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HarryT · 12-10-2006, 01:03 PM

'twas I who made that comment, slayda, and it's just a personal opinion. Let me stress that I'm a big fan of Baen - I've subscribed to every one of their monthly "webscriptions" since the outset, and shall continue to do so. I think they are one of the few publishers who do the "right thing" in publishing at sensible prices (US$15 for half a dozen books a month is pretty good value!) and in open formats.

Let me also stress that I am also a big fan of military SF - Jerry Pournelle, David Weber, and yes, even John Ringo; his "Posleen War" books are superb.

I do, however, think that he's slightly "lost it" with "Ghost" and its sequels, in that they have as their "hero" the most unlikeable central character since MacBeth

, someone who says "I am a very unpleasant person, but I'm on the right side", and then goes on to prove just how deeply unpleasant he is with a series of scenes of explicit rape, sexual degradation, and wanton murder, while at the same time pushing what is to me a highly unpleasant ultra-right-wing political agenda.

I just find that set of books to be horrible (and if you read the reviews of them on "Amazon" you'll find that the majority of reviewers do to - one of them comments, of "Ghost", that "you read it with the same kind of sick fascination that makes you want to watch a horrific car crash").

I'm not kidding about the "S&M pornography" bit, by the way. "Ghost" consists of three connected short stories. The middle one of them is primarily a lengthy description of sado-masochistic sex - believe me when I say that this is not something you'd want a teenager or your elderly mother to read. Baen seriously need to warn potential buyers about the explicit sexual content of these books. I'm no "prude" but I was quite shocked by it. You might want to take a look at what the reviewers on "Amazon" have to say about it.

I am somewhat baffled why Baen, a publisher with a wonderful reputation for publishing excellent SF and fantasy, are churning out this stuff. Perhaps there's a market for it in the US, but I find it deeply disturbing. Nonetheless, I shall continue to buy everything Baen produces, but perhaps give Mr Ringo's future works a miss, or at least approach them with caution.

12-10-2006, 01:03 PM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	'twas I who made that comment, slayda, and it's just a personal opinion. Let me stress that I'm a big fan of Baen - I've subscribed to every one of their monthly "webscriptions" since the outset, and shall continue to do so. I think they are one of the few publishers who do the "right thing" in publishing at sensible prices (US$15 for half a dozen books a month is pretty good value!) and in open formats. Let me also stress that I am also a big fan of military SF - Jerry Pournelle, David Weber, and yes, even John Ringo; his "Posleen War" books are superb. I do, however, think that he's slightly "lost it" with "Ghost" and its sequels, in that they have as their "hero" the most unlikeable central character since MacBeth , someone who says "I am a very unpleasant person, but I'm on the right side", and then goes on to prove just how deeply unpleasant he is with a series of scenes of explicit rape, sexual degradation, and wanton murder, while at the same time pushing what is to me a highly unpleasant ultra-right-wing political agenda. I just find that set of books to be horrible (and if you read the reviews of them on "Amazon" you'll find that the majority of reviewers do to - one of them comments, of "Ghost", that "you read it with the same kind of sick fascination that makes you want to watch a horrific car crash"). I'm not kidding about the "S&M pornography" bit, by the way. "Ghost" consists of three connected short stories. The middle one of them is primarily a lengthy description of sado-masochistic sex - believe me when I say that this is not something you'd want a teenager or your elderly mother to read. Baen seriously need to warn potential buyers about the explicit sexual content of these books. I'm no "prude" but I was quite shocked by it. You might want to take a look at what the reviewers on "Amazon" have to say about it. I am somewhat baffled why Baen, a publisher with a wonderful reputation for publishing excellent SF and fantasy, are churning out this stuff. Perhaps there's a market for it in the US, but I find it deeply disturbing. Nonetheless, I shall continue to buy everything Baen produces, but perhaps give Mr Ringo's future works a miss, or at least approach them with caution. Last edited by HarryT; 12-10-2006 at 01:17 PM.