Fun story, providing one is willing to ignore the utterly inaccurate particle physics. I don't read a lot of books where I've uttered such a blue streak in disbelief, and I've still got 20 pages to go. ( )

Still determined to struggle through and finish. If you love detailed descriptions of military weaponry and hate character development (seriously, halfway through we finally get some personal life details about the main character), this is the book for you.

It's not all bad, there is some humor, and in spite of the above complaints I do find some of the detailed physics and weapons extremely interesting (which is why a friend recommended it).

Perhaps the single most annoying thing is how the author constantly switches around how he references characters—by first name, last name, job title, rank, vague job description—it makes it hard to follow at times. You have to remember not only a character's name, but every aspect of his job, duties, and rank, he might be referred to by any of those at any time.

A very interesting hard SF book about a physics experiment gone wrong that opens portals to other worlds. One inhabited by a race of monsters bent on changing every world to their world through terraforming.

The main character is a "redneck physicist" who figures out what is happening and starts working to change it with his Navy Seal side kicks.

A good all around read. In one way - high body count military SF - classic Ringo. In another - fetish sex - unrecognizable as Ringo. ( )

Read 2008
Re-read 2012

[November 2008 Review]
Basically take Doom and parts of Starcraft, specifically the Zerg, add in some military hardware jargon and you've got this book. Some rogue physicist creates some kind of gate that throws out bosun particles, which allow gates to be opened to other planets. The dreen come through one and we go through another and meet some friendly aliens. The dreen take over planets and suck them dry of resources. The dreen are zerglike, growing creatures for specific needs.

Besides some profanity and some seriously over the top weapon specifications[it IS military scifi though], this was enjoyable. I plan on reading some more in this series 'cause this was a ton of fun.


[May 2012 Review]
Still gets 4 stars from me. Could have had a little more action and less eggheads discussing quantum mechanic theory.

But marines, aliens, guns and scientists. Plus Mimi and Tuffy. Just good stuff. ( )

Into the Looking Glass by John Ringo is the first book in his Looking Glass series. When an accident in a physics lab at University of Central Florida causes a huge explosion, physicist William (Bill) Weaver and Navy SEAL Command Master Chief Robert Miller are sent in to investigate. They discover that an experiment in subatomic physics has produced a gateway to another world - and the gateways are spreading.

This is military science fiction novel. Ringo adds some humor along with the science (and some parts were quite funny), but the star of this book is the military action. After the initial explosion the novel slowed down while the physics of the event were being explained, but the action soon took off at a breakneck pace.

Let me reiterate that this is military science fiction. If supporting the American military or the warrior culture of the military is going to offend you, don't read this book. It's pro-military. It's also science fiction, so, if (simplified) scientific explanations are going to confuse you, don't read this book. If neither the military nor science aspects are going to bother you, then by all means read Into the Looking Glass. (Additionally, keep in mind that the novel supports conservative political views.)

Ringo is not the best writer technically but then, that's not really what you'd be looking for in a military science fiction novel. He does deliver on the action and the battle scenes. I'm looking forward to reading the other three novels in this series sometime: Vorpal Blade (Looking Glass, Book 2) by John Ringo; Manxome Foe (Looking Glass, Book 3) by Travis S. Taylor; Claws That Catch (Looking Glass, Book 4) by John Ringo
Highly Recommended - especially if you enjoy military science fiction. http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/ ( )

The book opens with a bang...a nuclear detonation in Florida that turns out to be non-nuclear. The explosion is the end result of an experiment that leads to the opening of a gate to another world...and the gates still opening. Some of those gates open to an onslaught of organic killing machines. This is a nuts and bolts science fiction tale of alien invasion, the first of a series but happily self-contained. Ringo has a lock on action novels and this is no different. Smooth reading, the plot pulls you along. You'll enjoy it. ( )

I love good science fiction. I can't call this good science fiction. Why? Perhaps it was the idea of the god-like neo-con physicist. Maybe it was the Americentric xenophobia. Then again, it could have been the constant vitriol the main characters express regarding the media or academia, or anybody who disagrees with his political values.

I like books that challenge the reader with different perspectives but this book doesn't challenge. It insults anybody who doesn't fall into step with the beliefs espoused throughout the story. ( )

If you're looking for a military science fiction book - that's what you'll find in this book. It's not a terrifically written novel, by any means, and there's a lot of the author's political opinions interspersed throughout, but there is also a lot of aliens getting blown up, humans getting blown up, and saving of world(s) being done.

It does fall into a bit of a slump/slowdown near the middle where Ringo seems to be trying to make too many scientific/political points and lost track of the fact that he was writing a military sci-fi, not a treatise on religious belief or Middle Eastern politics. The book does pick up again after this, but there is a lot of anti-Middle East "commentary" from about 1/3 of the way in to the very end of the book (and it's very noticeable in the final chapter and epilogue). If you don't agree with his politics, this section might even border on being offensive.

But if you can accept his political views, it's a strong, mostly action-packed, military sci-fi story with a plot that is wrapped up in the end. The narration is very good. I'll be reading the others in this series.

It's along the same lines as David Gunn's Death's Head series or Steakley's Armor if you're looking for read-alikes. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, and there are some parts that made me actually laugh. This is very similar to Ringo's Posleen war series, except this time the aliens are 'demons' invading from another universe/other planets via gates that mysteriously open on Earth. Instead of powered armor suits, this time we're fighting back with larger Mechwarrior style mechs. Still no Air Force involved to speak of, this is still strongly slanted towards infantry. The demons don't use technology, instead they breed various types of warrior creatures, including several nasty biological 'tanks'. Good military sci-fi again. ( )

Never let it be said that I don't give people second chances. After my unhappiness with the story buzz-killing politics found when I read his The Tuloriad, I decided to try John Ringo, straight up, to see if another novel of his might have more of the good stuff and less of the thud and blunder.

And so I picked up Into the Looking Glass, a completely different series and world, and unlike the Tulorian, written without a co-author.

The set up and the basic scenario are interesting and clever: A high energy particle accident opens up potential gates to other worlds. Through these gates come contacts of several different kinds, including a malevolent force intent on turning the Earth into more territory for itself by an endless churning out of units that reminded me of the Zerg in Starcraft.

A ragtag group of soldiers, a "redneck physicist" and others fight to keep the aliens off of our turf, make contact with friendly aliens, and try to keep a situation spiraling out of control from going completely off of the rails.

I liked the basic premise as far as it went. The strength of the basic premise allowed me enough forward momentum to continue the book. Although implausible, I liked the "battletech" prototype technology employed against the hostile aliens.

However, the negative aspects of the book outweigh the positives.

After a good opening, the second half of the movie drags and loses momentum. Ringo also leaves a lot of dangling plot threads that seem more sloppiness than setting up a sequel. And the out-of-nowhere epilogue with trying to build a star drive is one of the worst tacked on last portions of a book I've read since Ender's Game. It almost seems like to me that Ringo was writing the book to frantically get the plot and scenario to the situation where we get that star drive, but the book is too short to make it plausible. It's a leap too far.

Character development is implausible. Our physicist hero goes from never firing a gun to being an expert in a shockingly short amount of time. Other characters are flat, wooden and without personality. Also, the government response to "tuffy", an extra-dimensional alien that may literally be a manifestation of God, is implausible, at best.

Female characters are another problem in this book. Sure, the novel mainly focuses on soldiers and a military response to it, but the number of significant female characters is thin on the ground. I expect better in a modern SF novel.

Now the politics. I dislike novels which turn into political tracts and grist for the mill to promote a political viewpoint rather than an actual story.Into the Looking Glass takes pot shots at liberals and the French. However, what he has to say about Arabs made my blood boil. The schadenfreude the author and the characters seem to have at the plight of those in the path of a Gate in the Middle East disgusted me.

"Any word on what we we're going to do?" Bill asked.

"Well, the Teams are sitting back, watching the tube and laughing in their beer." Miller answered. "The Ayrabs (sic) can't fight for shit. There's a lot of cultural reasons for it...Wait a year and there won't be enough mujaheddin left on earth to bury the bodies...The ragheads will also see,clearly, what the U.S. can do if it cares enough to send the very best. Nuclear weapons rising where the mullahs cannot ignore them."

If I want to re-read an alien invasion novel, I will read Pournelle and Niven's Footfall. There are two authors, no liberals they, who understand how to write an alien invasion novel, make it believable, and not take every opportunity to score political points.

Sorry, Mr. Ringo, I'm done trying to read your work. Good luck in your future endeavors. ( )

When a physics experiment gone awry blows up a good chunk of Florida the closest scientist with the right background and clearances is one Bill Weaver. The explosion does more, however: it also opens up a series of shiny portals to other worlds. Just luckily he's in both mental and physical condition to take on not just the mental gymnastics of the explosion, but also it's aftermath, when it turns out there's aliens in them thar holes. And not the happy Disney kind.

The science is more than a bit over my head (not that I'm complaining), but the story makes up for the math. Ringo has an endearing habit of fully describing his characters right before he kills them off - not surprisingly, it enhances the storyline, as there are a very great MANY people getting blown up, eaten, dissolved, turned into alien goo.... At any rate, this was a re-read for me, as I grabbed it when if first came out. This time round I was able to read the continuations in immediate sequence. I was really looking forward to more of Tuffy & Mimi. ( )

One fine day in the near future the world is operating much as it does today... that is until a scientist researching a theory on quantum mechanics pushes the run button on his experiment. The result of which causes a 60 kiloton explosion that pretty much erases the University of Central Florida and causes a vortex to open on what used to be the site of the lab. Of course this vortex seems to be causing other vortex's to appear and not all of them open up to friendly worlds or worlds with friendly inhabitants. In fact quite a few of them open up to a world conquering race named the Dreen (think Borg combined with the Zerg). Fortunately for Earth it does have a few aces in the hole. There is the alien being known as Tuffy, a short purple stuffed animal creature,(who may or may not be the conscious of the universe). He may hold the answer to closing the gates, if he can dumb down the answer enough. There is the Adar who have been fighting the Dreen off for thirty years. They may help or if it looks like a losing battle, they will blow the planet up so they don't have to fight a war on two fronts. So what's earth got to offer? A jack of all trades physicist named William Weaver and Command Master Chief Miller and his team of SEALS. There are going to be explosions lots and lots of explosions.
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This is the beginning of another great adventure series by Ringo. Is does have similarities to the posleen saga (mecha suits, alien alliances), but that's not a bad thing. Weaver and Miller are a bit over the top and the politicians all cooperate and the good and evil lines are clearly defined. This is a straight up military adventure and Ringo's political leanings are evident, he even says so in the back of a few of his books. It doesn't interfere with the book much (I will admit there are few instances where I went, wouldn't happen at all. But hey its his world) and really the focus is on blowing up the evil alien things. I hope the next book keeps up the trend. I wouldn't say its as good as the posleen saga but it's definitely near it. I would recommend this to anyone who like military adventure and scifi. M.a.c ( )

This is the second time I've read this. It's not bad. I like William Weaver, the science is neat (if way over my head), the aliens are interesting in many different ways (pity about which ones are real allies and which ones are fakes, though). The fighting is rather too bloody and detailed for me, but then it's a Ringo. I sort of skim it - the same way I skim Weber's acceleration numbers. Though I have to say, if Ringo really wanted (as he says in the afterword) to make a book that had real science in it...he could have left out Mimi and Tuffy. Of course then Weaver would have had to have been even more of a genius, with eurekas happening regularly instead of only occasionally without any trigger. But whatever. Fun story. ( )

Quite an interesting romp though an alternate Earth setting. Was kind of disappointed that it wasn't longer than it is. Fortunately there are 3 more novels (so far) in the series, so we'll see if they continue to be as interesting as the first.

Lots of theoretical physics, but not overly technical. Enough to make the story interesting, in my opinion.

Further ruminating on the nature of the primary enemy aliens leads me to wonder whether the game Starcraft had any influence on this series, or vice versa, or whether this is a matter of convergent evolution, so to speak. ( )

It was interesting. It was John Ringo's standard pro US military propaganda, but it also had interesting characters, quick action, and an interesting theological twist. ( )

http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.asp?ID=905 ( )

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