Live Free or Die: Troy Rising, Book One

I vacillated between entertained/engaged, mildly amused, bored, and confused.

There are definitely a lot of redeeming qualities here. Humans harness the power of the sun to create massive death lasers, and wipe out some oppressive aliens. Good Stuff.

However, that only described the final 75-100 pages. The rest of the time you watch the main character scheme and build up earth's infrastructure to give us the ability to do the aforementioned badassery. To be honest, it was kind of fascinating to see the obstacles and challenges in catching up to star-faring races. The bureaucrats and the media personalities are often ludicrously stupid and obstinate (I wonder if Ringo has any opinions there).

As fun as all of this was, it was not on par with what I wanted out of the book. (namely alien death-by-laser)

One other major problem that stuck out to me was that certain parts of the plot read like a white-supremacist's wet dream. (the writing doesn't really seem racist but it's still weird) Let me explain: Understandably, Earth takes a beating in the beginning, but for some reason, wiping out major cities isn't enough for the aliens. They also craft a disease that kills off people without the genomes for... [drum roll please] ... blonde hair. The disease then alters the DNA of all blonde females to make them much more orgasmic, and makes them go into heat, monthly. Uhhh... ok. I'll admit that there is SOME justification from the alien perspective... but still.

At least the main character admits it's not very cool that he thinks the world is better-off after most of Africa and the Middle-East get wiped out. Right?

This is actually solid and creative sci-fi. A few of the reviews I read accuse the book and the author of racism but I think this is going way too far. The story is basically about Republican physicists saving the world. Even as someone who is very politically progressive I enjoyed it immensely. The conservative stuff is not hidden, the author just throws it right out there and in that way it's almost funny. The good guys are heads of corporations who are trying to save humanity despite government interference/regulation. There's a bunch of little digs in the vein of "if we can just keep the damned government off our backs" and even a slam on space-environmentalists ("we've trashed our own planet enough...")

That said I didn't find any of this overbearing and in reality the author is probably correct that first contact with alien species would not dry up all the hundred year old political squabbles on earth.

Alot of this book is concerned with the size/scope/power requirements of spacefaring. I bring that up to say that despite the levity of the dialogue it's actually pretty hard core sci-fi. Those hoping for laser battles or light-saber fights will be disappointed by this novel. The major battle scene reads almost like a physics textbook.

Overall this is a fun read. The narrator is excellent, he does some voice modulation for different characters but does not go to the ridiculous lengths to which some are tempted.

First, the book was a great listen. The characters were interesting, the SF was hard and fast, the story was well told. That said, the author's conservative views were a major part of the story, but not an overwhelming part. What got me was his view that after a devastating act on the ENTIRE planet, their wouldn't be a push to unite the planet under some common response.

He does a decent job of chronicling the bickering that might take place with different cultures, economies, and the historic grievances that run deep that would prevent a common response, but it just seems implausible. Then, again, maybe I'm one of the do-gooder liberals he bashes so often in the book. :)

All that said, it's a good listen and I'm on to the next installment.

If you enjoy john ringo then you will absolutely love this book. Memorable characters, great science, solid story and clear writing, it's all there, along with his political views.
Point is, there is nothing in this book that will be surprising to any Ringo fan. If your a new fan of a politically right bent, you'll love this book.
If you're not, or you haven't been a fan of ringo in the first place, then, like the person who gave the book a 1 star, just avoid this book. It's that simple.
To the Ringo fans out there, Rest Assured, he'd done it again.

I enjoyed the writing, concepts, and narration of the book. That being said, I know that John Ringo is a guest commentator on Fox News, but the constant political bashing does get a bit old after a while. I get it, you don't like liberals but geez... In any case, I did enjoy the book enough to get the following two books :-)

I like this book.

I have given a 5 star rating because it does exactly what it promised in the first few minutes: to discuss politics, war and relationships.

I will note that I am sucker for the Heinlein homage that seeps through Ringo's writing in this novel. If you like Robert Heinlein's classic characters Lazarus Long or Jubal Hershaw, you will like Ringo's Tyler Vernon. However, the converse sentiment also holds true, you will likely see in Tyler Vernon the same audacious (maybe even arrogant) attitudes found in Heinlein's writing which alleges that bureaucrats are the single biggest danger to humanity (even more than the dreaded "liberals").

I will note that for the record, the author takes creative liberties with many (read most) of the details regarding space exploration, political/economic philosophies and the suffering that comes with Alien Domination. While I accept that current literary theory holds that authors only tell the stories they themselves believe and as such Ringo must see himself as Tyler Vernon, I will note that the same criticism has been labeled at Heinlein. I would say that if all you hear or read in the character of Tyler Vernon is a fictional caricature of the ideal "rugged individual," you have only seen one dimension of Tyler Vernon.

As a work of Science Fiction, this is not a book that reads like a technical manual nor is it filled with in-depth or vivid descriptions of milieu, environment and setting. Yet careful listening to the words will demonstrate that the relative unimportance of details is a central theme in the life of Tyler Vernon.

At the same time, it must be noted that Ringo is not Tom Clancy. I say this to note that Ringo does not bury you in minute details simply to prove the expertise of his characters or his own depth of knowledge and extensive research. Ringo implicitly requests his readers/listeners accept his authorial fiat on the subject of details in order to tell us a new twist on an old story.

John Ringo delivers again with a sweeping epic of the near future. He draws on some old sci-fi themes from classic stories of the past, throws in a Howard Hughes-like character, and gives us another great story. Ringo's conservative political views tend to come out in his writing, but are a minor distraction from an otherwise great story. This audio book was well-narrated with good characterization. I am looking forward to Ringo's sequel in what I understand will be a triology. I recommend this one.

This book kicks off the Troy Rising series with the standard Sci-Fi scenario of mankind's first contact with aliens. As is often the case, things don't go well for Earth as we are outclassed both technologoically and militarily when the Horvath come to claim our resources. Earth's governments have no recourse but to comply to the demands and Earth becomes a subservient planet.

Enter Tyler Vernon into the story and things start to change. Tyler Vernon not only steps up to save Earth but he also saves this entire series of books. He is an interesting, opinionated character that isn't willing to allow Earth to remain slaves to the Horvath. Any time the book (and series) focuses on Tyler Vernon and his plans it flies by and is a joy to listen to.

There are, however, lulls in each of the 3 books in the series so far where Ringo spends way too much time on boring subjects. In the first book it is the difficulties of mining in space with a "laser", in book 2 it is ship maintenance and welding in space, and in book 3 it is the culture clash faced by the Latin American military in space. Each of these are important to the overall story, but could have been addressed in far fewer pages. The bloat fills the gaps between the interesting parts of the story related to Tyler Vernon and the fight for humanity's freedom.

Mark Boyett does a decent job with the material, although he is forced to repeat "Tyler said" thousands of times due to the way the book is written. He is also a bit dry in his overall reading.

If you are willing to take the good with the bad then give the Troy Rising Series a shot. It is a 5 star story arc stuffed with boring periods that drag it down to 3 stars.

I found this story to be very entertaining especially the first half of the book. The protagonist is interesting and the author places him in some very well designed scenarios. One thing I had to muscle through was the dogmatic conservatism in the story especially towards the end of story. I have read stories that had the opposing bias before so I suppose this isn't unfair. However at times it breaks of the pace of what is otherwise and exciting story with great procedural elements. No room is left for moderates everyone is conservative or a blooming idiot so if you can't stomach that move onto other SF.

Great book. Great narrator. The story was detailed and engaging with out going overboard with endless sci-fi technicalities that can give you a headache. The author does a good job of creating just enough levity to make the main character serious but amusing. Looking forward to the sequels.