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The Council Wars #4
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Swords, Sex, and Rockets!Paradise falls. Humanity is thrown back to an age of steel and blood. Now the fuel that powers the ''changed'' world is up for grabs in an orbiting spacecraft. With only days to plan, rough and ready paladin Herzer Herrick must assemble a team of expert warriors capable of both seat-of-the-pants engineering and hand-to-hand combat in space. In the meantime, Herzer must face his own demons as he waits for his emotionally-scarred fianc to recover and finally bed him. And if that's not enough, there's a horde of ''changed'' orcs and goblins who are intent on delivering the power above to their totalitarian masters below. This is one space race free humanity cannot afford to lose!Multiple New York Times and USA Today best-seller John Ringo delivers another rousing entry in his ''Council Wars'' saga!At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).
377 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
53 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
John Ringo
101 books1,831 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 50 reviews
April 28, 2015
Oh cool, Space Orcs!
Or so I thought.
This is, sadly, the least fulfilling of the Council Wars series.
Orcs. In Space. Space Orcs. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, the shuttle launch, naturally.
In a world where the technology does indeed exist to teleport our heroes to the orbital re-fuelling ship that powers the generators allowing the Key Holders to wage their hi-tech "Wizard War" devastating a former utopia, Ringo opts to launch his gallant commando team by shuttle.
Here, Ringo's penchant for logistics goes into overdrive, and there follow (I kid ye not sir) 150,000 words of astronaut training. This has been preceded by 50,000 words of character development while the Heroic Herzer Herrick picks his team. This first quarter of the book is right on par with Ringo's usual high standard. However, as the gruelling astornaut training proceeds, the reader cannot help become aware of the ever-slimming portion of the book remaining for the actual action, on the actual spaceship, which is the actual point of the book.
The final arrival on the refuelling ship is a confusing FUBAR on the part of both assault teams, Heric Herzer's squad slaughtered but the fuel captured and Earth saved nonetheless. This is not a spoiler; this is obviously what would happen.
However, Ringo's handling of the layout of the ship, the effects of microgravity and indeed the combat sequences, all but fall apart. The final battle consists of Herzer calmly giving orders or frantically racing to save his girlfriend, while the enemy screw up, scream at each other, and slaughter Herzer's crew.
All in all, this one was a disappointment, which I'm very sorry to say, being a big enough of fan of Ringo's work to have read the whole million-word saga straight from start to finish.
I can only blame the publishers, cutting the length of the series and screwing with the pacing so that we will never know the fates of the remaining characters.
Or so I thought.
This is, sadly, the least fulfilling of the Council Wars series.
Orcs. In Space. Space Orcs. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, the shuttle launch, naturally.
In a world where the technology does indeed exist to teleport our heroes to the orbital re-fuelling ship that powers the generators allowing the Key Holders to wage their hi-tech "Wizard War" devastating a former utopia, Ringo opts to launch his gallant commando team by shuttle.
Here, Ringo's penchant for logistics goes into overdrive, and there follow (I kid ye not sir) 150,000 words of astronaut training. This has been preceded by 50,000 words of character development while the Heroic Herzer Herrick picks his team. This first quarter of the book is right on par with Ringo's usual high standard. However, as the gruelling astornaut training proceeds, the reader cannot help become aware of the ever-slimming portion of the book remaining for the actual action, on the actual spaceship, which is the actual point of the book.
The final arrival on the refuelling ship is a confusing FUBAR on the part of both assault teams, Heric Herzer's squad slaughtered but the fuel captured and Earth saved nonetheless. This is not a spoiler; this is obviously what would happen.
However, Ringo's handling of the layout of the ship, the effects of microgravity and indeed the combat sequences, all but fall apart. The final battle consists of Herzer calmly giving orders or frantically racing to save his girlfriend, while the enemy screw up, scream at each other, and slaughter Herzer's crew.
All in all, this one was a disappointment, which I'm very sorry to say, being a big enough of fan of Ringo's work to have read the whole million-word saga straight from start to finish.
I can only blame the publishers, cutting the length of the series and screwing with the pacing so that we will never know the fates of the remaining characters.
March 13, 2009
The most sci-fi of the bunch. Imagine Space Cadet with swords and orcs.
Not the best of the series, but still solid. Ringo also shows his male character actually have heart and understand the difference between love an sex.
My big problem with this book was it didn't have any elves in it. I expected it given how the elf plot ended in the last book. Hopefully we'll see more in the future.
Not the best of the series, but still solid. Ringo also shows his male character actually have heart and understand the difference between love an sex.
My big problem with this book was it didn't have any elves in it. I expected it given how the elf plot ended in the last book. Hopefully we'll see more in the future.
September 21, 2012
I don't know if I'm ever going to pick this up again. I got so annoyed with it. If it'd been a paperback instead of in ebook format, I'd probably have thrown it clear across the room...
(Also, apparently there aren't any elves. Bah.)
(Also, apparently there aren't any elves. Bah.)
January 9, 2022
March to the stars is a better version of this one
June 17, 2020
So-so finish to a great series. Felt...unfinished, a bit rushed.
November 9, 2021
OK. We are finally IN SPACE!
The idea is to cripple the other side by taking over one of the Helium-3 automated mining ships that are supplying the power plants on Earth. It is an exciting adventure, but rather bizarre in places. For one thing, the good guys seemed to have never thought that the other side might want to assassinate critical people. Thus they never have enough guards around to stop raids of monster scorpions. Secondly, it seems odd that one of the major characters was an ancient computer admin babe "before the Fall". I didn't believe it. It could have been true, certainly, but in the previous books she seemed to want to be a simple farmer's wife.
Any modesty issues? Well... sex seemed to be a major subject of conversation amongst the characters. When the guards saved the former harem girl's lives, they were grateful... a lot.
The ending seemed to tie up most of the issues and left yet another opening to a sequel. That sequel never came to be, so whatever future there might have been is left as an exercise for the reader's imagination.
The idea is to cripple the other side by taking over one of the Helium-3 automated mining ships that are supplying the power plants on Earth. It is an exciting adventure, but rather bizarre in places. For one thing, the good guys seemed to have never thought that the other side might want to assassinate critical people. Thus they never have enough guards around to stop raids of monster scorpions. Secondly, it seems odd that one of the major characters was an ancient computer admin babe "before the Fall". I didn't believe it. It could have been true, certainly, but in the previous books she seemed to want to be a simple farmer's wife.
Any modesty issues? Well... sex seemed to be a major subject of conversation amongst the characters. When the guards saved the former harem girl's lives, they were grateful... a lot.
The ending seemed to tie up most of the issues and left yet another opening to a sequel. That sequel never came to be, so whatever future there might have been is left as an exercise for the reader's imagination.
June 7, 2013
This book feels like a phoned in fanfiction for the rest of the series. While I don't agree with the author's political/sociological points entirely, at least his descriptions of society and his justifications, however wrong, were interesting in the other three books. This one, however, is nothing but a long slog through training for and fighting a battle in space. The ending
I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone who gets upset at authors who think rape leads to BDSM and that global warming really was just a hysterical myth, but it still makes a decent story...until this book. I might re-read the series again, but I won't bother with this particular book again.
I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone who gets upset at authors who think rape leads to BDSM and that global warming really was just a hysterical myth, but it still makes a decent story...until this book. I might re-read the series again, but I won't bother with this particular book again.
September 27, 2011
Book four is about a showdown of sorts, as both sides jockey for control of a ship full of fuel coming in from the outer solar system. The fuel is destined for the reactors powering the council’s interests. As usual, Herzer is in the thick of it. And oh yeah, there are orcs in space, but nothing much is really made of that.
This may be the last book, but the conclusion isn’t unambiguous. The story is rather simplistic. While Ringo is always entertaining, the epic dimension is missing. If you liked the first three books, you’ll enjoy this, but I still felt that it was a bit phoned in.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1169
This may be the last book, but the conclusion isn’t unambiguous. The story is rather simplistic. While Ringo is always entertaining, the epic dimension is missing. If you liked the first three books, you’ll enjoy this, but I still felt that it was a bit phoned in.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1169
April 30, 2008
In both of the other books I've read by Ringo, he quotes the adage, "No plan survives contact with the enemy." Annoyingly, all of the battle plans in the other books proceed to go off without a hitch. In this book, rather than simply telling us that no plans go as they're meant to, he actually shows the plans going awry, and forces the characters to display on-the-fly ingenuity. It's much more satisfying.
May 10, 2009
Major Herzer Herrick is back. Less sure of his role since the first book, he is now the fiance' of the key holder, Countess Megan Samantha Travante. What is his role as the side kick?
However, a major mission to seize the fuel needed to run Earth's power grid becomes a mission Herzer and Megan both need to be on.
The characters do not seem as rich a novel even though it takes 408 pages to complete the mission.
However, a major mission to seize the fuel needed to run Earth's power grid becomes a mission Herzer and Megan both need to be on.
The characters do not seem as rich a novel even though it takes 408 pages to complete the mission.
March 5, 2017
When the book series started it was so amazing. And it just slid into unremarkable. However, I will keep reading. They've not shaken me off the series yet.
January 9, 2019
This series is good, but the plot seems to have gone astray in the end as the author seemed to have want to finish over wanting to provide a quality conclusion.
February 21, 2024
Why no book 5!!?
October 8, 2017
Not quite as good as book 3, but still fun.
Well, we've had ground battles and sea battles, so let's top it all off with a space battle. Somehow, I think John Ringo had a bit of a talk with an 18C before figuring out the battle plan. Fun read.
Well, we've had ground battles and sea battles, so let's top it all off with a space battle. Somehow, I think John Ringo had a bit of a talk with an 18C before figuring out the battle plan. Fun read.
January 28, 2022
Medievaliiiiiists iiiiiiiin spaaaaace! While I kinda had the impression that Ringo wanted to see if he could get away with it, it was still fun watching him figure out how to launch the characters into space within the confines of a technopocalypse.
September 1, 2017
An appropriate end to a very creative series.
January 27, 2018
Another good sci fi book, will have to try and read some more of his stuff
March 15, 2019
A pretty good end to the series. 3.5 stars.
March 2, 2014
From Booklist
The possible conclusion to the postholocaust series The Council War is a rouser in Ringo's best manner. The New Dynasty warlords are bringing in a shipload of fuel that could give them a vital edge; their opponents have planned to hijack it. Unfortunately, the first Team Icarus has been destroyed, and Herzer Herrick and Megan Travante have to improvise a new one. The sequences in which the new team trains show Ringo's military background, and since many of the new recruits are female survivors of New Dynasty harems, motivation isn't a problem. Sex may be a problem for some readers, but Ringo has the rare knack of showing it as tragic, comic, zany, and lustful all at the same time, depending on who's having it and when. The eventual conclusion of the book is one of those page-turning action scenes that are a Ringo specialty. The question remains, Is the bioengineering of the New Dynasty out as well as down? Probably not, since the book's orcs have started thinking for themselves. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
When the council that controlled the world spanning computer Mother fell out in civil war, it plunged the world in an instant from high-tech utopia to medieval nightmare. Now Herzer Herrick and Megan Trevante have been assigned the mission to capture the spaceship that supplies the fuel for the whole world. Given that Herzer vaguely thinks orbital decay is something having to do with teeth it should be . . . interesting. With all the usual combat expected in a John Ringo novel, East of the Sun and West of the Moon sheds new light on the bizarre relationship between Herzer and Megan, the politics of the new born world and fascinating details of space technology. .
June 10, 2013
"Fourth in the series (and currently last, though the ending implies another installment), this installment was fun and fast-moving. Ringo specializes in military scifi, and he has the military part down pat. His interpersonal relationships are really poorly drawn (and ridiculous, and sometimes downright offensive) but he makes up for it with his depth of understanding about how the military operates, even when battling orcs in space. I wish there had been either a clearer description of the ship where the major battle takes place or a map, because the action is intricate and hard to follow in the absence of either. Also, I just took a master's level class in bioastronautics, and I'm pretty sure there are some important technical details that are incorrect. But there is a battle, in space, with orcs, so who am I to complain? Men will like this better than women, but I liked it too."
May 23, 2014
Council wars is a good saga with some cool ideas. I liked that the author concentrated on various aspects of war throughout the books and how creative he was about that.
I'd say some of the more interesting characters, e.g. Joie or Daneh's son, deserve way more attention and it's a waste that they didn't get more screentime. I also found the relationship of Megan and Herzer kind of strange - it seems to be so deep yet there isn't exactly a lot of description or hints of things and bonding that could lead to that. But otherwise the book was okay and I can't claim I haven't enjoyed it.
I very much hope that the Ringo will finish the next book and that it will be soon as I'm impatiently awaiting the end of the story which I expect will be worth it.
I'd say some of the more interesting characters, e.g. Joie or Daneh's son, deserve way more attention and it's a waste that they didn't get more screentime. I also found the relationship of Megan and Herzer kind of strange - it seems to be so deep yet there isn't exactly a lot of description or hints of things and bonding that could lead to that. But otherwise the book was okay and I can't claim I haven't enjoyed it.
I very much hope that the Ringo will finish the next book and that it will be soon as I'm impatiently awaiting the end of the story which I expect will be worth it.
March 9, 2011
Hard book to classify: there are strong fantasy elements on this series (mermaids, elves, orcs, swords, etc.), but at the same time everything operates from a theoretical scientific base. I'm dropping it into military sci-fi because the tactical elements are so critical here. Ringo is a lot like David Weber (whom he's written books with) in describing battle scenes down to the unit tactics level with exhaustive detail.
This is volume 4 in the Council Wars series, and it doesn't look like the end is upon us yet. Be interesting to see how this all wraps up.
This is volume 4 in the Council Wars series, and it doesn't look like the end is upon us yet. Be interesting to see how this all wraps up.
November 13, 2013
Hmmm. I enjoyed this, again, but had a little trouble getting into it. For some reason I had trouble picturing the action that was being described, and that made it harder to be fully immersed in the story. I do hope that the remaining books in this series, whenever they come into existence, will stay mostly on the surface of the Earth and follow what's happening in the new civilization more closely.
But that aside, this is a rollicking adventure aboard a spaceship with giant spiders and orcs and goblins to fight! Really, as with the rest of this series, great fun.
But that aside, this is a rollicking adventure aboard a spaceship with giant spiders and orcs and goblins to fight! Really, as with the rest of this series, great fun.
January 26, 2016
The refueling ship is finally on its way, but the only way to guarantee the New Destiny Forces will not be in control of the HE3 is to control the ship and all the fuel supplies for the power plants. The UFS has a plan for that, but as every good military strategist knows, no plans survive contact with the enemy! Who's going to be the best person to take over with a good go to hell plan? Whatever it is you'd better believe Herzer will have a big part in it!
March 22, 2012
Rather annoyingly, I finished this six-year-old book to discover that it is NOT the end of the series, and Ringo is undecided about whether to finish it or not (poor sales, apparently).
It's a decent yarn and the action is good, although by this 4th book I'd become slightly weary of the amateur psychology lessons.
It's a decent yarn and the action is good, although by this 4th book I'd become slightly weary of the amateur psychology lessons.
January 21, 2013
Definetly a continuation of the series and I recommend reading the previous books before getting into this one. Preprations for getting into space with the limited technology available was interesting. There are some interesting space battle scenes. The ending left me feeling that there should be another book to finish the story, but since it's been 6 years I doubt there will be one.
May 6, 2010
Not as good as last book, and certainly it will be a loooooong time before I want to read this again.
Of all the books of the Council Wars this is just slighty better than the first.
Leaves open several plot lines from past books and adds a few more.
Of all the books of the Council Wars this is just slighty better than the first.
Leaves open several plot lines from past books and adds a few more.
May 23, 2010
Science so advanced it might as well be magic, then it all comes crashing down, and people have to learn to do things the old fashioned way again, while fending off the bad guys.
Orcs in a space battle to capture an incoming fuel tanker.
I love this series, please write more of them.
Orcs in a space battle to capture an incoming fuel tanker.
I love this series, please write more of them.
October 20, 2011
This book wasn't nearly as good as the others. I didn't feel like anything got resolved in the story. I was disappointed that Bast wasn't in this story too. Emerald Sea is by far the best book in the series.
July 1, 2013
This is the best in the series so far. The battle scenes are a little harder to follow in this book and the humor is generally as crass as previous books. Herzer continues to be as unbelievable a character as ever.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews