Dancing with the Devil

John Ringo: A Hymn Before Battle (Baen Books, 2001, ISBN 978-1-4165-3321-4; cover by Patrick Turner).

I had read this volume once previously, but picked it up again as I'm trying (desperately!) to catch up on the various series that I keep accumulating. Alas, with somebody like John Ringo (as with several other authors from Baen Books) this is proving difficult...since many churn these puppies out faster than I can consume them. Someday, someday...

The series is called, somewhat obscurely (at least to me at this point) The Legacy of Aldenta. E.T. phones us...to tell us we're screwed. We're right in the path of a horde of unstoppable, alien locusts called the Posleen. And they are looking to put us on the menu.

Some work to save us, some work to screw us (someday I want to find out why John Ringo hates The State Department so much), some are just plain screwed up so will screw us. There's plenty of blood, guts, gore, high-tech weaponry and nifty equipment, flying bullets (and other projectiles), battles fought (won and lost) and enough plot threads for several more books (of which a bunch have been published, hence my desire to get cracking on the series!).

A fun read. Like that of David Weber's Honor Harrington series, don't expect great literature. But, expect fun. Lots of fun. Tons of fun; which is the biggest reason I read science fiction. I plowed through it in about a day and I'm now deep into the second volume). Now, where can I get one of those power suits (and why does it so remind me of these?)...

(Bonus! Read the whole thing for free. Then do what I did—throw some money at Ringo so he'll continue writing!)