Customer Reviews

Eye of the Storm (Posleen War)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was lucky enough to get my preordered copy of this book a couple of weeks early, meaning I could read it right after finishing the previous book, "Honor of the Clan."

For context, the prior books have fallen into three major groups: "Iron Mike" O'Neal's story as the leader of the war against the Posleen (written by Ringo alone), country-centered books set during that war that examine parts of it in depth (written with Tom Kratman), and books centered around his father and daughter about fifty years later (written with Julie Cochrane). Yes, there's one more book - "The Hero," written with Mike Williamson - but it doesn't really fit into continuity any longer. It's a good read, but think of it as taking place in a very alternate future. If you haven't read the Kratman and Cochrane books, you can probably follow along passably when events and characters from them are referenced...but you should really read them first and get the full picture.

"Eye of the Storm" is a major turning point in this series. It picks up very soon after "Honor of the Clan" and proceeds to tie everything together. Just when everybody thought the Posleen threat had been decisively conquered, there's a new enemy to deal with...one that changes all the rules. The Children of the Aldenata will all have to learn to work together under *human* leadership - for if they don't, they will surely be conquered.

These power realignments are particularly satisfying to watch. The Darhel may have to knuckle under, but they don't like it one little bit. The Indowy will have to completely reconsider their methods and their ethics. The Himmit will have to start divulging some of their secrets. And somehow, the decimated humans are going to have to field another army. Just when you thought it was safe to retire....

Yes, there's a lot of coarse language and other mature situations in this book. That's the nature of this being the latest entry in an authentic military SF series. Soldiers act like soldiers, killing their enemies, making rude comments, and swearing when things go badly. If that's not for you, save yourself some time and just don't bother with the series. On the other hand, if you think that sounds neat and entertaining, I heartily recommend it.

One warning to the reader, though: Chapter 6 is The Chapter That Never Ends. It's about 150 pages that could have easily been split up into smaller bites. I'll forgive that, though, as (a) the book is good enough that you'll want to read it in one sitting anyway, and (b) the Stripes reference later on makes up for it.

Now to find out when the sequel is due....

Recieved "Eye of The Storm" yesterday via mail -- and, started reading within an hour to just get started early -- not sure what to expect. Mil-Sci-Fi is not my usual thing nowadays. But, I recalled enjoying one or two such novels by John Ringo a while ago. Not to worry, the fast flow of the twisting-and-turning plot -- felt like shooting down a rushing mountain river switchback whitewater rapids -- in a bouncing canoe, barely avoiding some boulders. But, with plenty of dramatic wild scenery -- and many folks seen along the way were with detail okay to just understand them -- some better than others.

Also, there was a spot-on amount of well-done graphic combat scenes, quantum hyperspace physics and military strategy and tactics. For me, this is not true for some Mil-Sci-Fi -- with its bare-bones unfleshed out characters -- too fleshed out bloody action -- and dense overgrown brambles of hi-tech mil-tech jargon. And, for me, the best good surprises were well described aliens AND usage of "The Force". Will also have to reread at least the first few novels in this series -- to even better understand this fun novel.

[I did reread the first few novels in this series -- and liked them as before] +++

I decided to read Eye of the Storm as I had skipped the intervening couple of 'Legacy of the Aldenata' books (Cally's War, Sister Time, etc.) as I had heard they were not great. This looked like a return to form, and focused on Mike O'Neal, which hopefully meant it would be more 'fun' than some of the others.

The good news is there is a lot of fun stuff in this book. The bad news is there's a few ideas that are half-baked, and a lot of the book seems like set-up for the next book in the series.

The primary 'thing' of the book is that with the Posleen defeated (the alien invaders of the previous books) the Galactic Federation's leaders are very nervous about having a large, well-equipped human army roaming around. They take action to deal with this, and the remaining forces tend to be very 'compromised' in that they owe debts and/or are subject to blackmail by the 'Darhel' that run the Federation.

This idea falls apart when a hithero unknown alien race begins taking planets from the Federation. The Darhel are in a serious mess, and Mike O'Neil (hero of the early Legacy of the Aldenata novels) eventually has them over a barrel and can do pretty much whatever he wants to rebuild and rearm to fight this invasion.

One thing this book does well is that the new threat actually seems bit plausible. This is something other authors have had trouble with, as the first threat is usually developed as the 'worst thing ever' and the writer has to top itself. The Posleen, to me, feel like they're a malfunctioning part of the Federation, while the new threat is more 'equal' to the Federation with it's own individual species and such. The new enemy seems much better 'rounded' than the Posleen, and won't fall for the same old tricks and tactics.

There's some ideas that didn't quite work for me. There's an interesting idea that a self-aware upgraded naval cruiser is reformatted into a massive space ship. The idea works and is kind of neat, but the resulting cruiser is described in too much detail some ways and not enough in others that it left a weird mental image. Is the ship humanoid in shape, and we should expect it to make a Daedalus attack in the next book, or is it merely suggestive of human form, despite certain elements (the forward weapon mounts) being recognizable to everyone that sees them as resembling parts of human anatomy?

Also a great deal of the book seems focused on explaining the production and logistics concerns of the new military force being created, and that isn't really that interesting.

I'm honestly not sure how much interest I have in the follow up to this book. I'm hopeful that a sequel will focus on getting back to the 'ground level' view that worked in the earlier books instead of focusing on fleets and brigades.

Eye of the Storm (2009) is the fifth SF novel in the Legacy of the Aldenata series, following Honor of the Clan. In the previous volume, the ACS under Mike raided a Bane Sidhe facility and found themselves in a firestorm. Mike kills a sniper who had him under the gun and didn't fire. Most of the rebels got away and fled the site.

In this novel, Michael O'Neal is a Major General within Fleet Strike. His 11th ACS Corps is on R-1436 Delta -- AKA Akoria/Ackia -- reclaiming the planet from the Posleen. The fighting is brisk and Mike is very busy.

Calliope O'Neal is Mike's daughter, although he doesn't know that she is alive. Cally is also a member of the Bane Sidhe, the underground resistence to the Darhel.

Michelle O'Neal is Mike's youngest daughter. Chelle was raised by the Indowy to be a Sohon Mentat, a person with wizardly powers.

James Stewart -- AKA Joshua Price, Julio Ingatio Garcia and Yan Kato -- is a former Fleet Strike Lieutenant General. Now he is Cally's husband and the father of her children. He is also a mamber of the chinese Tong.

William Young Boyd is a rejuvenated former soldier and a Panamanian entrepeneur. He was Dictator of Panama during the Posleen invasion (see Yellow Eyes). Now he is merely a very rich man, despite Darhel efforts to assassinate him and to ruin him financially.

Daisie Mae is the spirit of the Des Moines, a sea-going heavy cruiser. Now she owns a body grown from the DNA of the actress who played Daisie Mae in the movie. She has to remain near the AI device that controls the cruiser. Daisie Mae is also a prime contributor to Boyd's financial success.

Guano was a Posleen God-King and the only survivor of the aliens who invaded throgh the Darien. His experiences have caused him to have some fearful phobias. Now he belongs to Boyd, providing access to Posleen devices via his passwords and physiology.

In this story, Mike finds human beings on Ackia, descendants of people who had been sent to this planet of exile thirty thousand years ago by the Darhel. Since the Darhel have kept such information away from the humans on Earth, this news will badly hurt their public image. Then he discovers that the Darhel owe him a great deal of money.

The Darhel have corrupted most Fleet officers. The Admiral commanding the ships that had brought the 11th Corps to R-1436 Delta is a Darhel lackey. When he is ordered to prevent the spread of this disturbing truth, the Fifth Fleet ships destroy the troops of 11th Corps and capture Mike.

Back on Luna, Mike is tried by a kangaroo court headed by his friend Lieutenant General Tam Wesley. He is allowed into the courtroom only to hear the foregone decision and punitive sentence. But Mike -- and General Wesley -- are not the only persons upset by the courtmartial.

The Bane Sidhe -- together with Michelle -- rescue Mike from his Fleet guards. Moreover, the news of this fiasco is spread widely. A mutiny starts on Luna and spreads to other Fleet Strike facilities.

Then the human Mentats arrive to separate the opposing forces and to inform them of an invasion of the Federation by the Hedren Tyranny. These alien invaders have developed the sohon powers in directions abhorrent to the Indowy Masters. They use such powers in warfare and to subjugate their slaves.

This invasion changes everything within the Federation except the power desires of the various peoples. But the threat to the Darhel worlds gives Mike a stronger hand against the alien manipulators. He also uses the Bane Sidhe threat against the Darhel. Cally is very pleased to be allowed to kill more Darhels.

This tale places Mike O'Neal into the role of Supreme Commander of all armed forces within the Federation. He forms a new General Staff, with Boyd as his logistics manager and Steward as his intelligence chief. Then he finds a competent and honest Fleet officer and gives him overall command of the navy.

Federation ground troops have been greatly depleted by the destruction of the 11th Corps, so Mike starts looking for replacements. The former SS troops who fought the Posleen have settled the devastated remains of Germany (see Watch on the Rhine). Mike designates their militia as Fleet Strike auxilaries and provides them Posleen forges -- activated by Guano -- to produce arms, munitions, vehicle parts and other neccessities.

The Des Moines is reshaped, refurbished and enhanced by the Mentats into a space-going warship. Daisie Mae is delighted with her new body. Now she is not limited to ports and other bodies of water. And her new guns are fantastic.

The story is full of conflict and violence. After the destruction of the 11th Corps, the killing is less general among the humans. However, the Hedren are massacring people --- especially the Indowy and Tchpht -- and destroying ships in the Darhel core worlds. The Posleen are being exterminated by everybody, but they breed like rabbits.

This story brings all the threads in the previous books of this series -- and the Posleen War subseries -- together in a new adventure. The sequel will surely be forthcoming. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Ringo fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of armed combat, exotic forces, and imminent destruction. For those who have not previously read this series, the initial volume is A Hymn Before Battle.

-Arthur W. Jordin

After the disaster that was, "Honor of the Clan" I decided I was through spending money on this series. I was still curious about it, interested in knowing how it progressed and what happened next but there was no way in Hades I was going to BUY the next book.

Then I found it in the Baen Free Library and decided to read a few pages.

A few pages turned into a several pages and then a few chapters. I almost made myself late to class. I ended up reading it in class. I thought about it all the way home. For the first 250-300 pages I was absolutely, completely, and totally hooked. But then the plot's progression came to a near total standstill and the next two hundred pages were full of details, details, and more details. Side plots, new characters, and one piece of ultimately irrelevant data after another. A lot of it was interesting. Ringo is nothing if not a good writer. But there was like two to three HUNDRED pages to slog through before the story started picking up again.

Then, just as things were really starting to get interesting again the book ends. Just like that. It ends. Obviously if I want to know what happens next I will have to read the next installment. I hope it too is included in the Free Library (or at least at my local library) because--again--there is no way in Hades I am paying for it.

Let me preface this with the fact that I have read all of the books in the series so far.

When I read this book I had visions of old 80s cartoons (Star Blazers), comic books, and heavily inspired by the Babylon 5 TV series.

I won't spoil much. I like how the loose threads got tied up from the Cally's war series and the Mike O'Neil series. However, there were many silly points in the book (for example a ship entity, channeling the Andromeda TV series), the Ebay like auction (even referring to Ebay itself...which is bizarre in a mil SciFi book), the whole concept of the masters who have masters (who presumedly have masters themselves)...The usual ANCIENT UNSTOPPABLE EVIL... It just goes on and on.

Also there were points where you could just skip and not miss anything. The very LONG section on the Ebay bidding, the very boring section on the training. The only truly exciting parts were the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages, and everything in between is just filler, boring, trite, ideas stolen from a mishmash of sources which makes no sense. Its comically entertaining in that regard. The first and last part save the book, and I still look forward to the next in the series. Hopefully John Ringo isn't channeling Robert Jordan with windy, complex plots and a zillion characters. Keep it simple, write what you know, and lose the pop culture references.

If you liked John Ringo when he first started writing, this is a book that will take you back. Repurposing equipment for combat in ways not intended by the maker; redesigning tactics and strategy to face a whole new threat. Vintage Ringo at his best. He goads your imagination into catching up.

Now for the bad news: the list of characters is immense. I hope he has a large redshirt pool!!! Reading the previous books in the series - while not a requirement - definitely make it easier to understand who/what/where. Also, be advised: John has very definite political views and makes them known on several occasions. If you disagree, don't read his books.

All that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed returning to the Aldenata universe and look forward to the next step in Galactic "Peace through superior firepower".

Very mixed impressions on this latest book in the saga of the Aldenata. The previous books in the series were riveting, full of action, subtle plot twists, conspiracies, and vivid characters. This one is... somewhat... kind of... but not quite as good.

Just when everyone thought they were free to move on, a new enemy arrives out of nowhere, even more powerful than the one just defeated. Several long evolving character plots built carefully over the entire series are casually resolved in the first few chapters. It is like Ringo got tired of maintaining a miriad of plot lines, bounced a palm off of their foreheads and proclaimed that they were healed. The characters are then relegated to minor charicatured bit parts. Even the foreshadowing of centuries delayed vengeance on the Darhel seems to have been put aside in the interest of plot advancement.

No need to even go into the cliffhanger style ending which has the new overwhelming enemy, whose sohon-style 2nd string masters are "battleships" compared to the Indowy mentats "destroyers", will be joined by the return of a previously defeated enemy under new management.

If one impossible to defeat enemy isn't enough, lets just bring in more, it will be at least twice as exciting?

Disappointing.

I have read most of the books in the Legacy of the Aldenata series and generally find them to be well written. As noted in another review this book has the chapter that never ends. The story follows his usual writing style and has the standard characters of his other books.

The one part that I found hard to believe was his description of the Waffen SS troops and their background. The Axix History Factbook ([...]) has a detailed list of each units war crimes. Those of individual units can be found by going to Germany, then waffen-ss, and then divisionen, etc. These include the killing of prisoners, civilians, and children.

Other than that the book was actually fairly good. Several plot lines were left hanging for the upcoming sequel. The very end of the book has someone else heading for earth in addition to the new invaders.

Others have posted more detailed reviews and descriptions of the contents. This one is mainly intended to comment on the waffen-ss.

At long last, John Ringo comes back to writing the Legacy of the Aldenata. Admittedly, Julie Cochrane did a good job with the Bane Shidhe books, but I missed Mr. Ringo's voice.

Years after the Posleen War effectively ended, the Federation military, led by Mike O'Neal, is spending its time hunting down Posleen to ensure they will never again threaten the Federation. However, the Darhel are holding the purse strings tightly, not replacing the SHEVA guns when they're destroyed and only deploying destroyers and frigates instead of dreadnoughts. But Fleet Strike marches from world to world, ridding each planet of its Posleen, until they run across a world with humans lifted from Earth eons ago to serve the Darhel.

In order to hide the secret, the Mobile Infantry is destroyed and Mike O'Neal imprisoned, only to find a new menace arising in the form of the Hedren Tyranny, a sort of tentacled counter-Federation. Now the Federation, lacking its primary military strike force, must reorganize and face this new foe under O'Neal and his compatriots.

This novel basically ties together every other novel from the expanded Aldenata universe, from Julie Cochran's Bane Shidhe novels to Tom Kratman's books on the SS, Panama, and the Posleen, as the Federation readies itself to fight a desperate struggle. The SS survivors are recruited to form an expeditionary force, while the ships from Yellow Eyes are reconfigured into starships to fight the Hedren, and the Bane Shidhe police the Darhel malingering over the war effort. Even past characters from the main branch books appear.

In general, I rather enjoyed this novel. As I mentioned earlier, it's definitely a "getting the band back together" sort of book, and Mr. Ringo is quite adept at writing about getting ready for war. There are several rather good fight scenes as well.

However, this isn't perfect. There are lingering plot threads that are left unanswered or just plain abandoned; while possibly realistic (time enough to care about alien humans after the Hedren are beaten back), it's annoying. Also note that the plot of the Tuloriad seems to have continuity issues with this novel. Also, as others have mentioned, it ends with a giant cliffhanger, which is really irritating, as I was in the mood for a "murthering great battle." On the whole, though, this is a great military sci-fi novel, and I heartily recommend it.