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Vorpal Blade (Looking Glass Book 2) by [John Ringo, Travis S. Taylor]

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Travis S. Taylor

Vorpal Blade (Looking Glass Book 2) Kindle Edition

by John Ringo (Author), Travis S. Taylor (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

236 ratings

Book 2 of 4: Looking Glass

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TO THE STARS—WITH GUNS AND DUCT TAPE

LTC William Weaver, PhD. (''Call me Bill...'') and SEAL Chief Miller, the heroes who saved Earth from alien menace in Into the Looking Glass, are back and this time Bill's got hisself a ship! The former SSBN Nebraska has been converted, using mostly shade-tree mechanics and baling wire, into a warp ship, Naval Construction Contract 4144, ready to go where no Adar, SEAL or academic has gone before!

Yay for the heroes! But who cares for the poor Security guys, Force Recon Marines who are kept in the dark and fed manure all day That is until they land on an alien planet, get partially wiped out and then load back up again. It's a dog's life in the Space Marines but somebody's got to save the academics and the universe—at the cost of horrendous casualties.

Ranging in topics from the best gun to kill armored space monsters to particle physics to cosmology, Vorpal Blade is a return to the ''good old days'' of SF when the science problems were fun, the women were smart, tough and beautiful, and the beasts were ugly. The monkeys are out in the space lanes and ready to rock. As soon as they find the duct tape.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

Print length

395 pages
Language

English
Publication date

September 1, 2007
File size

597 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Military SF specialist Ringo teams up with real-life rocket scientist Taylor for this far-out sequel to 2005's Into the Looking Glass. Much of the science deals with the arcane mysteries of quantum mechanics, lending the often grim events an absurdist twist appropriately reminiscent of Lewis Carroll. Several years after an experiment that opened a gateway from central Florida into other dimensions, Doc Weaver, a physicist turned U.S. naval officer, adapts an alien star drive to a nuclear submarine and creates humanity's first warp-capable star ship. The goal of Capt. Steven Blankemeier and Cmdr. Clay White of the Alliance Space Ship's unfortunately named Vorpal Blade is to scout out worlds contaminated by the alien Dreen. The awkward use of alien vocabulary to censor the predictably foul-mouthed marines only slightly hinders the shoot-'em-up action as the scientists and crew of the Blade blast through whatever adversity comes their way. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the audio_download edition.

About the Author

John Ringo brings fighting to life. He is the creator of the Posleen Wars series, which has become a New York Times best-selling series with more than one million copies in print. The series contains A Hymn Before Battle, Gust Front, When the Devil Dances, Hell’s Faire, and Eye of the Storm. In addition, Ringo has penned the Council War series. Adding another dimension to his skills, Ringo created nationally best-selling techno-thriller novels about Mike Harmon (Ghost, Kildar, Choosers of the Slain, Unto the Breach, and A Deeper Blue). His techno-thriller The Last Centurion was also a national bestseller. A more playful twist on the future is found in novels of the Looking-Glass series: Into the Looking Glass, Vorpal Blade, Manxome Foe, and Claws That Catch, the last three in collaboration with Travis S. Taylor. His audience was further enhanced with four collaborations with fellow New York Times best-selling author David Weber: March Upcountry, March to the Sea, March to the Stars, and We Few. There are an additional seven collaborations from the Posleen series: The Hero, written with Michael Z. Williamson, Watch on the Rhine, Yellow Eyes, and The Tuloriad, all written with Tom Kratman, and the New York Times bestseller Cally’s War and its sequels Sister Time and Honor of the Clan, all with Julie Cochrane. His science-based zombie apocalypse Black Tide Rising series includes Under a Graveyard Sky, To Sail a Darkling Sea, Islands of Rage and Hope, and Strands of Sorrow. A veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Ringo brings firsthand knowledge of military operations to his fiction. --This text refers to the mass_market edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AP9477S
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Baen Books; 1st edition (September 1, 2007)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2007
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 597 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 395 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #235,160 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,796 in Military Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #4,988 in Military Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
236 ratings

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John Ringo
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I'm a professional author of... Well, I used to say "science fiction." Then came There Will Be Dragons, which is sf with a distinct fantasy twist. Then came Ghost which is techno-thriller crossed with porn. Then came Princess of Wands, a Christian soccer mom battling demons through the power of God. Who knows what's next? Children's books? (I've actually got that one mapped out. You see, there's this girl who is raised by dolphins... You think I'm joking, don't you?)
:-)
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Travis S. Taylor
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Travis S. Taylor: "Doc" Taylor to his friends:has earned his soubriquet the hard way: He has a doctorate in optical science and engineering, a master's degree in physics, a master's degree in aerospace engineering, a master's degree in astronomy, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. Dr. Taylor has worked on various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for the past sixteen years. He's currently working on several advanced propulsion concepts, very large space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems, and next generation space launch concepts. He lives in Harvest, AL with his wife Karen and their daughter.
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Customer reviews

5 star		72%
4 star		19%
3 star		5%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Good science, good action story, great characters

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2021

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I first read this series 10 or more years ago, possibly shortly after they were published. I read the first one based on my appreciation for Mr. Ringo's previous works. The science is good and fed to us with just enough information to help us understand without invoking the dreaded "brain shutdown from overload" syndrome that could have destroyed the pleasure of reading this series. The story has good, believable, action from excellent characters that we can grow to like and appreciate. And I love the snippets of clue to something that will eventually come to light further into the series and blow our figurative minds!

Great job gentlemen. You took a strong story idea and gave us hours of excellent reading. Thank you!

75% Grapping Maulk!

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020

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I started reading this series because I was looking for something new and this was pretty much the only John Ringo content that I haven't read yet, and he is my favorite author.

First book was pretty good, this 2nd one was not very good. It was very heavy on the techno-babble and light on the action. It also kind of jumps around a lot and is hard to follow... I think whoever edited this thing needs to find another line of work.

It was hard to read at times but I powered through and was rewarded with a pretty decent ending. Therefore, although not great, it wasn't bad enough to abandon the series and I will be buying the next book to see where it ends. Three stars.

Meh, an okay read

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2016

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Okay book, a radical step down from the first in the series, 'Into The Looking Glass' by John Ringo. Probably due to farming out the writing. The author's insistence on using certain slang words bordered on making the book unreadable. 'Maulk' and 'gripping' were favorites. EVERY time maulk this maulk that....had to look it up in the urban slang dictionary. A real detraction. Not sure yet if I am willing to buy the third book after the drop in quality in this one.

2 people found this helpful

William E. Lewis, Jr.

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2019

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I like SciFi but word substitution is lame and disconcerting

3 people found this helpful

Fun SciFi Pulp Fiction with some Hard Science Thrown In

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019

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This book is a great example of fun, Saturday-morning-matinee-style pulp fiction. Space Marines, big alien crab monsters, civilizations in desperate need of our help, this book has it all. It’s fairly different than its predecessor in the series, but a fun installment. Four solid stars.

A fun romp but it feels incomplete

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2008

Verified Purchase

I'm a fan of John Ringo's books and story worlds, and enjoyed the first book in this series (Into the Looking Glass) quite a bit. This sequel started out as an interesting, and even fun romp in the same vein. However there was a fair amount of character and situation building for the primary characters which ended up being pretty pointless. Perhaps it was intended for further development in later books, but it left this book feeling a bit winded, as if the last section was rushed to completion and some of the details and characterizations so clearly built up earlier were just brushed aside. This also affected some of the earlier sections (space exploration) where the glossing over of some of the travel/time/work caused me to lose the feeling of the "extended" journey they were on.

Its still a fun book, though the novelty of using a submarine hull as a starship, and then (per the book ending) _rebuilding_ the badly battered vessel to send it out again is wearing a bit thin. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

One person found this helpful

Steve D. Poling

Vorpal Blade: a bit of fun space opera

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2008

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I liked this novel. It's a sequel, so most of the characters were familiar. A few things were not satisfying. The girl and alien "Tuffy" were always there to provide the deus ex machina. Like you'd expect from the middle novel in a trilogy it raised some story questions that we'll have to buy the next installment for answers. Nevertheless, the story stands on its own.

It felt like the writing was a bit rushed: In military SF, it seems customary to get to know the cannon fodder before they're slaughtered and some of those who died had not been not properly introduced. Mere quibbles these.

The evil aliens from Looking Glass don't appear. In their place are non-sentient aliens who haven't figured out that humans aren't prey.

What's best about Vorpal Blade is that you get the vibe of a bunch of dedicated people serving together on the first human starship who don't know what they're doing and have to feel their way forward. And in this novel that generally involves ascertaining the right caliber gun.

3 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2020

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Pure awesomeness with a smattering of amazing. If Heinlein were alive he'd be reading Ringo. Enough action to satisfy my military background and enough science to satisfy my inner geek. Ringo, dude, we have definitely got to party one day!! There was this one time in Hollywood when...

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer John Little

Engaging story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2020

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Engaging story and interesting characters, the story Rollics along at a good pace and doesn't bog down in too much science explanation.
J

Jonathan M. Balmer

Puts the Science in Science Fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007

Verified Purchase

This brought back memories of my first E.E.Doc Smith reads years ago when I first began reading Sci - Fi, the explanation of the Science at the end of the book is a revelation I just wish I'd read it first!
I can't help but like the idea of a submarine belting through space solving knarly quantum physics problems yet still taking the time to meet and kill dangerous if somewhat innocent alien life forms. Still if a lifeform chooses to eat first and not bother to ask questions later it deserves the maximum application of fire power with extreme prejudice.
Alot is packed in with plenty o of science, action, casualties, new alien life forms,weapons and even a little teaser running through the whole book. What's not to like

9 people found this helpful

Laura Woodcock

Bought as a gift.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

I bought this for my partner as a present for Christmas. He has read lots by John Ringo and loves him. It’s just hard to get a hold of his books so we were happy when we found them on Amazon.

neil johan jensen

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

Ringo is best alone

Tessa

Sequel to Into The Looking Glass

Reviewed in Australia on December 27, 2014

Verified Purchase

This follows on from Looking Glass.
The idea of converting a nuclear submarine into a space ship is a bit mind boggling. But of course, with a little bit of American know how (?), anything can be done.
We have old friends coming together again and new characters introduced ( in particular Two Gun).
Off they go adventuring in the best tradition of SF.
A lot has to be taken with a pinch of salt but it's still good fun (the ship is the ASS Vorpal Blade)
Recommended to any real SF fan but I'd also advise you to read the series in order.
Looking Glass
Vorpal Blade
Manxhome Foe
Claws That Catch
Hope this review helps you.

One person found this helpful

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