During the latter weeks of August, while getting settled in here in Lubbock and adjusting to the other accompanying changes in my life, I spent much of the free time available to me getting caught up on John Ringo's "Legacy of the Aldenata" series. Ringo's latest contribution to the series - and his first solo effort since Hell's Faire in 2003 - is Eye of the Storm, a novel set fifty-two years after the repulsion of the Posleen invasion of Earth in 2009.
Realizing that many, if not most reading this entry, are not familiar with Ringo's Aldenata universe, I'll start with a brief summary thereof. The series begins with Ringo's A Hymn Before Battle, where in 2001 an alien civilization known as the Galactic Federation makes contact with Earth, bearing a warning that within a few years a ferocious race of reptilian aliens called the Posleen will attack Earth and quickly overwhelm its meager military defenses. The Galactic Federation offers technological assistance, but for a steep price. Mankind will have to contribute to defending two additional worlds, and given the fact that the Galactic Federation's primary races (the Darhel, Indowy, and Tchpth) are incapable of effectively defending themselves, the human race finds itself charged with being the entire civilized universe's best hope of turning back the Posleen menace. Readers are introduced to the main character of the series, Mike O'Neal, a former special forces soldier who is recalled to service and ends up leading what becomes Earth's premier unit of troops to combat the Posleen.
Gust Front picks up the story in 2004, when the first Posleen landings on Earth occur in northern Virginia. What unfolds in this novel is a brutal slaughtering of anyone caught in the wave of the Posleen assault, with the US military desperately trying to overcome a numerically and technologically superior enemy.
Over the next five years, much of Earth's population (about 5/6ths of humanity) is wiped out as the Posleen invasion envelops much of the world.
Ringo continues the story with When the Devil Dances and Hell's Faire, set in 2009 when the Posleen have overrun most of Earth's defenses and only a few hardy defenders remain. Mike O'Neal and his troops are still alive and fighting in the Southern Appalachians, where the Posleen have launched an offensive with the intent of shattering North America's defenses once and for all.
Tom Kratman's published contributions to the series (as of September 2009) are Watch on the Rhine and Yellow Eyes, which I previously reviewed here and here. The two novels are set shortly before the events in Gust Front, taking place in Germany and Panama respectively. Click on the linked reviews to learn more about Kratman's Aldenata novels.
Julie Cochrane has, to date, published three contributions to the series - Cally's War, Sister Time, and Honor of the Clan - featuring Cally O'Neal (Mike O'Neal's daughter) as the main character. Taking place from 2047 to 2055, Cochrane's stories chronicle Cally's adventures with an insurgent group called the Bane Sidhe (pronounced BAN-shee) who are plotting to overthrow the aforementioned Darhel, who control the Galactic Federation and have kept humanity in a vise-grip of political and economic subservience since the Posleen invasion of Earth.
All of which brings us to Eye of the Storm, wherein the the Galactic Federation in 2061 finds itself on the brink of civil war, with the Human-dominated Fleet Strike arm of the Galactic military on the verge of open revolt against the Darhel. But just as events seem to be hurtling toward a Galactic version of First Manassas, another alien civilization called the Hedren Tyranny launches a surprise attack against the Galactic Federation, threatening Gratoola, the Federation's capital. Begrudgingly, the Darhel cede the entire Galactic military (Fleet and Fleet Strike) to human control, with now-Lieutenant General Mike O'Neal being put in charge of the latter. But unlike the Posleen, who were numerically and technologically powerful but strategically unsophisticated, the Hedren seem to possess logistical and strategic abilities that far exceed those of the Federation.
In addition to introducing a new enemy, Ringo also synthesizes the various story-lines and major characters developed in his, Kratman's, and Cochrane's novels. Among the returning characters from previous novels, readers are re-introduced to Mike O'Neal, Cally O'Neal, and also Walter Muhlenkampf from Watch on the Rhine and William Young Boyd from Yellow Eyes. To anyone who has read the entire Aldenata series, seeing these characters from years ago is like meeting up with old friends. In a way, you might say that Eye of the Storm is the military science fiction equivalent of Rocky Balboa, but with more political intrigue, sharper dialogue, a lot more violence, and the promise of further adventures to come.
Next up in the series: Tom Kratman's The Tuloriad, due for an October 6, 2009 release.
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