Live Free or Die
Ringo, John
Baen Books (404pp.)
2010.
Aliens have set up a gateway in
space to provide Earth with a gateway that allows for interstellar travel, and
along with the gate comes a set of rules governing its use. Among the rules is
that anyone who pays the fee can make use of it – in either direction. The
Glatun come to earth to find trade, and the Horvath came to find heavy metals.
Quickly they offered an agreement: they would become earth’s benefactors and
protectors in exchange for all of earth’s stores of heavy metal and all of its
future production, or the alternative was to have all of earth’s major cities
destroyed by bombardment from space.
Tyler Vernon was a wood cutter and
grocery store clerk. He had been an IT manager and creator of a science-fiction
themed web comic. However, after the arrival of aliens and alien technology, he
worked where he could. Even with the Horvath benefactors watching from orbit,
Tyler Vernon decided to try a little free trading with a Glatun. With Tyler firmly
set against the Horvath, a resistance begins. It pits stubbornness, space
engineering and unbridled capitalism against an unreachable, untouchable foe. There
are lengthy discussions on the difficulties of extracting ores from asteroids
and on the necessity of working around government bureaucracies.
Live
Free or Die is the first book in the Troy Rising series by John Ringo. Owing
to a focus on engineering and trade rather than military actions, the language
is less gritty and the action is less gory than John Ringo’s long-running Legacy
of the Aldenata series. The political and social commentary is also more plain.
Ringo’s
fans will enjoy it if they like space battles fought with scientific ingenuity,
determination and unabashed capitalism.
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