Against the TideAgainst the Tide
John Ringo
Cover art by Clyde Caldwell
Baen Books
ISBN: 0-7434-9884-4
To Be Released February 2005
Reviewed as a galley, uncorrected proof.
Ah, my second Ringo book of the week. After finishing with “We Few” I figured there was no way he would top it for a while. Ok, so I was wrong. “Against the Tide” is book three in the “Council of War” series began back in “There Will be Dragons” and “Emerald Sea”, the second book.
And I never expected to like this one. I looked at the cover, and read the first chapter and figured, “Crap. Another magical animal fantasy book.”
Well slap me silly and call me Bubba, this is actually honest to God Science Fiction. Yes, there are Trolls. And there Mer-people, and sword fights, and even Elves. But this is still straight Sci Fi of the old school. If Robert Heinlein were still alive, I think he would have liked the world Ringo created here.
The characters are intense, and yet emotionally fulfilling. They are not so strict and solid that you don’t feel for them or empathize with them. While Megan Travante works her plan you feel her pain and her distress. When Talbot thinks of his family, you feel his mental anguish.
These are real people, and they become alive for you. Which for me was a good thing. This is my first read of one of the books in the trilogy, and if I had read the other two there are some scenes here that would have been much more difficult to deal with. I won’t say which ones.
Herzer Herrick is a great character. He is the type that Heinlein or Laumer would have felt comfortable around. Dedicated to his commander and to the men and women under him, educated and strong but aware of the nature of the world, Herrick is ready to offer his hand to defend someone or to encourage one of his own students.
When he cavorts with his friends or is ‘frisky’ with a lover (who is a bit older then he is.. by about a 1,000 years) you feel the sparks from their passion as you read the page.
“Against the Tide” also includes some very interesting interpretations of our own last century. It should make the reader question some of his views enough that they might search out more information on the subjects. Unfortunately, they probably won’t bother.
It also has some excellent lessons on Dom/sub sexual lifestyles as well. So take notes.
Ok, the story. After the world feel apart with the god like humans who were in charge of everything falling into the first war in hundreds of years, the survivors were left to struggle for everything from medicine to food. Going from a virtual paradise to an almost medieval life in days, the people to whom hunger and pain were forgotten were suddenly forced to find ways to live they had no concept of.
One of these things was defending themselves against an invader. The people of the UFS, the United Free States, thought they were safe from the fascist rulers of New Destiny, but the invasion changed their minds. Faced with creatures out of myth, the people fell before the Changed Legions of Ropasa, things that had once been men and now were destructive, giant-like creatures who lived only to kill.
The only hope of the UFS is Edmund Talbot. Talbot is a military genius who is also expert at inspiring his men. What he isn’t, is a Naval expert. But, realizing that the current USF naval force is made up of appointed “Yachtsmen”, who have no concept of what war is like and are overconfident in their ability, he is forced to take command of the Dragon Fleet after the USF is defeated in a major sea battle.
New Destiny is now able to mount a full scale invasion of the UFS, and Paul Boman, the leader of New Destiny and instigator of the civil war that almost destroyed their world, is planning to assassinate Talbot and his staff and destroy the main installations on the UFS.
What Boman does not know is that one of the women in his harem is keeping her own secret. She is actually Megan Travante, the daughter of the UFS’ head of intelligence. And after four years of planning and scheming, she is ready to not only escape Boman but to take his life as well.
Against the combined forces of New Destiny’s Changed Legions, navy, Dragons and warriors, Talbot must pit his own forces. An army made up of cavalry, longbow archers, Roman style legions and the UFS own Dragons, Talbot still knows that they are faced with death, conquest and total destruction.
But that doesn’t mean you should just give up. Because Talbot also has Herzer Herrick, the one-armed warrior and expert ground fighter. Herrick is not only one of the best soldiers but he discovers that he also is great with Dragons and now has become the XO of a dragon contingent. And with a crew of brand new pilots, un-trained dragons, and under trained support people, Herrick is also faced with the greatest problem any man or warrior can have.
He falls in love.
The fascist rulers of New Destiny never faced anyone like Talbot and Herrick. They never expected to face an army trained like the one Talbot and Herrick put together. They thought the war almost over and control of the whole planet in the palm of their hand.
But sometimes a little house cat can chase a mouse just for fun.