This the other used book that I bought before going on a long plane trip and looking for some light page-turning action reading. (The other was
[b:Dreamland: Whiplash|6980597|Dreamland Whiplash (Dreamland, #11)|Dale Brown|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348448087s/6980597.jpg|7222366])

On the edition that I got, there was no indication that this was the first novel of a series or I never would have bought it. My guess is that the series was given the go-ahead after this book sold enough copies. The reason why this is significant is that this novel does not stand alone very well.

The main plot is pretty well finished, but there are so many threads that are left hanging that the book is real unsatisfying. And ultimately now that I know that it is part of a series, it still fails because I'm not interested enough pulling together the hanging threads to read the others.

The actual battle sequences are well enough written that this is worth a second star but that's all. ( )

The 21st Cent. Has brought us some damn good Sci-Fi military writers…Viet Nam wasn't enough so we had to have several more "wars" to train this new cadre. Be that as it may, this batch is hatching well. And John Ringo joins the ranks of David Drake and Eric Flint: this is one fine story. There's enough stupidity, heroism, and rabbits being pull out of hats--all told in the best of style--to satisfy the war-monger/warrior in the most timid of us. The speed with which I read the story forces me to give it 5 stars. ( )

There is a galactic war going on and it is about to hit home. The Galactics are a group of peaceful species living throughout the universe and the Posleen want to destroy them. The Galactics, in an act of desperation, come to Earth. They offer humans access to incredible technology and new weapons and medical techniques, all in exchange for earth helping fight the Posleen. The Posleen are essentially the Mongol horde and are sweeping across the galaxy, Humanity agrees to help, because it is only a matter of time before the Posleen make it to Earth. This is an ambitious novel that visits the politics of war as well as the nuts and bolts of the fighting man. The characters are well drawn out and very interesting, and the action is very engaging. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. ( )

More interesting after a second read and having read some of the later books. A bit too confusing otherwise. ( )

This book was available free through Baen as an e-book. I read it online. Very violent, graphic, and hard-hitting, most of the book is one giant battle. Ringo knows the military well, and those who have served will recognize the personalities, techniques, and humor...almost to the point where it gets a bit tedious if you've "been there, done that." Ringo doesn't pull his punches on both the military's brilliant courage and ridiculous stupidities. Lots of characters, hard to track who is who sometimes, and the jumping around of the dates forward and backward in time don't help. Entertaining, but needlessly confusing at times, this is certainly one of the most realistic imaginary alien war I've ever read. ( )