[fjtorres]

He's using the tried and true Heinlein formula: make the protagonist a teen and write her like an adult.

When the bulk of the "screen time" goes to two teenagers and the violence is video game cartoonish, with only occasional lip-service to the cruel reality behind the action... Well, Young Adult is a very broad collection of genres, anyway. That seems to be very profitable these days. And all publishers are trying to get in on that action, BAEN included. (Witness the Weber treecat series.)

My take on Ringo has always been not to take his stories too seriously. A lot of what he does is clearly tongue-in-cheek. Like the Anime Zone. Or the sky-surfing giant chinchillas. Other times, he's just rattling chains to see what happens. Both are things the genre needs more of.

I'm actually surprised nobody is making a stink over his portrayal of Faith. Yet.