Cover art by Clyde Caldwell
Published by Baen Books
Reviewed by Leigh Kimmel
John Ringo returns to the Legacy of the Aldenata universe with a new collaborator. Years have passed since the Posleen invaded Earth and were repulsed in a desperate battle using alien technology doled out by the greedy and parsiminous Darhel. However, humanity has been forever changed by the experience, and not entirely for the better. For starters, the Darhel are doing all they can to perpetuate a stranglehold on humanity, in the hopes of turning humans into tame soldier ants, much as the Indowy are their worker ants.
However, within the unsuspecting mass of ordinary people live a tight-knit organization determined to see to it that the Darhel do not succeed in their plans. The Bane Sidhe, the Enemies of the Elves, are humans to varying degrees allied with a far more ancient organization among the Indowy, fighting yet another battle in a millenia-old war.
When we last saw Cally O'Neal, she was a wide-eyed young girl learning the skills to survive in the grim new world of the Posleen Wars, at the knee of a grandfather who was a master at "wet work." Now she is doing it herself, with far more sophisticated technologies to adopt false identities, changing her face and body the way ordinary people change their clothes. But in the process, something within her has died, and she doesn't even realize it.
Until the mission that changes everything. Can she recover her lost humanity without losing her edge and being destroyed in the process?
Review posted November 27, 2007
Cally's War (Posleen War Series #5)