Customer Reviews

Cally's War (Posleen War Series #4)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

Wow, there are some ticked fans out there.

First of all, I created the plot to Cally's War so don't bother blaming Julie. What people have been complaining about is "all my fault." No, it's not Posleen Carnography. Neither are the TWBD books, and the future Mike O'Neal books won't be either. Deal.

I'd originally envisioned doing the book myself, but having dealt with Julie Cochrane for a time and being booked up (pardon the pun) I gave it to her. I think she did a better job than I could have, if for no other reason than the very real female touch in her writing.

Second, yeah, it's a love story. Wah. My favorite Shakespeare is the Taming of the Shrew, not Henry the Fifth.

Reactions have been mixed, from very good to very terrible without much in between. I never promised to do all Posleen all the time (in fact, I don't think I've ever _promised_ to do anything but try to write good books that people enjoy) and I won't. Into the Looking Glass in June or July 2005 will be close but mostly I'm going in directions that don't involve huge quantities of bodies being blasted into yellow goo. (Shrugs) I can only write what _I_ like. If you want more yellow goo, write it yourself.

Oh, speaking of which, Watch on the Rhine (sometime 2005) is a good old fashioned Posleen carnography story by someone that's maybe a tad better at it than I, Thomas Kratman, LTC, USAR, currently an instructor at the War College. Of course, it's about the German response which is to, among other things, rejuvenate and recreate the Waffen SS. So I'm sure the reviews to that will be mixed as well.

If you read nothing else in the book, be sure to turn to the end and read the Author's FAQ.
:-)

Y'all take care now.

John Ringo
Commerce, GA
Oct 2004

As I said above, in response to further reviews, I don't agree. I liked Cally's War, both in detail and in spirit and the other books in the spin-off series will be similar. (Perhaps with a bit less sex, for reasons that make sense.) And I'll also say that if Cally's War truly turned your stomach as a "John Ringo" book, then like the gentleman who was throwing fits on Megan's Tale, you're probably better off reading the Webscriptions or picking it up, used, in PB. I don't guarantee _anything_ in my writing except writing what _I_ enjoy reading. I enjoyed writing the Posleen carnography, but the term is "past tense." As of a conversation this evening, there may _may_ be some additional carnography books coming from myself and Tom Kratman. We'll have to see.

John

Despite the names on the cover, this book was primarily written by Julie Cochrane, (at least according to Ringo.) With that being said, the reader has a somewhat different picture of what to expect. It's not written like the previous books in the "Posleen" series. There are no large-scale carnage-fests. Instead, Cally's War is a far personal look into the world Ringo created several years ago. The story is set many years after the defeat of the Posleen invasions, and the young (in previous books) Cally has grown into a cold and ruthless killer. She, among others, are members of a resistance group, the Bane Sidhe, fighting the Galactic-dominated American/Earth government. Cally must take the role of a military officer, and infiltrate the Terran military base on Titan.

The world itself is dark and pessimistic. It's not a nice place. Cally herself is a manifestation of that world, and thus a cold killer. She's a typical anti-hero, albeit in female form. For me, the pessimism and darkness of the book was really a turn-down. The world is detailed, and realistic, given the considerations of the story. The side trips Cally makes, while distracting from the plot, break even as they make the world more dynamic in my eyes. This book is far more suited to a fan of the Posleen series specifically, rather than a Ringo fan in general, due to the dual authorship. I recommend the prospective reader look for the book at their local library, the Baen electronic versions, or in a used bookstore. I felt it was worth the five dollars I spent on the Baen Websubscriptions electronic version, but it probably would not have been had I spent the full cover price.

The Posleen War is over: the good guys won. . . or did they ??? Set in the 2040's, Cally's War is the tale of Cally O'Neill, who, along with her grandfather, Mike O'Neill Sr., "died" in "Hell's Faire". But the Darhel and their agents are still trying to control the human race, who they see as a threat to their control of the galaxy.

Jump to Cally O'Neill: last seen as a heavily-armed teenager during the latter days of the Posleen War on Earth, she's now an accomplished assasin for the Bane Sidhe, the combined Indowy-Human resistance against the Darhel. . . Cally changes outward personalities and appearances the way the rest of us change clothes. We follow her on a trip through post-Posleen America, on a hit, and on to her most dangerous mission: find out who the Darhel spy in the Bane Sidhe is. . .and stop the leak.

All in all, a most entertaining read, with the most dangerous woman in SF I've seen in a LONG time. . . .the continuing adventures of Cally O'Neill should prove to be interesting, as it's quite obvious this is NOT her last story. . .

Like the Himmit. . . . I'll be watching the continued adventures of Clan O'Neill. . . .

While this is not, in almost any way, the same kind of book as the previous ones in the series (from A Hymn Before Battle to Hell's Faire), the plot and style connection is strong enough for anyone familiar with the rest of the sequence to feel right at home reading Cally's War. It's fast, it's visceral and it's action packed - just in a different way. We're not in the middle of an open war, but in the middle of a secret war between the manipulative Darhel and those who know the truth and are trying to break free from their control - a war of intelligence and counter-intelligence, of spies and assassins, of close, personal contact.

The pace and substance of the plot itself cannot be flawed, even if the book requires close attention at points for the connections to become apparent. There's something missing, though, when you consider it as part of an ongoing series with characters we were already introduced to - the link from what we knew of the characters and what they've become by the time of Cally's War is not fully hashed out, and perhaps could have used a bit more work.

Overall it's a great read and, as with all other books in the series, my only real complaint is that it was over too soon - can't wait for the next book. Go buy it.

Ringo fans should be warned -- John and Julie have some differences from John by himself. John tends, when writing alone, to write for the body-count audience. Any boy-girl stuff tends to be off-camera and PG or PG-13.

"Cally's War" is different. It's somewhere between PG-13 and R, for starters. It's also not a war novel - it's a spy / secret agent novel. The body counts are lower, although the action scenes are just as intense.

Some Ringophiles will be turned off by the emotional and personal content -- "Fergit the feelings, I wants me some antimatter bombs!". Personally, I figure that if I'm going to be reading a novel with a viewpoint inside a female character's head, I'd expect her to think like a female. I suspect that I see Julie's hand in the better insights, there.

When all's said and done, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I'm in the middle of a re-read, having finished the first read-through in about 48 hours. The intrigue is sneaky, the plot complex, and the action will get your blood pumping.

I can't wait for the sequel.

Cally O'Neal had always lived in danger. By the age of eight she'd killed her first person. While her father, Iron Mike, was off fighting the invading Posleen she had been raised by her grandfather, practically on the front-lines of a war that had erased five billion humans from the face of the earth.

By the end of the war she had been listed as dead. In truth, she'd been recruited into the elite ranks of the Bane Sidhe, a group of underground warriors dedicated to breaking the strangle-hold of the elf-like Darhel. For forty years Cally has gone on mission after mission. She completely changed her appearance and personality more often than others changed their socks ... and seemingly much easier.

Now, in the year 2047, Cally goes to Titan Base, hunting a mole. The team take out the real Captain Sinda Makepeace and inserts Cally. But she never expects to fall in love with one of the enemy.

***** Cally is one of the best assassins I have read in Sci-Fi thus far. She reminded me at times, especially while being tortured, of Robert A. Heinlein's main character in the book titled "Friday". She does whatever it takes to get the job done. Killing comes as naturally to Cally as breathing. Authors John Ringo and Julie Cochrane did an excellent job in teaming up to create a story for the little girl I recall from previous books. This is not the first of the series and you do not HAVE to read the others to thoroughly understand all that is going on. Outstanding! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

When I began reading John Ringo's work, I went into it wanting to like his stuff. After all, he'd been Airborne; I'd been Airborne. He makes his living as a writer; I make my living as a writer (albeit he writes best-selling novels and I write articles for gun magazines). You can understand how he had some good will coming his way before I ever started reading his Posleen novels. And those books rocked, all the way from A Hymn Before Battle right through Hell's Faire. Ringo's gift for characterization and plot was strong, his imagination and sense of humor deranged. I mean, really, how can you NOT love a book where one of the main "characters" is a mobile-Big-Bertha-on-treads-super-sized tank named Bun-Bun?

One of the most vivid characters from the Posleen novels was young Cally O'Neal. I think we all fell a little bit in love with that girl. Thus expectations were high for Cally's War. Okay, I read it. And Cally's War....well, let's just say that every person to whom I've mentioned this novel, who's actually read it, has summed up their impressions in three words: "Cally's War sucks." Though that critique lacks something in length and depth, I can't dispute it. Cally's War sucks so hard I'm not even going to critique its content myself. Others have already done that, and to me that would be too much like kicking a one-legged dog.

Cally's War is credited to John Ringo and Julie Cochrane. A few pages into the book, I knew John had subbed it out to Julie. I said to myself, "This book was obviously not written by John Ringo - because if it had been, it'd be one helluva lot better than this." Cally's War is a victim of the tendency, unfortunately common these days, of writers who've created a popular "universe" to let other authors write novels using their milieu and characters. The published novels always, of course, feature the "name" author first in the byline, thus, a cynical personality might say, to lure in the suckers. I have yet to read a decent novel written under this system. (Hey, here's an idea: if you're too busy to write the book yourself, don't take the publisher's money. Radical concept, huh?)

Then I read John Ringo's comments at the head of the Cally's War's Amazon.com web page. Obviously I was not the first person to be disappointed at the quality, or lack thereof, of this work, and some of those folks have expressed that displeasure in print. Ringo's response can be summed up as, "Yeah, I subbed it out. And I like it. If you didn't like it, tough, because there's more just like it where that came from. And by the way, here's a plug for my next book."

I was amazed. Appalled, actually. Now, obviously John Ringo is not a stupid man. His IQ probably looks like a zip code. I can only assume he thinks his star shines so brightly he can get away with that attitude toward his readers. After all, Harlan Ellison has been insulting fans for decades and they still buy his stuff, right? But the difference is that, for all his attitude, Ellison still delivers kick butt stories. Even people who don't like Ellison personally can't deny his talent, or the quality of any story featuring those three little words that mean so much, "by Harlan Ellison." As a matter of fact, the most common description of Harlan Ellison I hear from his detractors is "talented a-hole." If you're going to pull a millionaire rock star attitude, man, you better be turning out millionaire rock star quality. And Cally's War ain't it.

Pulling an arrogant, dismissive attitude toward your fans, then blowing their socks off with your next work, well, that's less than ideal but you can get away with it. Subbing out your universe and your name, turning out a bad novel that debases one of your most popular characters, THEN pulling that arrogant, dismissive attitude toward fans' justified complaints is only going to alienate formerly devoted readers. When this many long-term fans dislike a book so intensely....it's not the readers' fault. I'd like to see John Ringo, (a) quit subbing out books, (2) formally apologize to his readers. A simple, "I screwed up, I apologize, I'll try to do better in the future," would suffice. I was taught in the Army, when you eff up - which we all do occasionally - and you're standing at the position of attention in front of the First Sergeant's desk, the correct attitude is, "No excuse, First Sergeant!" You do that, you'll be perceived as a stand-up guy who's willing to take responsibility for his own actions, and you can probably skate out of things just fine. You start trying to justify yourself, or, God forbid, pull an attitude, you're going to get hammered.

I still want to like John Ringo's stuff. As a matter of fact, I'm looking forward to reading We Few in the very near future. Just no more Cally's Wars, PLEASE.

For thirty years, Cally O'Neal has been the greatest assassin of the Bane Sidhe...the secret organization fighting against the Darhel's takeover of Earth after the Posleen War...and she's getting tired of it. Nearly dead tired. Even the benefits of Galactic medical technology can't give you back your soul. Julie Cochrane and John Ringo do a series of changes on the ways that even the good guys (or gals) are damaged by violence and war. The question is whether Cally will figure out some way to be saved, or if she is doomed to one day not care enough to survive that last mission.

Like many Baen collaborations, it is very hard to see where John leaves off and Julie begins. Once again, Baen has managed to bring out a newbie author with much more authority and voice than the average, by pairing her with a much more experienced author.

Waiting patiently for the next one.

Walt Boyes, Bananaslug at Baen's Bar

The body count is significantly lower in this latest installment in the world of the Posleen. It's 40 years after the end of Hell's Faire and while most of the world thinks we've won, Cally Oneal still fights on against the real enemy, the Darhel.

40 years is a long time to be in battle, especially as a secret agent and assassin and it's beginning to wear Cally down. Unfortunately she's the only one who can't see it and is getting frustrated at everyone telling her to get a life!

But they say there's someone for everyone and there's someone for Cally at Titan Base. But there's a little problem to live through first........

A great collaboration with John providing the military realism and newcomer Julie Cochrane giving Cally heart and soul. Worth the read just to get Cally's line on what she thinks of herself!

Apparently unlike my esteemed colleague, I have actually read this book in it's entirety through Baen's Webscriptions service.

"Cally's War" is the story of Cally O'Neal, daughter of Mike O'Neal, the hero of John Ringo's "Legacy of the Alldenata" series. It picks up perhaps 40 years after her supposed death at the end of that series.
We find Cally operating as a highly capable assassin with an underground movement. While she is the consumate secret agent, she has, well, issues...
This story strives to tell how a deadly woman regains some sense of her humanity while struggling for her life in a deadly race against the opposition.
Cally's War is not for the faint of heart, but is a very well written and excellently characterized tale.
I highly recommend it.