Rating: 
Summary: Weber continues to improve
Review: This book is an improvement over books one (A Hymn Before Battle) and two (Gust Front) in this series. The number of characters seems to be down somewhat, and the characters that are the focus of this story are better developed than in previous novels. Mike O'Neal, the main character of the first book, occupies much less of this installment, which is to the good, as he is probably the most one-dimensional character in the series. As usual, the fight scenes are terrific, and Ringo's pacing will keep you up nights to finish. More details are revealed about the alien Posleen invading the Earth, and they are shown as more complex than mere ravenous yellow people-eaters (though there's certainly plenty of that too). And if the women all seem outrageously well-proportioned, they all are quite capable as well, which is about as much as you can hope for in a testosterone-laden tome like this one.
A couple of (mostly minor) quibbles keep me from giving this book five stars. First, Ringo's penchant for jumping backwards and forwards chronologically (albeit sometimes by only a few hours) without a reference other than the chapter titles is very disorienting. Second, the geography may throw some people. Franklin, NC is only a few minutes drive from Rabun Gap, GA, but it would be nice if Ringo could have used a short description like "just across the state line." Even more confusing was the incorrect reference in one chapter "header" to Franklin GEORGIA, which is in the Appalachians but some distance southwest of Atlanta and not at all close to Rabun Gap. Once again, it would be nice to see better editing to pick up these nits, which really take away from the otherwise great pacing of Ringo's stories.
All in all, a good yarn and a worthwhile effort.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm a John Ringo fan but I'll try and be objective
Review: This clearly is not the end of this series. I guess a lot of us were expecting it to be a trilogy but I think this is going to be an ongoing saga.All three of the books in this series are great. I have read each numerous times. One of the things I like best about this book was that there is more development of other characters. This has turned out not to be a book about Mike O'Neal, not that it would be bad if it were, but this book allows us to explore more of the characters that make these books great. Ringo clearly wants to go further with this series. It is such a complex world he has created and I look forward to the next installment to see what else he has up his sleeve.
Rating:
Summary: So far, so good!
Review: This is an engrossing series, and admittedly, I'm new to military science fiction and do occasionally get a bit lost, especially with the number of minor characters. In spite of that, I find it reasonably fast paced. I have become increasingly involved through the series with the various characters, and I do emphasize that you should have read the first two volumes in the series before tackling this one. The story here takes up five years after the ending of GUST FRONT, and there is some emphasis on characters introduced in that second installment while we see less of some of the characters introduced in the first book, A HYMN BEFORE BATTLE. For a military series, this seems quite logical to me, and definitely more realistic than it would've been if the first book's characters had been manipulated by the writer so that they are right in the most crucial areas. This book is indeed darker than the predecessers. The better part of the world population has been wiped out, and humans are hanging on in several isolated areas. It does appear that those in the Northern regions are likely to survive due to the Posleen aversion to cold. We do get a better look at the Posleen than we have in the previous books, and begin to realize that they are apparantly being manipulated as quite likely the humans also are. The book does end on an obviously inconclusive note. There is obviously more to come and I for one will be there to find out what's next.
Rating:
Summary: Uh,folks? I think this is NOT the last book in the series
Review: This is the third in the "Suits" series. Here is a series of random observations: * Great characters, and I like the choices the author made as to which characters to focus on. I'm not sure he's playing entirely fair with us ... at least one main character he 'killed off' will, I'll bet, be resurrected "next week". * Speaking of resurrections .... naw. Read the book, you'll see it for yourself. Just keep in mind that there are a LOT of different NGO's in this universe, and some of them do indeed work in wondrous ways. * I was looking for more of the "Suits" in action, with emphasis on hardware and tactics and all that Military SF stuff. Instead I found REAL people instead of characters (generally speaking), and the author worked hardest on developing people so interesting that I cared about what happened to them. Ringo isn't just a Hardware Guy after all. Like Heinlein, he can write a story; like Drake, he can invent interesting situations; like Weber, he can invent complex interstellar societies; and like the very best of writers, his stories take over and hold you spellbound. I would recommend ANYTHING John Ringo writes. Ever. * This book actually develops the story, instead of just giving us more of what we saw in the previous book. It's refreshing to see a writer who actually seems to be going someplace and writes for other reasons than to fulfill a 3-book contract. * Sure, the equine antagonists still smell bad and have a disconcerting tendency to slice 'n dice your neighbors, but even they are developing so they seem more real to the reader. When you compare them to Turtledove's invaders, they seem quite interesting even if you wouldn't want them to move in next door. Or on top of your house, as it were. * I was ready for this third book to finish the series. I suppose I was hoping Ringo would give us the third of his "March Upcountry" series Real Soon Now. Unfortunately, now I have to wait another six months or more for THAT book and another YEAR for another "Suits" book. Hey, John Ringo! I see you're an honor graduate of the David Weber School of SF Marketting. * I originally gave this review 4 stars, as if to say "I liked it, but ....". You see, it didn't meet my 'reader expectations'. As I reconsider my position, though, this might be a very good reason to rate it higher than I did. The book gave me MORE than I expected. Sometimes it's A Good Thing to be shaken out of my comfort zone. So buy the book. Read it. Write your OWN damn review. If you convince me it's a 5-star book, I'll go along with that. But if it's a 5-star rating, how is Ringo going to know that he can do even better on the next one? Jerry the (I played hooky from the office to read this book!) Geek
Rating:
Summary: Uh,folks? I think this is NOT the last book in the series
Review: This is the third in the "Suits" series. Here is a series of random observations: * Great characters, and I like the choices the author made as to which characters to focus on. I'm not sure he's playing entirely fair with us ... at least one main character he 'killed off' will, I'll bet, be resurrected "next week". * Speaking of resurrections .... naw. Read the book, you'll see it for yourself. Just keep in mind that there are a LOT of different NGO's in this universe, and some of them do indeed work in wondrous ways. * I was looking for more of the "Suits" in action, with emphasis on hardware and tactics and all that Military SF stuff. Instead I found REAL people instead of characters (generally speaking), and the author worked hardest on developing people so interesting that I cared about what happened to them. Ringo isn't just a Hardware Guy after all. Like Heinlein, he can write a story; like Drake, he can invent interesting situations; like Weber, he can invent complex interstellar societies; and like the very best of writers, his stories take over and hold you spellbound. I would recommend ANYTHING John Ringo writes. Ever. * This book actually develops the story, instead of just giving us more of what we saw in the previous book. It's refreshing to see a writer who actually seems to be going someplace and writes for other reasons than to fulfill a 3-book contract. * Sure, the equine antagonists still smell bad and have a disconcerting tendency to slice 'n dice your neighbors, but even they are developing so they seem more real to the reader. When you compare them to Turtledove's invaders, they seem quite interesting even if you wouldn't want them to move in next door. Or on top of your house, as it were. * I was ready for this third book to finish the series. I suppose I was hoping Ringo would give us the third of his "March Upcountry" series Real Soon Now. Unfortunately, now I have to wait another six months or more for THAT book and another YEAR for another "Suits" book. Hey, John Ringo! I see you're an honor graduate of the David Weber School of SF Marketting. <G> * I originally gave this review 4 stars, as if to say "I liked it, but ....". You see, it didn't meet my 'reader expectations'. As I reconsider my position, though, this might be a very good reason to rate it higher than I did. The book gave me MORE than I expected. Sometimes it's A Good Thing to be shaken out of my comfort zone. So buy the book. Read it. Write your OWN damn review. If you convince me it's a 5-star book, I'll go along with that. But if it's a 5-star rating, how is Ringo going to know that he can do even better on the next one? Jerry the (I played hooky from the office to read this book!) Geek
Rating:
Summary: More Fun than a barrel of Pegullahs
Review: Want a Wild Ride ? Your copies of Hymn before Battle and Gust Front starting to lose pages from being reread? Wait no Longer. John Ringo is Back. And with him the Posleen Invasion. I have a feeling that people either love or hate this genre and particularly Ringo's writing. So if you enjoyed the first two, you're going to eat this up. Be prepared for late night reading with a flashlight, hemorrhoids from hiding in the [bathroom] so you can finish a chapter, cold leftovers instead of meals, and a general disorientation when you are not reading the book that will include a general glazing over of the eyes and a far away look that people will wonder where you are as you certainly are not all there. Run, don't walk to order this book. The only bad thing about this book is that it ends and you want more. Hurry Up John Ringo - I'm ready for MORE !
Rating:
Summary: I Want More!!
Review: When I first started this series(with "Gust Front") I thought it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
I was wrong. If you just allow John Ringo's style to grow on you I think you will find that the characters do develop and you can get quite attached to them. In this book especially you can actually feel the hopelessness of the characters as the last pockets of humanity are overcome one by one. I found this a nice contrast to the first two books where the characters bounced along with showing any emotion regardless of what was happening I did feel a bit cheated that we the reader in effect missed the war. I mean here we are chugging along in Hymn Before Battle getting ready for a knockdown dragout fight and when we open "Dance With the Devil" the war against the insane have to kill all the human super-horses has already been going on for some time. I loved the book but this is what costs it the 5th star. I would have liked to have seen humanity getting the stuffing knocked out of it. The series looks like it is going to continue and if that is the case I will continue reading it
Rating:
Summary: I Want More!!
Review: When I first started this series(with "Gust Front") I thought it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
I was wrong. If you just allow John Ringo's style to grow on you I think you will find that the characters do develop and you can get quite attached to them. In this book especially you can actually feel the hopelessness of the characters as the last pockets of humanity are overcome one by one. I found this a nice contrast to the first two books where the characters bounced along with showing any emotion regardless of what was happening I did feel a bit cheated that we the reader in effect missed the war. I mean here we are chugging along in Hymn Before Battle getting ready for a knockdown dragout fight and when we open "Dance With the Devil" the war against the insane have to kill all the human super-horses has already been going on for some time. I loved the book but this is what costs it the 5th star. I would have liked to have seen humanity getting the stuffing knocked out of it. The series looks like it is going to continue and if that is the case I will continue reading it
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining but Inconclusive
Review: When I read "A Hymn Before Battle", the first book in the series, I thought the substance of the writing was excellent but the style undeveloped. Of course, that was Ringo's first published novel. Having put quite a few words on paper since then, the prose in "When the Devil Dances" reads considerably better. The things that I liked in "Hymn" have gotten stronger in "Devil"- lots of hardcore military SF action, hard-bitten survivors, and a touch of conspiracy. Some of the things that turned readers off to "Hymn" are still there as well. In particular, Ringo continues to string some subplots along with only minor attention or development. Also, I found the ending of "Devil" irritating- unlike the prior books, which at least told complete stories, this one virtually requires a sequel to let us know what happens next. Still, I'm glad I pre-ordered and got to read it right away. Anyone who liked "Hymn" will enjoy this book quite a bit. Readers who put "Hymn" down will have no reason to change their minds.
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