Customer Reviews

Kildar (Paladin of Shadows, Book 2)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The sequel to Ghost is (unlike that first book) a single novel with a coherent storyline. In tone it is most like the first section of Ghost (though with more set-up and less "servicing of targets"). Our hero of dubious morality accidentally ends up becoming a feudal lord in the mountains of Georgia (the country, not the state).

He decides to train his retainers (members of The Six Families) as a special forces team for the defense of their valley. Almost all of the book is taken up by this training process. Along the way, Mike also discovers the secrets to their heritage (and ends up, somewhat accidentally, with a hareem of about a dozen young women and a source of very good beer).

This is the sort of fantasy where one American soldier comes into town, is treated as a hero and lord, raises a military force, wins the hearts (and other body parts) of the women, defeats the men in single combat trials, and then (finally) slaughters the nasty enemy terrorists in a one-sided contest of brains and skill. He's also the best lover any of the women have ever had. In other words, something that Heinlein might have written. Or possibly Leo Frankowski.

There is a lot more (quite explicit) sex than there is (not so explicit) violence -- which, for some reason, seems to bother people -- but neither is quite as unfocused and extreme as some parts of Ghost. And there are no nukes and no meetings with the President of the US or Russia (though there is a meeting with the President of Georgia).

The political slant of the book is much less obvious. There are even at least one or two instances of minor Muslim characters who are not evil. Perhaps the first stories represented Ringo working out his anger over 9/11, and this book is more because he had an idea of what to do with the character. Nevertheless, it does seem telling that the bad guys in the book are still Muslim fighters from Chechnia, and the good guys are nominally Christian (and/or members of a much older European religion).

As with Ghost, a large suspension of disbelief is required. But in this case the story is a little more internally consistant, as are the characters. And there are more characters, treated with more depth (as befits a novel compared to a series of novellas).

The book is a complete novel. It has a beginning and an end. It is not only half of a story. But it also clearly leaves an opening for the already-written followup. In almost every way, this is a better-written book than its predecessor.

Mr. Ringo has produced a much better sequel than the original book in this series. The sex has been downplayed in this novel, although some still exists, and an intriguing mystery has been added. Just who are the Keldara?

For those who expect a large amount of military action, there will be some disappointments. The only major military action takes place in the last few chapters.

This book seems to be setting the stage for further books in the series. I look forward to the next book. As another reviewer has mentioned you can read a few chapters on-line for free at the Baen website.

Highly recommended.

He goes under the fictional name of Mike Jenkins (a.k.a. Ghost). He is a retired SEAL, traveling, a multimillionaire due to a few jobs he did for the government. While traveling through Georgia, the country not the state, he is snowed in while driving through the Valley of the Keldara. The Keldara people are very poor and an extremely private type of people. Six "families" govern the area. The Chechens use eastern Georgia as a type of safe base. They often raid the area, murdering entire families, abducting young girls for the slave market, and stealing anything worthwhile. Jenkins only meant to stay until the snow thawed. Instead he ended up buying the farm.

The Keldara have not had a Kildar (leader) in a very long time. The "Kildar" is the one who owns the fort and rules the valley, as well as, the Keldara people. Jenkins buys the caravanserai (fort) and all the land and possessions entailed with it. Slowly, the people come to trust him. Unlike the government and prior managers, Jenkins immediately begins making changes for the better. Jenkins brings in some farm machinery to help the Keldara with their farming. Since Jenkins also has some enemies (specifically among Islamic terrorists) he hires some seriously high military personnel and brings them in to reside within the caravanserai with him. These trainers begin to mold the Keldara into a well-armed militia.

Jenkins takes his responsibilities seriously! So when the Chechens first try to kidnap some girls, Jenkins makes an example of them. By doing so, he rescues the girls, but the girls are already considered ruined. Therefore, Jenkins now has a harem. Good thing the caravanserai has a harem wing already. Convenient!

Turns out the Keldara are not pacifists in any way, shape, or form. Each one has the potential to become a SEAL, thus some real training begins. Things are about to become very interesting.

**** Author John Ringo shows that he has a seriously warped sense of humor. For those who doubt me, check out the little section in the front of the book that NORMALLY tells you "This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental." Etc, etc, etc. Let's just say that I have NEVER seen one written quite this way. I knew immediately that Ringo is my type of author! Not only is this story clever and very entertaining, but it sets the foundation for future Keldara novels. Yeah, this mainly targets the male audience and that shows; however, any female who does not find herself threatened by an alpha-male will totally enjoy reading this one as well. Highly recommended reading! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Former Navy SEAL Mike Harmon uses the large award he received for his recent rescue mission (see GHOST) to travel. Currently he is in the Caucasus Mountains touring the former Soviet state of Georgia looking for the Bakuriani Resort when a blizzard leaves him stranded and in need of shelter. He is fortunate as a young girl Katrina rescues him and takes him to her home in a remote area over the objections of her father. The American likes the tranquil area and soon buys the land.

Harmon rules in his fiefdom with kindness towards the natives, but soon finds that Eden has its outside snakes. He organizes the local tribe, the Keldara, to protect them from Chechen raiders and begins to learn their customs and heritage. However though he is their ruler, the Keldara hide some information from their foreign warlord.

Mike Harmon is a fascinating hero who epitomizes the maxim that power corrupts as he learns that moral issues are not simple up and down votes; choices for the good of one person can negatively impact another. The story line is action-packed as expected with a John Ringo tale, but as in GHOST, once again Mr. Ringo provides a thought provoking character driven thriller (not a military sci fi) as his champion finds the paradox of ethics means someone, often an innocent, gets hurt. This is a great sequel from Mr. Ringo.

Harriet Klausner

Ghost was very much a one off. Kildar develops the character and turns it into the start of a series. This means that the book is both better and worse than its predecessor. However, as with Ghost though I think that attempts to nit pick or find deeper meaning should be avoided. This series is simply sex and action packed escapism and nothing more.

The worst part of this book is that it ends with far too many loose ends untied, hence my strong recommendation that you buy and read its sequel Choosers of the Slain.

The best part of this book is that it paints a picture of a valley and inhabitants that I can relate to very strongly. Now I have never been to Georgia (the country not the state) and, just as in Ghost, Kildar is written with no attempt at factual accuracy, so I would be astounded if this valley really resembles anywhere in Goergia but the overall impression is none the less very true to life. I have been to Romania and other remote corners of former communist Eastern Europe and the descriuption of hand to mouth rural life, the remains of the shoddy former veneer of communism and the roots in former Ottoman and Byzantine empires are real.

Fortunately, although this book nominally set in the present day as a sequel to Ghost, it reads much more like Ringo's SF works, particularly the "march" series co-authored with Daved Weber, than Ghost and this is a good thing. The characterization is far better and the characters, even "Cottontail", are more sympathetic and not the cardboard stereotypes of Ghost. This is a classic page turner and, as I say above, if it has a fault it is that it ends.

My dad bought this book and I read it and generally liked the story. Ringo is entertaining. This series is sort of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars series for adult males. Meaning, in the Mars series the women were subjugated, the men, all masculine, and it appealed perfectly to the juvenile male.
This series appeals perfectly to the adult male, in general. It is the Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars series for adults because of the sex. First the book is a fantasy, Navy seal with 30 million bucks gets cooperation from the local governments and the US govt whenever he needs it; he gets a harem and then finds, very conveniently, a harem manager through a connection in another country. The female harem mgr. loves rough sex and is a fantasy woman in every way, submissive, sexually compliant and inventive, etc. The hero is able to have sex for hours at a time, the girl loves to be beaten and dominated. You get the picture.
Take all that out or minimize it and you have the same plot with a less juvenile approach to life.
I will, no doubt, be criticized for complaining about the sex, so be it, it won't be the first time. The sex and sexual content and stereotypes of women are not needed. Second, even if it were needed, the typically juvenile way that the protagonist's sex partners are portrayed are off the charts stereotypical fantasy women, playboy playmates come to life as it were to make the the fantasies they inspire come true.
The story itself is a 4, the stereotypical way the sexuality and the protagonist's sex partners are handled rate it a 1 or 2, so a total compromise score is 3.

I suppose that when a writer reaches a certain degree of success, editing him or her becomes either scary or simply forbidden.
The Ringo/Weber/Flint books were good to start with. The sheer volume demands more self-discipline or hard-nosed editing.

First, I'd use Word's wordcount, and insist on knocking out ninety percent of the words whose root is "chuckle".

The ribbing grown-ups give each other prior to a staff meeting, say, or in other circumstances, needs to be...grown-up. I spent time as a grunt and time as an adjutant. They get it wrong.

The stories, some of them, such as the Honor series, and the 1632 series, have terrific premises. Great ideas. Good writing, from time to time.

But Kildar.... Ringo should be ashamed of himself. He panders to every conceivable fantasy of the couch potato who still lives in his parents' basement.
Terrific soldier. Got it.
Great lover. Yup.
Pygmalion/liberator to a bunch of eager, beautiful, young (disturbingly young, in some cases) whores.
Rich as a three-armed King Midas. Uh-huh. Not to mention a bit strained.
Rescued a bunch of sorority girls from a fate worse than death, as a result of which he can always find a vigorous welcome on campuses anywhere. Jeez.
Lord of the manor. The easy way. He bought it. He didn't have to fight for it. He didn't have to poison the rightful heir, his older brother, or hurry his father's demise. He didn't take any obligations to a greater lord as a condition.
Whatever he wants, he simply calls up his bank, a couple of friends, and a control officer in the Pentagon, and it is his.
Everybody he talks to sees things his way. Svengali.
Tough soldiers speak of him with awe.
When the author absolutely, positively can't think of a way to give him a particular skill, the guy just gets lucky.

Perhaps the market for inadequate couch potatoes who still live in their parents' basement is larger than I thought.

Embarrassing.

Kildar (2006) is the second novel in the Ghost Saga, following Ghost itself. In the first work, Mike Harmon had rescued some young kidnap victims from terrorists, intercepted a group smuggling a nuke into the US, and disrupted an attempt to nuke the Pope within the Notre Dame cathedral. He also earns 30 million dollars in rewards from the US government. But Islamic terrorists have offered their own rewards worth millions of dollars for his capture or death.

In this novel, Mike is driving through Georgia, the country not the state, trying to avoid any conspicuous notoriety. While lost in a snow storm, he asks for directions from a local woman and then offers her a ride to her home. At the house, he meets Katrina's family and gets additional directions to the nearest town. Later he learns that the family are members of the Keldara.

Barely making it through the snow and ice to Alerrso, Mike searches futilely for a petrol station. Eventually he parks at a local tavern for food and drink. He learns that the snow storm will continue through the night followed in a short while by another, blocking exit from the valley for weeks. Mike rents a room upstairs and catches up on his sleep.

The next day, the local constabulary commander, Vadim Tyurin, gives Mike a tour of the sights. He finds little to interest him as a temporary dwelling, except for a nearby caravanserai. But he is informed that the caravanserai is entailed with additional property -- i.e., the whole valley where the Keldara dwell -- and that the package deal will cost a million Euros.

Mike finds that the owner/occupant of the caravanserai becomes the Kildar, to whom the Keldara owe a special fealty. Spurred by a strange impulse, he buys the property and hires a new overseer. Then he supplies the Keldara with farm vehicles and builds hydroelectric facilities for power to the caravanserai and farms.

The Chechen have been using northern Georgia as a staging area for raids into Russia. They have also been raiding farms near Alerrso, kidnapping young women to sell to brothels, killing the rest of the family, and burning the buildings. Mike wants to stop such raiding of his retainers and nearby farms, so he recruits a small local militia from among the Keldara. He also hires some special military trainers and provides top line weapons and equipment for the militia.

A continuing mystery throughout this book is the identity of the Keldara. They speak a different dialect of Georgian, with many strange terms. Many are red-headed or blondes, unlike the black-headed Medeans in the surrounding area. Also, the Keldara have strange customs and mores, including a strong warrior ethic.

The Office of Special Operations Liaison still plays an important role in Mike's endeavors. Although Mike is only a specialist on contract to the US government, OSOL expedites some of his plans, but also involves him in a few diplomatic missions. It is handy to have an outside contractor with real deniabililty to do the dirty work.

This novel continues the emphasis on action and sex, but Mike has acquired responsibilities that force him to spend more time planning and training. He still manages to take out a few bad guys now and then, but not as often as in the first novel. However, he takes considerable pleasure in passing on his military skills to worthy students.

This novel is also not for the timid, nervous or intolerant. Blood still splatters everywhere, although less frequently, and the sex is still explicit, even if less deviant. A few scenes are still conducive to nausea.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys action adventures about special operations.

-Bill Jordin

John Ringo's KILDAR tells of Mike, who has always wanted to be a SEAL, but who is currently hated by every terrorist on Earth and many governments. Facing danger, the Ghost decides to come out of retirement - with dangerous results.

The first book was a bit unsettling. Kildar continues in that vein, but the action and characters grab you and keep you in the seat until it's over.

Definately not recommended for children or the thin-skinned. Very strong language and graphic violence are throughout the book. Some scenes are designed to revolt the reader, but if you're looking to get your jollies, look elsewhere.