dannypent's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
kdf_333's review against another edition
3.0
I have read Ringo's stuff in anthologies so i figured it'd be sc-fi dragons. umm there were no dragons well ok, 1. and we didn't even get to talk with her. so the title is a big fat lie and the cover is also a big fat lie this is not a fantasy book.it's a sci-fi book with medieval tendencies.
I read the other reviews of the book and was very surprised by the claims of this book being hateful towards women.
There are a ton of books where women are not the main characters and are just stereotypes, the same can be said of men in chick-lit, children in adult books, adults in YA books, etc. This doesn't make the book hateful towards that group.
One person mentioned rape fantasies as being a reason..um have you read a romance novel...ever? i have read more than one historical and contemporary romance and erotica novels that had rape in it and the women still fell for the men. i actually stopped reading a very famous romance author (coulter) because of this. i thought the fact these women in Ringo's novel bounced back from the rapes so fast a bit unrealistic since they came from a society that had never heard of such things.
I think someone also disliked the little girl fantasies and the bondage fantasy which was such a small part of the book that i wonder at these folks for focusing so much on it. anyway, again they must be very sheltered if they have not heard of these fetishes /fantasies before reading this book.
a couple other people complained about the women and their periods. i thought it was a bit unrealistic that the women were not freaking out more. i hate, HATE, hate getting my period. i think it's disgusting and oh so uncomfortable and inconvenient. i don't see the misogyny there.
somebody else said it was misogynistic because the women were complaining about giving natural births instead of using uterine replicators. really? REALLY? all the women in my family have had difficult pregnancies and labors. the women on my mom's side have a hard time even getting pregnant. a uterine replicator would solve both problems. i am not saying it would be better but it's certainly not being hateful.
The book was ok.it was great but i will not be reading the sequels because it sounds like a long war and the main characters are cool but i prefer my military sci-fi to have women protagonists (Like Tanya Huff's Valor series and Weber's Harrington series).
i gotta say i don't get the negative reviews were misogyny was the main reason. the other negative reviews were users' personal taste and that's understandable.
I read the other reviews of the book and was very surprised by the claims of this book being hateful towards women.
There are a ton of books where women are not the main characters and are just stereotypes, the same can be said of men in chick-lit, children in adult books, adults in YA books, etc. This doesn't make the book hateful towards that group.
One person mentioned rape fantasies as being a reason..um have you read a romance novel...ever? i have read more than one historical and contemporary romance and erotica novels that had rape in it and the women still fell for the men. i actually stopped reading a very famous romance author (coulter) because of this. i thought the fact these women in Ringo's novel bounced back from the rapes so fast a bit unrealistic since they came from a society that had never heard of such things.
I think someone also disliked the little girl fantasies and the bondage fantasy which was such a small part of the book that i wonder at these folks for focusing so much on it. anyway, again they must be very sheltered if they have not heard of these fetishes /fantasies before reading this book.
a couple other people complained about the women and their periods. i thought it was a bit unrealistic that the women were not freaking out more. i hate, HATE, hate getting my period. i think it's disgusting and oh so uncomfortable and inconvenient. i don't see the misogyny there.
somebody else said it was misogynistic because the women were complaining about giving natural births instead of using uterine replicators. really? REALLY? all the women in my family have had difficult pregnancies and labors. the women on my mom's side have a hard time even getting pregnant. a uterine replicator would solve both problems. i am not saying it would be better but it's certainly not being hateful.
The book was ok.it was great but i will not be reading the sequels because it sounds like a long war and the main characters are cool but i prefer my military sci-fi to have women protagonists (Like Tanya Huff's Valor series and Weber's Harrington series).
i gotta say i don't get the negative reviews were misogyny was the main reason. the other negative reviews were users' personal taste and that's understandable.
andrewspink's review against another edition
1.0
With a big struggle I managed 30% and then gave up. Dreadful.
so64's review against another edition
3.0
Part Science-Fiction, Part Fantasy. All Fun!
This was a decent, yet fun read. The story takes place in a techno-utopia that has stagnated and experience population decline. Due to this stagnation, one of the members of the council, Paul Bowman decides to try to bring back the concept of work. And while it may sound as if Paul may be on to something, let's be clear: Paul is way out of his depth. He hates that some humans have Changed themselves, incorporating animal characteristics or change their body shapes. It is also clear that he is clueless about history, childrearing, and leadership. Sherida, one of the other members of the council, ultimately opposes him. While she agrees that the issues he brings up do exist, she disagrees with his solutions and his interpretation. Sides form, and while Sherida and her faction blocks Paul at first, Paul plans. The next meeting, Paul plans a coup and attacks Sherida and her faction. This leads to fallout. The net falls, power becomes limited. And society reverts to a preindustrial, medieval age.
The story deals with society trying to rebuild and reestablish itself mainly through the lens of several characters: Edmund Talbot, a reenactor and blacksmith; his ex-wife Daneh, a doctor, sister to Sherida; their daughter, Rachel; and Hezer Herrick, a teen who was under the charge of Daneh and cured of his ailment just before the fall. The development of these characters is pretty good, albeit predictable if you are familiar with fantasy conventions. All of the characters are likeable and one does find them sympathetic as to what they are going through.
I did have some issues with the formatting and pace at times. Sometimes, the chapter would focus on Edmund doing something, say talking to Sherida and advising her, and it would jump to Daneh and Rachel. And while normally there are symbols signaling a cut from one perspective to another, these parts did not have cuts and thus came off as being somewhat unnecessary and hastily edited in. I also felt that it did seem to drag at parts. Some of the diction could also use a bit of work.
I did like the themes within the story. I also like that, in spite of Paul having a fair point, how comically evil his faction is. I do not think Paul realize exactly what he has done until the end by allying himself with people like Celine and the daemon. And is somewhat oblivious to his own faults, making the times that we do see his faction somewhat hillarious. Although you do feel...a smidge of sympathy for him.
This was a decent, yet fun read. The story takes place in a techno-utopia that has stagnated and experience population decline. Due to this stagnation, one of the members of the council, Paul Bowman decides to try to bring back the concept of work. And while it may sound as if Paul may be on to something, let's be clear: Paul is way out of his depth. He hates that some humans have Changed themselves, incorporating animal characteristics or change their body shapes. It is also clear that he is clueless about history, childrearing, and leadership. Sherida, one of the other members of the council, ultimately opposes him. While she agrees that the issues he brings up do exist, she disagrees with his solutions and his interpretation. Sides form, and while Sherida and her faction blocks Paul at first, Paul plans. The next meeting, Paul plans a coup and attacks Sherida and her faction. This leads to fallout. The net falls, power becomes limited. And society reverts to a preindustrial, medieval age.
The story deals with society trying to rebuild and reestablish itself mainly through the lens of several characters: Edmund Talbot, a reenactor and blacksmith; his ex-wife Daneh, a doctor, sister to Sherida; their daughter, Rachel; and Hezer Herrick, a teen who was under the charge of Daneh and cured of his ailment just before the fall. The development of these characters is pretty good, albeit predictable if you are familiar with fantasy conventions. All of the characters are likeable and one does find them sympathetic as to what they are going through.
I did have some issues with the formatting and pace at times. Sometimes, the chapter would focus on Edmund doing something, say talking to Sherida and advising her, and it would jump to Daneh and Rachel. And while normally there are symbols signaling a cut from one perspective to another, these parts did not have cuts and thus came off as being somewhat unnecessary and hastily edited in. I also felt that it did seem to drag at parts. Some of the diction could also use a bit of work.
I did like the themes within the story. I also like that, in spite of Paul having a fair point, how comically evil his faction is. I do not think Paul realize exactly what he has done until the end by allying himself with people like Celine and the daemon. And is somewhat oblivious to his own faults, making the times that we do see his faction somewhat hillarious. Although you do feel...a smidge of sympathy for him.
claytell's review against another edition
2.0
There is a huge dichotomy in the reviews. I picked this book because the ratings were high(ish). But, sadly my rating will be at the other end. I really did not like this book at all. I will not be reading any more in this series. If this had been the first John Ringo book that I had read, I would never read another one of his books. Luckily, that was not the case, as he has written some really memorable scifi.
kaisermatthias's review against another edition
2.0
This is a five star premise ruined by the almost constant preaching that "in a world where all your technology fails, a handful of people who are still trained as AMERICAN MARINES HOO-AH will save the day with their knowledge of forging weapons, roman phalanxes, and boot-strapping libertarian goodness."
macindog's review against another edition
4.0
In a future where technology has made life easy for mankind, a war between two factions on the ruling council drains the power that runs everything. Mankind is plunged into a world where there is no food, no transport, no medical nanotechnology, no changing one's form, no help at all and only they can save themselves. Some choose to rise to the challenge and build a new society and some, of course, choose to prey on the weak as the world falls back to a feudal system last seen in the dark ages.
I quite liked the story, even if it does go over the top a bit to suggest that there would be a seriously organized group of medieval re-enacters ready to organize and help save their fellow man.
It's written well and the characters are interesting and well developed and I'm quite looking forward to the next book in the series.
I quite liked the story, even if it does go over the top a bit to suggest that there would be a seriously organized group of medieval re-enacters ready to organize and help save their fellow man.
It's written well and the characters are interesting and well developed and I'm quite looking forward to the next book in the series.
kaisermatthias's review
2.0
This is a five star premise ruined by the almost constant preaching that "in a world where all your technology fails, a handful of people who are still trained as AMERICAN MARINES HOO-AH will save the day with their knowledge of forging weapons, roman phalanxes, and boot-strapping libertarian goodness."
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