER THAN TO SAY IT'S GOOD OR GREAT

What other book might you compare Citadel to and why?

IT'S A SERIES READ ALL THREE BOOKS

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES BUT IT'S TO LONG FOUR ONE SITTING

Any additional comments?

I HOPE THE AUTHOR FINNISHES THE SERIES

I like the characters and the big ideas

Tyler, Dana, Butch and others personalize the big ideas by being likable and normal. Unfortunately, there is no human plot. This is a story about really big, really cool engineering.

I enjoyed the first two books and I'm going to buy the third.

I just wish there was more driving the story than Gantt charts.

Amazing! This is my favorite series

This is one of those rare times when a fantastic story and excellent voice acting combine to create something special. I rarely listen to the same book more than once and I have listened to this trilogy at least 10 times. Please please release book 4 soon

my favorite book series.

third time listening to the series, always a pick me up. Love the characters and generally the plot..

My Favorite Book in the Trilogy

In Citadel, Ringo leaves Tyler Vernon behind to follow two new people (a military pilot and an orbital miner working for Vernon’s company) through the last part of the first book and on to new problems in the second book. The Horvath and their allies still want the earth back and are willing to bomb humanity into extinction to get it.

Ringo plays a lot with the clash of cultures as humans attempt to get themselves united for the ongoing war while also trying to understand the alien races it is struggling against. The result is a fascinating blend of action and intrigue. One of the best parts of the book is from the POV of a group of alien military planners who are trying to understand what humans are capable of as they plot to conquer our system. So even while the humans are winning, we can see worse problems on the horizon.

A rousing space opera

Good narration.
Solid story.
Overall really solid listen, very much enjoyed it and look forward to listening to the next one.

Fun story, juuuust a bit US-centric

Live Free or Die, and Citadel, are both super-fun books. Humor, testosterone, space battles, humans kicking alien butt when we should be getting stomped by their superior technology...Fun. Love the narrator's voice - he doesn't make the women sound whiny. Couple of minor things that moved it to 4 stars: very US-centric, to the point of being rude about it - something you can sort of expect from this author, so you know what you're getting. Also, some of the technically challenging solutions they needed in the story to overcome the aliens were glossed over, you just had to accept that they figured it out - where I think the science doesn't exist yet to make them happen, so the author just used the old "the scene goes dark, and when lights come back, the characters are in their places" trick. However, neither of these detractions make the book bad, and I look forward to future stories from Ringo.

A foothold in space

For those of you that have read "Live Free or Die", note that this book seams to start a little before the end of that first book in order to develop some new characters’.

After getting into space in the first book, this one shows the expansion of humanity into space and the training up of the space industry, expanding on Tyler's previous work.

While the book does tend to indicate that you have to be an American to do anything worthwhile, it also pokes a bit of fun at the fact that there is often so much political red tape that it might be used to tie the moon to earth.