The major battle scene reads almost like a physics textbook. Those hoping for laser battles or light-saber fights will be disappointed by this novel. I bring that up to say that despite the levity of the dialogue it's actually pretty hard core sci-fi. Alot of this book is concerned with the size/scope/power requirements of spacefaring. There's a bunch of little digs in the vein of 'if we can just keep the damned government off our backs' and even a slam on space-environmentalists ('we've trashed our own planet enough.') That said I didn't find any of this overbearing and in reality the author is probably correct that first contact with alien species would not dry up all the hundred year old political squabbles on earth. The good guys are heads of corporations who are trying to save humanity despite government interference/regulation. The conservative stuff is not hidden, the author just throws it right out there and in that way it's almost funny. Even as someone who is very politically progressive I enjoyed it immensely. The story is basically about Republican physicists saving the world. A few of the reviews I read accuse the book and the author of racism but I think this is going way too far. This is actually solid and creative sci-fi. Troy Rising is a book in three parts- Live Free or Die being the first part-detailing the freeing of earth from alien conquerors, the first steps into space using off-world technologies and the creation of Troy, a thousand trillion ton battlestation designed to secure the solar system. And he has bigger plans than just getting rid of the Horvath. A hero unwilling to back down to alien or human governments, unwilling to live in slavery and with enough hubris, if not stature, to think he can win. To free the world from the grip of the Horvath is going to take an unlikely hero. With their control of the orbitals, there's no way to win and earth's governments have accepted the status quo. Since then, they've held Terra as their own personal fiefdom. When the Horvath came through, they announced their ownership by dropping rocks on three cities and gutting them. Who Controls the Orbitals, Controls the World But the first aliens to come through, the Glatun, were peaceful traders and the world breathed a sigh of relief. When aliens trundled a gate to other worlds into the solar system, the world reacted with awe, hope and fear. Beginning a New Series by a New York Times Best-Selling Author.Will the People of Earth Bow Down toAlien Overlords-or Will They Live Free or Die?

Live Free or Die by John Ringo