The Rats, the Bats & the Ugly

by Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Book Overview

Rats, The Bats & The Ugly This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416520783
• ISBN13: 9781416520788
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Great summer read ! Fun!

I recommend buying this book now, it is fun, a good engaging read, fun and, oh yes, fun. Summer read. I bought the paperback that recently came out (summer '06) for a summer read. To me, a summer book is one you just read, relax, and enjoy. No deep deep thoughts, no crazy violence, nor dark magic... just something to zone out with and enjoy. It has a plot. I liked this book so much because it is light-hearted, but not light in plot. It has a well captured plot and the story follows it. The plot pulled me in for the ride such that I never found myself wanting to go into critic mode. It is fun. It is an enjoyable comedy that has characters with enough depth to them to carry off the storyline. I looked forward to various characters coming back into the story just to see how they would react to the issues at hand. A fun adventure. And lastly... I give this book great credit for subtly reminding the reader of what happened in the 1st book (as this is a sequel). While I have a horrid memory and forget books easily, I also hate books that spend pages upon pages trying to redo previous books in a series. This book does a wonderful job of alluding to past events in such a manner that does not draw you away from the story at hand. Great job!

Hilarious

The plot has already been described so I won't repeat that. The book, however, is hilarious. This morning I'm eating breakfast at the local diner and reading the book in the electronic version. I couldn't stop laughing, figuratively ROFLMAO. I made quite a scene there. I finished the book tonight and just couldn't stop laughing. I was planning to wait for the paperback, but now, I'll probably run out and buy the hardcover. Good authors deserve rewards.

wild, wacky, and witty

Hominidae Private Chip Connolly, his girlfriend Ginny and their ratty batty comrades expect a hero's welcome when they return to George Bernard Shaw City on planet Harmony and Reason having defeated the invincible gazillion alien menace the Magh. However, Chip comes from the lowest vat in the humanoid caste system, so members of the elite Inner High Five decide he must die. Chip is arrested and expected to be executed at first light. The rats and bats that make up his victorious team become concerned because they need one member of the squad with movable thumbs to open the beer. They decide they must rescue their best can opener Chip, but by doing so they bring down the wrath of the secret police, aliens, and the High Five upon themselves and their humanoid companions; then again Chip is still alive at first light. Their only hope to survive resides with Fluff the Kong, a warrior like none before, whose chances for success hinges upon avoiding burial by cup. This sequel is as wild, wacky, and witty as the previous tale (see Rats, Bats and Vats). The story line satirizes everything as Eric Flint and Dave Freer take no prisoners. Chip is the center that holds the plot together, but it is his allies that make for a fast-paced, out of the world, rowdy science fiction adventure. Harriet Klausner

'Tis a pleasure indeed

RBU is just as much fun to read as its predecessor, RBV. Besides the classical literary allusions (which take me back to 11th grade English class, when I had to memorize certain lines from the Scottish Play), I'm particularly fond of the biological terminology. When I see the word "instar", I immediately understand that this is an invertebrate with multiple stages of development. Making an alien species out of something familiar yet strange adds layers upon layers of meaning. The plot takes off and swoops, the dialogue crackles, and the characters jump off the page. All in all, this is a book I plan to keep by my bedside for re-reading over the years to come, and Dave Freer is an author on my "Buy in Hardcover" list (and so is Eric Flint).

Hilariously funny: impossible to put down

This is the sequel to the hilarious `Rats, Bats and Vats' (as if the title isn't a dead giveaway). Those who've read the first book will be well acquainted with Dave Freer's sense of humour. Well, he's done it again, and though the action is slightly less hectic than previously, this book is, if anything, even more hilariously amusing. Returning from the war against the insectoid Magh', Private Chip Connolly and his comrades the soft-cyber uplifted bats and rats should have been feted as heroes. After all, they'd rescued the First Shareholder's daughter, Virginia Shaw, from the spines of the treacherous Korozhet, destroyed a Magh' field generator, and become the first soldiers ever to survive and return from behind enemy lines. Unfortunately, on the planet of Harmony-And-Reason, things don't quite work that way, and Chip soon finds himself in the stockade, while Virginia Shaw is a prisoner in her own house, trapped by Korozhet villainy and the corruption of members of HAR's government. Fortunately the Korozhet never counted on noble Fenian bats, voracious Shakespearian rats, and the arcane branch of human philosophy known by the sinister name of 'Platosforms'. Cue daring deeds, heroism and social upheaval - in the cause of not one but two rescues. And no one ever tells a lady she's undressed while she still has her chainsaw... Seriously, this book's an excellent read. I finished it inside four hours - no, it's not short, I just couldn't put it down - and I'm still laughing every time I think about it. From characterisation to plot to humour, it has it all. I preferred the first book, though - RBU is fast-paced and side-splittingly humorous, but RBV was faster and fresher, if not quite as hilarious. Not that RBU is stale, or anything like it. Far from it. The soft-cyber uplifted (sentient) galago who thinks he's Don Quixote is a prime example. In marks out of ten, I'd give this book ten just for style and guts. (Well, nine point nine nine, anyway. RBV deserved the full ten more. But who's going to nitpick? 9.99 rounds up to 10) Now, when's the next one coming out?