Book Review: John Ringo’s The Hot Gate

Posted October 8, 2011 by Kathy Davie in Book Reviews

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Hot Gate

John Ringo

military science fiction in a hardcover edition that was published by Baen Books on May 3, 2011 and has 399 pages.

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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Sister Time, Watch on the Rhine, Honor of the Clan, Eye of the Storm, The Tuloriad, Live Free or Die, Citadel

Third in the Troy Rising military science fiction series revolving around self-made billionaire . . . he could be a trillionaire by this point, Vernon Tyle,r who singlehandedly created the Troy battlestation and saved the Earth from an alien invasion.

My Take

ARGHHH!!! Ringo has done it again. I raced through The Hot Gate because I just had to find out what happened next! And he left me hanging!! Now I have to wait for book 4 . . . wahhh

I love Ringo’s books. He is such an amazingly good writer creating characters with whom you can empathize and action sequences that have you on the edge of your seat. Even though I don’t always understand the technical stuff . . . ah, well.

I do have a quibble about the relationship between Pal and Comet . . . I didn’t see that one coming at all. And I wish he hadn’t glossed over the troubles and victories that Parker was having with her new posting.

One of the things I love about Ringo is he always brings in the good guys, eventually, to ensure things go right. I’m thinking of Horst at the peace talks in particular when he confronts Danforth; thank god, Danforth isn’t in charge! I adore Ringo’s Vernon Tyler. Tyler has more money than God and doesn’t care about status or protocol. With his reputation and money having saved the Earth . . . over and over . . . he don’t take no sh*t from nobody whether it’s the President, South American politicos, or the military. At the same time, he is wide open when it comes to ensuring that his equipment and ships work right. If there’s a problem, he lets everybody know and brings ’em all in on it.

At one point, Tyler is talking to 30 kids who have submitted essays on what to call the next battlestation. It has to be a battle in which a few fought well and bravely. What was fascinating was how Tyler winnowed through the submissions. Talking to the kids and explaining why or how this or that battle didn’t fit the parameters for what he had in mind. The explanation for Johannsen’s worm was pretty interesting as well…a brilliant concept, if only the humanistic aspect has been more positive…!

I also found Ringo’s exploration of South American culture fascinating. And scary from a military point of view.

The Story

We got cocky. We easily beat off an attack by the Rangorans at the opening of the book. After all, The Rangorans have been throwing inadequate numbers of ships at the Earth and the battlestation, Troy, has been slicing through ’em like a hot knife through butter. Then we stupidly put faith in the cease fire during the peace talks and bam. The Rangorans have slowly been wising up and we are about to take it down the throat.

That’s the main storyline. The human interest plotline revolves around “Comet” Parker. She’s been transferred to the 143 to bring her engineering skills to bear on why it is that the 143’s ships are never out of the maintenance bays. Is it a manufacturing flaw on Apollo’s part for there sure seems to be something wrong with Granadica, the AI fabber (by the way, I want one of these!)? Or is it sabotage?

The Characters

While Vernon Tyler will always be an important character in Troy Rising, The Hot Gate introduced “Comet” Parker and Citadel has focused on her. We did get a brief “hi” to Butch [Citadel]!