Into the Looking Glass

Looking Glass Series, Book 1

By: John Ringo

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Formerly of the 82nd Airborne Division, New York Times best-selling author John Ringo brings unmatched authenticity to his military science fiction.

When asubatomic physics experiment causes a massive explosion, interdimensional gateways open in Florida - and aliens pour out. Some intend to bring Earth to its knees. Others seem willing to help, but will annihilate the planet if Navy SEAL Command Master Chief Robert Miller can't stop the menace from spreading.

©2005 John Ringo (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"This thoroughly enjoyable ride should appeal to techno-thriller fans as well as to military SF buffs." ( Publishers Weekly)

destined to be a classic!

love this book by John Ringo, so much so I have listened to over fifteen times in the years since I've owned it the story is funny riviting an keeps you hooked from the start especially if you live in central Florida

Good plot twists

Consistently interesting. Great science, combined with good action and good fiction. Ringo says that there were a few flaws in the physics for security reasons. Can you find them?

looking glass

A very good rendition. I read the book, but it seems like I overlooked part of it. Listening brings life to the story and more depth. I love the humor in it.

Physics accident starts an invasion

John Ringo’s Into the Looking Glass is the first installment of a sci-fi military series. An accident during a physics experiment creates a type of portal or wormhole that allows a hostile alien species to begin attacking Earth. At the same time, other portals begin opening around the planet. While many open onto deserted planets, others allow contact with various alien species. A physicist brought in by the government must figure all this out.

Ringo offers a fast-paced action thriller with several interesting twists. Humanity always seems to be playing catch-up. The military action scenes are quite credible and numerous with a mixture of professional soldiers and National guard units, along with novel defense tech.

The narration is solid with good character distinction. Pacing is on the brisk side.

Great space opera, but a warning ...

The first thing to say about this book is that it is great. John Ringo, as usual, does a terrific job in creating a story that has a good plot, reasonable and likable characters, a sense of humor and reasonable closure. There is some hard science and the terminology may be too much for some, but I found it reasonable in light of the things that were being done at the time. The narration is very, very good and I found no technical flaws with the production. All in all a great and enjoyable read. If the second book in the series was also by John Ringo I would have already bought it.

But that is the problem. Subsequent books in the series are listed as being by John Ringo and Travis Taylor. I assume this means that John Ringo has created the characters and, perhaps, the plot and given it to someone else (in this case Travis Taylor) to do the writing. I have not heard this book so perhaps I am not being fair, but I assume this is the reason for the drop in ratings for the second book. John Ringo's style is distinctive and he writes in a way I find enormously entertaining, but having someone else write subsequent books means that I generally plan to only read the first book in such a series.

John Ringo is Awesome

Ganser brings this book to life. This is my second time through this series, and its just as good now as the first time. John Ringo has one hell of an imagination, and is great at making science fiction FUN!

a Starship Troopers conservative

An early work by John Ringo. Interesting plot with clumsy writing, written in the early 2000s. fans of descriptive firefights will be happy.

Security people will be unhappy. What kind of security system is expected to hold up when any person can call up and say "I'm the secretary of defense so let that guy into the super secret laboratory" ?

Have to wonder if Ringo pulled up before diving off the cliff with the rest of the conservatives.

Not my cup of tea

This feels like a story plucked from the middle of another story. It just didn’t seem to flow.

A fun science lesson

Solid traditional hard scifi. A good story that doesnt go directly in the expected frames. Physics are explained Creighton style and with flair. While there is a bunch of exposition it is nicely sprinkled among the plot elements.

Performance is excellent. While I listened at 1.2 that was not because of a slow narration. Vocal elements are distinct and create individual characters.

Other than a little slowdown in the middle...

If you're looking for a military science fiction book - that's what you'll find in this book. It's not a terrifically written novel, by any means, and there's a lot of the author's political opinions interspersed throughout, but there is also a lot of aliens getting blown up, humans getting blown up, and saving of world(s) being done.

It does fall into a bit of a slump/slowdown near the middle where Ringo seems to be trying to make too many scientific/political points and lost track of the fact that he was writing a military sci-fi, not a treatise on religious belief or Middle Eastern politics. The book does pick up again after this, but there is a lot of anti-Middle East "commentary" from about 1/3 of the way in to the very end of the book (and it's very noticeable in the final chapter and epilogue). If you don't agree with his politics, this section might even border on being offensive.

But if you can accept his political views, it's a strong, mostly action-packed, military sci-fi story with a plot that is wrapped up in the end. The narration is very good. I'll be reading the others in this series.

It's along the same lines as David Gunn's Death's Head series or Steakley's Armor if you're looking for read-alikes.