The Last Centurion
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But in a GOOD way.
Classic Ringo after a fashion. Told from the grunt/field grade viewpoint, dripping with distain towards government in general and Hillary in particular, 1st rate comabt scenes, even has a plausible series of PODs.
Lordofthedogs
Banned
the thing you must understand about John Ringo is that in his fiction Republicans are always right and Democrats are always wrong, it is highly entertaining fiction as long as you don't challenge the guiding principle.
my only complaint is:
I wish Ringo had fleshed out the latter part of the book more, especially Detroit.
if it was me writing I'd be more pessimistic, with a full culture collapse
and ACWII, move the story ahead a generation and have little America in the middle east like he contemplated before sacking Istanbul.
If john is wrong on the climate thing and admits it I expect he will write up a story where the greens mess things up more with a solution.
my only complaint is:
I wish Ringo had fleshed out the latter part of the book more, especially Detroit.
if it was me writing I'd be more pessimistic, with a full culture collapse
and ACWII, move the story ahead a generation and have little America in the middle east like he contemplated before sacking Istanbul.
If john is wrong on the climate thing and admits it I expect he will write up a story where the greens mess things up more with a solution.
lichtbringer
Banned
John Ringo? Isn't that that neocon freak who glorified the SS in his book "Watch on the Rhine"?
Not only him but Tom Kratman was responsible for "Watch on the Rhine" book. Ringo I believe moderated the position of the other author Tom Kratman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Kratman .Tom Kratman had the idea to glorify the SS.
lichtbringer
Banned
You're right, I remember. There was an afterword in that book in which Ringo/Kratman defended the glorification. If I remember right they said that most of the SS weren't political (HAHA!) and that the free world, land of the brave etc. pp. should use such methods in the "War on Terror" (tm) to defeat those evil muslims.
If those both guys would be germans they would be likly Republikaner or more likle near to the DVU or NPD.
You can see excerpts from several Kratman books at the website for Baen Books. Apparently Eric Flint has a much stronger stomach than I do.
And referring to Ringo as a moderating influence on Kratman, while quite possibly true, resonates in the same way as Cheney being a moderating influence on someone.
And referring to Ringo as a moderating influence on Kratman, while quite possibly true, resonates in the same way as Cheney being a moderating influence on someone.
And the book would be cencored..
(Which I dissaprove of, even though I do not favour Nazism, methinks).WotR was written by Tom Kartman, from an outline by Ringo. That is REALLY common these days, where a new writer will coat tail a successful one, with his name starting out REALLY tiny and gradually getting larger until the get their own book. Baen is famous for it, but it is also common in other Houses (take a look at the many works of James Patterson & see the several co-writers, which is about the only way he could be so productive). If you read some of Kartman's afterward, you will see that he alludes to Ringo reining him in from time to time.
And to be fair to Kartman, he glorified the Waffen SS as a military unit while painting the one unrepentant Nazi as a jerk. The message that, in hard times, you sometimes need hard men, isn't a new one.
Ringo isn't a "neocon". He's a military vet with a libertarian streak and deep distrust of government in general (and a dislike of Hillary that is so hot it could warm a two bedroom home
).From what I've read, Tom Kratman is effing insane. Somebody posted about his newest book, Caliphate, a while ago, and it was the worst piece of Islamaphopic trash I'd ever read. Out of morbid curiosity, I looked at his website. He's apparently like that full time, and all his books basically involve the heroic Westerns committing Genocide against teh evul Muslims, even if it's set on a different planet. Be sure not to criticize him, though, otherwise he'll quote you, along with some sort of demeaning insult about your political or sexual orientation. Really, swear to God.
Sachyriel
Banned
Reading the chapter on the net:
-SPOILER HIGHLITHER MARKING-
Upon analysis of the combat the relieved special operations unit commander credited Bandit Six with over twenty (20) personal kills including more than six (6) due to knife and bayonet.
-SPOLER HIGHLIGHTER MARKING-
Well, sometimes, it gets a bit over the top. I mean, where is China in relation to Afganistan, surely they're like 'Alright, it's been...14 years now...GTFO!'.
-SPOILER HIGHLITHER MARKING-
Upon analysis of the combat the relieved special operations unit commander credited Bandit Six with over twenty (20) personal kills including more than six (6) due to knife and bayonet.
-SPOLER HIGHLIGHTER MARKING-
Well, sometimes, it gets a bit over the top. I mean, where is China in relation to Afganistan, surely they're like 'Alright, it's been...14 years now...GTFO!'.
lichtbringer
Banned
First the author of the book WotR told that the Waffen SS was mostly unpolitical. Only a few were real nazis. And that is a lie. The Waffen SS was the elite of the nazis. Only in the end of WW2 they take everything before you have to proof your loality to the nazi-ideologie.
And for the message in hard times you sometimes need hard men. That can't be an excuse for doing inhuman things like Dachau (I'm sure those guys there also heard the hard times saying) or on a much smaller scale in Abu Greib.
Oh one of those guys.Ringo isn't a "neocon". He's a military vet with a libertarian streak and deep distrust of government in general (and a dislike of Hillary that is so hot it could warm a two bedroom home
lichtbringer
Banned
We in germany have very hard laws against glorifying the nazis. Guess why.And the book would be cencored..
It wouldn't only be censored, you also get sued for printing it.
I think it would run under "Verherrlichung des Naziregimes und Verhöhnung der Opfer desselbigen".
Admiral Canaris
Banned
Kratman's a damn good author of rightwing militarywank fiction (my favourite genre
). And though his stories are rather political (and fairly one-dimensional in that), they aren't genocide fantasies or Jack Chick tracts. He captures the spirit of the resigned military man very well, and he has the technical know-how for good war stories (yes, there are some shitty things like powered armour, but that's dramatic license and, in the Posleen books, leftovers from Ringo). He does have an unfortunate habit of being a little too... vocal in his criticism of the Tranzis, to the point where it can hurt a plot (I'm about finishing my Yellow Eyes paperback, and his portrayal of the Darhel and ICC there's a prime example), but overall I can't have a problem with his writings. The themes are interesting as well in his original fictions (Caliphate, Carnifex).Hendryk
Banned
Having had a cursory look at the episode guide for The Last Centurion, I'm not surprised to see his name alongside that of Kratman.
Two episodes as examples:
Those guys really have an obsession with that caliphate thing, don't they?
Yeah, I guess they're somewhere between The Turner Diaries and Mein Kampf, but to each his own taste.Kratman's a damn good author of rightwing militarywank fiction (my favourite genre
Well that speaks volumes about you, and not in a good way.
Admiral Canaris
Banned
Have you even read them? (Rhetorical question; if you had, you wouldn't say that.)
The themes are interesting: How far are we prepared to go to preserve our lifestyle from those who would destroy it? What drives people who fight on either side in such a conflict? When has one gone too far? (In Caliphate, I'm pretty sure Kratman thinks the American Empire has.)
Hendryk
Banned
I've read Caliphate, thank you very much. Worst tripe I've ever forced myself to wade through. If you find that drivel interesting, then, to be absolutely frank, you're either even more prejudiced than many of us think you are, or you're terminally naive. And you don't seem the naive kind.
I stand by my statement.
Admiral Canaris
Banned
In the particular case of Caliphate, I've only read Baen's preview. Perhaps that one's way worse than the others, or gets so as it progresses, but I don't think so. Why is it so awful to you? The writing is not technically bad, and it's not quite as one-dimensional as the uninformed critic typically portrays it. It's a dystopia, where the US has cracked from all the terrorism and become a military dictatorship, which is clearly shown to be a bad thing. The main American character kind of reminds me of Winston Smith in 1984.
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