Live Free or Die (Troy Rising Series #1)

Paid by the word, perhaps?

There is a good story in this book. Unfortunately, it is buried under several hundred extra pages of scientific speculation masquerading as dialogue("How's the asteroid mining project going, Steve?" "Well, if we can align the VLA, the BDA and the SLA, and the volatiles aren't to volatile . . .") Please understand, I have no problem with science in science fiction WHEN IT IS INTEGRATED INTO AND ADVANCES THE PLOT!!! That is not the case here; much of Live Free or Die reads like the transcript of a grad student bull session had been accidentally dropped into the body of a novel.
While Mr. Ringo was doling out copious exposition, he might have devoted a paragraph or two to the problem of how humanity managed to continue to function without difficulty in spite of a several pandemics and the destruction of virtually every major city. The impression he gives is that the former only killed useless people in Third World countries and the latter was beneficial as it killed equally useless urban liberals. On second thought, maybe it's just as well he didn't spell that out . . .

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Excellent Read.

I have to say that this is one extremely good book. Even if you are not familiar with Schlock Mercenary, it is a very entertaining read. With an interesting main character, and an in depth 'What If' of first contact. I found only one problem with John Ringo's book, and that is that I couldn't put it down for very long. Its cliche but true, I bought the book today after hearing about it in few week old podcast of Writing Excuses at 930AM, finished it at around 7PM, and although not quite one sitting. Get the book, but make sure you have a few hours to spend before you start it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Read it or you might miss one of the best rides of your life!

I have yet to find a book by John Ringo that is merely mediocre and this one is way up there in the top percentile. He is again writing a fast story that glues you to the seat and lets you miss a lot of sleep. This one has all the markings of a series and I am looking foreward to his "next in line". John, don't let us wait too long. Please!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ringo delivers again

John Ringo. The man. The legend..the greatest writer of all time! :)
Seriously though? John Ringo has delivered yet another awesome scifi adventure. What would happen if an alien race delivered a gate into orbit near earth. What would happen if a hostile race used that gate to hold us hostage. What would you or anyone do to end that? Well this book give us one answer. Ringo's books if you've read them all have a similar theme running through them. The triumph of good over evil, and right over wrong.
Are you going to enjoy this book if your own philosophy trends towards the liberal[or as some oldtimers I've read used to call it the 'take a punk to lunch bunch'] end of the spectrum? Probably not. If you believe however in hard work, personal responsibility, common sense, etc. Love a good rip roarin sci fi tale....
Yep..you're almost certain to love this book.
Either way I heartily recommend it.
Let me put it this way. I'm currently rereading it for the 7th[?] time since I bought it in January.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A book worth reading twice.

There is not much to say other than I really liked the book and the authors use of diolog is awsome. I hope I learn something.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Grand scale, epic, hard science fiction at its best!

Can one individual make a difference? Can one very determined, smart, creative individual make a difference? You betcha!

When Earth is in a desperate situation, Tyler Vernon comes up a crazy idea that just might work--or get everyone killed. Tyler Vernon is a guy who doesn't like to think small and with bills to pay, he just has to roll the dice.

Live Free or Die is the result of asking one of those great science-fiction questions, "what if". As John Ringo puts it in the "Acknowledgements", "What would happen if an alien race suddenly trundled a gate to other worlds into our solar system?"

Maybe this, or as Howard Tayler writes in the "Foreword", "If this book isn't the truth about how we go about carving the phrase 'Humans ...ARE here' on the great edifices of Galactic Society, it's because Truth read John's Fiction and said 'Okay, I'll have to do better.'"

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hope for the future

Great read to remind everyone that whether you believe in aliens of FTL travel, the future of mankind (and womankind) is in space, not sitting on a single planet where one big rock or a bunch of idiots with a few nukes can wipe us out. Everyone that wants to cut money from developing space travel and industry to spend more on entitlement programs should read this book. It is all nice and feels good to say the government will feed everyone and give everyone free healthcare, but if it is at the expense of the future of our race in space, they are dooming the entire race to extinction. Love Ringo and his hard truth morals wrapped into his story lines. Also the private sector making this happen is a great story. Can not wait for his next book, keep 'em coming. God bless the real America and those who still believe in what our founding fathers died for!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wow.

I love science fiction and I love action. Mr. Ringo delivers both with a unique style; I've never read anyone quite like him. I might suggest David Weber as a similar writer when it comes to researched detail and overall "smartness" or intelligence of the writing, however Ringo's writing is far more action-filled and exciting!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Space Opera Lives!

Characters: The main Character falls into what he needs to make a go of saving humanity by being the only one who sees the obvious that is able to go ahead and act on it.
Plot: The bad aliens are coming. They are more advanced than humans. They will be (doing the equivalent of) marching in straight lines across open ground. There must be something we can do to stop that.
Science: Several interesting guesses based on current cutting edge physics concepts. These guesses set up travel between star systems with quirks that can be taken advantage of.
Writing style: I find John Ringo's writing style to be very entertaining. He is just politically incorrect enough to point out flaws in current social norms. (Blonds in this universe are rather more interesting than in ours, for example.)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

If you can't win, Join them, and then fight them!

Perhaps, maple syrup and intergalactic political manuevering was a bit conveneint but I enjoyed every bit of the book. I can't wait for the next book to see how far we can kick the galactic invaders butt!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ringo hits his usual home run

I enjoy John Ringo's style of writing. The way he blends humor into the plot makes his character very vivid. You can tell that he enjoys writing,so that you can enjoy reading. I found this book to be difficult to put down. I wanted to see what was going to happen next, after every page. I will read this one over & over through the years.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great Imagination

I did not get bogged down in the explanations at all, and as usual, the book makes me marvel at the imagination of the author. The political undercurrent was fascinating, and the conclusions are probably ones with which most readers of the author would agree.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Keep 'em comin John!

With "Live Free or Die" I now own every book published by John Ringo and as with all his other books, it is worth every cent I paid. John tells a story about humanity and human rights with flair and verve and an outstanding imagination. "Live Free or Die" is a great story that reminds me of Isaac Asimov and his Foundation series in that he has hard science and vision of a grand future all while telling a story about people. Rock on John :)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Mankind the underdog

A somewhat old story line, earth gets conquered by aliens, told with a few new twists and more believable science than science fiction making this a very enjoyable and entertaining read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good Read

Overall a good combination of humor, action and interesting perspective on human and alien nature. I Highly Recommend.

If you like John Ringo's other books you'll like this one

This is a little different than Ringo's other battle novels in that the character is not a warrior. The character is the common man who finds a way for earth to become free of alien mafia typs. It is well written with a great plot that I found very enjoyable.

Gotta Read

This is the first book of a new series. The book while a bit technical is a good read, especially the "syrup wars".

All in all a great way to pass a snowy afternoon in front of the fireplace

fun thriller

The Grtul came first constructing the Gudrum Ring to expand trade by making Earth a galactic partner. Humans reacted with trepidation and adulation as the global economy begins to go galaxy.

Three peaceful years pass with earthlings growing in confidence that they are equal trading partners. However, everything changes abruptly when the Horvath arrive in warships. They destroy several metropolises as a warning. Terra is theirs. Entrepreneur Tyler Vernon knows that the entire galaxy loves maple syrup and that no military martinet species is going to prevent him from selling Vermont style to customers. He considers smuggling, but knows a cost benefit analysis suggests the maple Syrup counterinsurgency might be a better way to kick the Horvath off earth.

The concept is terrific with its obvious parallels to the current global economy as John Ringo combines a hostile alien planetary takeover with musings on the convergence of science and economics that in modern times make it difficult for an individual to Live Free or Die trying. The story line drifts between a hyperspeed shoot em up revolution and turtle-speed dialogues on the economic-science convergence. Both prove interesting, but also overwhelm characterizations including the maple syrup entrepreneur. Still fans will enjoy Mr. Ringo's combining of economics, science and alien invasion as overall this is a thought provoking fun thriller.

Harriet Klausner

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