May Reads

• Kill Switch (Joe Ledger #8) by Jonathan Maberry (Goodreads Author)

• Ever read a book that is part of a series that you are so excited about and enjoying so much that you had to push back and take deliberate action to read in smaller bites? Yeah, that was this book (given my druthers I would have zipped through this book but I decided to spread out my entertainment). The book starts slow with some pretty clear foreshadowing that like a lot of the Joe books everything isn't going to be all-right in the end and that the country as well as the main characters aren't going to get out of this un-scarred (happens in a lot of Jonathan Maberry's books). I am proud of my self control to have taken two whole weeks to listen to this book (and really, this is a series where I seriously recommend the audio book. Ray Porter, the narrator is awesome. Even Jonathan has admitted that now he hears his characters as though narrated by him, as he is writing new stuff! His skill at presenting these stories is a significant enhancer).
  
  As to the story? What if the lights went out? What if everything that runs on electricity other than the tiny bit used in brains/hearts stopped working? (side note, this is the basis on a global scale for at least one TV show and one really good book series) What else could you do to make that worse? Well if you read this book you can come up with some idea's. The Ledger series has been delving more into the paranormal (vs the Science gone bad from the first couple) the past book or so, and this keeps it up. I really cannot think of much more to say that doesn't potentially spoil the story.
  
  BTW, there is a great little scene in this book that is a treat if you have read some of Maberry's other series's (beyond the fact that those other story-lines all have similar characters and names in them).

• Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (Mercy Thompson 0.1/0.6/0.8/1.5/4.5/5.5/7.4) by Patricia Briggs

So somehow this book ended up on my pile (Audiobook) and to pace myself with Kill Switch I decided to give it a try. Overall the stories stood up well even accounting for the fact that I am effectively unfamiliar with the Mercy Thompson world. It actually may motivate me to try at least first book of the main series. 

• Welcome Home / Go Away (Kris Longknife #9.5) by Mike Shepherd
• A short little palette cleanser from some of my recent books. This novella fills in a little of the backstory of the Kris Longknife series. Told from a different perspective than normal, mostly from her grandparents point of view (mostly General Trouble). It was interesting to see how the events of the latest book played out from another perspective. Nothing significant happens in this book but it was fun to spend a little more time in this world.
  
  
• Chains of Command (Frontlines #4) by Marko Kloos
• Another interesting continuation of the story of Andrew Grayson. Like the other books there is another fast forward that leads to rejoining Andrew and his wife a year after the events of the last book. Desperately rebuilding the military, Andrew has been co-opted to become a Drill Sergeant, pumping out new recruits into a military that is desperately short handed. But Andrew is not fated for that career for too long as his skills as a successful leader are again called for. Tasked to support a special team to go after the leadership of their confederation who fled just prior to battles of the last book, Andrew picks up a promotion (to the amusement of his wife) and is tasked to put together and lead a team to see if some of those ships that disappeared can be put retaken and put to use in their upcoming campaign to retake Mars.
  
• A Shrouded World - Whistlers (A Shrouded World #1) by Mark Tufo (Goodreads Author), John O'Brien
• So I am much more familiar with Mark Tufo's Michael Talbot character (I actually read the first book of John Obrien's Jack Walker series last month), but this seemed like a fun little collaboration between two characters (+ Trip from Talbot's world). Each of the characters got to interact with the other's main issue (Talbot's zombies and Jack's nighwalkers) and introduced a new bad guy to this world (the Whistlers). It took a little while for the characters to meet up finally, but it was worth it. I am looking forward to the next book to see what happened to this world.

• The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia
• So it was free. And I got a lot of enjoyment from it. So win for me. This short story/novella was offered free on Audible so I couldn't pass on a free story from one of my favorite authors. Goofy? Yep. Chock full of pop culture references? Check. Overall it feels like this was a collaboration of a bunch of drunks (I can see it now.... "hey! hey! Put in Chuck Norris"), but not just any drunks but a bunch of SF/Fantasy/Mil-SF Con drunks. This story made my run fly by.

April "Reads"/Reads

Lots of driving for the Army leads to more "reading"of audio books:

• Joe Ledger: Special Ops (Joe Ledger #5.5) by Jonathan Maberry

• A great collection of short stories. The Joe Ledger world combines high tech, investigation, action and, yes, a little of the unexplained (in some ways this is the X-Files from operators perspective as opposed to a more passive special agent perspective). They fill in some of the backstories of specific books and/or characters. This was a excellent way to prepare for the release of the new book in the Joe Ledger series later this month. (5/5) 

• Do Unto Others (Freehold: Ripple Creek #2) by Michael Z. Williamson

• Bodyguards. You may ask yourself, what can be more boring that being a bodyguard. Well.. When you are the bodyguard for the only child (daughter) of the richest man in human space? Well, then things get complicated. Located in the Freehold universe (authoritarian Earth that embodies the nanny state, but also containing Freehold, libertarian paradise) this is the story of the Ripple Creek bodyguards (from the previous book, Better to beg Forgiveness) who have the difficult task of keeping this young woman alive. (4/5) 

• The Dark Between the Stars (Saga of Shadows #1) by Kevin J. Anderson

• Bringing back most of the surviving cast of the Saga of the Seven Suns, this book jumps 20 years into the future (so now the children of the main characters are involved as well). There is a new bad guy for the hero's to face, as well as some returning bad guys and some new allies. It will be interesting to see how the story continues to develop, as the scope of this story is pretty far reaching (which leads to some significant jumps in perspective). Overall a solid story. (3.5/5)
• Chaos (A New World #1) by John O'Brien

• It was an entertaining read. The world is going down due to a flue virus, and the vaccine turns out to be worse than the disease. My one big issue was that it seemed to easy for the main character, Jack. He flies an C-130, there just happens to be one with extra internal fuel tanks. The only person he encounters in the sky is his girlfriends brother? Yeah, I want to be this guys friend since he appears to be the luckiest guy alive (and of course his GF is one of the few survivors at the military base in Kuwait she is at). I will definitely read (listen to) the next book to see where this goes. (3/5)

March "Reads"/Reads

Long books plus long runs seems to even's out my audiobook listening. 

Hell's Foundations Quiver (Safehold #8) by David Weber

• Long book, long series. I think things are slowly coming to a head. Weber's villians, in this case Clinton, are always appropriately hatable that you feel sorry for the people on their team. Almost. David Weber is wordy but the sheer concept of this story keeps me coming back, the combination of "older" tech being aided by futuristic capabilities to help the good guys win really does make this a fun series to read. 4/5 (AB)

Eruption (Supervolcano #1) by Harry Turtledove

• Disappointing. I have been a fan of Harry Turtledove for most of my life so I bought this on his name alone. And while the concept is interesting (The Yellowstone Supervolcano erupts!) it just doesn't feel like his other books. I get it, the idea is to abstract this massive, world changing event and put it up against a personal perspective of the people who are being affected. But this felt more like the disaster films I grew up on in the 80's and early 90's, right down to the corny characters. I don't think I can bring myself to get the next book of the series. I was bored. 2/5 (AB)

Terms of Enlistment  (Frontlines #1) by Marko Kloos

• Good start to a series. Overall this book entertained (always the highest praise from me). The near future looks somewhat bright (at least there is star travel, though Earth itself is looking pretty grim). Following the story of someone from the modern equivalent of the projects (and on the dole) who earned the right to enlist, it is always interesting to me as someone who went through basic training in the USA to compare. Nothing too egregious leapt out at me and the progress of Andrew to first the local Army and then eventually to the Navy was entertaining (I like how when he showed up on his first ship the XO accuses him of being a PX Ranger (bought some awards at the PX that he didn't earn), though I suspect any real XO worth his salt wouldn't have given him the the chance). Overall I was excited to get started on the next book. 4/5 (AB)

Watch on the Rhine (Posleen War: Sidestories #1) by John Ringo, Tom Kratman

• If there is ever a book I have read that most clearly got started over a few drinks, this book is it. I imagine it went something like: "I bet you I can write a story where the nominal good guys wear Sigruden (the Lightning bolt of the SS)" "Hah, good luck with that"  And with that we have this book, which started as a short story and became this full length novel. Where the fricking remainder of the SS is rejuvenated to help Germany fight off the oncoming Posleen horde. Now I share some convictions with the author, Tom Kratman, a retired US Army Officer, so the way that certain parts of Germany are handled came off quite satisfying to me, but overall, like all the Posleen (Legacy of the Aldentia) world this is a grim world. Overall it was a solid addition to the the universe that was created by John Ringo. 4/5 (DB)

Lines of Departure (Frontlines #2) by Marko Kloos

• Continuing a solid series. The storyline flashes forward 5 years to the re-enlistment of Andrew and his Girlfriend. The fight against the against the aliens is going not so well. Andrew has shifted from being a regular swabbie (after converting from being a regular grunt in the first book) to becoming a Combat Controller (basically a JTAC from my military experience. Still part of the space service but down in the mud coordinating air and space support). The best part of this was the humanizing of his relationship with Mother when he is down on leave, taking her out of the PRC and letting her experience some of the world around her). And after getting engaged to his girlfriend (and promising to be back in 6 months) he heads off to fight... not the aliens but the other part of humanity that has colonized deep space (Russian/China coalition). And then things get worse. Finally he is basically exiled (with a whole bunch of other people) onto some ice world.  And then things get worse again. 4/5 (AB)

Angles of Attack (Frontlines #3) by Marko Kloos

• Surviving the trials of the last book, Andrew is now stuck out on the ice world. With a ragtag group of ships from both sides they finally start working together against the enemy menace. After going back to Earth-space, coming back to the ice world and then finally returning to Earth (and linking up with his fiancee) things of course take another bad turn. Looking forward to the next book to see where things go from there. (4/5) AB

February "Reads"/Reads

Even more miles for my training equals even more miles for me to listen to books. Though it is a slightly (less so than normal) shorter month.

• Valhalla (Lexy Vaughan Steven Macaulay #1) - Robert J. Mrazek
• Not a bad book. But not interesting enough to keep going. It was interesting how the author tied in the airplane recovery into a recovery effort for, of all things, the Vikings and secret cults. Felt like a mediocre Dan Brown novel.

• Brothers in Valor (Man of War #3) - H. Paul Honsinger
• Continuation of a fun series. I enjoyed the interesting situations and the clever ways that the captain was able to escape. Based on the ending I am interested to see where this goes.

• The X-Files: Trust No One - edited by Jonathan Maberry
• With a new "season" of The X-Files on tv, it was hard not to buy this anthology to get into the mood and revel in some nostalgia. So I didn't resist and was quite happy with the set of stories. The X-Files feels like returning to your childhood and most of these stories captured the feel of the show. While not every story completely engaged me, the overall set made me feel like I got my money's worth.

January "Reads"/Reads

So to humor those who feel that listening to an audio book isn't reading (though it is a big way for me to consume new entertainment).  I have upped my running miles in anticipation of a half marathon in March (I listen to audio books when running, as well as when I am commuting).

• "Steel World" - Undying Mercenaries #1 - B.V. Larson
• Solid SF. Interesting concept with a novel way of killing the main characters. Over and over again. A broad and complex world told from the perspective of a grunt (though he is a "lucky" grunt who seems to always end up in the middle of the actions) with some interesting politics going on in the background. I will definitely give the next book a whirl.

• "A Call to Arms" - Honorverse: Manticore Ascendant - David Weber
• So after a long pause by me from reading any of the Honorverse books, this series continues to drag me in. It offers a unique perspective of the history of the Manticore kingdom from the beginning, before it becomes the super-power that it is in Honor series. Focused mainly on the story started in the first book of Travis Long, this steps several years forward to allow the main character and the supporting cast to move up in rank/responsibility. Covering both the micro (ship to ship fighting) to the macro (big high level political moves) this story has a little bit for everyone, though in particular for those who have grown up reading the other Honor novels.

• "The End Has Come" - edited by John Joseph Adams
• Last of the trilogy, most of the stories here address what comes after the apocalypse. After the apocalypse you say, how can there be a story? Well... Humans are tough and we have a habit of pushing onward even through unspeakable odds (even a virus that kills 99.99% still has some survivors). It was interesting to see how the stories progressed through this set (since most of the stories here had a previous story in the other 2 books (before and during the apocalypse of course)).

The Engines of God (The Academy #1) by Jack McDevitt

The Engines of God (The Academy #1)

by Jack McDevitt

Solid and engaging SF. One of the things I respected about this book is that it shows the future as a messy place.  Sure, they have FTL travel and communications but everything is not hunky-dory at home.  Earth is a messed up place that seems only to be getting worse, science is still operating on a shoestring budget, the military/government is still stepping on peoples toes and the universe is a big scary place.

Spanning 5 separate planets, this tale is good (generally what I have come to expect from Jack McDevitt).  We have the stars but they are a fairly lonely place. Only one alive race has been found (the are technologically around the WWI level), another never got off their planet and died out and a third was engaged in a game of clue, placing structures near all three races (they left a statue near us an weirdly empty city on a moon of another race).

The main characters are mostly archaeologists, who only seem to have exciting jobs in the stories that are written (like Indiana Jones) who are trying to put all the pieces together.  There is action scenes scattered all around story as well as high tech action.  I am really looking forward to the next book!

Fuzzy Nation (Fuzzy Sapiens) by John Scalzi

Fuzzy Nation (Fuzzy Sapiens)

by John Scalzi

A rewrite of a previous story with the same name, this story updates a story that many people, myself included, have never read to contemporary standards.  While a number of the points were updated to account for how we see the technology and standards for contemporary society, I could very much feel the underpinning concepts that carried through from this older story.

A lot of older SF has the super-competent character who is so much smarter and slicker than his peers effectively manipulating the other characters of the story.  In this case it is even more appropriate that this same archetype is also a disbarred lawyer who utilizes his knowledge to control the whole flow of the story.

I was definitely entertained and enjoyed the story throughout though.  From the introductions of the Fuzzies to most of the elements and characters, this book brought me solidly into the story and entertained throughout.

Jack Holloway, a dis-barred lawyer, is a prospector on Zara 23.  In his searches he has struck the mother load, something that would pay out billions of dollars, but he now faces a moral quandary.  Small creatures that he calls Fuzzies have taken to visit his place.  He shares their info to his ex-girlfriend who chooses to file a claim that they are an intelligent lifeforms, which would jeopardize Jack's future payday.  Throughout the book Jack must balance his his desire to strike it big with the potential cost of endangering the fuzzies.

The Evolutionary Void (Void #3) by Peter F. Hamilton

The Evolutionary Void (Void #3)

by Peter F. Hamilton

What a solid ending to a pretty fantastic series.  Considering this is the end of the second trilogy based in this fascinating universe that has such a massive scope that it was entertaining to see where it would go.  Full of everything from post-Singularity intelligences, uploaded human consciousnesses, cyborgs, magic and even some elves tossed in.

To really get this book you must have read the previous books, preferably even the series that preceded this one given that is where many of the characters and came from.  This is a SF series that evokes the older SF, large in scale and concepts coupled with solid contemporary characters.

The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight (Lost Stars #1) by Jack Campbell

The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight (Lost Stars #1)

by Jack Campbell

What a great spinoff concept. Prior to this book the Syndicate, controlled by nefarious CEO's, were nothing more than relative stick figures. In this case we get to delve deeper into Syndicate society in the post-Geary age.  The main characters were tangentially introduced in the main series, but now we have a chance to see the desperate fight of the leadership of Midway to separate themselves from the central control of the Syndicate.

This is much more of a political novel than the Lost Fleet books.  Yes, there is space combat as well as ground combat, but a lot of the book is devoted to the truly twisted political realm of the CEO's, where you cannot trust anyone. Even though they must work together to wring a small hole of safety for both themselves and the people of Midway, the sheer level of scheming is intense (where every move is never taken at face value and no one is what they seem to be). But the two leaders, Drakon and Iceni, seem to see the value of cooperation and realize that the system that they were born into needs to be changed (but realizing that it cannot be done overnight).

A very solid book and I very much look forward to the next (with a cliffhanger like Jack dropped at the end of the book, it is a given that there needs to be another book).

Furious (Kris Longknife #10)

by Mike Shepherd

This is the style of SF that I grew up on.  I guess that is why I have read the past 9 books, making this one a no-brainer.

In a lot of ways this is perhaps the most boring of the series. No cataclismic fight against overwhelming odds and very little fleet action (even the ground fighting/espionage, another big factor for this series, was tame).  Mainly just a bunch of hiding/escaping from pursuers, a break in, more fleeing and then a courtroom drama (set in the Japanese empire, which is entertaining).  And oddly enough, more romance than we have seen in almost the entire series combined.

Kris starts the story exiled, stuck on a planet far away, seperated from most of her friends (except Abbie). After yet another assaination attempt coupled with some key intel that needs to be resolved back in Wardhaven, she promptly escapes. Making things difficult for her is that her father and her grandfather have both sworn out warrants against her, and her other grandfather locks her out of her massive funds.

Overall entertaining popcorn novel.  The most frustrating part of the book was the end, which so horribly teases the next book I was kind of annoyed......

Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville #2)

by Carrie Vaughn (Goodreads Author)

Gotta love it when the book is set in my hometown.  And in this case the author seems to actually have visited DC.   I am really come around to Kitty. Beyond the amusement of a werewolf named Kitty, her character seems fairly consistent and is entertaining to me.
This time Kitty has been summoned to DC to testify to Congress.  After the events of the first book, more of the supernatural is out and Congress wants answers. DC of course has it's own supernatural underground...  A senior vampire with tight control of the city, were's who work for embassy's and a much more tolerant collection of were's.

The supernatural backstory of this world continues to grow, in this case we are introduced to the concept of elves (and magic that works).

Kitty's big mouth continues to get her in trouble, and her overriding curiosity doesn't help either.

Fun read and I am looking forward to the next book.

Mockingjay

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)

by Suzanne Collins

First off, are they really going to split this into 2 movies?!  Because that seems somewhat ridiculous.....
But overall this was a pretty satisfying conclusion to the series. In true angsty teenage-centric and aimed books, a 17 year old girl is the key to victory (insert rolling of my eyes at this).

In a reflection of the modern world, the propo's are given almost as much value to the war effort as the actual conflict with the Capitol. And of course as the Mockingjay, Katness is key for this effort. There really wasn't any question about the eventual end of President Snow, but the last couple of chapters were an interesting turn of events.

And yes, as a cat person the most moving part of this book involved Katniss and Buttercup, as they meet right at the end of the book... Both of them hurting and finding comfort in the other after a long period of studied indifference between them.

Allison Hewitt Is Trapped (Zombie #1)i

Allison Hewitt Is Trapped (Zombie #1)

by Madeleine Roux

As a book lover myself I had to appreciate a story that starts out set in a book store which is written in blog format. Allison Hewitt, the lead of our story naturally, is a graduate student in English.  Which overall would make you think that she has little use in a zombie outbreak scenario. But she proves that wrong, with her quick and expert utilization of a fire axe.

Written as a find in the future that is being submitted to a literary collection addressing the zombie outbreak, this novel collects the posts and comments (which give a nice flavor for how the rest of the country is dealing with things, something that is often lacking in other books once the comm's go down (taken care by the concept of SafeNet, a (almost magical network to a techie like me) network that was meant for last minute coordination in a grid down scenario)).  Any story where the main character almost gets whacked because she is so focused on getting some new reading material to alleviate the boredom is one that I enjoy and relate to. Of course I have a harder time seeing myself being so unprepared and untrained as she is, but it is things like that which make the character relate able.

Overall a well written novel that provides a satisfying end for the story, with a unique voice and very familiar writing style.

The Ice Limit

The Ice Limit

by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

I was entertained. I know that sounds like damning with faint praise but this book was slightly out of my favorite genre (though they do throw a twist in the latter quarter of the novel).

Highly competent men undertaking near impossible tasks. And moving a meteorite halfway around the world from where it was buried near the Antarctic Circle, without the assistance or approval of the host nation, is quite the task. Particularly when the rock weighs more than 10,000 tons?

The characters where almost caricatures, not very deep with only a modicum of back story to provide motivations. But the story and the engineering (and chicanery required to pull it off under the noses of the local authorities) were interesting. I must say that I really didn't see them heading down the SF road at the end, but it was an interesting twist.

Firestorm (Destroyermen #6)

by Taylor Anderson

Can things get worse? For the crew of Walker and her allies, the only answer is yes. Now solidly engaged in a two front war against opponents that individually outnumber the entire alliance, the scope of this story continues to grow (my biggest concern is that every books seems to be making the scope bigger! There really doesn't appear to be an end in sight).

Now forced to stave off an attack by the Holy Dominion while simultaneously continuing to strike at the Grik, the story is steadly expanding to a global scope. The focus of this book is the expansion of air. Both by the HD with their trained attack flying Grik and by the Grik themselves with the introduction of Zeppelins developed by the Japanese cruisermen.

The best part is the Captain Reddy finally gets to be reunited with his love, even if just for a little while.

Republic

Republic by Charles Sheehan-Miles

Civil war is not the way to go. Particularily if you are a small state, not prepared and have little support from anyone around you.

West Virginia in this tale has suffered an increasing number of indignities by the federal government. In this case a crony of the President closes the major employer in a small WV town and plans to move it overseas. After the people of the town reject that decision, even going to the point of breaking into the plant and pretending that things were okay, the favorite bogeyman of the far Right (and the far Left), DHS, storms the place and kills some of the occupiers.  Things go downhill from there....

The characters introduced are likable and, since most of them are military people, quite relateable to me. The author constructs situations where I as a Army NG Officer am forced to sit back and think what I would do in a similar situation (the most notable was the Army CPT intervenes when DHS agents randomly round up all middle-eastern males over 13 by kicking in doors and dragging them out).

Events slowly escalate to the point where WV makes the decision to secede and the author plays out the eventual result of that action (of a state poorly prepared, with little munitions and fuel, no real outside support, forces that are in shreds due to desertions due to torn loyalties, and facing the the Active Duty Armed Forces). A solid read that kept me turning the page to see how it played out.

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1)

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1) by Jeaniene Frost

This was a heck of a fun read. This book introduces Catherine Crawfield, a half-vampire Vampire hunter. While sometimes the vampire thing seems a bit played out, Cat is an interesting twist. The whole vampire mythology is pretty much mainline (super strength, ability to confuse minds, super-healing, and of course the whole blood sucking thing. The devil in these stories is in the details, like the fact that Vamp's are only susceptible to silver and wither away when killed.) the idea of the halfbreed is more open to interpretation.

Cat is the product of a vampire rape (which apparently has to occur in the short period of a less than a week from being turned) who is raised by her mother. At 16 she finally told how she came to being and is put on the path to staking every vampire she can get her hands on. The story finds us joining her at age 22, with quite a collection of vampires laying around her grandparents farm. Everything was going well until she picks up her next victim, Bones.

We learn more about Bones and his particular quest and, as so often happens in these sorts of tales,  eventually there develops a romantic interest. Luckily the seemingly required erotic bits are short and not too painful to listen to.

The events in the story quickly escalate and are well written. But the jewel of the story is Cat, quippy and fun to listen to (ala Buffy), which ensures that I will be taking on the next book shortly.

Rot & Ruin

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry.  So many of the zombie books are about the actual event. This book starts in the ruins, some 15 years after the event. Benny Imura is the main character as well as his brother Tom. Benny has grown up in the post-zombie world where Zombies and Zombie Hunters (like his brother) are playing cards and the slice of humanity of that we can see is huddled behind the fences. Only a few people, like his brother, go outside the fence into the Rot and Ruin.

But Benny faces the coming of age rite that once you hit 15 you have to find a job. And Benny is finding that he is either ill-suited for most the jobs or he sees no future in some of them (slinging dead zombies into the burn pit all day long? I can see why). So as a last resort he turns to his brother Tom. As with a lot of siblings, there is tension, and Benny blames his brother for his parents passing away, thinking him a coward compared to the more boisterous zombie hunters. Everything starts going wrong after he discovers the the ultra-rare trading card, "The Lost Girl," which serves as the focal point for the rest of the book.

As to the rest? Read it and find out. Jonathan Maberry is a top-notch storyteller who spins excellent action sequences and keeps the story moving along. So come along  and enjoy the ride.

Freehold

Freehold by Michael Z. Williamson. I am at heart a libertarian, but in all fairness this book is sorta like libertarian porn. Because libertarian societies have difficulties coexisting with non-libertarian societies (we have a lot of people in current society who take and don't give, and any change from that will not be peaceful) Michael simplifies things and allows a libertarian society to come about with the introduction of star travel.  

Basically a bunch of like minded libertarians founded Freehold and let it grow into the society we see in the first 2/3's of the book. But then the libertarian's favorite bad guy, the UN (the biggest, most bureaucratic and ineffective government out there) comes in and messes things up. 

The whole story is told from the perspective of Kendra Pacelli, a member of the UN Peacekeeping Force who is set up and forced to flee to Freehold. She is slowly introduced to the Freehold society (and by proxy the reader, of whom some of these concepts is quite foreign) and to it's military.

It really is a fun read and is a nice dream.

The Man with the Iron Heart

The Man with the Iron Heart by Harry Turtledove. I wanted to like this book more, as I I have read a lot of his other works and enjoyed them a lot. Really, I did. But unlike a lot of Turledove's books this one felt really heavy handed in the manner in which he overlaid post WW2 Germanywith contemporary events. 

With the non-death of Reinhard Heydrich the Allies encounters a true opposition in post-defeat Germany. Heydrich has had 3 years to prepare for the downfall and subsequent resistance inside Germany. And to anyone who has followed the news in the past decade, every tool that Al Quada has deployed is in the arsenal of Heydrich's Werewolves. Suicide truck bombs, suicide bombers, IED's, other traps  and even the kidnapping and execution of service members (caught on camera of course).

Maybe this book works for other people but I personally am exhausted from our own War against Terror that uses the same tactics, reading about them set into 1945-48 just felt like a chore.