Customer Reviews

Yellow Eyes (Posleen War Series #8)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Ringo and Tom Kratman are among the writers Baen has added to my must-buy list over the past few years, and this, their second joint tale of the Posleen War, is the best yet.

There's a difficult dramatic problem with the Posleen: you can't hate them. As another reviewer here commented, they, too, are victims of the Aldenata. And with their nature twisted into their genes by the "galactic do-gooders", they are a force of nature, like a forest fire or a hurricane. A thing to be feared, but not hated.

So where DO we get the conflict that drives every really good story? From among the humans, between "those who protect" and "those who only look out for number one," between the Warriors and those who have "other priorities" than defending their countries.

This is a very well-told tale, with lots of the action, both military and political, that Ringo and Kratman's readers have come to expect. I recently discovered what are called "The Eight Deadly Words: 'I don't care what happens to these people.' " They do NOT apply here. The characters are well-drawn, on both sides of the good-evil divide, and the reader can care deeply about all of them, rejoicing in the victorious, mourning the fallen, and taking grim satisfaction at the justice of some of the desserts served up to the baddies.

As for complaints about the "authors politics intruding on the story", I say "Feh!". For myself, I appreciated a cold dose of truth, that the universe does *NOT* guarantee humanity a safe or comfortable berth. It made a refreshing change from what one author recently called "a profoundly delusional view of reality."

One warning: there's some MAJOR comic relief at points in this story, and since comedy is always a product of the unexpected, I recommend that, should you need to take food or drink, stop reading the book, eat/drink, and swallow before continuing. The humor is VILE, and I'm glad I've gotten into the habit of following the advice I've just given you. The only downside to this humor is it's very hard to continue reading while you're laughing so hard that tears are rolling down your face.

This book is worth reading more than once, and, as my reading load grows, that's becoming high praise indeed.

Yellow Eyes (2007) is a standalone novel in the Legacy of the Aldenata universe, following Watch on the Rhine in the Posleen War subseries. This volume takes place in Columbia and Panama, with most of the action taking place within Panama.

The Po'oslenana'ar -- the People of the Ships -- were fleeing from others of their kind in a time of orna'adar. The lesser clans crowded into a globe, each occupying their own area. In one such was the clan of Guanamarioch, a lesser Kessentai. Elsewhere in the globe was the greater -- but still relatively small -- clan of Kessentai Binastarion.

In this novel, pentagon simulations shows that the United States -- indeed, the whole world -- needs the shipping capacity of the Panama Canal. The President has rejuvenation treatments provided to almost every soldier who ever served in Panama, mostly survivors of the 5th and 10th Infantry Regiments and the 193rd Infantry Brigade (Canal Zone). Now the brigade has been reformed as the 193th Infantry Division.

The Navy is also represented in Panamanian waters: the battleship USS Texas and the heavy cruisers USS Des Moines and USS Salem. The officers and crew of these vessels have all served on the ships in the past, but now are rejuvenated and retrained in new weapons. Captain Jess McNair feels at home on the CA-134 (Des Moines), but he has a truly startling experience when Daisy Mae winks into existence on the bridge.

The Galactic AID provided as the cybernetic center of the ship was left on during an entire interstellar voyage. In its own time, the AID has been alone for thousands of years and has gone quite insane. It has developed an unusual admiration for the crew of the ship and can project its holographic presence anywhere on the ship and elsewhere for at least a mile.

The US authorities have also provided rejuvenation to former Panamanian veterans. The Miranda clan is angry when their dying grandmother is whisked off in an ambulance, but bemused when their rejuvenated abuela is returned to them. Her rejuved son Hector is particularly amazed and worried about Mama Digna's good looks.

Bill Boyd is an unusual rejuv. As an involuntary veteran of World War II, he had made sergeant before he was discharged. Now he has been selected as the Major General in command of the Panamanian logistical effort. While he doesn't know how to be a general officer, he has extensive experience as CEO of the Boyd Steamship Company and knows a lot about logistics.

The US and Panamanian troops are also supported by the 1st Battalion of the 508th Mobile Infantry (ACS). The survivors of B Company, commanded by recently promoted Captain Scott Connors, have just returned from the swamps of Barwhon, where hot and cold running Posleen seem to be everywhere. Although the company is happy to be home, their deployment to Panama is only slightly better than Barwhon. At least the PTSD victims are getting treatment in a secure facility.

Meanwhile, Posleen globes are approaching Earth and are attacked by Terran vessels. The globe carrying the clans of Guanamarioch and Binastarion is hit by a Terran hyper-velocity round, but both clans manage to get out and to land on Earth in Columbia and Panama. Then things start to get sticky.

In this story, the Darhels have bought out the State Department en masse, but Posleen land very close to Washington. Many people fail to evacuate Foggy Bottom before the Posleen arrive and are killed and eaten (not necessarily in that order).

However, other State Department weenies elsewhere are still disrupting the flow of supplies and weapons to Panama. The President of Panama and his staff are also cooperating with the Darhels and planning family vacations at Galactic resorts. Logistics is even more difficult than usual in Panama and General Boyd is earning his pay.

Abuela Digna has acquired some 85mm artillery and other useful war surplus equipment. Unfortunately, they only have two radios, so most communications are carried by old fashioned methods. Digna sets up ambushes south of the city of San Jose y David. The priest of the ancient church on the Parque de Cervantes has also planned a Quixotic surprise for the Posleen.

Lieutenant Julio Diaz is a glider pilot. As a student, he had wondered at the gringo statement that air transport is suicide within line of sight of Posleen forces. He speculated that an unpowered glider would be sighted -- but not seen -- by Posleen forces. He told his theory to his dad -- the Panamanian G-2 -- and volunteered to try out his theory personally. As it turned out, the most dangerous part of the experiment was telling his girl friend that he had joined the army; Paloma Mercedes -- daughter of the President of Panama -- took this news rather personally.

This story is more about the fauna, flora and people of Panama than about the invasion itself. There is plenty of action, but the soldier ants and other predators get equal billing in this novel. My brother really enjoyed the caiman incident; "Get it off me" is a running joke throughout the book. Having some personal experiences in Panama, he also appreciated the description of the black palm by a Posleen Kessentai.

The Panamanian people are equally divided in this book between the corrupt and the responsible. The corrupt tend to grow close to the Darhel representatives, although there are several who are too dumb to conduct their own negotiations. Yet there are a remarkable number of the corrupt who never get offworld. The responsible may be killed and eaten, but they usually go down fighting. Sometimes they take a few Posleen with them even after death (with a little help from their friends).

Note: The authors have played an inside joke with the 1st of the 508th. This designation is historically associated with Task Force Red Devil during the Panama invasion of December 1989.

Highly recommended for fans of Ringo & Kratman and for anyone else who enjoys tales of close combat against overwhelming odds, remarkable heroism, and wartime romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Of course, Phillip Mcgregor fails to mention that he got in a urination contest with Tom Kratman on Baen's Bar and was booted for same, which might color his views...

As for the book, I enjoyed it. Tom's knowledge of Panama and the people there really shows through and he explored some areas that John hadn't really covered, such as interactions amongst the Posleen, some more about the Darhel treachery, and about the AID's and their capabilities. I think this is Tom's best writing yet and essential to understanding the full Aldenata-verse. You'll get to see Daisy Mae again in the next Mike O'Neal book...

Great book. Brings back memories for those who served in Panama. Literally brings back those who served in Panama.

Ringo and Kratman strike again with yet another installment in the Posleen War series. If you've read the previous books you pretty much know what's going to happen. Much like 'Watch on the Rhine', this story takes place during the same time period as Ringo's earlier books in the series. You already know the outcome, but the authors still manage to create an engaging story with characters you care about. The action is outstanding and the comedy interspersed throughout the novel maintain a satisfying balance. Definitely a good read if you're into military science fiction.

This military SF page-turner is a little like what you might get if you combine Anne McCaffrey's "The Ship who sang" series and C.S. Forester's book "Death to the French" in the context of the invasion of Earth by a hostile race called the Posleen. Although this was one of the more recently written novels in John Ringo's Posleen invasion universe, also known as the "Legacy of the Aldenata" series, it is one of the earlier books by chronological sequence. It tells the story of the defence of the Panama Canal region by Panamanian and US forces, including a heavy cruiser which becomes sentient, against the Posleen invasion.

The series began around the turn of the Millennium, when the galactic federation contacted Earth with some awful news and a terrible choice. An aggressive species called the Posleen, to whom all other creatures are merely food, is rampaging through the galaxy, and Earth is in their path. If humans will act as mercenaries against them, the galactic federation will provide weapons and technical assistance. Accepting the deal means humans will be cannon fodder. Refusing would mean that when they arrive we will be Posleen fodder.

The series is sometimes called "Legacy of Aldenata" because the galactic situation is the result of meddling in the genes of most intelligent species by a now-vanished race called the Aldenata. The Aldenata turned most of the peoples of the galaxy into vegetarians, unable to kill. The only species in the galaxy who apparently escaped this meddling and can therefore fight wars are Posleen and humans - which is why the galactic federation want us as mercenaries.

But the Aldenata's meddling has not made every race into nice people. In particular, galactic politics and economics are dominated by a powerful race called the Darhel. The principal Darhel character in this book openly states that the Aldenata's forcible genetic conversion of his people from warrior carnivores to vegetarian pacifists has compelled them to live a lie and made them hate what they have become.

The ruthless and evil leaders of the Darhel see humans as a threat to their position. Their plan is to use humans and Posleen to virtually annihilate each other: they intend to give humanity just enough support to enable us to eventually defeat the Posleen, but the Darhel also set out to sabotage the human war effort and reduce it to the minimum level required for the costliest, most narrow victory possible. They aim to deliberately ensure that several billion humans get killed and eaten by Posleen in the process. Although the Darhel cannot kill anyone themselves without going permanently catatonic, they can and do hire human assassins to eliminate anyone who openly opposes them, might make the human resistance to the Posleen too successful, or finds out too much about their plans.


At the start of the book, shortly before the invasion, the US has realised that the consequences for their ability to feed their people if the Posleen get control of the Panama canal will be dire, so they despatch what forces they can spare to help the Panamanians defend themselves and the canal. But the heroes and heroines of the book, American and Panamanian (and one or two galactics) have no idea of the lengths to which their supposed Darhel allies, working with corrupt elements of the Panamanian government, the United Nations, and the American State Department, will go to sabotage the human war effort.

Fortunately many of the Panamanian people, and the US soldiers and sailors fighting with them, have much more courage and resourcefulness than the Darhel and their treacherous co-conspirators realise. And the biggest obstacle to a Posleen victory in Panama is something which no rational person would have expected. One of three old battlewagons allocated to support the Panamanians, the heavy cruiser USS Des Moines, really does have a mind of her own ...


This novel fits into the sequence of eleven published or planned books in the Posleen/legacy of Aldenata Universe as follows:

The series began with three stories in four volumes following the war against the Posleen invasion, particularly from a US perspective. The four books of that quartet are:

1) A Hymn Before Battle (Posleen War Series #1)
2) Gust Front
3) When the Devil Dances
4) Hell's Faire

(The first two of these books are stand-alone novels, but "When the Devil Dances" and "Hell's Faire," are essentially one story in two volumes.)

This is the second of two books by John Ringo and Tom Kratman set at the same time as "Gust Front" but in other theatres of war, which are

5) Watch on the Rhine (Germany), and
6) Yellow Eyes (Panama).

There is a very weird book which amounts to a sequel to "Yellow Eyes" called

7) The Tuloriad (The Legacy of the Aldenata)

This is set just after the Posleen war, and describes the journey of a group of Posleen survivors who have made peace with humans, and of - wait for it - an attempt to spread the christian religion to these less hostile Posleen. One of the major characters in "The Tuloriad" is the U.S.S. Des Moines' sister ship, which has also become sentient.


Then there is the Cally O'Neal trilogy, set a couple of decades after the Posleen invasion of Earth. This describes the resistance to the Darhel, let by a covert organisation called the Bane Sidhe, particularly from the viewpoint of the spy and assassin Cally O'Neal. These books are

8) Cally's War
9) Sister Time
10) Honor of the Clan

This is followed by a book which at first appears likely to round off the Cally O'Neal / Bane Sidhe story, but goes in a different direction and starts off a new sub-series:

11) Eye of the Storm

(and presumably sequels forthcoming)

Finally, the chronologically last book in the sequence, set many centuries later, is

12) Hero.

a book which reverses the viewpoint. About a thousand years after the events of the first eleven books in the series, humans have finally taken a terrible vengeance on the Darhel. "Hero" is set some centuries after the uprising and pogrom against the Darhel, and members of that species have become a despised minority which is trying to slowly earn back a position of being accepted and trusted by the other races of the galaxy. "Hero" actually has a Darhel in the title role.

Provided that you are not squeamish or the least bit prudish, I can recommend "Yellow Eyes" and indeed the whole series.

This latest installment in the human/posleen war is actually a sidebar to the original set of novels written solely by John Ringo. If this were a second world war novel, it would be a "secondary theater of operations" tale. In this case, all of the action takes place in Panama against the posleen millions.

I place particular emphasis on good charactet development in my evaluation of fiction; this SF novel is excellent in that regard. I especially liked the emergence of the heavy cruiser Des Moines, a.k.a. "Daisy Mae" as a living and breathing person form the fusion of an advanced Artificial Intelligence with the ship. The characterization of Daisy Mae is wonderful! I also thought that the Des Moine's chaplain Father Dwyer and Captain McNair were outstanding.

Im not going to comment on the plot line--anyone who has read a Ringo/posleenverse book will enjoy this one!

Highly recommended! I waffled about 4 or 5 stars, and decided that it really warants the higher rating.

Really enjoyed the attention to detail and character devolepment,and The tactics and logistics presented in an easy to understand form. the graphic battle scenes are not for the faint of heart. very interesting developement of ai personalites with the battleships ai,s. I would say this book is second only to watch on the rhine in readability
I jones

Very, very well written and above par even for these excellent authors! This story about the defense of Panama and the strategic life line the canal from the Posleen horde is even educational. I loved the heavy cruiser personification and the mix of characters from resurrected Spanish matriarch to even the characterization of the Posleen leadership and the deliciously evil Darhel, Rinn Fain. But the absolute best was the characterization of the US State Department wonks and the truly low perfidy of the European Union,trying to save its own skin by sealing the fate of others to be eaten by the crocodilian aliens. I especially liked the artful jabs at the trumped up war crimes and ban on land mines. Yep it is a must read and the characterizations are so glaringly true, even as we see how the current world affairs unravel from the same treachery.

I'd been getting a little tired of endless Posleen waves acting like Posleen (though not too badly) until this gem came along in this generally excellent series. (Cally's war seems not to have been repeated, at least!) Things seemed to being starting samo samo, then back plot actions with the "Mad" PDA came into focus along with the native Panamanian defense force leadership, and this one turned into a page turner.

I'm not sure I can rank this as the best of the series, but it's definitely in the top four.