From Publishers Weekly
Humanity's war against the nasty alien Posleens continues in military SF author Ringo's latest entry in his popular Legacy of the Aldenata series (after 2002's When the Devil Dances), but the unambivalent, almost innocent joie de combat of the earlier, pre-9/11 books is missing here. Having learned to combine human strategy with superior (although captured) technology, a Posleen overlord threatens to break through into unoccupied human territory. Opposing this effort are Major Mike O'Neal and his battalion of armored combat suits, plus conventional armor units lead by a Brobdingnagian mobile gun with a razor-wielding cartoon rabbit emblazoned on its side. The battle scenes are as vivid as ever, but the consequences lie more heavily than before on the warriors, as when O'Neal approves a nuclear strike near where his remaining family are located in order to save his command. It becomes increasingly clear that some alien "allies" would prefer that the humans and Posleens destroy one another and leave the galactic status quo undisturbed. Attentive readers may notice some overlap with When the Devil Dances, which Ringo explains in an afterword. Despite the overall dark tone, the author's trademark gallows humor shines through ("This is what you get for letting rednecks play with antimatter, boss"). So does a bit of hope: Ringo concludes his afterword by asserting "the good guys always win in the end."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The fourth and final novel (for the moment, at least) about Earth versus the Posleen--the same kind of glorious jumble of a book as
A Hymn before Battle (2000),
Gust Front (2001), and
When the Devil Dances [BKL Ap 15 02] each was--brings the war for human survival to a thundering climax. Cally O'Neal and her father, Mike O'Neal, are armed and dangerous in the forefront of the action, along with a right good crew of relatives and friends. The supertank
Bun- Bun and its crew also hammer their way through the Posleen, and are hammered in return. They are ably supported by voluptuous MI Major LeBlanc, now a tank battalion commander, and the superweapons created by Dr. Miguel Castanuelo; ably opposed by the Posleen, whose smarts and courage ensure real suspense right up to a slightly deus-ex-machina conclusion. Ringo most probably plans to resolve the human conflict with the Posleen's secret puppet masters, so, as before, enjoy in the expectation of more to come.
Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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