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1. Kinsley says

   I have enjoyed the Paladin series because of its interesting concept but that can only carry it so far. I think the author is running out of things to write about. I mean why don’t the poor folks on the dying earth just ask for help from the good earth instead of forcing their folks to stay there. Doesn’t make much sense that just the crazy ones get across.

   December 20, 2009, 11:54 am
2. Levay says

   Redeemed in Darkness is the fourth book in the Paladins of Darkness series. This is the story Cullen Finley, a Seattle Paladin, and Lusahn q’Arc, an Other. Lusahn is the sister of Barak, an Other, who now lives among the Seattle Paladins.

   Barak was supposed to speak with his sister about investigating the blue stones that Others are bringing from their world to Earth. However, at the appointed rendezvous time, Barak is unable to meet her. Cullen waits to toss a note to Lusahn, but instead steps across to her world when the barrier is down, becoming trapped there. Cullen had an encounter with Lusahn previously where they briefly fought, for Lusahn is also a warrior. Since that encounter, Cullen could not get Lusahn out of his mind, and Lusahn has dreamed often of him. By stepping across the barrier, Cullen has placed himself and Lusahn in danger.

   I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Morgan is deft a storyteller. She has woven the story of Cullen and Lusahn around the mystery of the blue stones as she takes us to the fascinating world of the Others. Learning more about the Others, their world and society enhances this story. Cullen is terrifically drawn. Luashn is a very strong female who must come to grips with both her attraction to a human and unexpected betrayals.

   Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Sally

   December 20, 2009, 11:53 pm
3. Mirasol says

   I’ve read all the books in the series and they get better with each one.

   December 21, 2009, 11:59 am
4. Ellman says

   What did I not like about this book? First, it was boring. Secondly, we finally get a chance to see the Other world and what a disappointment. It is grey and gloomy and they are vegetarians because they do not have many animals, but they have an abundance of cheese. Last, I heard, it takes an animal to make cheese. They have running water but no electricity. Last of all but certainly not least, the love story was excessively rushed. Cullen and Lushan fall in love for the simple convenience of her eventually having to come through the barrier with him. The children were a nice touch, but the interaction between Cullen and the other Paladins was corny! Overall, not the best in the series. The author did a much better job with Barak’s story than his sisters.

   December 22, 2009, 12:00 am
5. Dean says

   I liked it. It was not the same as all the other books where the men are dying and don’t have a clue why or what for. This book brings the readers and the Paladins into the Other world and they discover what is so important about thee blue stones and at least somewhat why so many others are fleeing their homeland. It also links up a connection between Paladins and Others that proves that they have something in common and may have the same background. We also find out the name of the world and what they call themselves. They’re not strangers anymore, and because of that it won’t be quite so easy to kill them without remorse or thought to that.

   As far as the cheese comment and them not having many animals…when the cheese was introduced, it clearly stated in the book that the cheese came from a plant. It totally irks me when readers talk out of their butt when they so obviously were not even paying attention to what they read. How could they expect other people to take their commments seriously if they are not truly paying attention?

   December 22, 2009, 12:01 pm
6. Ireland says

   VIOLENCE! SEX! more VIOLENCE!!!

   Not as good as the older novels, but what a mess of mayhem!
   The big Bonus in every Ringo book:

   BLowing away by the bucket load RAgheadS!!!!!

   o-RaHH!!!

   December 22, 2009, 11:43 pm
7. Coates says

   I’ve read most of Ringo’s work and was looking forward to this book but the heavy handed way he treats democrats in general and President Clinton in particular is too much to take. Ringo goes so far as to actually say on page 85 of the paperback edition, “God damn the Clinton administration.” I guess he thinks that gas, a depressed economy and endless war in the Middle East are preferable to peace and prosperity.

   Beyond his upfront far right opinions expressed throughout the book and his palpable hatred of Arabs that just jumps off the pages, this book has a real lack of depth of character development and lots of stilted dialogue.

   December 23, 2009, 12:05 pm
8. Venzke says

   If you’re looking for bunnies to kiss and trees to hug, this book and the series as a whole most definitely ain’t gonna meet your warm and fuzzy needs. I’ve read some complaints that this book is too ‘right wing’. Well, heck, that’s what many of us are looking for … ‘right wing’ writing. The entire series is action packed, gritty, dark and, yes, conservative in slant. As a former Marine, it’s tough sometimes to find books that really speak to the way I think politically and these do it. Not to mention that Ringo writes spot on, kick butt and take names military action sequences that are hard to find elsewhere. Bottom line, if you want hardcore action with no holds barred, this series is tough to beat! I recommend it wholeheartedly!

   December 24, 2009, 12:35 am
9. Collins says

   I am a huge fan of J Ringo and have happily read all his books. I have especially enjoyed the Kildar series, his first time in the present and “real.” From the first book it’s been over the top but the characters and situations are so interesting and so different, I don’t care.

   In Deeper Blue the Kildar and his crew are once again really interesting with psychological depths not seen before. As usual, I was so hooked I power read right up until…the big finish in Florida. WTF? IMHO, he jumped the shark big time – over the top like James Bond squared. However, unlike WEB Griffin in Black Ops, JR can recalibrate. Here’s to hoping he brings the Kildar back to being merely a Spec Ops Bad MoFo who also happens to be a Master Dom and away from becoming a comic book super hero.

   December 24, 2009, 12:18 pm
10. Heilman says

    This is the fifth and currently (August 08) most recent book in the series which began with “Ghost” and continued with “Kildar.” I have seen the series described by the names of both those books and also “Paladin of Shadows.” In this book Mike Harmon and his team return to the USA at the request of the President to try to stop a terrorist attempt to attack various soft targets such as Disneyworld with lethal nerve gas.

    All the books in this series feature either counter-terror operations or actual pitched battles against Islamic extremists, and have most of the characters vocally expressing very right wing views. All five of the books have villains who enjoy inflicting sexual violence against women, up to and including rape and murder, and the central character also has sexual tastes which range from the kinky to the completely out of order, so none of the books are suitable for anyone squeamish. “A deeper blue” has rather less in the way of sex than the first few books in the series, but the central character appears to like shocking people, for example by openly referring to another character as his “harem manager.”

    (The reader who has not read the previous books will be thinking “What! Does that mean what I think it does?” The answer is yes.)

    “A Deeper Blue”, like the second, third and fourth books in the series, is less outrageous, and a bit better written, than “Ghost” but still pushes the envelope hard in several places. It also, for the first time in the series, presents one of the Muslims caught up in the activities of the terrorists as a decent human being who tries to limit the harm caused by his co-religionists. Nevertheless, as a rough litmus test, if you were strongly against the Iraq war, vote Democrat (especially if you like Bill and Hillary Clinton), are very pro-feminist, or are even slightly prudish, do your blood pressure a favour and refrain from touching this entire series with a ten foot barge-pole.

    Former SEAL Mike Harmon, codename Ghost, after fighting and defeating a number of terrorist plots, has settled down in a remote valley in the country of Georgia where he bought the local castle.

    The area concerned does not actually exist, but if it did, Russian tanks would have been rampaging through it while I was reading this book. I couldn’t help thinking “Typical – as soon as Mike and his troops are off in the states Putin invades!”

    It turns out that the castle and associated farmland which Mike bought came with some feudal retainers, the Keldara, who accept him as their liege lord or “Kildar” – and if that sounds wierd and anachronistic at the start of the 21st century you ain’t read nothing yet.

    Since Chechen terrorists are a major nuisance in the area on both sides of the Georgian/Russian frontier, Mike Harmon has trained some of his Keldara as an anti-terrorist militia with the knowledge and support of the Georgian, Russian, and US governments. (This was written at a time when relations between Russia and Georgia were merely bad, which is reflected in the book, but before they deteriorated into war and invasion.)

    During the previous book, an anti-terorist operation in search of stolen WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) led that militia into a pitched battle with a brigade of 4,000 Chechens which resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. The Keldara won, but at the start of the book Mike has locked himself away, grieving because a girl he was in love with was one of those killed.

    Mike and the Keldara had previously smashed a criminal conspiracy in which senior figures in the governments of most of the world’s most powerful governments were implicated. The guilty individuals concerned have been quietly removed from power, but now Mike Harmon has both friends and enemies in all those governments. The pricipal effect of this in “A deeper blue” is that John Ringo can fantasise about his characters being able to say exactly what they think to assorted idiots, stuffed shirts, liberals and left-wingers (I am not associating these concepts, but the book does) and any appeal to higher authority on the part of those outraged at such comments hits a brick wall.

    Initially Mike Harmon does not want to respond to the request to go back to the USA and hunt for nerve gas, as he is too busy grieving. But he allows some of his people to go, and when two of them walk into a trap meant for Mike, anger snaps him back to himself: the terrorists soon won’t know what hit them.

    One or two of Mike’s old friends from “Ghost” also make an appearence in this book.

    The full “Paladin of Shadows” series currently consists of

    Ghost
    Kildar
    Choosers of the Slain
    Into the Breach
    A Deeper Blue

    John Ringo normally writes military SF and most of his offerings in that genre are extremely good. This series is about a freelance war on terror. In places, and especially in the first book, Ringo seems to be in grave danger of crossing the line between challenging the reader and going out of your way to see how many people you can offend. That goes even for his existing fans among military SF readers, who are probably neither the most prudish or left/liberal of audiences.

    In fact the funniest part of “A Deeper Blue” and all the other books in the series from “Kildar” onwards is not part of the main text – it is the disclaimer at the start of the books which at least demonstrates that Ringo understands and has a sense of humour about the controversy “Ghost” stirred up. That disclaimer is worth quoting in full, it reads as follows:

    “This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book and series has no connection to reality. Any attempt by the reader to replicate any scene in this series is to be taken at the reader’s own risk. For that matter, most of the actions of the main character are illegal under US and international law as well as most of the stricter religions in the world.

    “There is no Valley of the Keldara. Heck, there is no Kildar. And the idea of some Scots and Vikings getting together to raid the Byzantine Empire is beyond ludicrous.

    “The islands described in a previous book do not exist. Entire regions described in these books do not exist. Any attempt to learn anything from these books is disrecommended by the author, the publisher and the author’s mother who wishes to state that he was a very nice boy and she doesn’t know what went wrong.”

    Incidentally, that line about “any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental” is a classic example of a blatantly false statement which escapes being a lie only because both author and reader know that it’s a legal fiction which he has to write and makes no attempt to fool anyone. Osama Bin Laden and Vladimir Putin appear in these books under their real names, certain other characters will instantly be recognised by any politically aware reader as corresponding to real world US politicians.

    As mentioned, all five books in the series contain a great deal of violence, strongly expressed and very right-wing political views, and references to sex which are always utterly politically incorrect and sometimes fairly explicit. My copies of these books are stored where my children can’t get at them and will be until they are adults.

    Provided you are not offended by the sex, violence and non-PC attitudes, these books can be quite exciting and entertaining in places. But I would advise feminists, left-wingers, and anyone even slightly prudish to save your money for something else.

    December 25, 2009, 12:22 am
11. Asher says

    The author’s prolific output includes a large number of hard science fiction tales, a few magic or fantasy novels, and a few with high-tech artifacts in low tech societies where technology comes over as magic.

    To the best of my knowledge “The Paladin” is her only novel which has no science fiction or fantasy elements: it is also very possibly C. J. Cherryh’s best book.

    “The Paladin” is set in a pre-industrial society, the location of which is not precisely identified but where the names sound oriental and the description sounds reminiscent of medieval China or Japan.

    On a remote mountain just outside the borders of a troubled empire, a former Master Swordsman hides away on a hill, calling himself Shoka and tending his garden. Once he was Master Saukendar who served the previous Emperor, but the present monarch and Regent betrayed him, and he had to flee; legend has it that he killed twenty of the Imperial Guard in self defence on his way to the border.

    For many years Shoka has retreated from the world, but then a youth with a scarred face comes to see him, begging the master swordsman for teaching in how to use a sword, with the intention of employing that knowledge to seek vengeance.

    Shoka is about to send the suppliant packing when something catches his eye …

    This book is dominated by strong, believable, and very memorable characters: the interaction between them is a major part of the story.

    In spite of the fact that it’s a different genre, if you enjoyed the “Morgaine” quartet, you will love “The Paladin.”

    December 25, 2009, 12:06 pm
12. Vensell says

    Now I don’t want to mislead, some of you will love this book. I bought it on the strength of an “extra good” review. A lot of reviewers loved the book. If you are looking for a long drawn out romance with a lot of C.J. Cherryh trying to come up with how an older man might think when falling in love with a younger woman (let me save you the quandry…so far as Ms. Cherryh goes men apparently never think with any part of our bodies higher than our mis-section. He even contemplates “forcing” this woman he “cares for”, for her own good naturally.)

    The reviews talked about cjatacter development, mostly I spent the book being annoyed. I finished it and it right to my “trade pile. The one thing I can’t do here is say who will like it and who won’t, wish I could. For me, I was looking forward to getting it based on the reviews I’d read only to be disappointed in it.

    My suggestion? Read the other reviews and consider before ordering.

    December 26, 2009, 12:32 am