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Freehold #5
Do Unto Others
Do Unto Others as They Did Unto You—the Code of the Mercenary. Science Fiction Action-Adventure by a New Master of Military Science Fiction.
The Prescot family were miners. At one time, they were contracted to develop technology for a mineral rich but uninhabitable system. Gradually, all the investors shied away. Then the Prescots broke through with the technology needed to exploit entire planets, and incidentally develop domed playgrounds for the perversely rich, including indoor ski slopes and cable cars over megavolcanos, casinos and rides. This created the economic problem of being the richest people in the universe, having more money than most governments and effectively unlimited resources.
Money is a small blessing when enemies are quite willing to spend billions for the chance at trillions. Bryan Prescot and his daughter might as well have targets painted on their backs for the thugs, kidnappers and assassins their cmpetitors would throw at them. Bodyguards were necessary—Highly trained bodyguards who could be bought once and be utterly loyal no matter the circumstances.
The altercation comes to a head inside the domes and mines of Govannon, with their enemy desperate to do anything to save their own lives, now that the gloves are off. Caron Prescot has only six bodyguards against an army, but she has two aces in the The miners are on her side, and Elke, Ripple Creek’s psychotic demolition expert, has a nuke.
The problem with Elke having a nuke is that Elke WILL use it.
The Prescot family were miners. At one time, they were contracted to develop technology for a mineral rich but uninhabitable system. Gradually, all the investors shied away. Then the Prescots broke through with the technology needed to exploit entire planets, and incidentally develop domed playgrounds for the perversely rich, including indoor ski slopes and cable cars over megavolcanos, casinos and rides. This created the economic problem of being the richest people in the universe, having more money than most governments and effectively unlimited resources.
Money is a small blessing when enemies are quite willing to spend billions for the chance at trillions. Bryan Prescot and his daughter might as well have targets painted on their backs for the thugs, kidnappers and assassins their cmpetitors would throw at them. Bodyguards were necessary—Highly trained bodyguards who could be bought once and be utterly loyal no matter the circumstances.
The altercation comes to a head inside the domes and mines of Govannon, with their enemy desperate to do anything to save their own lives, now that the gloves are off. Caron Prescot has only six bodyguards against an army, but she has two aces in the The miners are on her side, and Elke, Ripple Creek’s psychotic demolition expert, has a nuke.
The problem with Elke having a nuke is that Elke WILL use it.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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172 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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November 26, 2020Our favorite mercenary band from Ripple Creek has been given what would appear to be a plum assignment, guarding a rich heiress to an offplanet mining fortune, Caron Prescott, as she finishes up her engineering thesis on Earth. But more than one entity wants either to kidnap her, kill her, or incapacitate her in some way, and the attacks on her person escalate to the point where the place that seems to be the most secure is on her family's mining planet of Govannon, so Alex, Aramis, Jason and Elke and their friends transfer there as soon as she is done with her final exams.
Things seem quiet at first, but our friends are so wonderfully paranoid about protecting their client that they begin to acquire and stash weapons, supplies and (for Elke) explosives, and to plan ways to escape and evade attackers. As the latest addition to the management team of the mining consortium, Caron spends much of her time visiting the various facilities, learning about how operations are proceeding. She misses the signs, but someone is agitating the miners, and the workforce is a powder keg about to explode, seemingly unrelated to the attacks from outside.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop, the suspense builds nicely, and we begin to get an idea about who is really responsible for the attacks on Caron. It all comes to a head when her father is killed in a "mining accident" and the crew from Ripple Creek decides to protect Ms. Prescott at all costs. A great running battle scene ensues, and Elke finally gets to blow things up, nearly to her heart's content.
There's an interesting passage which is either about how the "evil capitalists" create wealth for all through a trickle-down effect, or perhaps it's about how technologies developed for our space race benefit society, or maybe even a little of both:
"This wasn't just a mine, it was a research facility, a resort, a peek into the future of space habitats, and might solve several problems with all human settlements, including pollution, starvation and resource depletion. The Prescott family had certainly earned its trillions. Far from being evil capitalists, the family were contributing massively to the future of the human race. They'd developed several entire industries, and created hundreds of refinements of others, not to mention being the vanguard of development of the mining and smelting techniques...The frothing socialists who hated the wealth simple couldn't, or didn't want to, understand that they benefitted directly from all this development, which only came about because Bryan Prescott was willing to stake his existing fortune on a bet some decades back."
More good action, and we get to know the Ripple Creek operators a bit better, too.
Things seem quiet at first, but our friends are so wonderfully paranoid about protecting their client that they begin to acquire and stash weapons, supplies and (for Elke) explosives, and to plan ways to escape and evade attackers. As the latest addition to the management team of the mining consortium, Caron spends much of her time visiting the various facilities, learning about how operations are proceeding. She misses the signs, but someone is agitating the miners, and the workforce is a powder keg about to explode, seemingly unrelated to the attacks from outside.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop, the suspense builds nicely, and we begin to get an idea about who is really responsible for the attacks on Caron. It all comes to a head when her father is killed in a "mining accident" and the crew from Ripple Creek decides to protect Ms. Prescott at all costs. A great running battle scene ensues, and Elke finally gets to blow things up, nearly to her heart's content.
There's an interesting passage which is either about how the "evil capitalists" create wealth for all through a trickle-down effect, or perhaps it's about how technologies developed for our space race benefit society, or maybe even a little of both:
"This wasn't just a mine, it was a research facility, a resort, a peek into the future of space habitats, and might solve several problems with all human settlements, including pollution, starvation and resource depletion. The Prescott family had certainly earned its trillions. Far from being evil capitalists, the family were contributing massively to the future of the human race. They'd developed several entire industries, and created hundreds of refinements of others, not to mention being the vanguard of development of the mining and smelting techniques...The frothing socialists who hated the wealth simple couldn't, or didn't want to, understand that they benefitted directly from all this development, which only came about because Bryan Prescott was willing to stake his existing fortune on a bet some decades back."
More good action, and we get to know the Ripple Creek operators a bit better, too.
October 2, 2017
This is the 5th book set in Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold universe. In this one Ripple Creek Security is hired to protect the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Because of their wealth they are the targets of several groups who want some of their power and money. After several attempts on his daughter Caron's life and several kidnapping attempts it is decided she should go to her family's off world mining facility where she should be safe. Unknown to her and Ripple Creek the danger is greater there and from an unsuspected source, a family member! It is up to Ripple Creek to keep her safe even if it means setting off a nuke! This book is a great read and I recommend it to fans of Michael Z. Williamson and fans of his Freehold books.
February 28, 2021
I found it slightly confusing. The blurb made it sound like it was about the heiress, but it was really about the bodyguards, which was OK, but as there was no personal growth or anything, the ending fell flat.
March 29, 2023
It was a pretty good book. As most of this series it starts off slow to build the story but ends up with plenty of action.
March 27, 2011
In the sequel to “Better to Beg Forgiveness”, Williamson revisits his team of six elite bodyguards. This time around, they’re not only a well oiled machine, but an experienced and perfectly meshed well oiled machine. They are tasked with protecting the twenty-something year old daughter of the richest man in the world(s). The action starts in Wales but soon moves to a gargantuan mining operation at the heart of the customer’s business empire. Not completely unexpectedly, there are multiple threats.
Just like the first book, this one ramps up slowly and spends a lot of time focusing on technical skills. Williamson takes what is often a very tedious and mind-numbing routine and makes it sound interesting. He is also very good at describing characters who do not act entirely rationally, who act out, who think they are doing good while in fact completely misguided. By the end, the book is a total page turner, moving the reader deftly through some rather amazing and well-crafted locales. If I have one big gripe, it is that the team itself is perhaps a bit too perfect. Fascinating to read about, but do such superhumans really exist? Or more properly, can disbelief be suspended? I certainly found mine cracking at times.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=78
Just like the first book, this one ramps up slowly and spends a lot of time focusing on technical skills. Williamson takes what is often a very tedious and mind-numbing routine and makes it sound interesting. He is also very good at describing characters who do not act entirely rationally, who act out, who think they are doing good while in fact completely misguided. By the end, the book is a total page turner, moving the reader deftly through some rather amazing and well-crafted locales. If I have one big gripe, it is that the team itself is perhaps a bit too perfect. Fascinating to read about, but do such superhumans really exist? Or more properly, can disbelief be suspended? I certainly found mine cracking at times.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=78
August 20, 2012
An entertaining if uninspired read
If you like military[-ish] scifi with a heavy handed dose of libertarian ethos, then great. I say "-ish", btw, because while definitely aimed at the military/space-opera crowd, Williamson doesn't harp on the military regs and customs to the degree the genre tends -- a lack I like but others may find wanting. I enjoyed Better to Beg Forgiveness.. more, but that's probably more because it was my first taste of "Mad Mike" than any real qualitative differences between the two novels. If you liked his first Ripple Creek adventure, Better to Beg Forgiveness..., you'll like this. If you were on the fence before, I would opt for the library on this one.
If you like military[-ish] scifi with a heavy handed dose of libertarian ethos, then great. I say "-ish", btw, because while definitely aimed at the military/space-opera crowd, Williamson doesn't harp on the military regs and customs to the degree the genre tends -- a lack I like but others may find wanting. I enjoyed Better to Beg Forgiveness.. more, but that's probably more because it was my first taste of "Mad Mike" than any real qualitative differences between the two novels. If you liked his first Ripple Creek adventure, Better to Beg Forgiveness..., you'll like this. If you were on the fence before, I would opt for the library on this one.
October 11, 2012
I enjoyed Do Unto Others quite a lot, the action was intense and the plot was very involved with enough complexity to keep me interested but no so complex it dragged the story down. The only problem that I had with this book was some of the language, that is the only thing that is keeping this novel from getting a full five stars. All in all a great book, but if you are easily offended by crudity in dialog I would not recommend it, if you are not so easily offened than I would highly recommend it.
April 13, 2016
Bodyguards. You may ask yourself, what can be more boring that being a bodyguard? A book about bodyguards? Well.. When you are the bodyguard for the only child (daughter) of the richest man in human space? Well, then things get complicated. Located in the Freehold universe (authoritarian Earth that embodies the nanny state, but also containing Freehold, libertarian paradise) this is the story of the Ripple Creek bodyguards (from the previous book, Better to beg Forgiveness) who have the difficult task of keeping this young woman alive.
November 20, 2016
This just isn't very good. It's scifi, without any science fiction. Moving from earth to another rock half way thru doesn't make the bland body guard tale scifi. It's returning characters, who were interesting in earlier books, without much of a story to interest us. People in trouble, that we don't care much about. Undeveloped bad guys. This is just very weak gruel. I'm a big fan of MZW, but this was really a waste of my time. I hated slogging thru the last 80 pages, just to be done with it.
October 2, 2010
This is another rip-roaring, fast-paced, and fun action read by Michael Z. Williamson. The personal protection team from Ripple Creek is guarding the heiress of the wealthiest man in the galaxy and having to protect her from people who will to anything to take her legacy.
The characters are great and develop well from the previous novel, the action fun, and the plot exactly what it needs to be to support a great read.
The characters are great and develop well from the previous novel, the action fun, and the plot exactly what it needs to be to support a great read.
August 29, 2012
Tried the second in Williamson's ripple creek bodyguard series. It didn't feel much different different then the first one (beg forgiveness), no real character development (and honestly not much depth to characters in either one), and the mineral hellplanet was only moderately interesting. I'm not going to bother trying to read the third.
December 5, 2011
Enjoyed this combat scifi novel by Williamson. He writes good characters with well done scenes, and I enjoyed the setting on a planet which is one big mine hole. Set in his Freehold universe before the Freehold events. Looking to read more military/alien contact scifi from Williamson.
July 24, 2015
A great action packed edge of the seat read!
I highly recommend this series to all military sci-fi fans. The author writes in a logical manner, developing his characters into real people. BRAVO ZULU Mr Williamson!
I highly recommend this series to all military sci-fi fans. The author writes in a logical manner, developing his characters into real people. BRAVO ZULU Mr Williamson!
August 13, 2011
Didn't seem as good as "Better to Beg Forgiveness", but it was fairly good.
February 1, 2014
I've enjoyed all of the Freehold books.
January 18, 2016
adventure, hired bodyguards to protect the daughter of the worlds richest man and his company. all action little character building.
August 8, 2025
RECOMMENDED
January 23, 2014
Ripple Creek Security is back in the sequel to Better to Beg Forgiveness.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews