Ringo may be dead on with how they behave especially the upper class of the Argentinean society, but, not being knowledgeable about that subject it felt a bit, well, politically incorrect. While I enjoyed the interplay and cultural differences, at some points I felt uncomfortable with caricatures of the South Americans in the story. Parker is sent to the battle Station Thermopylae where the majority of the personnel are from South American countries. The first two-thirds of the book, for the most part, dealt with the culture clash between her, and Latin American members of the Alliance. She’s well grounded, principled and utterly likeable. The majority of the book was from the POV of Engineer’s Mate Dana “Comet” Parker. I have John Ringo partly to thank for that. At that point the majority of my science fiction readings were within that subgenre, now, my sci-fi base has greatly expanded. I originally read A Hymn Before Dying mostly because it had some Post Apocalyptic elements and it was recommended on some PA boards. That is one of the things I enjoy about reading, sometimes you take a chance on something different, or maybe pick up something that has elements you like, but elements you have never really tried before, and it opens the door to so many new authors and works. His Posleen War series was probably the first major military sci-fi series I have read, and I enjoyed it so much that I began searching out more and more similar types of books.

In fact, I hold John Ringo mainly responsible for introducing me to military sci-fi. I stated that at the beginning of my review of Citadel and I will reiterate it at the beginning of my review of The Hot Gate, the third book in the Troy Rising Military Science Fiction series.

Quick Thoughts: Despite some issues, The Hot Gate is an entertaining novel that most fans of John Ringo will love. The Hot Gate by John Ringo (Troy Rising, Book 3)

The hot gate john ringo