Customer Reviews

Manxome Foe (Looking Glass, Book 3)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this to be a VERY fast-paced book that never let up from beginning to end. The story of the second voyage of the Alliance Star Ship "Vorpal Blade" was, if anything, even more exciting and danger-filled than the first one, and that was superb.

If you've read the earlier books, you'll already know the characters and basic background, but if not, there's enough in this to catch up in a hurry. I call it "space opera", which Wikipedia defines as "a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful (and sometimes quite fanciful) technologies and abilities. Perhaps the most significant trait of space opera is that settings, characters, battles, powers, and themes tend to be very large-scale."

I couldn't describe this book better if I tried. I liked the action, I liked the people, I liked the science, and I found the last third of the book utterly impossible to put down. I can't wait for the sequel, "Claws That Catch", which is due out in November 2008.

Given all that, though, this one gets only four stars for two reasons:

1. Two major characters from Vorpal Blade (Looking Glass) who are so important that the survival of the UNIVERSE depends on them are completely missing in action.

and

2. There's a new character you get to meet, know, and like a heckuva lot in the first half of the book who completely disappears from the story for about the last hundred pages. Where'd he go?

I still recommend this book highly, even with the above. It was fun.

This is an excellent addition to a really great series of books. (See also "Into the Looking Glass," by John Ringo and "Vorpal Blade," by John Ringo and Travis Taylor.) Once I started reading, I literally stayed up all night to finish. (After watching the SuperBowl. Monday really sucked.) The story takes an old SF workhorse, mankind facing imminent doom from alien invaders, and has it running like Secretariat. The characters are engaging, the writing is smooth, and the science didn't have my physicist wife rolling her eyes every chapter. I highly recommend the entire series. This is as good as space opera gets.

The "Looking Glass" series is well served here with this continuation. John Ringo again does a great job with combat and Travis Taylor handles the science with well done "possibilities". Good SF should assist your imagination with Science on the edge of the possible, good friendly interpersonal relationships, battles, and a respectable pace. This book and series meets all those requirements--in spades.

Manxome Foe (2008) is the third SF novel in the William Weaver series, following The Vorpal Blade. In the previous volume, the converted submarine flitted around exploring various planets with little luck and numerous casualties. Then they reached the forested moon of Endor. There the crew were attacked by various types of demons, including spacefaring dragonflies with laser emitting eyes.

The Vorpal Blade crew also found nonhostile sapient aliens who looked like oversized chinchillas. The locals were also being attacked by the demons and asked for assistance from the crew. Eventually, the locals -- with a little help from Miriam -- saved themselves and the humans from the demons.

In this novel, William Weaver is enjoying a little vacation after the refitting of the Vorpal Blade when he is recalled for an emergency meeting in Norfolk. A scientific expedition had been sent to an interstellar planet via a Looking Glass Boson gate. Apparently the base had been attacked with kinetic missiles.

A major explosion had been detected from Earthside and a response team dispatched to the site. The team found the base destroyed, but did not find any living thing -- human or alien -- on the other side. As usual in a Dreen attack, even the bodies were missing. The gate was then destabilized with a small nuke and moved to the Antarctic secure area.

The Vorpal Blade is being sent to conduct a more thorough investigation of the incident. Unfortunately, the warpship will take up to thirty days to cover the five hundred and fourteen lightyears to the planet. All personnel are recalled and the ship is secured for takeoff.

In this story, the lost crewmembers have been replaced with more of the same type. William Weaver is still the Astrogator on the Vorpal Blade. He is also the science officer and general font of information on spatial affairs. Captain Blankemeier -- Spectre -- remains in command, but a new Executive Officer and Commander of Space Marines have been added. Other crewmembers have been replaced and several have been promoted.

Only five marines survived the first voyage. Eric Bergstresser is now a Sargeant and has received the Navy Cross. Two Guns has become a legend among the Space Marines.

Berg also has a new girlfriend. She knows about the casualty rate on the first voyage and is concerned for his safety. He is reluctant to become involved with anyone because of his risky profession, but what can one do when true love hits?

Since the mission doesn't involve spatial exploration like the first voyage, the scientific team is left behind. Only the Special Forces team and Miriam Moon -- the linguist -- are going along. The outward flight is very boring to Miriam, so she wrangles herself into the maintenance crew, doing low priority repairs. The crew already had a high opinion of her talents, but these newly demonstrated capabilities won their hearts and souls.

The nonmaterial hitchhiker in the waste-heat system finds a new home on the outward trip. During a chill cycle, it detects the mind of Miriam and moves into her brain. She starts hearing a voice in her head, but works harder to distract herself. Then it starts making sense.

This tale takes the Vorpal Blade to the destroyed camp, where they find one survivor. Then they begin looking for the attacker. In their investigations, they come upon evidence of a spacebattle and three stranded alien survivors. They also find the remains of Dreen ships.

The previous novel was a story of space exploration, but this story is more space opera with a hard SF background. The Vorpal Blade crew finds their ship to have definite deficiencies in their battles with the Dreen foe. Fortunately, the friendly aliens have some equipment which increases their effectiveness.

The next volume in this series is Claws That Catch. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Ringo & Taylor fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of space battles, alien contact, and a touch of romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

The third book in the series. If you're reading this review you've either read or are thinking about reading the other two books in the series as well. They are excellent reads, all of them. Plenty of action and lots of physics. But really it's the characters that make you care, and the characters in this series are great. Eric Bergstresser is going right up there with Herzer Herrick, Michael O'Neal, Michael Harmon, and Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang MacClintock.

Manxome Foe... what to say. Everything here is exactly what I despise in genre writing. From the poor prose to goofy plot to 2-dimensional characters to sloppy editing. Ringo is no Shakespeare... neither is he a modern day Heinlein. I think that if I met Ringo on the street I would have a very poor first impression of the man. His personality comes through loud and clear on these pages with his rabid pro NRA stance, anti-French, pro military, definitely GOP attitude. So why is it that I enjoy these books so much?

First let me say that I listened to this... Maybe this is a book perfectly suited as a background listening experience.

This is the third installment of what promises to be a very long series. The first 'Looking Glass' was a classic 'Independence Day' alien invasion story that was pretty cool. Ringo and Taylor then have the idea of using a nuclear sub as a spaceship and this furthers the plots of the next two series entries. In Manxome Foe, the story starts off with a colony world being attacked. The colony was set up via a series of 'Gates'. In the first book, a gateway system opened up when a physics experiment went awry. People are able to step through the gate from one world to the next.

Ringo loves to talk a blue streak about theoretical physics. In a unique way, he manages to introduce several new ideas with each of the Vorpal Blade books. A lot of the fun was in reading about how the discover a new technology, discuss it, and then incorporate it into the ship.

This story mostly revolves around furthering human technology, the meeting of a new species, a space battle, and banter between the crew members.

This is definitely a story that should not work (in my opinion) but it does. One of my favorite reviews of all time on Amazon had this to say in the title for the 'Looking Glass' "Awful, awful, awful". I gave that book 4 stars and enjoyed it quite a bit. But I can see how both that one and Manxome Foe could be construed by anyone as exactly that, so I would recommend this story, but only with a bit of hesitation.

For "mind candy" readers with a scientific background, the "Looking Glass" series is really fun. The charaters are larger than life but the science is full of "in" jokes that would make Particle Physics almost fun to retake. The military SciFi aspects are the usual Ringo non-stop "who will make it style" that is a standard for real (unreal) entertainment. I can't wait for the sequel (I hope there is one).

massive John Ringo fan, military stuff is accurate & real to life, and the guy knows how to make you care about even the minor carriers. I love all of his various series, and so far he hasn't left me feeling cheated or bored. Ringo, You Rock!!

As you can tell from the title, I am a book junkie. I get a hit, and immediately want more.

This 3rd book in the Looking Glass Series is rocking along as expected. Some writers deteriorate after their first book gets out, luckily John and Doc seem to go the other route, up up and up. The characters are vibrant and real, the aliens are not nice guys (well some of them aren't) and its going to be a fantastic set of books that I will be proud to suggest to my friends they go buy...loan? never, I almost never get my best books back when I do that.

You have personal bravery, a portion of the military life shown from the inside and hope, fear, hate all rolled up into one great story. Hopefully the earc for the next will be out before I collapse from lack of words.

My suggestion, read it, then tap your buddy on the shoulder and have him read it.

I sincerely hope Manxome Foe is not the end of this great science
> fiction series by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor. I personally think
> this one is their best efforts. It has humor, romance, great military
> action in space and on the ground (sort of), aliens of various shapes
> and types and of good and evil intent. In short everything you could
> ever wish for in a science fiction novel--and then some! More! More!
Darrell Bain
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