Rating: 
Summary: ¿Nice Concept -- Average Execution¿
Review: My negative thoughts regarding John Ringo's "A Hymn Before Battle" were tempered after I read that Mr. Ringo was a fairly new author. "A Hymn Before Battle Battle" is am extremely well conceived work of military sci-fi that suffers from at best an average execution of the concept.The concept is a twist on the old first contact with aliens story. Instead of coming to kill us or advance our civilization the aliens in "Battle" need our help. There is a powerful hostile race, the Posleen, running rough shod through the galaxy and the Galactics (as the aliens are called) need the earth's help to save the galaxy from invasion. In exchange they will share with us some their technology. The novel has several very positive aspects. The author is a fan of sci-fi and at times in the novel he pays homage to sci-fi and sci-fi novels which is kind of fun. Ringo does a nice job playing with technology and comes up with cool gadgets and weapons, from the AID's, to the Hyper Velocity Missiles to the Armored Combat Suits. He also creates a compelling character in Michael O'Neal and the story surrounding him is a good one. Lastly, the fact that the story is set in the present time and not in the future lends a little extra something to the book. Alas "Battle" is not without it's shortcomings. The major problem is that it is the first in a series and as such elements of the books are incomplete and others seem nothing more than wastes of time (the whole sub plot surrounding Sgt. Pappas is a good example). This is frustrating because it is possible to write a serialized set of novels wherein each novel is complete story in and of itself. Examples of this would be the Mars trilogy written by Kim Stanley Robinson, another is the on-going Star Wars: New Jedi Order series. Another issue is that "Battle" is not as compelling or as exciting as it might be given the premise. That being said like look forward to reading the second book in this series called "Gust Front". The concept, the O'Neal character and Ringo's technology are enough to bring me back for another
Rating: 
Summary: A Hymn Before Battle
Review: Excellent book, any fan of Military or Sci-fi should instantly be hooked. If you even remotely like either subject...buy this book :)
Rating:
Summary: Great Military Sci-Fi
Review: A new hero is here to defend the universe and he is an Earthman. Good character development for the most part and good continuity. Just a good, fun read and don't forget the sequels!
Rating:
Summary: Due Superb, Solo Golden
Review: Being a David Weber fan I had to try "Gust Front" just because
JR wrote a series with him. Gust Front was fantastic, but then
I found out it was the second book in the series and I ran to
get a copy of "A Hymn Before Battle" and was amazed. John Ringo's series is incredible. Whether writing with someone
or solo, his books will be ones that you have to read over and
over.
Rating:
Summary: A Hymn Before Battle-A Must Read!!!
Review: A Hymn Before Battle AHBB was a great first attempt t going solo for John Ringo. He has injected new life into the SF arena by supplying the public with this deep and intriguing read. Lately, SF books have tended to lean towards the more bland side of things-shallow characters, paper-thin plots, and somewhat over-imaginative weaponry and battle tactics that if employed in the real world would be catastrophic...for the employers of said tactics. However, Ringo delivers a novel with characters that you actually begin to look forward to hearing about again later in the novel, realistic tactics and weapons (for the humans anyway...the aliens are another story but somehow still rather believable approach), and a plot that simply cannot be denied. It is the near future, and Earth is in its golden age. Global peace has been (for the most part) attained at last, crime is down along with unemployment and America is at a point not reached since the end of the Great Depression. However, seemingly friendly aliens, the "Galactics", or members of a benign federation of planets, have arrived with a dire warning. This warning is of a race called the Posleen, a species of crocodilian-headed centaurs. The devour (literally) everything in their path, including their own dead and the dead of the other side. And, of course, planet Earth is next on their list. However, they also came with a deal that as Ringo puts it, "we couldn't refuse." The deal is that the Galactics will supply us with weapons and armor and also help us to rejuvenate old combat veterans to help fight again in the coming battles, but in exchange we must also use these resources to defend three planets: two, Barwhon and Diess, belong to the Galactics...and the third is a little closer to home...in fact, it is home-planet Earth. To give a brief example of the detail that Ringo employs in his novel, here is a short scene from a battle on the planet Diess...
"...In two seconds a thousand of these supremely destructive "teardrops" punched through fifty drums of fish oil. One pellet was enough to finely distribute a drum of oil over two to three thousand cubic meters of air. The following rounds found only vapor, and these excess pellets, following the immutable laws of physics, set off to find other barrels to divide. The oil from thousands of drums suddenly flash blasted into gas then ignited from compression, rather like a diesel piston. The net effect was a fuel-air bomb, the next best thing to a nuclear weapon in Terran technology, and the basement warehouse became a gigantic diesel cylinder. For Sergeant Reese, in an instant the world flashed to fire..."
Ringo veers into this type of dramatic detail quite often, but always manages to draw it into the story with unbelievable relevance. This is one of the main reasons that this book and its followers quickly became among my all time favorite books. Kudos to John Ringo for devising and writing such an engrossing and delightful novel that left me wishing for my own Armored Combat Suit.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good First Solo Effort
Review: I must say that I started this book with some trepidation owing to some of the negative reviews. After reading further reviews I purchased the book, and I must say I'm not dissappointed in any way. While there are elements here from other SF writers, I viewed them as more of an "homage" to these other writers rather than derivation. In fact it was fun to pick out some of them. (Readers of Starship Troopers will definately know what I'm talking about) The reason for the four star rating is that this is a first solo attempt, although I do seem to see some input from Mr. Weber here and there. But it does stand fine. Do note that it is the first in a series, and from the looks of it, it will be a fine series. I rate this book a definate buy. It's worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: A great Military Sci-Fi Book!
Review: Ringo's character development may not be what Weber's is, but he he is getting better with every book. This series, of which this is the firt, holds great promise. If you like good heros who are not perfect great battle stories that are operationally and tactically believable... then this is for you. The Posleen are a bit much and there is no translation for the Posleen words. The soldiers are great, right down to the privates. I gave it a 4, but it deserves a 4.5... Great book, but not the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Heinlein Redux
Review: While diverting enough, A Hymn Before Battle is basically a recycled Starship Troopers in the very familiar BEM sub-genre of science fiction, aimed a bit more at adults but exceedingly derivative. The hero is an Irish Woody Allen on steroids, a peerless soldier/technogeek of exceeding ugliness married to a woman apparently a cross between Catherine Zeta-Jones and Demi Moore. Every trite military stereotype is here: clueless brass, gruff sergeants with hearts of gold, second loots from sniveling to super, a sniper babe, and terminal acronymania. The first half of the book is the traditional gathering of the fabled warriors sort of thing and setting up the overall conflict; it moves like a snail in January molasses. The second half is much better, and the climactic battle scenes are truly super. Not a writer to make you forget Turtledove, Drake, Flint, Stirling--or Heinlein or E.E. "Doc" Smith, for that matter.
Rating:
Summary: Six Stars is not enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book ROCKED!!!!!!!!!. I loved this book this is a must read it is just powerful it shows much about warfare in the future just get through it and do it again because if you read it once you WILL read it again.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic read!
Review: This is just about the best book I have ever read. This is one of those books that just feel too short. If there were any flaws I could find, it was that a few threads got left hanging and that I wanted to see a little bit more into the alien's minds, and see how they thought. But those are simply minor flaws that take nothing away from the excellence of the book.
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