Live Free or Die

Troy Rising, Book One

By: John Ringo

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Beginning a New Series by a New York Times Best-Selling Author.Will the People of Earth Bow Down toAlien Overlords—or Will They Live Free or Die?

First Contact Was Friendly

When aliens trundled a gate to other worlds into the solar system, the world reacted with awe, hope and fear. But the first aliens to come through, the Glatun, were peaceful traders and the world breathed a sigh of relief.

Who Controls the Orbitals, Controls the World

When the Horvath came through, they announced their ownership by dropping rocks on three cities and gutting them. Since then, they've held Terra as their own personal fiefdom. With their control of the orbitals, there's no way to win and earth's governments have accepted the status quo.

Live Free or Die

To free the world from the grip of the Horvath is going to take an unlikely hero. A hero unwilling to back down to alien or human governments, unwilling to live in slavery and with enough hubris, if not stature, to think he can win. Fortunately, there's Tyler Vernon. And he has bigger plans than just getting rid of the Horvath.

Troy Rising is a book in three parts—Live Free or Die being the first part—detailing the freeing of earth from alien conquerors, the first steps into space using off-world technologies and the creation of Troy, a thousand trillion ton battlestation designed to secure the solar system.

©2010 John Ringo (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

LIVE FREE OR DIE

great book all the way through. cant wait for the next book. need more books like this instead of the wimpy man books that are being added to the site. finally a good choice.

Outstanding past the needed but syrupy bkstory

Don’t be fooled in to thinking this book is a hick story with moonshine and syrup. If you stop at the beginning you will miss an incredible trip with good science and keen insight in to our political nature. Once you get past the initial back story the book picks up the pace and does not stop until the ride is over.

Wow! A real ear bender.

What did you love best about Live Free or Die?

The hero could do anything...made money with everything...solved all problems. I think he took every single sci-fi event anyone ever heard of and used it in a way I could believe just might happen. He created a "Death Star" for Pete's sake.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tyler Vernon. See above.

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

He was able to differentiate all the characters. The Brits sounded like Brits...for the most part. I never got tired of listening.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was moved to tears when it was over. I wanted to keep on, keeping on.

Any additional comments?

Good book. I just got the second book of the series so I bet I'll be awake and listening all night.

GREAT PERFORMANCE

If you could sum up Live Free or Die in three words, what would they be?

Quite the ride.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tyler Vernon

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

It was all very good

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Tyler figured out Maple Syrup was a bit hit with the aliens

Any additional comments?

I wasn't much on Ringo's other stories but this one is good.

great book

one of my favorite authors, he writes great military SF as well as great fantasy

The title says it all

This book lives up to its title and provides readers of military SciFi with a country boy/American centric approach to the genre. Having said that the story is well crafted and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

A likeable hero

Where does Live Free or Die rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would put this book somewhere in the top 75 percentile for entertainment purposes. It hooked you in pretty fast and keeps up the interest till the end

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It was obviously setup to be a series from the very beginning and left off in a satisfying spot. This book stands on its own but I look forward to the next chapter in the story.

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

Great reader, the story had a theatrical feel and Mr. Boyett brought all the characters to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The first half hour was a great hook and I loved the first contact scenario..

Any additional comments?

Well worth a credit

Fanboy saves the day! (W/capitalism! & physics!)

I really enjoyed this story!

But... I wish there were a few more POVs. The protag is a great character, but he comes up with far too many solutions to the problems in the story. He's not *quite* a Mary Sue, but... I'd have had an easier time suspending my disbelief if he'd had more help.

John Ringo is long winded

Book was on sale. It is interesting but it will put you to sleep at several point of the book.

Ayn Rand meets Alien Invasion Sci-fi

Would you listen to Live Free or Die again? Why?

Ringo's Ayn Rand-conservative take is pretty funny actually, and sort of interesting, though it does get annoying as well. Still, a good tale overall, especially the beginning with the colorful aliens, the syrup, and all of that. Great reading of this, btw. Should have had more military action--I think that's a big flaw. Ringo whips through the action way too fast, focusing more on way too much ranting and geological/physics/manufacturing detail. Everything you anted to know about harvesting asteroids. Thanks for the lecture on all that, John. LOL