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Looking Glass #2
Vorpal Blade
The sequel to Into the Looking Glass . William Weaver, PhD. and SEAL Chief Adams are back and Bill got himself a ship! The former SSBN Nebraska has been converted, using mostly garage mechanics and baling wire, into a warp ship ready to go "out there." But as everyone knows, the people who really are going to bear the brunt are the poor Security guys, Force Recon Marines who are kept in the dark and fed manure all day. That is until they land on an alien planet, get partially wiped out and then load back up again. Ranging in topics from the best gun to kill armored space monsters to particle physics to cosmology to health and beauty tips, Vorpal Blade is a return to the "good old days" of SF when the science problems were intractable and the beasts were ugly. The monkeys are out in the space lanes and ready to rock. As soon as they get another roll of duct tape.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2007
About the author
John Ringo
112 books1,788 followersJohn Ringo is a prolific author who has written in a wide variety of genres. His early life included a great deal of travel. He visited 23 foreign countries, and attended fourteen different schools. After graduation Ringo enlisted in the US military for four years, after which he studied marine biology.
In 1999 he wrote and published his first novel "A Hymn Before Battle", which proved successful. Since 2000 Ringo has been a full time author.
He has written science fiction, military fiction, and fantasy.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
In 1999 he wrote and published his first novel "A Hymn Before Battle", which proved successful. Since 2000 Ringo has been a full time author.
He has written science fiction, military fiction, and fantasy.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
April 29, 2017
Mr. Ringo is quite the visionary. Generally, I find much Sci-Fi uninteresting to read, but not the case with John Ringo. One must read, "Into the Looking Glass," first in order to follow this trailblazer. 9 of 10 stars
January 13, 2023
Vorpal Blade is a little slower moving than Into the Looking Glass. It roughly divides into three sections. In the first, there is a lot of activity surrounding the launching of America’s first starship. This includes a lot of things that reminded me of W.E.B. Griffin’s nuts and bolts style of telling a military tale (not to the level of requisition forms, but how do you build a combat unit type of stuff). We see the crew and the combat troops on this first starship figuring out how life on a starship very far from any support by the U.S. is going to play out. This stuff was great the first three times I read this book, but it felt a little slow this last time.
The second section is what I think of as the Star Trek portion if landing parties had included powered armor and the Star Trek television audience could handle the redshirts being gruesomely eaten (and other things) by the alien fauna. It’s exciting and just plain old fun. The science is still there but it takes a backseat to the action portions of the story.
The final section involves a genuine first contact situation with a new alien civilization. By unforeseeable accident, the arrival of the Vorpal Blade and its crew triggers an apocalyptic crisis for the denizens of this world. I thought Ringo handled the first contact exceedingly well and he always kicks butt when it comes to combat situations. Even is you didn’t enjoy the first two sections (and they are quite enjoyable) this last portion makes the whole book worthwhile as the crew of the Vorpal Blade figures out how to fight a war in space. It also offers very strong possibilities for future novels.
The second section is what I think of as the Star Trek portion if landing parties had included powered armor and the Star Trek television audience could handle the redshirts being gruesomely eaten (and other things) by the alien fauna. It’s exciting and just plain old fun. The science is still there but it takes a backseat to the action portions of the story.
The final section involves a genuine first contact situation with a new alien civilization. By unforeseeable accident, the arrival of the Vorpal Blade and its crew triggers an apocalyptic crisis for the denizens of this world. I thought Ringo handled the first contact exceedingly well and he always kicks butt when it comes to combat situations. Even is you didn’t enjoy the first two sections (and they are quite enjoyable) this last portion makes the whole book worthwhile as the crew of the Vorpal Blade figures out how to fight a war in space. It also offers very strong possibilities for future novels.
November 16, 2010
I read Mr. Ringo's comments on the reviews of the book before this one (Looking Glass) that he found on Amazon. He was annoyed at the people who thought the book had "too much science", and he said so. Well, I will say that these books ought to satisfy those readers who pride themselves on liking "hard science fiction".
There was in this novel even more of the theorizing on physics and how the FTL (Faster Than Light) drive would work. We got discussions on gravity it's implications and we also got quite a bit of review on the fist book and a little "fill in" discussion on the metaphysical implications of "Tuffy" (an alien introduced in Looking Glass). Just in case you picked this one up without having read the first I guess. I personally found that this time, I was overloaded with the theoretical technical discussions and that (for me anyway) it did take away from the book. This novel (unlike Looking Glass) failed to establish an overall coherent feel to the story. It came across almost as a series of vignettes or episodes to introduce us to life on the first FTL star-ship. The troubles and dangers the crowding and handling of problems like temperature or replenishment of oxygen or H2O all finally lead up to a first contact story and then the "military" in the "military science fiction".
It's certainly not a bad book and if like me you finally get a little bored with the technical and theoretical aspects of the story you can skim ahead a bit (and there is a lot of that in this particular book). So, worth reading however in my opinion, not nearly as good as the first in the series. I have the next two handy (my daughter knew I liked Looking Glass and came in from "MaKay used book store" a few weeks ago with the rest of the series). I'd say between 3 and 4 stars here...but I'm going to rate it 3 and give myself more distance between it and Looking Glass and more leeway between this one (Vorpal Blade) and the next book, Manxome Foe.
There was in this novel even more of the theorizing on physics and how the FTL (Faster Than Light) drive would work. We got discussions on gravity it's implications and we also got quite a bit of review on the fist book and a little "fill in" discussion on the metaphysical implications of "Tuffy" (an alien introduced in Looking Glass). Just in case you picked this one up without having read the first I guess. I personally found that this time, I was overloaded with the theoretical technical discussions and that (for me anyway) it did take away from the book. This novel (unlike Looking Glass) failed to establish an overall coherent feel to the story. It came across almost as a series of vignettes or episodes to introduce us to life on the first FTL star-ship. The troubles and dangers the crowding and handling of problems like temperature or replenishment of oxygen or H2O all finally lead up to a first contact story and then the "military" in the "military science fiction".
It's certainly not a bad book and if like me you finally get a little bored with the technical and theoretical aspects of the story you can skim ahead a bit (and there is a lot of that in this particular book). So, worth reading however in my opinion, not nearly as good as the first in the series. I have the next two handy (my daughter knew I liked Looking Glass and came in from "MaKay used book store" a few weeks ago with the rest of the series). I'd say between 3 and 4 stars here...but I'm going to rate it 3 and give myself more distance between it and Looking Glass and more leeway between this one (Vorpal Blade) and the next book, Manxome Foe.
January 21, 2023
Vorpal Blade, second in the Looking Glass saga by John Ringo is another winner. It started off a little slow and the quickly picked up the pace and raced through the rest of the book. After the first contact story Into the Looking Glass, the US builds an interstellar spacecraft, converted out of a submarine, and goes looking for habitable planets ala Star Trek.
Lots of hard science and can do attitude mixed with Starship Troopers without the politics. A rolicking good time, though not for many of the characters. Looking forward to book 3,
Manxome Foe.
Lots of hard science and can do attitude mixed with Starship Troopers without the politics. A rolicking good time, though not for many of the characters. Looking forward to book 3,
Manxome Foe.
December 17, 2009
Ringo does Star Trek. Really.
While a sequal to Thru the Looking Glass, it is really a very different kind of story. Namely a spaceship - in this case a converted submarine - goes exploring the galaxy.
Unlike Star Trek the Captian and XO never leave the ship. Instead the Marines do the dirty work. We see navy life from the top and bottom.
While the body count is high eventually, I was shocked to be in a Ringo book and half way through with no one dying.
Very hard SF, and if you don't like physics mixed into your fiction it isn't for you.
Otherwise good book all around.
While a sequal to Thru the Looking Glass, it is really a very different kind of story. Namely a spaceship - in this case a converted submarine - goes exploring the galaxy.
Unlike Star Trek the Captian and XO never leave the ship. Instead the Marines do the dirty work. We see navy life from the top and bottom.
While the body count is high eventually, I was shocked to be in a Ringo book and half way through with no one dying.
Very hard SF, and if you don't like physics mixed into your fiction it isn't for you.
Otherwise good book all around.
March 13, 2022
I was reading a SciFi novel and a physics book took over. Still, lots of fun even if you're forced to learn things. :) The great shoot-em-up type of action you're always expecting from Ringo, with new worlds and ideas as always being populated. Good stuff.
October 23, 2022
Very good read. 2019 reread: Superb.
May 2, 2024
Here we go again!
Great military action, many of the secondary actors brutally slaughtered by the aliens in graphic combat (as usual), fighting with current black powder weapons
against superior alien lasers and plasma weapons. WIll the warriors of earth ever learn? Maybe in the next volume. My favorite author.
liens
Great military action, many of the secondary actors brutally slaughtered by the aliens in graphic combat (as usual), fighting with current black powder weapons
against superior alien lasers and plasma weapons. WIll the warriors of earth ever learn? Maybe in the next volume. My favorite author.
liens
January 18, 2017
The book Vorpal Blade is an excellent book one I recommend to those who like to read sci-fi. It is the 2nd book in a series of four. Just after their war with a hostile alien force the Dreen whom they met after a portal appears on earth and when they manage to destroy the portal that the Dreen come through, America with their alien allies, the Adar build a secret spaceship to go and explore space and find the Dreen or allies to fight against the Dreen before the Dreen find them. In this essay I will speak of the hilarity and intensity of this well written book. The book Vorpal Blade is a very well written piece of sci-fi literature using well descriptive words allowing the reader to visualize the characters, and the environments that the characters are placed in.
The hilarity of this book is quite pleasing being able to keep a good mood on even the worst days for the team or just in general. With the giant crab for instance “We are down twelve marines and you wanna mount that giant crab to our spaceship” the CO demanded “well yes actually all we need to do is pull it up into orbit a few days take it down to that ice planet and mount it” replied the XO. Or when Berg explains particle physics to the rest of his squad “what are tachyons I heard something about tachyons” shouted a marine “that's what you get when you let rednecks play with particle physics” replied Berg. The humor as shown in the examples of this book is of excellent quality. I will next talk of the intensity of the book.
The book can often be intense and the fights often short and leave you wanting more so you keep reading. For example when what looked like a dragon attacked them it killed half the squad before Berg was able to put it down all in the space of about two minutes according to the book. The fights are often short and leave you with a quickening of the pulse and still wanting more.
The book is excellent and the series is a must read, one that I enjoy thoroughly and hope others will too. The book has a comedic feel to it and provides a good measure of action all the while explaining how things work without making it to boring.
The hilarity of this book is quite pleasing being able to keep a good mood on even the worst days for the team or just in general. With the giant crab for instance “We are down twelve marines and you wanna mount that giant crab to our spaceship” the CO demanded “well yes actually all we need to do is pull it up into orbit a few days take it down to that ice planet and mount it” replied the XO. Or when Berg explains particle physics to the rest of his squad “what are tachyons I heard something about tachyons” shouted a marine “that's what you get when you let rednecks play with particle physics” replied Berg. The humor as shown in the examples of this book is of excellent quality. I will next talk of the intensity of the book.
The book can often be intense and the fights often short and leave you wanting more so you keep reading. For example when what looked like a dragon attacked them it killed half the squad before Berg was able to put it down all in the space of about two minutes according to the book. The fights are often short and leave you with a quickening of the pulse and still wanting more.
The book is excellent and the series is a must read, one that I enjoy thoroughly and hope others will too. The book has a comedic feel to it and provides a good measure of action all the while explaining how things work without making it to boring.
February 16, 2024
Star Trek aboard a converted nuclear submarine! What's not to love?! For the most part, this is how we should be doing space exploration. With plenty of explosions, sometimes-confusing hard science, and escalating life-threatening situations, the action rarely lets up. Oh, and it doesn't matter what color your uniform is, everyone's a Redshirt! The whole thing was just a lot of fun, even if I couldn't tell where the author fudged the science. And I did appreciate the Afterwards by both co-authors.
The introduction of pseudo-profanity is something I should give a thumbs-up, but it somehow wound up a little odd and slightly annoying. I usually find profanity to be grating and off-putting, yet cleaning it all up from a crew of sailors and Marines wouldn't ring true, regardless of the squeaky-cleanness of shows like "J.A.G." and "Stargate SG-1." I guess we're supposed to infer that we picked up some Adar vocabulary, and maybe Ringo wanted to keep the novel rated PG-13. He could have cut the occurrence of profanity in half or less, used the real stuff, and still stayed true to his military characters.
I was, however, a little confused about the necessity of Mimi's presence aboard the ship, a story element that Ringo fails to resolve.
The introduction of pseudo-profanity is something I should give a thumbs-up, but it somehow wound up a little odd and slightly annoying. I usually find profanity to be grating and off-putting, yet cleaning it all up from a crew of sailors and Marines wouldn't ring true, regardless of the squeaky-cleanness of shows like "J.A.G." and "Stargate SG-1." I guess we're supposed to infer that we picked up some Adar vocabulary, and maybe Ringo wanted to keep the novel rated PG-13. He could have cut the occurrence of profanity in half or less, used the real stuff, and still stayed true to his military characters.
I was, however, a little confused about the necessity of Mimi's presence aboard the ship, a story element that Ringo fails to resolve.
May 17, 2013
Amazing piece of science fiction. I say "fiction" in a rather loose sense because the amazing thing about this book is that it is almost entirely based on real theories and scientific discoveries known today. There is quite possibly enough information in this book to fill an entire textbook. This gives me an idea, perhaps science would be most effectively taught to public and high school students through science fiction novels like this one.
What's perhaps even more amazing, as this book shows, is that reality could be far stranger than fiction. There is "stuff" so mind-blowing in this book I've never seen or read anything like it in the genre, and theoretically, at least it could really happen. One last thing I will mention, while I recommend this book to anyone interested in a good sci-fi novel, I would recommend, perhaps more, the prequel to it "Into the Looking Glass". Read that one first, otherwise Vorpal Blade won't make any sense.
What's perhaps even more amazing, as this book shows, is that reality could be far stranger than fiction. There is "stuff" so mind-blowing in this book I've never seen or read anything like it in the genre, and theoretically, at least it could really happen. One last thing I will mention, while I recommend this book to anyone interested in a good sci-fi novel, I would recommend, perhaps more, the prequel to it "Into the Looking Glass". Read that one first, otherwise Vorpal Blade won't make any sense.
June 17, 2010
The first book was quite good, but I liked this one better. It still has Ringo's charm (which isn't surprising since he co-authored it), but it has more of the sciencey stuff I like in science fiction.
This time, Weaver, Miller, and Mimi are off exploring strange new worlds and new civilizations in the first human spaceship (actually a converted boomer (missile sub)). It posits some interesting concepts regarding space travel, warp travel, and the various effects that are exerted by stars and other celestial objects.
All-in-all, a very fun read. :)
This time, Weaver, Miller, and Mimi are off exploring strange new worlds and new civilizations in the first human spaceship (actually a converted boomer (missile sub)). It posits some interesting concepts regarding space travel, warp travel, and the various effects that are exerted by stars and other celestial objects.
All-in-all, a very fun read. :)
April 6, 2012
I liked the first book in the series (Through the Looking Glass) well enough to search this book out (and pay full price for it). It is another hugely enjoyable, hard science fiction book. Travis Taylor adds more science to this story, and a few in-jokes for those readers from Huntspatch. The story rattles along as merrily as ever on a Star Trek style series of adventures. I completely derailed my bellydance class this week talking physics (who comes up with those particle names, anyway?) and recommending this book, and will be back at the bookstore looking for the next one.
May 23, 2010
Very different from the previous book. meshing a bit of barely understood alien technology with a nuclear submarine, the US military makes a spaceship capable of interstellar flight.
Has some great technology and some great characters.
This really fired my imagination.
I liked that the important people stayed at their command post or science post jobs and sent the marines into harms way. seemed more rational than the traditional star trek model.
Has some great technology and some great characters.
This really fired my imagination.
I liked that the important people stayed at their command post or science post jobs and sent the marines into harms way. seemed more rational than the traditional star trek model.
August 15, 2020
It's Ringo
Pure awesomeness with a smattering of amazing. If Heinlein were alive he'd be reading Ringo. Enough action to satisfy my military background and enough science to satisfy my inner geek. Ringo, dude, we have definitely got to party one day!! There was this one time in Hollywood when...
Pure awesomeness with a smattering of amazing. If Heinlein were alive he'd be reading Ringo. Enough action to satisfy my military background and enough science to satisfy my inner geek. Ringo, dude, we have definitely got to party one day!! There was this one time in Hollywood when...
September 23, 2015
Horrible writing!! Made up profanity is more offensive than the real thing especially when it sounds so idiotic!!!
June 19, 2017
Imagine that the human race discovers faster than light travel -- not DEVELOPS,
DISCOVERS
-- and decides to convert an old ballistic missile submarine into a spaceship to visit/explore the neighborhood! Think: 15-year old who just got a learner's permit is handed the keys to a brand new Corvette -- what could possibly go wrong?
Vorpal Blade is combination military action and hard science fiction novel. A little slow at first. In fact, the first half is bogged down in character (over) development and lots (and I mean a lot) of military lingo -- military lingo containing expletives derived from the alien society befriended in the first book in the series. So much so that the banter begins to become irritating -- and why? To keep a PG rating? -- e.g, converting the alliterative saying to "… a maulk, shower, and shave …" is just grapping asinine!
Thankfully, the story, and action, finally begin to pick up as the adventure finally gets underway even with physics lingo also going a little overboard considering the obvious fictions abounding throughout the science.
Anyway, it's no Starship Troopers but the second half of the book brings the rating up from barely a two to a soft three stars. Maybe, with all the introductory bullshit out of the way the next installment will be more interesting.
Vorpal Blade is combination military action and hard science fiction novel. A little slow at first. In fact, the first half is bogged down in character (over) development and lots (and I mean a lot) of military lingo -- military lingo containing expletives derived from the alien society befriended in the first book in the series. So much so that the banter begins to become irritating -- and why? To keep a PG rating? -- e.g, converting the alliterative saying to "… a maulk, shower, and shave …" is just grapping asinine!
Thankfully, the story, and action, finally begin to pick up as the adventure finally gets underway even with physics lingo also going a little overboard considering the obvious fictions abounding throughout the science.
Anyway, it's no Starship Troopers but the second half of the book brings the rating up from barely a two to a soft three stars. Maybe, with all the introductory bullshit out of the way the next installment will be more interesting.
May 20, 2024
So you stepped through the looking glass and you came looking for more of the same as book one...
Well about that this is very much not like book 1, but that is ok because it stands on its own much more this way.
Much of the Buckaroo Banzai feel of the first book is gone with much less over the top story. That is not to say its not funny because this is funnier book than book 1. Only that the humor is more subtle while at the same time still clearly being written in a way to be a bit ridiculous. Book 2 does a much better job of keeping this balance than book one.
I also like the going into space and what does a the first human mission to the starts look like in this universe. Its both fun and realistic while at the same time having room to be silly when it wants too.
Overly I laughed more at this book than I would have ever expect and all in good ways. I think the reviews that get hung up on the fail swear words are highly overstated.
Go into the book knowing its not hard scifi, its bit silly, but also it wants to play fair in its own world.
Very much enjoyed this more than the first
Well about that this is very much not like book 1, but that is ok because it stands on its own much more this way.
Much of the Buckaroo Banzai feel of the first book is gone with much less over the top story. That is not to say its not funny because this is funnier book than book 1. Only that the humor is more subtle while at the same time still clearly being written in a way to be a bit ridiculous. Book 2 does a much better job of keeping this balance than book one.
I also like the going into space and what does a the first human mission to the starts look like in this universe. Its both fun and realistic while at the same time having room to be silly when it wants too.
Overly I laughed more at this book than I would have ever expect and all in good ways. I think the reviews that get hung up on the fail swear words are highly overstated.
Go into the book knowing its not hard scifi, its bit silly, but also it wants to play fair in its own world.
Very much enjoyed this more than the first
December 9, 2020
Tak a ďalšia časť zo série Zrcadlo je za mnou. Kniha bola o čosi slabšia ako jej predchodca, no napriek tomu ma pobavila a s chuťou som ju zhltol. Napriek tomu bola prvá polovica trochu nudná (alebo skôr zdlhavá a príliš odborná), obsahovala najmä vysvetľovanie rôznych fyzikalných javov, s ktorými sa hrdinovia počas letu vo vesmíre stretli. Kľudne by som knihu odporučil ako učebnicu fyziky pre študentov prírodovedeckej fakulty :D No po tom, ako sa "prehryziete" odbornou prvou polovicou knihy, čaká na vás nadupaná akcia, ktorá nepoľavuje a stupňuje sa až do poslednej stránky knihy. Vytkol by som možno ešte príliš veľa postáv (najmä mariňákov...každý z nich mal meno a aj týmovu prezývku a časom sa to začalo naozaj pliecť...teda až na hlavných protagonistov). A takmer som zabudol na tie alternatívne nadávky, ktoré autor používal. Maulk, zgrappovaný...nejak mi neliezlo do hlavy, prečo vlastne a časom mi už začali liezť na nervy :-D Ak to zhrniem, knihe dávam 4*, no sú to oveľa slabšie 4* ako boli pri predošlom dieli. Som zvedavý na ďalšie časti :)
January 14, 2022
A second adventure
This is book two of the Looking Glass series but is definitely written as a stand alone novel. Four characters, one of them a small furry alien come over from the first novel but most of a decade has passed and both science and technology have advanced from where we left off with our characters in book one. This novel was quite a disappointment at first because I was hoping for adventures beyond the portals into the worlds connected to earth. The very first world discovered at the site of the Chen experiment was very interesting to me and I was expecting to learn about humans exploring and probably colonizing that world. Unfortunately it was barely even mentioned in this novel and nothing was really said about humans exploring some of the more human friendly worlds through the portals. Another of the portals in book one leads to an ancient deserted alien city that was just about to be explored at the end of the first novel and it was also pretty much ignored in this book.
This is book two of the Looking Glass series but is definitely written as a stand alone novel. Four characters, one of them a small furry alien come over from the first novel but most of a decade has passed and both science and technology have advanced from where we left off with our characters in book one. This novel was quite a disappointment at first because I was hoping for adventures beyond the portals into the worlds connected to earth. The very first world discovered at the site of the Chen experiment was very interesting to me and I was expecting to learn about humans exploring and probably colonizing that world. Unfortunately it was barely even mentioned in this novel and nothing was really said about humans exploring some of the more human friendly worlds through the portals. Another of the portals in book one leads to an ancient deserted alien city that was just about to be explored at the end of the first novel and it was also pretty much ignored in this book.
June 20, 2021
Good science, good action story, great characters
I first read this series 10 or more years ago, possibly shortly after they were published. I read the first one based on my appreciation for Mr. Ringo's previous works. The science is good and fed to us with just enough information to help us understand without invoking the dreaded "brain shutdown from overload" syndrome that could have destroyed the pleasure of reading this series. The story has good, believable, action from excellent characters that we can grow to like and appreciate. And I love the snippets of clue to something that will eventually come to light further into the series and blow our figurative minds!
Great job gentlemen. You took a strong story idea and gave us hours of excellent reading. Thank you!
I first read this series 10 or more years ago, possibly shortly after they were published. I read the first one based on my appreciation for Mr. Ringo's previous works. The science is good and fed to us with just enough information to help us understand without invoking the dreaded "brain shutdown from overload" syndrome that could have destroyed the pleasure of reading this series. The story has good, believable, action from excellent characters that we can grow to like and appreciate. And I love the snippets of clue to something that will eventually come to light further into the series and blow our figurative minds!
Great job gentlemen. You took a strong story idea and gave us hours of excellent reading. Thank you!
August 12, 2020
75% Grapping Maulk!
I started reading this series because I was looking for something new and this was pretty much the only John Ringo content that I haven't read yet, and he is my favorite author.
First book was pretty good, this 2nd one was not very good. It was very heavy on the techno-babble and light on the action. It also kind of jumps around a lot and is hard to follow... I think whoever edited this thing needs to find another line of work.
It was hard to read at times but I powered through and was rewarded with a pretty decent ending. Therefore, although not great, it wasn't bad enough to abandon the series and I will be buying the next book to see where it ends. Three stars.
I started reading this series because I was looking for something new and this was pretty much the only John Ringo content that I haven't read yet, and he is my favorite author.
First book was pretty good, this 2nd one was not very good. It was very heavy on the techno-babble and light on the action. It also kind of jumps around a lot and is hard to follow... I think whoever edited this thing needs to find another line of work.
It was hard to read at times but I powered through and was rewarded with a pretty decent ending. Therefore, although not great, it wasn't bad enough to abandon the series and I will be buying the next book to see where it ends. Three stars.
October 5, 2020
Second reading after probably a decade of not seeing my copy.
Still enjoy a lot of the tech and the Adar even if I'm unfortunately able to see a bit more of the politics in the background (but such is the current world state that it taints all things and brings to light rough edges :/ )
Anywho: Still a fun read with some amusing characters. bit of an action adventure movie on the page.
Sad that no more have been released in over a decade since the 4th book was published. Maybe one da
Travis S Taylor or Ringo will revive it.
Audiobook on this pass:
Mostly solid mixing but a bit too many hard cuts of silence when someone is getting cut off in the script.
Still enjoy a lot of the tech and the Adar even if I'm unfortunately able to see a bit more of the politics in the background (but such is the current world state that it taints all things and brings to light rough edges :/ )
Anywho: Still a fun read with some amusing characters. bit of an action adventure movie on the page.
Sad that no more have been released in over a decade since the 4th book was published. Maybe one da
Travis S Taylor or Ringo will revive it.
Audiobook on this pass:
Mostly solid mixing but a bit too many hard cuts of silence when someone is getting cut off in the script.
August 27, 2019
Fun SciFi Pulp Fiction with some Hard Science Thrown In
This book is a great example of fun, Saturday-morning-matinee-style pulp fiction. Space Marines, big alien crab monsters, civilizations in desperate need of our help, this book has it all. It’s fairly different than its predecessor in the series, but a fun installment. Four solid stars.
This book is a great example of fun, Saturday-morning-matinee-style pulp fiction. Space Marines, big alien crab monsters, civilizations in desperate need of our help, this book has it all. It’s fairly different than its predecessor in the series, but a fun installment. Four solid stars.
March 17, 2024
An interesting look at Earth's first starship and the many adventures of the Space Marines, the scientists and their security personnel. After many encounters with some hostile species and a friendly species they were able to return to Earth minus many personnel.
September 1, 2017
Great continuation of one of my all-time fav series. Very creative, great fun. Exploring space, saving humanity, what's not to love?!
October 24, 2018
First 2/3 of the book was boring. The ending was a little unclear/confusing. Didn't do much to further the plot set up in the first book.
March 2, 2019
Like reading a science book. Have to skip whole pages to get back to story line.
May 8, 2020
That's a happy book telling a jokey story about space and aliens and stuff.
December 15, 2016
Space Marines on a reconfigured Nuclear Sub.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews