Travis S Taylor (John Ringo) Books in Order
Part ofJohn Ringo Books in OrderExplore collaborations between Travis S. Taylor and John Ringo in order, with book lists, summaries, and background on their mix of hard science, Marines, and high-stakes space adventure.
Last updated: December 25, 2025
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Publication Order
4 books
Manxome Foe
by Travis S Taylor
2008
When an off-world archaeological team vanishes after a likely Dreen attack, Vorpal Blade is sent to investigate. The crew must thread hostile space, face new bioengineered horrors, and decide how much risk they are willing to take to keep the enemy away from Earth.
Claws That Catch
by Travis S Taylor
2008
A rumor of lost alien technology sends a new Vorpal Blade on a high-stakes mission to a world littered with ruins. Training green crew, juggling alien allies, and racing the Dreen to the prize, the veterans aboard must win a treasure hunt that could decide the fate of the war.
Vorpal Blade
by Travis S Taylor
2007
Outfitted with alien hyperdrive tech, the former ballistic-missile submarine Vorpal Blade becomes humanity’s first true starship. Its mixed crew of Navy sailors, Marines, and scientists heads out to scout distant worlds, only to find that deep space is far stranger and deadlier than expected.
Von Neumann's War
by Travis S Taylor
2006
Mysterious structures on Mars herald an invasion by self-replicating alien machines that eat metal and build more of themselves. As the swarm spreads toward Earth, soldiers and scientists scramble to understand the probes and improvise a way to fight back against an enemy with no fear.
Series background & context
The Travis S Taylor (John Ringo) grouping brings together novels where Taylor’s hard-science instincts combine with Ringo’s military storytelling. The core of that collaboration lives in the Looking Glass series and Von Neumann’s War.
In the Looking Glass books, Taylor helps turn an Earth-shattering accident into a plausible portal technology and then a starship program, grounding the wild “space bubble” concept in satisfying detail. Ringo populates those equations with Marines, sailors, and civilians who react in very human ways to the discovery that the universe is both bigger and more hostile than anyone expected.
Von Neumann’s War tackles a different nightmare: alien self-replicating machines chewing through the solar system. Here the blend of precise technical speculation and desperate, improvised warfare is front and center as humans race to understand and then out-think an enemy that literally eats metal and never stops multiplying.
If you enjoy the feeling that the math behind the miracles might actually check out, without losing the humor and camaraderie of Ringo’s usual casts, this collaboration lane is a good place to spend time.
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