Into the Looking Glass
John Ringo
 The novel begins in Florida. A serious explosion occurs at the University of Central Florida's science department, destroying the University and everything within a mile of it. Despite the indications of a nuclear weapon, from the devastation to the mushroom cloud, military personnel and emergency responders find no traces of radiation or EMP. Hovering right over the center of the resulting crater is a strange, black metallic sphere. As the survivors around it stand in awe, a huge 'bug' steps out of it and dies. Meanwhile the President and his advisors rush to respond to the disaster. They had an apparent nuclear detonation at an important university in a populated area, with a high probability of casualties. They need answers, so they grab the first person with a physics degree and Top Secret clearance in arm's reach, Dr. William Weaver. Weaver quickly explains that Ray Chen, a physicist at the university, was working on changing the laws of physics within a small space to allow him to create a Higgs Boson, essentially a particle containing its own universe. Whether or not he succeeded is unknown, however they have other problems as more of these, "Looking Glasses" begin to open around the country, then around the world. Weaver is sent down to Florida to investigate into the explosion. While on the site, a little girl named Mimi comes walking out of rubble a few blocks from the explosion, carrying a giant spider on her shoulder. They realize that something must have happened to her that allowed her to survive the explosion. They also discover that the spider on her shoulder is an incredibly intelligent being that seems to have formed a telepathic link with Mimi, as he is able to communicate thoughts to her without speaking. Less than a day later, they discover that gate isn't their only problem as a deadly new species begins to thunder through the various gates, killing people and spreading a fungus that seems to do anything but die. Weaver and SEAL Command Master Chief Miller are among the response to a panicked call about 'demons'. A gate is discovered nearby. A team is sent through and triggers a fierce alien counterattack that the human defenses barely manage to contain. Later, a second wave comes though this and other gates. However it appears not all of the aliens are bad. Mankind makes friendly contact with a felinoid species, the Mree. The Mree representative explains that the hostile aliens, the T!Ch!R! in the Mree language, are a pest that seem to go with the gates. Humans pronounce the word as Titcher. They meet with the Mree Emperor, and begin to discuss explorations into each others' cultures. In one of first spots the Titcher came through, their alien forces are continually breaking through the Human's lines of defense. Wanting to lower the daily body count, the president authorizes nuke strikes at the gates to give them some breathing room. After they start getting new activity at the gate, Weaver, accompanied by a SEAL team, takes a look at Titcher forces on the other side of a gate. Once through they discover that the Titcher are actually a race of one organism that produces these fighting creatures, their equivalent of antibodies, to spread through the gates and take over other worlds. As they spot an oncoming Titcher nuke for retaliation against airstrikes, they shoot to stop it. The nuke goes off, tearing open Weaver's suit and killing several SEALs. However they are able to set the bomb off and get through the gate, destabilizing it and the Mree gate temporarily. Another race is contacted through yet another gate. The Adar are ahead of humans in technological development. The Adar are friendly with humans upon first contact. They have had trouble with the Titcher, which they call the Dreen because of the howl of one of the fighting units. Humans soon adopt this name. The Dreen have begun to overwhelm human defenses at every gate. The Adar provide humans with a weapon that can close the Dreen looking glasses, but if it goes off on the earth side, it will destroy the planet. After the Mree prove to be a Dreen feint, the U.S. army attacks Mree forces near that looking glass to draw them away. Weaver and a SEAL team in temperamental powered combat armor suits deploy the Adar bomb through the unguarded gate. It and the other Dreen looking glasses close. Military forces eventually overwhelm remaining Dreen forces. A few Mree and members of another Dreen slave race are taken prisoner. There is no food on earth that can provide the nutrients they need. The Mree choose suicide over starvation. The Adar give Weaver a small black box that has an interesting effect when exposed to electricity - having the properties of exponentially increasing the output of energy based on the energy provided to it. Its other properties are explored in sequels.