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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781416521334
ISBN number: 141652133X
Label: Baen
Manufacturer: Baen
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 496
Printing Date: May 22, 2007
Publishing house: Baen
Sale Popularity Level: 56515
Studio: Baen
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Product Description:
Problems, problems, problems! All Mike Harmon ever wanted to be was a SEAL. But after problems in the teams, college student was a decent second best. However, trouble seemed to follow him where he went. Now, after having angered every terrorist on Earth and at least five governments, buying a farm in a third world country was looking pretty good. Of course, nothing was ever simple. With Chechen terrorists knocking on the door and tenant farmers with a truly Byzantine culture, the question was whether he could drag the keldara into the 21st century before the Chechen put them back in the 6th. Kildar answers the question: Where would an international security specialist and former SEAL choose to retire—if he's going to buy the farm, it should be one with beautiful women and the best beer in the world. Valhalla on Earth complete with Vikings.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I have to say that Kildar, which is the sequel to Ghost, is a better book. Part of the reason is because it is a single story, whereas it predecessor was a sequence of three somewhat loosely related stories. Another part is the fact that sex is downplayed, not eliminated, but downplayed and Ringo is not as "preachy." Another good thing, No nukes in this book.
This novel starts out with Mike traveling in the Republic of Georgia, and being stranded in a blizzard. This sets off a series of events, starting with an excellent beer, that ends in Mike become something of a feudal lord. While that sounds somewhat unlikely, it actually works in this book. You get to see good character development and find yourself rooting for him to succeed.
As a landlord, Mike finds himself trying to organize the people living on his newly acquired property, called the Keldara. The one who owns the land the Keldara live on is called the Kildar, which is where the title of the book comes from. In the act of organizing the Keldara, in order to protect himself, Mike develops a strong sense of responsibility toward them. If you've read Ringo's Prince Roger books, you have already seen a somewhat parallel character arc. Still, it is well done.
One of the mysteries in Kildar, is who or what are the Keldara. Though it is not as well written a mystery as others, it does allow a certain insight into the characters, and though we are given the answer, there are still other questions to be answered.
One of the most interesting aspects of this book is that though Mike is still the primary character of Kildar, the supporting cast is less one-dimensional than in Ghost. Mike does not come across as being a superman in this book, though he does come across as being very competent. Mike is now firmly ensconced in a "Good Ol' Boy" network at the highest levels of government, and though this might be a bit of a reach, again it works well within the context of this story.
In my opinion, Kildar is an excellent adventure story and a good book. It reminds me very much of the books I enjoyed in Science Fiction and Fantasy, but is done is a contemporary setting. Almost any young man, or heck any older man, would like to be in the shoes of Mike as the Kildar.
The military action in Kildar is not nearly as prevalent as Ringo's other works, but the structure fits well. It did leave me wanting to continue on to the subsequent book, Choosers of the Slain, and actually this is for the most part a good thing. Even tough I wanted to continue, mainly to find out what happens next, the story was complete in itself.
There is still a certain amount of sex in these books so it is intended for mature audinces. I would still recommend a minimum age of 18 or 19 for reading this book. But if you are mature enough, and like adventure, this is a book that you will enjoy.
Just FYI, as of the time of this review, the Paladin of Shadows series consists of five books in this order; Ghost, Kildar, Choosers of the Slain, Unto the Breach, and A Deeper Blue.
Rated by buyers 
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When I can figure out which John Ringo book goes with what series and in what order I'll buy it. Any of John Ringo's books were a must read right up until I read Kildar.
This was the very first of the "Ghost" series books that I bought and was bored to tears after wading through three quarters of a book filled with the hero's sexual exploits. Yes, the sociology is fascinating and Mr. Ringo's characters are almost up to his usual high standards but almost isn't what I spend my money for.
I'm no prude and enjoy a bit of titillation as much as the subsequent reader but I I wanted porn I'd hit the XXXX book store up the street and if I wanted formula plotting I'd stick with Clive Cussler and Pitt where I can predict just what is going to happen subsequent throughout the book.
No more Kildars for me this one soured my taste for the series. I'll just go back to trying to sort out what John Ringo's prolific titles go with which series and in what order.
Rated by buyers 
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How many people have fantasized about being rich, deadly, super-fit and a sexual monster all at the same time? Well, Ringo wrote about it and built a fun story-line that is entertaining while remaining just outside the realms of reality.
Kilar is a fun follow-up to the very first book in the Ghost series and it lacks some of the grit and much of dark overtones that they very first book included. The main character is still a testosterone-ridden adrenaline junky with too much libido and just barely enough self-restraint to remain out of prison. With that in mind, the story is just for fun. It's like reading a Rambo book where you know that the hero is going to win every fight and even if he gets banged up he will still get the girl in the end.
Don't look at this like it's anything other and entertaining fiction with a little bit of geography and a little bit of political commentary(very minor) thrown in for fun. It's basically a man's fantasy of what would happen if....
Rated by buyers -
This is the second book in the series which began with "Ghost". "Kildar" is much less outrageous, and rather better written, than the very first book in the series but still goes over the top in several places. As a rough litmus test, if you were strongly against the Iraq war, are very pro-feminist, or even slightly prudish, do your blood pressure a favour and refrain from touching this entire series with a ten foot barge-pole.
At the start of "Kildar", having preventing some dire terrorist atrocities in the very first book, former SEAL Mike Harmon has gone travelling in various remote parts of the world to keep out of the way of those people who would like revenge on him. Stopping in a remote valley in Georgia ("the country not the state" as he repeats umpteen times during the book) he decides to buy the local castle as a place to stay. It turns out that the castle and associated farmland comes with some feudal retainers, the Keldara, who accept him as their liege lord or "Kildar" - and if that sounds wierd and anachronistic at the start of the 21st century you ain't read nothing yet.
The full series currently consists of
Ghost
Kildar
Choosers of the Slain
Into the Breach
A Deeper Blue
John Ringo normally writes military SF and most of his offerings in that genre are extremely good. This series is about a freelance war on terror. In places, and especially in the very first book, Ringo seems to be in grave danger of crossing the line between challenging the reader and going out of your way to see how many people you can offend. That goes even for his existing fans among military SF readers, who are probably neither the most prudish or left/liberal of audiences.
In fact the funniest part of "Kildar" and each subsequent book in the series is not part of the main text - it is the disclaimer at the start of the books which at least demonstrates that Ringo understands and has a sense of humour about the controversy "Ghost" stirred up. That disclaimer is worth quoting in full, it reads as follows:
"This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book and series has no connection to reality. Any endeavor by the reader to replicate any scene in this series is to be taken at the reader's own risk. For that matter, most of the actions of the main character are illegal under US and international law as well as most of the stricter religions in the world.
"There is no Valley of the Keldara. Heck, there is no Kildar. And the idea of some Scots and Vikings getting together to raid the Byzantine Empire is beyond ludicrous.
"The islands described in a previous book do not exist. Entire regions described in these books do not exist. Any endeavor to learn anything from these books is disrecommended by the author, the publisher and the author's mother who wishes to state that he was a very nice boy and she doesn't know what went wrong."
Incidentally, that line about "any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental" is a classic example of a blatantly false statement which escapes being a lie only because both author and reader know that it's a legal fiction which he has to write and which makes no real endeavor to fool anyone. Osama Bin Laden and Vladimir Putin appear in these books under their real names, certain other characters will instantly be recognised by any politically aware reader as corresponding to real world US politicians.
All five books in the series contain a great deal of violence, strongly expressed and very right-wing political views, and a lot of references to sex, always utterly politically incorrect and sometimes fairly explicit. My copies of these books are stored where my children can't get at them and will be until they are adults.
Provided you are not offended by the sex, violence and non-PC attitudes, these books can be quite exciting and entertaining in places. But I would advise feminists, liberals/left-wingers, and anyone even slightly prudish to save your money for something else.
Rated by buyers -
The second, and probably best book in the series. Unlike Ghost, this is a full novel and not a series of short stories. The other really distinguishing part of this book is that it is more setup and less action then any other book in the series.
This book is thankfully much less packed with sex then it's predecessor, making it less uncomfortable to read. The characters he brings back are interesting and I was glad to seem them. The new characters are also for the most part interesting. The Keldaran cultural stuff is a little dry for my tastes, and everyone character seems to listen to the same music and read the same obscure history. This can make the dialogue seem more like an exercise in literary self gratification then anything else.
Overall this is a fine book, and the military fiction aspect of it does interest me greatly. I still would like to see the sex toned down more.
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