Book Review: Von Neumann’s War by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor

Book Review: Von Neumann’s War by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor
Published in 2006 by Baen
John Ringo on Baen Books

Cover art by Kurt Miller


Something or someone is changing the albedo of Mars, and they are heading towards The Earth once they are done.

The premise of the novel lies in Von Neumann robots, self-directing and self-replicating robots, making them essentially self-sufficient. This is one proposed method for a species to colonize another world, send small probes or robots to go, gather raw resources, reproduce themselves, the to continue onward. This is the core idea in the novel, where self-replicating robots come from somewhere else and start to terraform (to their specifications) the entire Solar System, starting with the larger gas giants and moving inward towards The Planet Earth.

The novel opens up with a military operation in Iraq involving what would become two of the main characters. Moving from an insurgent firefight the novel paces into Defense Contractors discussing work flow and then increasing Astronomical Reports of the change in appearance (Albedo or the amount of light reflected from an object. When the surface changes on something, it reflects or absorbs more or less light, which is in very simplified terms the Albedo of the object) of celestial bodies in the Solar System.

As the book progresses more evidence is found to support the knowledge of an incoming alien invasion. The military and defense contractors work together to attempt to devise means to combat the encroaching menace. The book showcases the awesome ideas postulated, along with scientific details that bring out the depth of research the author took in writing it. From sniper work to project management discussions to fringe inventors, Von Neumann’s War never fails to deliver on each page.

Clocking in at 519 pages, Von Neumann’s War is pure Military SF reading pleasure. Go get a copy and discover the great writing that John Ringo does. It used to be available at the Lakeland Books A Million, go try to find it there. This copy purchased at a bookstore sometime a few years ago.