What do you think?
Rate this book
The Council Wars #2
Emerald Sea
The fast-paced sequel to There Will be Dragons is a rollicking adventure above and below the high seas with dragons, orcas, beautiful mermaids-and the irrepressible Bast the Wood Elf, a cross between Legolas and Mae West. Duke Edmund Talbot has been assigned a simple mission: Go to the Southern Isles and make contact with the scattered mer-folk-those who, before the worldwide collapse of technology, had altered their bodies in the shape of mythical sea-dwelling creatures. He must convince them to side with the Freedom Coalition in the battles against the fascist dictators of New Destiny. Just a simple diplomatic mission. That requires the service of a dragon-carrier and Lieutenant Herzer Herrick, the most blooded of the Blood Lords. Because New Destiny has plans of its own.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
162 people are currently reading
711 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
October 1, 2013
UGH. UGH.
This shit is tripe. Utter tripe. Let me draw your focus to a character in the story that is introduced at the beginning thusly:
"Excuse me, Mr. Herrick," a soft voice said from over his shoulder.
He looked around and was faced by a tiny tuft of pubic hair. Looking farther up he was stunned by the vision. If the girl standing over him wasn't absolutely perfect in every way she could see it on a clear day. Brunette, about a meter and a half, perfectly rounded breasts, high and incredibly firm, flat belly, rounded mons. He realized he was staring.
"Yes?" he asked, his voice ending in a squeak.
The girl slid into the water to his left and smiled at him.
"My name's Sheena. I don't think you know me."
"I don't think so either," Herzer replied, all charm out the window. Three hundred fifty-seven times four . . . down boy!
"Back before the attack on the town, you went out with a cavalry patrol," she said in a soft little-girl voice that practically drove arithmetic out of his brain.
"Yes?" Carry the two . . .
"My brother was one of the guys on the patrol," she said, leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek. "I want to talk to you, but I'll be right back."
"Okay," he croaked, then turned back to the group in the bath, all of whom were smiling and trying not to laugh.
"How old do you think she is?" Fraser asked, trying not to be smug.
"Seventeen?" Herzer said.
"Try twelve," David replied.
"No fisking way!"
"Way," Shilan replied. "Way, way, way."
"What the hell is she doing naked in the public baths!" Accosting perfect strangers and ruining their whole day.
"They're public baths," Shilan replied with a shrug. "I guess her parents decided she was old enough."
"They need to have their heads examined!"
Sheena suddenly slid back into the water next to him and laid her hand on his arm.
"I'm really glad to finally meet you," she said, huskily.
Down, down, down, down, DOWN! Twelve! TWELVE!
"Me, too," Herzer replied. "So are you going to school now?"
"Oh, yeah." Sheena frowned. "I didn't have much before the Fall, you know? So I'm in the little kid classes . . ."
Okay, I'm clearly not going to get laid tonight, thank God . . "
AND THEN SHE WAS NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN!!! He took the time to write a sexy 12 year old for no fucking reason, WHAT THE FUCK?
He mentions anime, a character named bun-bun from a webcomic is in the book as a minor character, the setting is supposed to be the year 4000 SOMETHING and everyone acts like it's the early 00's with references etc. The sex is not explicit, but it is also not tactful, and shoved into your face quite often.
Fuck this noise. I am currently in rehab and this series is all I have to fucking read, it's going to make me relapse at this point.
This shit is tripe. Utter tripe. Let me draw your focus to a character in the story that is introduced at the beginning thusly:
"Excuse me, Mr. Herrick," a soft voice said from over his shoulder.
He looked around and was faced by a tiny tuft of pubic hair. Looking farther up he was stunned by the vision. If the girl standing over him wasn't absolutely perfect in every way she could see it on a clear day. Brunette, about a meter and a half, perfectly rounded breasts, high and incredibly firm, flat belly, rounded mons. He realized he was staring.
"Yes?" he asked, his voice ending in a squeak.
The girl slid into the water to his left and smiled at him.
"My name's Sheena. I don't think you know me."
"I don't think so either," Herzer replied, all charm out the window. Three hundred fifty-seven times four . . . down boy!
"Back before the attack on the town, you went out with a cavalry patrol," she said in a soft little-girl voice that practically drove arithmetic out of his brain.
"Yes?" Carry the two . . .
"My brother was one of the guys on the patrol," she said, leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek. "I want to talk to you, but I'll be right back."
"Okay," he croaked, then turned back to the group in the bath, all of whom were smiling and trying not to laugh.
"How old do you think she is?" Fraser asked, trying not to be smug.
"Seventeen?" Herzer said.
"Try twelve," David replied.
"No fisking way!"
"Way," Shilan replied. "Way, way, way."
"What the hell is she doing naked in the public baths!" Accosting perfect strangers and ruining their whole day.
"They're public baths," Shilan replied with a shrug. "I guess her parents decided she was old enough."
"They need to have their heads examined!"
Sheena suddenly slid back into the water next to him and laid her hand on his arm.
"I'm really glad to finally meet you," she said, huskily.
Down, down, down, down, DOWN! Twelve! TWELVE!
"Me, too," Herzer replied. "So are you going to school now?"
"Oh, yeah." Sheena frowned. "I didn't have much before the Fall, you know? So I'm in the little kid classes . . ."
Okay, I'm clearly not going to get laid tonight, thank God . . "
AND THEN SHE WAS NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN!!! He took the time to write a sexy 12 year old for no fucking reason, WHAT THE FUCK?
He mentions anime, a character named bun-bun from a webcomic is in the book as a minor character, the setting is supposed to be the year 4000 SOMETHING and everyone acts like it's the early 00's with references etc. The sex is not explicit, but it is also not tactful, and shoved into your face quite often.
Fuck this noise. I am currently in rehab and this series is all I have to fucking read, it's going to make me relapse at this point.
July 9, 2007
It's books like this that make me want to go back and set all of my other ratings to 4 stars because this one blew them away. Try to stop reading it... I dare you.
October 29, 2014
This is what happens when authors can do whatever they want without any editors.
November 4, 2010
The sequel to There Will be Dragons was an enormous let down on a variety of fronts.
The most obvious and constant is Herzer's extreme Mary Sue-ness. I have never much liked the Milkmaid of Destiny sub-set of stories, and Herzer has that going on in spades. Never lived underwater? Don't worry, you can still fight better than everyone else. Never ridden a dragon? No problem, you can learn what takes months for anyone else in a couple of weeks - on a rolling ship.
Ringo's heavy dependence upon rape in particular and violence against women in general was also distasteful and indicative of a lack of imagination. The villains in "The Council Wars" have always been Snidely Whiplash-style caricatures, but this book took them to a whole new level.
There were other, more minor problems as well. The book is preachy, and is stocked with extremely unrealistic characters (or groups of characters) to support its positions. In addition, Ringo borrows far too heavily from 1990s-2000s internet culture for a post-literate society thousands of years into the future.
There are good points about the book, to be sure. In amongst the straw-men and cardboard cutouts, there are a few interesting characters. Ringo's conception of the merfolk and delphinos, humans who had taken on new forms before the fall of technology, is particularly interesting. The dragons are similarly worth consideration. Unfortunately, these positive points are unable to counterbalance the overwhelming negatives of this book.
The most obvious and constant is Herzer's extreme Mary Sue-ness. I have never much liked the Milkmaid of Destiny sub-set of stories, and Herzer has that going on in spades. Never lived underwater? Don't worry, you can still fight better than everyone else. Never ridden a dragon? No problem, you can learn what takes months for anyone else in a couple of weeks - on a rolling ship.
Ringo's heavy dependence upon rape in particular and violence against women in general was also distasteful and indicative of a lack of imagination. The villains in "The Council Wars" have always been Snidely Whiplash-style caricatures, but this book took them to a whole new level.
There were other, more minor problems as well. The book is preachy, and is stocked with extremely unrealistic characters (or groups of characters) to support its positions. In addition, Ringo borrows far too heavily from 1990s-2000s internet culture for a post-literate society thousands of years into the future.
There are good points about the book, to be sure. In amongst the straw-men and cardboard cutouts, there are a few interesting characters. Ringo's conception of the merfolk and delphinos, humans who had taken on new forms before the fall of technology, is particularly interesting. The dragons are similarly worth consideration. Unfortunately, these positive points are unable to counterbalance the overwhelming negatives of this book.
November 7, 2008
The second one is as good as the first. But this time there are dragon-carriers!!! Add to that the wonderful characters of the first book, mermen, dolphins, orca, and bad guys. What a wonderful series.
September 24, 2011
The sequel to There Will be Dragons has a big disconnect from the earlier novel, as the setting changes and the storyline moves forward a few years between the books. It seems Mr Ringo had an idea about underwater action and aircraft (ahem, dragon) carriers and went with it. It’s all good fun for a fast read, but hardly what I would call profound. If you like the other Ringo novels, you’ll probably enjoy this one. Dark humor, cool action scenes and likeable characters.
The short story at the end, “In A Time of Darkness”, is about one of adversary Paul Bowman’s concubines. While it has a part in the macrostory it mostly serves as filler.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1159
The short story at the end, “In A Time of Darkness”, is about one of adversary Paul Bowman’s concubines. While it has a part in the macrostory it mostly serves as filler.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1159
January 15, 2016
OK...this was kind of weird. On the one hand, it was easy to rip through the book, and I was at least somewhat interested in the plot. The plot, however, felt less engaging than There Will Be Dragons, perhaps because the scope is narrower, just a mission within the Council Wars, and not so much, the world has collapsed what do we do now. Also, Ringo's habit of making his characters (usually Edmund) expound on some topic (usually military history trivia) for a few sentences started to wear on me. And then there were some scenes that were just flat out wrong...
December 15, 2007
Great cross between miliary science fiction and fantasy (although fantasy aspects are based on technology, not magic). Check out the AI in the form of a bunny whose programming includes tracking down the cast of an ancient TV show caled aywatch and killing all telemarketers.
Part of a series, read "There Will Be ragons" first.
Part of a series, read "There Will Be ragons" first.
March 13, 2009
This continues the fantasy post apocalyptic story from There Will Be Dragons. In the previous novel combat was focused on Roman legion style land warefare.
Now we move to sea.
With a Dragon carrier and mermen.
Still interesting characters in interesting situations.
Now we move to sea.
With a Dragon carrier and mermen.
Still interesting characters in interesting situations.
July 31, 2015
So much to like and so much to hate in this one. The overall story was engaging and most of the characters enjoyable, but so much of the story is just extraneous. The global warming denial part comes to mind.
October 29, 2021
I liked it. I didn't love it mostly because I don't particularly like mermaids and orca fights. However, the use of dragon-carriers (like aircraft carriers) was interesting and novel... at least to me.
Any modesty issues? Yes. There is a separate story at the end of the book entitled "In a Time of Darkness--Megan's Tale." The author begins with a warning in part:
The following story, while not pornographic, does contain erotica. If it were a movie it would probably be rated NC-17, possibly X. Since as an author I'm best known for my combat science fiction and “closing the bedroom door,” I thought this warning in order. The erotica, for reasons that should be obvious in the story, is necessary and central to the development of both characters and plot.
The author goes on, but that is the essence of the warning. This extra story is about a harem girl, named Megan, trapped by Paul's henchmen and used for breeding. How she survives and thrives in that environment is important background that makes her character more understandable in the next two books in the series. Can you get along without it? Yes. I think so, but then the references to Megan in the later books will seemed rushed, as if you already knew something about her that you really wouldn't know. Your choice, of course.
I might read this book again, but only as part of reading the entire series.
Any modesty issues? Yes. There is a separate story at the end of the book entitled "In a Time of Darkness--Megan's Tale." The author begins with a warning in part:
The following story, while not pornographic, does contain erotica. If it were a movie it would probably be rated NC-17, possibly X. Since as an author I'm best known for my combat science fiction and “closing the bedroom door,” I thought this warning in order. The erotica, for reasons that should be obvious in the story, is necessary and central to the development of both characters and plot.
The author goes on, but that is the essence of the warning. This extra story is about a harem girl, named Megan, trapped by Paul's henchmen and used for breeding. How she survives and thrives in that environment is important background that makes her character more understandable in the next two books in the series. Can you get along without it? Yes. I think so, but then the references to Megan in the later books will seemed rushed, as if you already knew something about her that you really wouldn't know. Your choice, of course.
I might read this book again, but only as part of reading the entire series.
February 15, 2021
Club Med, this ain't! Herzer definitely needs a vacation; the "One War, One Blood Lord" thing can really wear on a guy, no matter how good he is at fighting. While Duke Edmond really does intend the aide position to be a sinecure and a working vacation, you know where good intentions can lead. In this case, straight to underwater fights. Oy, the things that Blood Lords are expected to do! At least Herzer had Bast and mermaids for company ...
For all that this was a post-apocalyptic recreation of society with a lot of fantasy elements, I found this to be a fun and relatively light-hearted read. The author created characters who appeal with their flaws and depths and who feel just like the people I meet day to day. Following those characters made the implausible situation feel plausible; after all, I just had to see what happened next. Okay, now to the next book!
For all that this was a post-apocalyptic recreation of society with a lot of fantasy elements, I found this to be a fun and relatively light-hearted read. The author created characters who appeal with their flaws and depths and who feel just like the people I meet day to day. Following those characters made the implausible situation feel plausible; after all, I just had to see what happened next. Okay, now to the next book!
December 25, 2016
This is the third version of this series
The first collection was lost to a hurricane, second to a stolen nook. Now slowly rebuilding my collection as I can afford to. I have enjoyed three series Ghost, council wars, Wands series. Along with the looking glass series with Travis S. Taylor. When you repurchase a book at least in my case you have to really enjoy the author. John Ringo, Mereedes Lackey ( Valdemar series) , David Weber's (Sword Oath) Edgar Rice Burrerous (Tarzan and Mars series) and Doc Savage. I grew up and reread these books while in the Army and long afterwards. So with some experience I can say John Ringo is a author that is worth rereading again and again.
The first collection was lost to a hurricane, second to a stolen nook. Now slowly rebuilding my collection as I can afford to. I have enjoyed three series Ghost, council wars, Wands series. Along with the looking glass series with Travis S. Taylor. When you repurchase a book at least in my case you have to really enjoy the author. John Ringo, Mereedes Lackey ( Valdemar series) , David Weber's (Sword Oath) Edgar Rice Burrerous (Tarzan and Mars series) and Doc Savage. I grew up and reread these books while in the Army and long afterwards. So with some experience I can say John Ringo is a author that is worth rereading again and again.
November 24, 2022
The main book itself is a fine if not great continuation of the Council Wars. It's reads like it's been written to shoehorn naval aviation into the fantasy setting, which it turns out to be because (as the author admits in the afterword), that's exactly what has happened. There's quite a bit of bullshit climate change denial, which given the book was written in the early 2000s is sort of excusable, if unhelpful.
The real issue I have with the book is the extra short story which is added at the end, which is some sort of twisted rape/ harem fantasy. It appears to be reaching for some sort of overall lesson or conclusion, and then...just doesn't. So that's pretty hideous.
The real issue I have with the book is the extra short story which is added at the end, which is some sort of twisted rape/ harem fantasy. It appears to be reaching for some sort of overall lesson or conclusion, and then...just doesn't. So that's pretty hideous.
September 22, 2017
The first book in this series was good. This was better. First, it is obvious that the author had way too much fun writing this which makes it one of those books that just keeps turning pages. Second, the mass of inside jokes and little nods that only someone who has studied military history is liable to catch had me smiling (and often laughing) throughout the book. Fast, fun read. Don't take it too serious, just enjoy the ride.
September 22, 2020
As usual, good idea, but unreal realisation.
Imagine a "dragon carrier" - a sailing ship, in which the lone dragon and the several wyverns land and catapulted, and like the modern carriers, they could sail against the wind in straight line. can carry the food for the creatures (half a ton daily) water is plenty and sweetwater, no calm, they could sail anywhere in time :D.
Imagine a "dragon carrier" - a sailing ship, in which the lone dragon and the several wyverns land and catapulted, and like the modern carriers, they could sail against the wind in straight line. can carry the food for the creatures (half a ton daily) water is plenty and sweetwater, no calm, they could sail anywhere in time :D.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2021
Such a detailed book! The reason it took so long to read was that it was full to the brim of story. The political and historical discourse doesn't overwhelm the epic-ness of the plot, and who doesn't want to see dragons in the Caribbean? Do I even have to mention the mermaids?
November 20, 2021
This time, our characters wind up in the subtropical Caribbean. Along the way, there's plenty of, "Wait, no he's not...oh, yes he did!" I'm particularly amused by the "aircraft carrier." As usual, I appreciated Ringo's Author's Notes at the end.
September 1, 2017
Really good series. I did not expect this turn of the story.
November 8, 2017
Great sequel from John Ringo!
March 11, 2019
A good sequel to be sure. If you liked the first council wars book, you should enjoy this. 3.5 stars
April 22, 2019
A good book! I don't get the hate on this site.
December 27, 2021
Series settles into it's groove in the second book
July 28, 2022
Enjoyed the changes here
The new part of the world was interesting. Interested to find out how it all ends. Not sure one more book is enough.
The new part of the world was interesting. Interested to find out how it all ends. Not sure one more book is enough.
September 20, 2022
A very enjoyable read that held pacing but was interesting nonetheless.
March 8, 2025
Trust is a hard thing to put in others. Sometimes it takes the blind leap of faith in love and a warrior like H to conquer.
March 15, 2025
Great read. Looking forward to getting into this series.
April 10, 2016
I found the second book in the Council War series by John Ringo better than the first. The first book I nearly quit a dozen times in the first six chapters because of boredom; once society's Fall occurred, things got interesting. Set completely after the Fall, book two, Emerald Seas, never slowed down.
Mr. Ringo continues to expand the world after the Fall, introducing both sky and sea powers for military action in the Council Wars. We learn about the Dragons promised by the first book title "There will be Dragons" as well as the mer-folk realm. This series' voice is unique, a science-fiction story set in a fantasy-type world; the people pre-Fall made dragons and other beasts with their technology. After the Fall of tech, the fantasy elements remain for the now normal humans to deal with. The "gods" (council) have unlimited power and the average man is just material in their war. Normally reading about god-type wars gets annoying to me, but somehow the feeling of god-in-the-machine is removed, likely because of the sci-fi story base. Mr. Ringo has both created unlimited and extremely limited gods. Because, in the end, the "gods" are just humans with access to external power.
Developing the "air force" as an offensive unit was my favorite part of the book; that and the black comedy of flying fiery bunny death (think Deadpool shrunk down and playing the big-nasty-tooth bunny from the Holy Grail and given a flamethrower).
The world actually gets more interesting the more you think and dissect it.
Except for the politics. Very black and white; good and evil. Military games here are great; politics...meh...not Mr. Ringo's fortay. He tries, bless him. But he isn't David Weber (his Safehold series is a very similar premise to Ringo's Council Wars) or R.R. Martin. You want politics, read them; you want military action, Mr. Ringo delivers.
While book two is less *noticeably* sexist than the first book, I still have problems believing some of the paths culture has taken, for example, the counter intelligence community and the lack of basic human social-psychology understanding by anyone.
(ADDITION: The end of the book has a short story supporting the novel series; this one is sexist but with the same real world truth to it found in the first book. In a world gone crazy, the powers will collect humans for their personal purposes. Although Mr. Ringo labels it as "erotica", it isn't. While having explicit sexual acts, the story is not about people falling in love but Stockholm syndrome type abuse deliberately implemented by the power-person and unhealthy emotional attachments resulting form the mental abuse. Very real, very uncomfortable, and not escapist reading. Trigger alert for anyone who has been in a relationship involving isolation and manipulation. I found the short story the most believable (and unpleasant) part of the material in the Kindle edition. It can be easily skipped, but it's my understanding the characters will impact books 3 and 4 heavily.)
My biggest problem with the series is the bad guys are so bad, they actually make the good guys less interesting; villains make the heroes, and in this case the villains are so rotten they are boring. Fortunately this time around Mr. Ringo did not focus on the opposition much. Again, the military action and logistics are great; the political games and rationale, not so much.
(ADDITION: The short story actually makes one of the villains interesting and makes the heroine in the short story that much more powerful.)
One last thing, the series is not aging well. Written between 2003 and 2006, Council Wars, though set a couple thousand years in the future, already feels dated a short decade later. More like a book written in the 80's instead of the double-noughts.
Mr. Ringo continues to expand the world after the Fall, introducing both sky and sea powers for military action in the Council Wars. We learn about the Dragons promised by the first book title "There will be Dragons" as well as the mer-folk realm. This series' voice is unique, a science-fiction story set in a fantasy-type world; the people pre-Fall made dragons and other beasts with their technology. After the Fall of tech, the fantasy elements remain for the now normal humans to deal with. The "gods" (council) have unlimited power and the average man is just material in their war. Normally reading about god-type wars gets annoying to me, but somehow the feeling of god-in-the-machine is removed, likely because of the sci-fi story base. Mr. Ringo has both created unlimited and extremely limited gods. Because, in the end, the "gods" are just humans with access to external power.
Developing the "air force" as an offensive unit was my favorite part of the book; that and the black comedy of flying fiery bunny death (think Deadpool shrunk down and playing the big-nasty-tooth bunny from the Holy Grail and given a flamethrower).
The world actually gets more interesting the more you think and dissect it.
Except for the politics. Very black and white; good and evil. Military games here are great; politics...meh...not Mr. Ringo's fortay. He tries, bless him. But he isn't David Weber (his Safehold series is a very similar premise to Ringo's Council Wars) or R.R. Martin. You want politics, read them; you want military action, Mr. Ringo delivers.
While book two is less *noticeably* sexist than the first book, I still have problems believing some of the paths culture has taken, for example, the counter intelligence community and the lack of basic human social-psychology understanding by anyone.
(ADDITION: The end of the book has a short story supporting the novel series; this one is sexist but with the same real world truth to it found in the first book. In a world gone crazy, the powers will collect humans for their personal purposes. Although Mr. Ringo labels it as "erotica", it isn't. While having explicit sexual acts, the story is not about people falling in love but Stockholm syndrome type abuse deliberately implemented by the power-person and unhealthy emotional attachments resulting form the mental abuse. Very real, very uncomfortable, and not escapist reading. Trigger alert for anyone who has been in a relationship involving isolation and manipulation. I found the short story the most believable (and unpleasant) part of the material in the Kindle edition. It can be easily skipped, but it's my understanding the characters will impact books 3 and 4 heavily.)
My biggest problem with the series is the bad guys are so bad, they actually make the good guys less interesting; villains make the heroes, and in this case the villains are so rotten they are boring. Fortunately this time around Mr. Ringo did not focus on the opposition much. Again, the military action and logistics are great; the political games and rationale, not so much.
(ADDITION: The short story actually makes one of the villains interesting and makes the heroine in the short story that much more powerful.)
One last thing, the series is not aging well. Written between 2003 and 2006, Council Wars, though set a couple thousand years in the future, already feels dated a short decade later. More like a book written in the 80's instead of the double-noughts.
May 14, 2024
It's hard for me to write a negative review of a book that has been enthusiastically recommended by a friend. Recommending a book is a personal thing: it's saying, "This book spoke to me." When the recommended party dislikes that book, it can feel like a personal rejection.
All I can say is, friend, I like you. I think you're a great guy. You're a Navy veteran, and this is a (sci-fi/fantasy) naval book. I get why you liked it, but I thought it was awful.
The author, John Ringo, is deeply steeped in nerd culture. Unfortunately, some of the dark underbelly of nerd culture makes itself known in 'Emerald Sea.' There's an omnisexual Mary Sue character who is, unfortunately, described as looking like a 13-year-old Japanese girl. There's a sexually voracious male warrior character who comes across as some loser's fantasy of what it would be like to be cool. In fact, there's a large "ick" factor throughout this novel, suggestive of the sexual fantasies of an adolescent with too much access to PornHub and too little access to actual female human beings.
But wait. There's more. Science Fiction and Fantasy are often used as vehicles for veiled commentary on current events - in fact, commentary is the bedrock of the genre. Ringo isn't capable of that, however, stopping the narrative so his far-future characters could hold forth on the issues facing 21st-Century America - and doing so with a remarkable lack of understanding or nuance. But I guess nuance isn't his thing: in a novellette appended to 'Emerald Sea,' a character falls prey to Stockholm Syndrome while her captor literally explains Stockholm Syndrome to her. My eyes rolled so hard they nearly fell out of my head.
And then there's the novel qua novel. The characters feel like cyphers, as opposed to people. The villains' plans makes no sense, leaving the reader to wonder whether Ringo intended them to be idiots, or whether he's just bad at plotting novels. Ringo himself makes so many "clever" in-world references to his last novel that one marvels at his self-satisfaction.
'Emerald Sea' is the second-biggest train wreck I've read so far this year. I love you, book-recommending friend, but we're on different ships with this one.
All I can say is, friend, I like you. I think you're a great guy. You're a Navy veteran, and this is a (sci-fi/fantasy) naval book. I get why you liked it, but I thought it was awful.
The author, John Ringo, is deeply steeped in nerd culture. Unfortunately, some of the dark underbelly of nerd culture makes itself known in 'Emerald Sea.' There's an omnisexual Mary Sue character who is, unfortunately, described as looking like a 13-year-old Japanese girl. There's a sexually voracious male warrior character who comes across as some loser's fantasy of what it would be like to be cool. In fact, there's a large "ick" factor throughout this novel, suggestive of the sexual fantasies of an adolescent with too much access to PornHub and too little access to actual female human beings.
But wait. There's more. Science Fiction and Fantasy are often used as vehicles for veiled commentary on current events - in fact, commentary is the bedrock of the genre. Ringo isn't capable of that, however, stopping the narrative so his far-future characters could hold forth on the issues facing 21st-Century America - and doing so with a remarkable lack of understanding or nuance. But I guess nuance isn't his thing: in a novellette appended to 'Emerald Sea,' a character falls prey to Stockholm Syndrome while her captor literally explains Stockholm Syndrome to her. My eyes rolled so hard they nearly fell out of my head.
And then there's the novel qua novel. The characters feel like cyphers, as opposed to people. The villains' plans makes no sense, leaving the reader to wonder whether Ringo intended them to be idiots, or whether he's just bad at plotting novels. Ringo himself makes so many "clever" in-world references to his last novel that one marvels at his self-satisfaction.
'Emerald Sea' is the second-biggest train wreck I've read so far this year. I love you, book-recommending friend, but we're on different ships with this one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews