[Review] Citadel by John Ringo

Citadel
Troy Rising #2
John Ringo
January 4th, 2011
Baen

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

"Of all the hosts of Eurotas the Troias were the most fell. For they were born of Winter." Between the Solar Array Pumped Laser and "Troy," the two trillion ton nickel-iron battlestation created by eccentric billionaire Tyler Vernon, Earth has managed to recapture the Sol system from their Horvath conquerors and begin entering the galactic millieu.

But when the Rangora Empire rapidly crushes humanity's only ally it becomes clear the war is just beginning. At the heart of nickel iron and starlight are the people, Marines, Navy and civilians, who make "Troy" a living, breathing, engine of war. Survivors of apocalypse, they know the cost of failure.

If "this"Troy falls, no one will be left to write the epic.

"Citadel" continues the saga begun in "Live Free or Die," following the paths of several characters during the first years of The Spiral Arm Wars culminating in the First Battle of E Eridani.

 Hello again, it's Chris here to bring some more laser pistol to all this romance.

Citadel starts out strong, with some actions coinciding with actions in Live Free or Die but told from some totally new points of view. While Tyler Vernon is still a main character, we're introduced to a young engineer in the fledgling space navy, Dana Parker, and she's got a personal grudge to settle with some aliens. Another new character, James Allan, is a good old country boy and shade tree mechanic straight out of school and ready to try his hand at space construction. The story easily flows from these three points of view, and where they often overlap there is no stuttering or loss of coherency.

John Ringo again brings whimsical humor to what could be a serious and dire situation. He continues to show how humans can adapt to almost any situation. And while he does use scientific jargon, again he tends to explain things in ways that the average person can understand. After all, when you're trying to build a space force to protect the Earth, you don't have time for them all to be rocket scientists.

I love this book so much I had to read it twice. I give Citadel a solid 5 out of 5 laser pistols. This book is brighter than a supernova and I eagerly recommend this to any fellow sci-fi fans out there.