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Posleen War #5
The Hero
A Deranged Human Who Lives to Deal Death
Stalks an Alien Who Cannot Bear to Kill,
with the Galaxy's Future in the Balance.
Science Fiction Adventure in the Posleen War Universe from a New York Times Best-Selling Author and a New Star of Military Science Fiction.
It's a matter of trust.
For thousands of years the Darhel, a warrior species conditioned to be incapable of killing, manipulated and controlled the human race. Then the humans threw off their yoke and, as humans tend to do, attempted to exterminate them.
Now, for the first time, a Darhel has been assigned to the elite Deep Reconnaissance Team commandos.
Trust, in a small unit, is vital. And there was no trust to be had on either side.
But when the mission encountered an alien device worth more than a king's ransom, it was the humans who betrayed the trust.
Now the despised Darhel must race against the team's sniper to prevent the artifact falling into the wrong hands. The Darhel has empathic powers, superhuman strength and the speed of a cheetah. The sniper has years of experience and enormous ability. The sniper can kill. The Darhel cannot.
The fate of the galaxy and the human race for the next thousand years hangs in the balance and that balance rests on the shoulders of a Darhel.
The Hero has a thousand faces, but is one of them the face of an elf
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).
Stalks an Alien Who Cannot Bear to Kill,
with the Galaxy's Future in the Balance.
Science Fiction Adventure in the Posleen War Universe from a New York Times Best-Selling Author and a New Star of Military Science Fiction.
It's a matter of trust.
For thousands of years the Darhel, a warrior species conditioned to be incapable of killing, manipulated and controlled the human race. Then the humans threw off their yoke and, as humans tend to do, attempted to exterminate them.
Now, for the first time, a Darhel has been assigned to the elite Deep Reconnaissance Team commandos.
Trust, in a small unit, is vital. And there was no trust to be had on either side.
But when the mission encountered an alien device worth more than a king's ransom, it was the humans who betrayed the trust.
Now the despised Darhel must race against the team's sniper to prevent the artifact falling into the wrong hands. The Darhel has empathic powers, superhuman strength and the speed of a cheetah. The sniper has years of experience and enormous ability. The sniper can kill. The Darhel cannot.
The fate of the galaxy and the human race for the next thousand years hangs in the balance and that balance rests on the shoulders of a Darhel.
The Hero has a thousand faces, but is one of them the face of an elf
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1997
80 people are currently reading
680 people want to read
About the author
John Ringo
101 books1,830 followersJohn Ringo is a prolific author who has written in a wide variety of genres. His early life included a great deal of travel. He visited 23 foreign countries, and attended fourteen different schools. After graduation Ringo enlisted in the US military for four years, after which he studied marine biology.
In 1999 he wrote and published his first novel "A Hymn Before Battle", which proved successful. Since 2000 Ringo has been a full time author.
He has written science fiction, military fiction, and fantasy.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
In 1999 he wrote and published his first novel "A Hymn Before Battle", which proved successful. Since 2000 Ringo has been a full time author.
He has written science fiction, military fiction, and fantasy.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 6, 2023
I'm not sure what's worse:
- An entirely pointless story
- Spending half the book getting to know a completely irrelevant group of characters
- Spending half the book reading about a single stalking episode with no purpose and nobody with an expectation of winning worth rooting for
- The complete lack of relationship to any other part of this universe
- The attempt at universe building without anything to support it
...
Or so many other failures I can't even begin to think them through.
- An entirely pointless story
- Spending half the book getting to know a completely irrelevant group of characters
- Spending half the book reading about a single stalking episode with no purpose and nobody with an expectation of winning worth rooting for
- The complete lack of relationship to any other part of this universe
- The attempt at universe building without anything to support it
...
Or so many other failures I can't even begin to think them through.
June 11, 2011
I can hardly believe this was written by the same guy who wrote "Into the Looking Glass." I liked that book very much. This one was just really, really bad, I'm sad to say. Ringo did have a co-author named Michael Z. Williamson, so I don't know if Williamson wrote most of the book or not. If I had read this one first, I'd never ever have read another Ringo book. As it is, it'll be a long time before I risk it after this.
And now for the spoilers. First, we spend almost 190 pages getting to know a group of characters. They are not an exciting 190 pages and consist of some chattering, some commentary about weaponry, and some military training. Finally the squad lands on what we are hoping is an enemy planet. They quickly discover an alien artifact that is worth a lot of money. Promptly, one of the squad uses a grenade to kill all but two of the people we've spent 190 pages getting to know. The rest of the book, about 200 pages, is spent in the murderer and the two survivors chasing each other around and trying to kill each other. I was so pissed off by that time that I only sped read the rest of it. Very disappointing.
And now for the spoilers. First, we spend almost 190 pages getting to know a group of characters. They are not an exciting 190 pages and consist of some chattering, some commentary about weaponry, and some military training. Finally the squad lands on what we are hoping is an enemy planet. They quickly discover an alien artifact that is worth a lot of money. Promptly, one of the squad uses a grenade to kill all but two of the people we've spent 190 pages getting to know. The rest of the book, about 200 pages, is spent in the murderer and the two survivors chasing each other around and trying to kill each other. I was so pissed off by that time that I only sped read the rest of it. Very disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2017
05/30/17 3rd re-read. Not bad, a tad drawn out with combat scene after combat scene, but still quite good.
October 10, 2017
I read this when it first came out and, while not quite "hating" it, extremely, extremely disliked it. I think it was because as drawn-out as the story was, the ending was exceptionally anticlimactic. I have not read it since, and only read it because I was reading the series "in chronological order" as much as possible. This clearly being the "final book" in the series [as it takes place over one thousand years after the events in the first eleven books], it was the last one I read [unless the author ever decides to finish the portion of the series involving the war with the Hedren]. It was okay. I'd probably rank it 2.3 - 2.5 stars but am rounding it down. It is slow, very slow. I cannot say if the character development was "good" or "bad" [as some of it did produce some strong emotional reactions, but those reactions could have been more because of poor writing than good development]. I was glad when it was over, though. I will admit, I did enjoy it more this time around, but that could have been because of the residual emotional negativity I associated with the book the first time around.
I have read that this book is no longer considered "canon" for the series. Whatever.
What I did like about the book:
This book is (was) very different than the first four books in the series. I would say the authors go for a "twist" that is supposed to turn any assumptions the reader has on their head in reference to the players in the story, but I do not know how well the "twist" works. I suppose it works fairly well, but this book is still my least favorite in the series. The only reason I kept it was because it was a part of the series, and one of my faults is that I am a "completist" (or was at the time).
I am glad that I reread it [after not having read it once since it came out thirteen years ago, the memory of the distaste for it still being so strong after all this time] as I actually did enjoy some of it more than I did the first time around. Still do not like the ending. But I am glad that I visited it again.
I have read that this book is no longer considered "canon" for the series. Whatever.
What I did like about the book:
This book is (was) very different than the first four books in the series. I would say the authors go for a "twist" that is supposed to turn any assumptions the reader has on their head in reference to the players in the story, but I do not know how well the "twist" works. I suppose it works fairly well, but this book is still my least favorite in the series. The only reason I kept it was because it was a part of the series, and one of my faults is that I am a "completist" (or was at the time).
I am glad that I reread it [after not having read it once since it came out thirteen years ago, the memory of the distaste for it still being so strong after all this time] as I actually did enjoy some of it more than I did the first time around. Still do not like the ending. But I am glad that I visited it again.
Read
February 1, 2021I liked Michael Z. Williamson's first novel so well that I thought I'd check out something else by him. The only thing I had handy was this collaboration by Ringo and Williamson, so...
I was a bit disappointed. It's possibly my own fault. I stopped reading Ringo's Posleen war series after about the fourth book, and that was quite some time ago, so there was probably a lot of background information that would have made this book make far more sense to me.
There were probably many interesting things in this book about the nature of the Posleen, Aldenata, and Darhel races that avid readers of the series have been puzzling over for years, but they were pretty much lost on me.
Ringo and Williamson spend quite a bit of time building the characters on a special forces team, letting us get to know them, perhaps to empathize with them. The team is sent to a world where the Blobs (a new enemy, as far as I can tell) have an outpost. Previous teams have failed to come back with any information.
The team discovers an ancient ruin of the Aldenata civilization, with some sort of mysterious artifact, which they remove and take with them. They also find the Blob outpost, and it turns out to be a decoy. They begin to head back to their waiting ship to return to the home worlds, when one of their number, Dagger, betrays and kills most of them with a neural grenade, intending to steal the artifact for himself, as it's potentially worth a billion credits.
What the heck? Why did they give us all this information about characters who were merely going to be cannon fodder after a short portion of the book?
The one alien member of the team, who can sense emotions and sometimes thoughts, if they are intense enough, a Darhel named Tindal, realizes the attack is coming just in time to grab the artifact and run. Another member of the team, Ferret, reacts just enough to avoid being killed, though he is somewhat crippled by the neural damage to his legs. From that point forward, the three of them play a cat-and-mouse game on the route back to the rendezvous point.
Dagger wants the artifact for himself, Tindal wants to take it to his home planet, where it can be studied by his people, and Ferret just wants revenge for his fallen comrades. Aside from the tension of them stalking each other for the next 150 pages or so, there's not a lot of meat to this novel. There were some interesting "reveals", perhaps, about the Darhel race, for those who have been following the series more closely.
I don't think this was either author's best work.
I was a bit disappointed. It's possibly my own fault. I stopped reading Ringo's Posleen war series after about the fourth book, and that was quite some time ago, so there was probably a lot of background information that would have made this book make far more sense to me.
There were probably many interesting things in this book about the nature of the Posleen, Aldenata, and Darhel races that avid readers of the series have been puzzling over for years, but they were pretty much lost on me.
Ringo and Williamson spend quite a bit of time building the characters on a special forces team, letting us get to know them, perhaps to empathize with them. The team is sent to a world where the Blobs (a new enemy, as far as I can tell) have an outpost. Previous teams have failed to come back with any information.
The team discovers an ancient ruin of the Aldenata civilization, with some sort of mysterious artifact, which they remove and take with them. They also find the Blob outpost, and it turns out to be a decoy. They begin to head back to their waiting ship to return to the home worlds, when one of their number, Dagger, betrays and kills most of them with a neural grenade, intending to steal the artifact for himself, as it's potentially worth a billion credits.
What the heck? Why did they give us all this information about characters who were merely going to be cannon fodder after a short portion of the book?
The one alien member of the team, who can sense emotions and sometimes thoughts, if they are intense enough, a Darhel named Tindal, realizes the attack is coming just in time to grab the artifact and run. Another member of the team, Ferret, reacts just enough to avoid being killed, though he is somewhat crippled by the neural damage to his legs. From that point forward, the three of them play a cat-and-mouse game on the route back to the rendezvous point.
Dagger wants the artifact for himself, Tindal wants to take it to his home planet, where it can be studied by his people, and Ferret just wants revenge for his fallen comrades. Aside from the tension of them stalking each other for the next 150 pages or so, there's not a lot of meat to this novel. There were some interesting "reveals", perhaps, about the Darhel race, for those who have been following the series more closely.
I don't think this was either author's best work.
December 30, 2016
This stand-alone novel set in the Ringo's original universe was a major disappointment. The Posleen War 'trilogy' (starting with A Hymn Before Battle) had such an enormous scope, with all of the universe getting involved and the Earth being transformed forever, that I couldn't help expecting more from THE HERO. Instead of an epic struggle that further develops the Legacy of the Aldenata series, this book presents an isolated incident without any obvious impact on the rest of the universe. A few scraps of information contributing to the series as a whole were appreciated, but they were few and far between and only provided limited information. This is a short and simple story that I wouldn't recommend even to fans of the previous books.
Taking place over 1,000 years after the end of the Posleen War, THE HERO begins by introducing some fairly interesting characters that make up a special operations team about to head out on a dangerous-sounding mission. A new enemy has been identified (sadly called the Blobs) and the team is to do some preliminary reconnaissance on a fringe world. Seems like a decent set up, but half way through the story Ringo and Williamson throw you a major curve ball and change the entire plot in a single page. From that point on you're left with a pretty nasty three-way fight for survival on a strange planet between three of the original team. Interesting looks into the psyches of a lunatic and a Darhel (the most mysterious of the aliens populating this universe) are interspersed with fairly tense but predictable action sequences. That is all you get through the end of the book.
Entertaining, but not a good fit into the previously excellent series. I hope that the other coauthored books in the series will please me more, or else I won't be continuing with the series.
Not recommended.
Taking place over 1,000 years after the end of the Posleen War, THE HERO begins by introducing some fairly interesting characters that make up a special operations team about to head out on a dangerous-sounding mission. A new enemy has been identified (sadly called the Blobs) and the team is to do some preliminary reconnaissance on a fringe world. Seems like a decent set up, but half way through the story Ringo and Williamson throw you a major curve ball and change the entire plot in a single page. From that point on you're left with a pretty nasty three-way fight for survival on a strange planet between three of the original team. Interesting looks into the psyches of a lunatic and a Darhel (the most mysterious of the aliens populating this universe) are interspersed with fairly tense but predictable action sequences. That is all you get through the end of the book.
Entertaining, but not a good fit into the previously excellent series. I hope that the other coauthored books in the series will please me more, or else I won't be continuing with the series.
Not recommended.
March 28, 2022
The Hero de John Ringo et Michael Z. Williamson, cinquième tome de la série "The Posleen war saga"
Lu en anglais
Plus de mille ans après le tome précédent, les Posleen ne sont plus qu'une menace mineure. Mais certaines races extraterrestres menacent les zones revendiquées par les humains. C'est pourquoi on envoie un petit commando enquêter sur un probable camp ennemi sur une planète qui est dans la zone humaine. Un commando disparate de différents experts avec, pour la première fois, un extraterrestre de l'espèce des Darhlel, qui va agir comme sensitif et docteur. Après l'infiltration sur la planète, c'est l'approche lente du camp ennemi, pour ne pas se faire remarquer. Et là, c'est le gros lot; un artefact d'une race d'extraterrestres disparue, dont la technologie extrêmement avancée est utilisée par plusieurs espèces, mais sans vraiment être comprise. Mais l'avidité va faire basculer le programme initial.
Dans ce livre, on change complètement de registre. Alors que, dans les livres précédents, se jouaient le sort de planètes entières avec des affrontements de millions de combattants, dans celui-ci, on implique seulement quelques individus et une faune extraterrestre d'insectes géants avec des carapaces hyper résistances et des cisailles à l'avenant. Et c'est sans compter une partie inspirée un peu des chasses du comte Zaroff.
J'ai tout de même aimé, mais j'ai trouvé le roman un peu long. De la science-fiction militaire sans grande envergure.
Lu en anglais
Plus de mille ans après le tome précédent, les Posleen ne sont plus qu'une menace mineure. Mais certaines races extraterrestres menacent les zones revendiquées par les humains. C'est pourquoi on envoie un petit commando enquêter sur un probable camp ennemi sur une planète qui est dans la zone humaine. Un commando disparate de différents experts avec, pour la première fois, un extraterrestre de l'espèce des Darhlel, qui va agir comme sensitif et docteur. Après l'infiltration sur la planète, c'est l'approche lente du camp ennemi, pour ne pas se faire remarquer. Et là, c'est le gros lot; un artefact d'une race d'extraterrestres disparue, dont la technologie extrêmement avancée est utilisée par plusieurs espèces, mais sans vraiment être comprise. Mais l'avidité va faire basculer le programme initial.
Dans ce livre, on change complètement de registre. Alors que, dans les livres précédents, se jouaient le sort de planètes entières avec des affrontements de millions de combattants, dans celui-ci, on implique seulement quelques individus et une faune extraterrestre d'insectes géants avec des carapaces hyper résistances et des cisailles à l'avenant. Et c'est sans compter une partie inspirée un peu des chasses du comte Zaroff.
J'ai tout de même aimé, mais j'ai trouvé le roman un peu long. De la science-fiction militaire sans grande envergure.
January 29, 2019
This book is a stand-alone novel set in John Ringo's Posleen War universe. It is co-written by John Ringo and Michael Z. Williamson. They are two of my favorite Military Science Fiction authors. That being said I was somewhat disappointed in this book. The Posleen War trilogy, starting with A Hymn Before Battle, had such an enormous scope, with all of the universe getting involved and the Earth being transformed forever, that I couldn't help expecting more from THE HERO. Instead of an epic struggle, this book presents an isolated incident without any obvious impact on the rest of the universe. None of the characters from books 1 - 4 are in this book. A few scraps of information contributing to the series are included, but they were few and far between and only provided limited information. This book is not up to the usual standards of either John Ringo or Michael Z. Williamson. I wouldn't recommend this book to fans of the previous books or to fans of these authors.
March 19, 2018
I have loved all 4 of the previous books in the series. This book was just long and boring. Imagine a single story line about the Battan Death March....told every step by step. And that's the book.
"Hero"? All the other books at hero's and this one had 3 characters that made a long long long death march. Single story line. I felt like I was the one getting tortured.
Clearly this book aims to be some sort of leap to allow the situation at the end of book 4 to be transitioned much further along in time. And I hope there resumes the excellent story telling of the first 4 books.
Frankly, I don't think this book gave much insight or resolution on the Darhel anymore than the opening scene of the very first book.
"Hero"? All the other books at hero's and this one had 3 characters that made a long long long death march. Single story line. I felt like I was the one getting tortured.
Clearly this book aims to be some sort of leap to allow the situation at the end of book 4 to be transitioned much further along in time. And I hope there resumes the excellent story telling of the first 4 books.
Frankly, I don't think this book gave much insight or resolution on the Darhel anymore than the opening scene of the very first book.
February 28, 2018
This book didn't even remotely felt like it was written by Ringo. The style and everything about it (barring the 1000 years later in the same universe) was utterly different. I didn't like the first half at all.
The second half was more tolerable, largely because it had more action and suspense, but I still didn't think it was that great.
The second half was more tolerable, largely because it had more action and suspense, but I still didn't think it was that great.
March 1, 2023
Ugh....
About what I expected from a collaboration between ringo and the other dude...Williamson used ringos name to write a book that was half written at best. Ringo let him to make an easy buck...honestly feels like dad let his son write a random book and gave him a participation trophy. Stupid ending that left me actually wanting more but knowing ill never get it. The whole series was left wide open with no real conclusion.... Never again will I waste money on ringos books.
About what I expected from a collaboration between ringo and the other dude...Williamson used ringos name to write a book that was half written at best. Ringo let him to make an easy buck...honestly feels like dad let his son write a random book and gave him a participation trophy. Stupid ending that left me actually wanting more but knowing ill never get it. The whole series was left wide open with no real conclusion.... Never again will I waste money on ringos books.
January 1, 2021
Hero is a side story to Ringo's Aldenata series set hundreds of years after the main story line. A special ops unit is destroyed by a mutineer and sets off a predator/prey race among the three survivors to save/steal an alien artifact. Much of this book feels like the movie Enemy at the Gates.
August 3, 2018
I'm not sure how the series skipped a thousand years into the future, but there no way to piece the series together from this point forward.
This story feels like a short story that got out of hand.
Just enjoy each work as a stand alone.
This story feels like a short story that got out of hand.
Just enjoy each work as a stand alone.
August 6, 2019
A Remake of the good the bad and the ugly?, Not quite but the three-way dual was a great action thriller, not really part of the last few books but a good stand alone, but I would read the earlier books just to understand the races. This was a good Read
September 25, 2019
I enjoyed this, but there’s not much here. The first four books of the Posleen War series was a sprawling saga with multiple characters. This novel was more tactical in nature, ultimately coming down to one character chasing an alien. Bit drawn out, but diverting.
February 8, 2021
Excellent continuation
Good read. Storyline easy to follow. Good character development. Tags into original storyline as centuries later. Great reminder at end to stories in earlier books.
Good read. Storyline easy to follow. Good character development. Tags into original storyline as centuries later. Great reminder at end to stories in earlier books.
April 15, 2022
Ugh author(s) use prejudiced terms in this book
I didn't get very far in this book. The writing was poor. Also the author seemed to like using a word that's a Jewish stereotype. Not worth reading.
I didn't get very far in this book. The writing was poor. Also the author seemed to like using a word that's a Jewish stereotype. Not worth reading.
December 5, 2020
Actually it is one of the better book of the series. It either should come as a short story, or should put some more ideas/plot into it.
August 22, 2021
Confusing
April 2, 2024
Not the best
Drawn out, boring. A whole book about one mission and a Rachel finding his way. Then it abruptly ends. No real closure. A shame.
Drawn out, boring. A whole book about one mission and a Rachel finding his way. Then it abruptly ends. No real closure. A shame.
December 1, 2019
While it has some interesting concepts, the story just seemed to drag out throughout the entire book.
March 2, 2014
Product Description
It's a matter of trust. For thousands of years the Darhel, a warrior species conditioned to be incapable of killing, manipulated and controlled the human race. Then the humans threw off their yoke. Now, for the first time, a Darhel has been assigned to the elite Deep Reconnaissance Team commandos. Trust, in a small unit, is vital. And there was no trust to be had on either side. But when the mission encountered an alien device worth more than a king's ransom, it was the humans who betrayed the trust. Now the despised Darhel must race against the team's sniper to prevent the artifact falling into the wrong hands. The Darhel has empathic powers, superhuman strength and the speed of a cheetah. The sniper has years of experience and enormous ability. The sniper can kill. The Darhel cannot. The fate of the galaxy and the human race for the next thousand years rests on the shoulders of a Darhel. The Hero has a thousand faces, but is one of them the face of an elf?
From the AuthorI've noticed a lot of confusion over the nature of the device. The following is a spoiler, so if you've read the book and didn't grasp the significance of the artifact, here it is:
Hardcover, page 310 bottom and 311 top Paperback, page 390 top to 2/3 down.
The device is a Lindal, an artificial means of initiating Lintatai--catatonia--in an empathic Darhel. This is the psychological danger Tirdal faces throughout the book. This genetically engineered trait is called Lindai.
Obviously, the Aldenata needed some way of keeping a race as dangerous as the Darhel from rebelling, and this was the extra safety--a psionic device to prevent them from entering controlled areas. Naturally, it would be disastrous to allow humans to study this device and possibly gain control of Darhel.
Which left as the ending of the story: which one of the three was the hero?
June 5, 2024
I would give this book 3 1/2 stars if I could. It was pretty exciting even though it was fairly obvious how it was going to end. It kept my interest the whole time.
The story: This story takes place almost a thousand years into the future in the Posleen/Aldenata/Darhel/Tslek universe. The Tsleks have been probing into Federation space and killing off colony planets, so a Deep Reconnaissance Team has been sent to find out if a Tslek forward base has been established on a particular planet. (The team includes a Darhel with an ability to sense minds and emotions) As the team works its way through a hostile jungle environment, it stumbles upon a weak energy source, an ancient Aldenata device. Such artifacts are worth a fortune and someone gets greedy. Then it becomes a race to see who can get to the extraction point alive with the artifact.
Any problems with this story? It is a bit of a shock to find the story moved 1,000 years into the future. The Darhel are actually cooperating with humans? It took some getting used to. Also the Darhel team member showed abilities not yet seen in the race... at least not in the previous 5 books in the series.
Any modesty issues? The F-word is used over 20 times. Beyond that, nothing sexual that I recall.
As I said before, the ending is somewhat predictable, but there is a twist at the end. I didn't fully understand why it ended that way. I could see other ways of ending it. (Sorry for being so vague, but it is a twist in the plot and I don't want to give it away.)
I will not rush to read this book again, but I think it is inevitable that I will read it some time in the future.
The story: This story takes place almost a thousand years into the future in the Posleen/Aldenata/Darhel/Tslek universe. The Tsleks have been probing into Federation space and killing off colony planets, so a Deep Reconnaissance Team has been sent to find out if a Tslek forward base has been established on a particular planet. (The team includes a Darhel with an ability to sense minds and emotions) As the team works its way through a hostile jungle environment, it stumbles upon a weak energy source, an ancient Aldenata device. Such artifacts are worth a fortune and someone gets greedy. Then it becomes a race to see who can get to the extraction point alive with the artifact.
Any problems with this story? It is a bit of a shock to find the story moved 1,000 years into the future. The Darhel are actually cooperating with humans? It took some getting used to. Also the Darhel team member showed abilities not yet seen in the race... at least not in the previous 5 books in the series.
Any modesty issues? The F-word is used over 20 times. Beyond that, nothing sexual that I recall.
As I said before, the ending is somewhat predictable, but there is a twist at the end. I didn't fully understand why it ended that way. I could see other ways of ending it. (Sorry for being so vague, but it is a twist in the plot and I don't want to give it away.)
I will not rush to read this book again, but I think it is inevitable that I will read it some time in the future.
October 4, 2011
This story is set about a thousand years after the events in the Posleen War series. The titular hero is a Darhel. The Darhel are known as being the puppetmasters of humanity a millennium earlier, and also for being incapable of killing. He is assigned to a Deep Reconnaissance Commando team due to his psychic ability to sense living beings. The rest of the team is made up of humans. They are sent on a scouting missions to a planet held by the “Blobs”, a mysterious enemy. While there, they find an Aldenata artifact, and the team sniper betrays the team, killing almost all of the members in a bid to secure the valuable artifact for himself. The Darhel now has to evade the sniper and eliminate him as a threat, despite his racial inability to kill.
This book is a very tight knit drama of a few individuals. The psychological aspects are very interesting, delving into motivations and character. The story itself was unfortunately somewhat weak. The first half is basically a set up for the chase in the second half. The chase, though interesting, felt a bit long-winded. If you are interested in special forces and sniper operations, it is a decent read, but despite its exposition on Darhel physiology and psychology, it does not add very much to the Legacy of the Aldenata universe.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1197
This book is a very tight knit drama of a few individuals. The psychological aspects are very interesting, delving into motivations and character. The story itself was unfortunately somewhat weak. The first half is basically a set up for the chase in the second half. The chase, though interesting, felt a bit long-winded. If you are interested in special forces and sniper operations, it is a decent read, but despite its exposition on Darhel physiology and psychology, it does not add very much to the Legacy of the Aldenata universe.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1197
May 1, 2014
Overall, I liked it. Where the previous novels in the series were solid 4 to 4.5, this was more like a 3.5 to a weak 4. While the first part of the story introducing all of the characters was OK, it seemed a little slow going. Things picked up once the team got inserted on the planet, but it didn't really get good until the betrayal and stalk. I feel like I've read the stalking sequence, at least in part, before. But, I'm not sure where, perhaps John Ringo or Michael Z. Williamson put out a short story similar to it? Set a thousand years in the future, I felt like I was missing some part of the story. I liked the characters, wish Gun Doll and Ferret could have made it all the way through. The resolution of the hunt was fairly predictable. Decent book, but not quite as strong as the others. Definitely worth the read if you liked the previous novels, but not something to start with.
The eBook was formatted fine with no obvious spelling/grammar errors. Thanks to Baen for the Free Library and promotional CDs.
The eBook was formatted fine with no obvious spelling/grammar errors. Thanks to Baen for the Free Library and promotional CDs.
August 26, 2010
The Hero (Posleen War Series #5) by John Ringo and Michael Z. Williamson
We met the Darhel earlier in this series. An alien race that played a huge part in the Posleen War. This story places Tirdal, a Darhel, in a deep reconnaissance team with humans. They are sent on a mission to determine if the new foe has established a beachhead on their target world. The interplay between the humans and their alien teammate provides the tension for the story.
This is not the typical action dominated Ringo story. In that, it was a disappointment. However as a study of interspecies relations it was excellent. An understanding of the Darhel fills some gaps in the background of the Posleen series. The implacable Dagger, a sniper, faces the immutable Tirdal in a contest of wills. Ferret provides the positive human role model that offsets the despicable Dagger. This was an excellent character study that fleshed out parts of the Posleen series. I am sure it is disappointing to the adrenalin junkies who revel in the mad mayhem that often is a hallmark of John Ringo but I liked the book. At the end, you will find yourself wondering, who was the hero?
I recommend it.
We met the Darhel earlier in this series. An alien race that played a huge part in the Posleen War. This story places Tirdal, a Darhel, in a deep reconnaissance team with humans. They are sent on a mission to determine if the new foe has established a beachhead on their target world. The interplay between the humans and their alien teammate provides the tension for the story.
This is not the typical action dominated Ringo story. In that, it was a disappointment. However as a study of interspecies relations it was excellent. An understanding of the Darhel fills some gaps in the background of the Posleen series. The implacable Dagger, a sniper, faces the immutable Tirdal in a contest of wills. Ferret provides the positive human role model that offsets the despicable Dagger. This was an excellent character study that fleshed out parts of the Posleen series. I am sure it is disappointing to the adrenalin junkies who revel in the mad mayhem that often is a hallmark of John Ringo but I liked the book. At the end, you will find yourself wondering, who was the hero?
I recommend it.
June 16, 2013
If you've read much of John Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata series you most likely are expecting very classic military science fiction which characteristic of the early books like a Hymn before Battle. Or your expecting the spy vs spy nature of Cally's War books. The Hero is more the latter than the former. Yes the book is about a Darhel who is member of a special forces team but is only part of the story.
I would say the book could have been edited down a bit in the last few chapters it could easily drop 30 pages and not really lose anything. Its an enjoyable read. The mind games shifting perspective which can get old in other Ringo books it really works here. And there is a real sense of drama on who is going to come out of the book alive sense these are all unknown character granted our Darhel drops a hint early on that does undercut that a bit. Its an important part of the character but drama would have been a bit higher without it.
If you've enjoyed the Cally's War books I think you will enjoy "The Hero"
I would say the book could have been edited down a bit in the last few chapters it could easily drop 30 pages and not really lose anything. Its an enjoyable read. The mind games shifting perspective which can get old in other Ringo books it really works here. And there is a real sense of drama on who is going to come out of the book alive sense these are all unknown character granted our Darhel drops a hint early on that does undercut that a bit. Its an important part of the character but drama would have been a bit higher without it.
If you've enjoyed the Cally's War books I think you will enjoy "The Hero"
June 16, 2012
Note : this review is of the Kindle edition.
This book is an oddity. Though now put as number 5 in the Posleen war saga, it is not in the main sequence at all. It is set approximately a thousand years later than all the other books. It is also different in having a very small cast of characters.
There are points in the book where I was left thinking, this is 'Arena' (Star Trek, original series), aka the Fredric Brown short story, and other derivatives, or 'Enemy Mine'. Fortunately John Ringo does not chicken out into a chorus of Kumbayah round a campfire, but follows the logic of the story out to a neat, if not completely original, ending.
Persevere, as the book gets better as you go on.
This book is an oddity. Though now put as number 5 in the Posleen war saga, it is not in the main sequence at all. It is set approximately a thousand years later than all the other books. It is also different in having a very small cast of characters.
There are points in the book where I was left thinking, this is 'Arena' (Star Trek, original series), aka the Fredric Brown short story, and other derivatives, or 'Enemy Mine'. Fortunately John Ringo does not chicken out into a chorus of Kumbayah round a campfire, but follows the logic of the story out to a neat, if not completely original, ending.
Persevere, as the book gets better as you go on.
September 3, 2010
I really enjoyed this one. I wasn't expecting the fifth book in the series to jump ahead several hundred years and not involve any of the main characters. At first that disappointed me.
The book was a solid military adventure for the first half and then a survival/suspense as the remaining characters hunted each other. Quite enjoyable, perhaps because I wasn't expecting it to be after the initial disappointment.
The book was a solid military adventure for the first half and then a survival/suspense as the remaining characters hunted each other. Quite enjoyable, perhaps because I wasn't expecting it to be after the initial disappointment.
October 15, 2010
Different. I had expected this to carry on from the end of Hell's Faire.
Instead, it's 1,000 years in the future. Sunday and O'Neal's line has continued. The Darhel have been exposed and it's a new enemy that's been added to the roster. Did not get involved with the characters. This story was a blip on the radar. And I sure wouldn't miss it if it disappeared.
Loved the cool (& sneaky) war bots in use by then!
Instead, it's 1,000 years in the future. Sunday and O'Neal's line has continued. The Darhel have been exposed and it's a new enemy that's been added to the roster. Did not get involved with the characters. This story was a blip on the radar. And I sure wouldn't miss it if it disappeared.
Loved the cool (& sneaky) war bots in use by then!
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