KCR: A Hymn Before Battle, Posleen War #1 by John Ringo

Cover via AmazonA Hymn Before Battle is basically a setup for the subsequent novels, paving the way for the Earth to be invaded by the Posleen horde, by giving you some action now, and majority of the situational background. For that, it mostly delivers, though some plot points where never tied up (but you'll need to read subsequent books to realize that).

The setup: Earth was visited by friendly aliens, who brings good news and bad news. Good news: high, we're the good guys, who bring you great technology and other advances in all areas. Bad news: you are about to get invaded by people who will LITERALLY eat you, called the Posleen. Earth was hurried organized, and technology shared to build various fortresses, called up ever last bit of reserve manpower available, even seniors who can be rejuvenated with the latest Galtech (the alien technology). Why don't the aliens fight? One race is the scientist race and don't even know how. The other is the manufacturing race and is not capable of violence. The third, the most aggressive, is the merchant and administrator race and will literally DIE after going berserk if it tries to commit violence. Thus, all the fighting must be done by... humans.

Unfortunately, some of the aliens don't exactly WANT the humans to succeed as the humans are just too darn GOOD at what it does. Humans can do EVERYTHING, and are extremely adaptable. If too many humans survived, the other aliens will be living under human rule in a couple decades. So the nasty allies (with allies like these, who needs enemies?) are ordering assassinations of humans who asked too many questions.

In the meanwhile, a group of long range scouts is sent to infiltrate a planet already occupied by the enemy, and see if they can find some interesting intelligence, if possible.

The characters are a bit thin, and due to amount of 'setup' the actual plot is rather abbreviated, and as later books show, not fully resolved. The ethical implications of all this sudden influx of technology was not discussed due to the exigencies of upcoming war, and you KNOW Earth is going to get ****ed.

If you like your action mixed with a little politics and a LOT of dark humor, give this a try. The later books are even better, when the invasion actually starts.

Rating: get it