Against the Tide

If you like conservative-oriented run-run-bang-bang stories, this is a readable entry in the genre.
My caveats are several.
First, as part of a series, it introduces from the start too many names and places for a newbie to absorb (this is my standard gripe about series books, however, so YMMV, authors: please quit giving a name to every tenth-assistant spear-carrier when they are only an extra on for a group pose, not a featured player).
The backstory is covered okay in the long-run, though.
Second, the author is incorporating swathes of exposition straight out of the Junior ROTC manual (I have a copy of the HS text from the fifties).
That's actually okay with me, it bears repeating to people who don't know the drill, but it breaks up show more the narrative flow and doesn't work well as dialogue.
Third, the geographical location is, AFAICT, the same as occupied by the USA today, but most of the place-names are unrecognizable, thus the territory is unvisualizable.
There are a couple of exceptions, which just makes the omissions and substitutions more annoying.
Fourth, the author really breaks the fourth-wall (around p. 359) by introducing references to current popular books and movies which would in no way be still current in the time-frame that is seems to me they are operating in.
(p. 368 the "cultural meme" of Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart is still remembered and a subject for revenge, though he was "3000 years ago").
I'm fine with a quote or two from Shakespeare or Sun Tzu, but (p. 359) "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"?? Really?!?
And a joke (p. 508) that got a professor fired very recently!
"Third floor, combat lingerie"
I'm all for sly satire, but that's just too heavy-handed.

Fifth, why the weird mix of scatological euphemisms and outright obscenity, sometimes from the same person?
Go for one or the other.
Personally, I prefer the first option as it allows readers who don't cuss the pleasure of reading the book, and the others can substitute the words of their choice.

Other than that, I liked it fine. show less

This series is an imaginative page-turner marred by some not-even-thinly-veiled politics and a weirdly adolescent take on sex. Nevertheless, Ringo has a great grasp on military techniques, culture, and history that makes me forgive him. I still think men would probably enjoy this more than I did, since they wouldn't have to keep overlooking his, I have to say, offensiveness.

Don't judge a book by its cover. While that angel-like character is in the book, she's almost non-important to the plot.

We get a look behind enemy lines in this one, complete with overtones of Ringo's BSDM themes. We also find out a lot more about what it takes to be a council member.

The books is almost worth reading just for the great Navy Seals joke.

Third book in the Council Wars series. Rather a disappointment. Seemed like a complete rehash of the first book. Towards the end a rather bizarre and completely unnecessary discussion of dom/sub sex practices was thrown in. This knocked it from three to two and a half stars. Still the pages turned and I was on balance entertained. Guess I shouldn't complain too much, even though this will doubtless soon fade into my memory as indistinguishable from a 100 or so other books like it.

This is the third book in the Council Wars series. This book covers the long promised invasion by New Destiny forces, as well as Megan's continued life in the harem. This book has a theme of incompetence in command, which is quite similar to some of Ringo's other books, such as A Hymn Before Battle and Gust Front. It is not fine literature, but it is a fun read and the characters are likeable.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/John_Ringo/Against_The_Tide.html

If you haven't read the short story at the conclusion of Emerald Sea, that would be a good place to start. Harem girls, a bit more politics, and a poorly run navy lead to a decisive UFS victory, but one battle doesn't win the war.

Vintage Ringo, but with a few less typos than earlier installments.

Sample Chapters: http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743498844/0743498844.htm