Troy Rising: Earth is a backwater planet which is finally "discovered" by a tramp space-steam selling junk (think glass beads and Manhattan) technology.
Their first contact (in New Hampshire, USA) figures out that space aliens have an incredible, latent addiction to a niche, local commodity He corners the market in that commodity. Then through a series of crude-but-effective strategies, the earth whips the galaxy's back-end.
A very fun series
Council Wars: Will appeal to TB. The heroes are honorable. The premise is the loss of near-infinite energy due to war and the resulting crash of society (like a science-fiction version of the oil-stops-flowing). Good guys and bad guys clash using pre-industrial technologies. First book is fabulous. Second book not as on-point. Third and fourth book more to my tastes than the second.
Black Tide Rising: Zombies. The first three or four are fabulous. The family that is followed has two daughters who have EXTREMELY different personalities and Ringo writes about them well. Good for people who love boats and sailing.
Posleen Wars: His first series. Unbelievably good for a first effort. Space aliens come in several forms. The bad-guy ground-pounders are large reptiles that reproduce like insects and have the mentality of yellow-jackets. Other aliens are back-stabbing double-dealers. The hero is short and extremely muscular.
Paladin of Shadows: R-rated. Good information on "bunkering down" when the lights go off although that is not primary to the story.
As a general note, Mr Ringo is keen business man and has been very generous (no sarcasm) in leveraging his "universes" by inviting other authors to co-write books in those universes. Consequently, he has a mind-boggling number of books with him listed as the author (or as one of the authors).
In some cases the look-feel-taste of the writing changes as a new author is added to the series. You will have to make your own decisions if you like them or not.
Don't disagree with any of your thoughts. John is an 'interesting' writer. I would add the 'March' series he did with David Weber is also excellent!
ReplyDeleteFor those new to this author, Paladin of Shadows is the origin of the "Oh no, John Ringo. No" meme... Probably a lower R rating than the 50 shades series but he talks about some genuinely scary scenarios.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest peeve is he left the Posleen Wars unfinished.
ReplyDeleteHis 3 book series w/ Correia titled Monster Hunter Memoirs are outstanding also.
I don't know how you wrap things up when the main character needs to go up to what are effectively gods and scream "why did you do that to the Posleen you bastards?????"
DeleteThanks for the additional information ERJ! It is good to have a new author to look forward to!
ReplyDeleteJohn Ringo also wrote a two book series (currently) Princess of Wands and Queen of Wands. He does tend to leave his series open ended. According to his substack, he's writing a superhero story.
ReplyDeleteJohn Ringo is one of my favorite authors for two reasons. One I really enjoy his writing. And two, in the second or third book of the "March" series he has developed one of the nonhuman characters to get married to a difficult wife just so he can say the phrase "You are a great deal of trouble, Perti Karus". This is an Easter egg referring to one of my favorite movies - The Wind and the Lion. Sean Connery. Candice Bergman, William Hurt. Pure Gold!
ReplyDeleteJohn is my favorite current author. The late great RAH is the all-time best.
ReplyDeleteLove the easter eggs John puts in.
Have not read a sub par book of his yet.
Bravo!
The "March" series is excellent. Ringo is consistently worth reading. Anyone local should check out the Free Cheap and Antique store in North Lansing. They clean out properties as their main business and sell whatever they can. They recently acquired a large selection of books including many David Weber, Ringo and other peers. Worth checking out. $2 a book but 50% off with a $5 donation to the charity of the month. Buy big.
ReplyDeleteWELL! That is fabulous info. Southern Belle and Handsome Hombre attend a church that is close to Free Cheap and Antique. Do you happen to know if they are open Sunday afternoon?
DeleteI have read1 John Ringo book, it is titled "The Last Centurion", Great read. I will definitely check these others out. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHere is a 3 book series you might be interested in. Author is John Barnes, "Daybreak Zero, Directive 51 and The Last President" I found them to be excellent reading!
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