Customer Reviews

We Few (March Upcountry)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Prince Roger Ramius Sergei Alexander Chaing MacClintock was known as the "Playboy Prince" before he found himself marooned on the inhospitable planet of Marduk. He had one hundred and ninety Marines, Bravo Company, of the Empress' Own. It took three previous novels for them to get off Marduk. Along the way, Roger discovered that he was the heir of Miranda MacClintock, the first Empress of Man, and one paranoid and devious woman. The "Playboy Prince" no longer worried only about his fashionable clothing. Roger grew up fast, the hard way. During the eight months on Marduk, Roger became a leader that Bravo Company could look up to. A vital member of their group, as well as, to the Empire. Now there are twelve survivors of Bravo Company. Some Mardukans have been recruited into Roger's service as The Basik's Own. That title is an inside joke. You will have to read the series to understand.

The Basik's Own now has a challenge before them that may put all their previous perils to shame. The coup launched by Jackson Adoula, Prince of Kellerman, has obviously succeeded. Roger's mother, Empress Alexandra, is being controlled by the same people who had murdered her children and her grandchildren. Yet no one seems to realize it. Either that, or there is nothing they can do about it. To make matters worse, the coup and murders are all blamed on Roger.

The Basik's Own must gamin some dangerous allies, slip into the Empire, locate and meet with crucial military leaders, convince them of Roger's innocence and to help, find weapons, form a plan, retake the palace, save the Empress, capture Adoula and the Earl of New Madrid (Roger's biological father), and save the Empire.

Prince Roger of House MacClintock will prove, once and for all, that he is nothing like his despised father. Prince Roger is totally Empress Alexandra's son! And Hades is about to get a lot of new customers!

**** An excellent continuation to the series by two authors who have proven themselves to be a formidable team. The first three novels had more battles and readers got to watch Roger morph into a true ruler. In book four, readers learn just how devious Miranda MacClintock was (and in some ways, still is). There are more strategies and a little more romance in this one also. Sergeant Nimashet Despreaux returns to help balance Roger and takes on a larger role in the books' plots.

All-in-all, David Weber and John Ringo have another winner with this novel. Fans will NOT be disappointed. But if you have not read the first three in this series, purchase them quickly and read them in order. Otherwise, you will find yourself lost at times during this tale. Personally, I cannot recommend this series highly enough. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This is the 4th book in the Empire of Man series. Prince Roger and his company of marines have been marooned on the planet of Marduk in a constant battle for life and death through the first three books. Roger has slowly turned from the care-free, "playboy Prince" into a battle-hardened and respected leader of Bravo company with just a dozen surviving members. Upon learning that his mother the Empress has fallen victim to a coup and is now being controlled as a puppet ruler, Roger and the remaining survivors, along with a number of loyal Mardukans, hatch a plot to get themselves smuggled off Marduk and back to new Earth to rescue the Empress.

Nice shift in locale after the first three books. A mix of action, intrigue and political diplomacy. Roger has to walk a fine line with trying to find allies as he finds himself as the one accused of murder and plotting against the Empress. Fast-paced and moves right along well. I like the development in Roger's character in this latest book. Fun read!

This is the 4th book in the Empire of Man series with as many as 3 more yet to come. (see John Ringo's site)

In the previous three books Roger MacClintock has been packed off by his mother the Empress on a diplomatic tour of several small & unimportant, and very out of the way places. Only problem is Roger and crew never show up, so when his brother and sister and nieces and nephews are all killed and the Empresses condition is questionable, everyone points the finger at Roger.

Roger on the other hand is getting a 9 month long trial by fire on the planet Marduk. The constant running combat, death and slaughter mix to burn away the gloss on his personality. No longer is Roger MacClintock worried about cloths, public opinion and what the current style is. Now Roger just wants to get home to old Earth and serve up a big dish of pain and suffering on those that so richly deserve it.

In this book. Roger with help from friends and new allies smuggles himself and his marines onto new Earth where they setup a restaurant that serves Mardukian food minus pink basik of course. (basik being the Mardukian rabbit, which humans seem to resemble in some fashion.)

Roger is about to show the galaxy why you never pock with a MacClintock.

I could not put this book down. John Ringo & David Weber have revitalized the series with this fast placed-action packed fourth book in the series! I definitely recommend that if you've read even one of the first 3 books, that you start turning pages cause you gonna love this book!!

We Few (2005) by John Ringo and David Weber is the fourth book in the Empire Of Man series which includes:

1) March Upcountry
2) March To The Sea
3) March To The Stars, and
4) We Few

It is my understanding that David Weber writes the outline and then John Ringo fills in everything else,i.e. dialogue, etc.

The only real fault I have with this series is that, according to Ringo's website, it'll be two years after he gets the outline from Weber until the next book cones out and he doesn't have an outline, yet.

For an excellent summary of the book, see Arthur W. Jordin's review below. Meanwhile I'll just summarize my thoughts.


As Poertena would say, stop reading the pocking reviews and buy the pocking book. After of course you vote "yes" for my review.


Gunner ( February ,2007 )

The fourth and supposedly last volume in the, "Empire of Man" series was a satisfying and quick read but had a "choppy" feel to it.

I enjoyed the book for the characterization expected with any Weber/ Ringo novel, however the second half felt as if it was hastily finished. Many of the characters introduced in the first three books either take a back seat in this installment or are nonexistent. The editing was atrocious (many mispelled words, misused pronouns and improper articles).

I do recommend the book to any reader who loved the first three. I just wish more time was put into the finale. I get the feeling a new series is on the horizon: "Empire of Man; Insurrection!"

After the disastrous third volume of this series (MARCH FOR THE STARS) I was somewhat apprehensive about buying WE FEW. Happily I overcame that apprehension and did buy it, not only was I pleasantly surprised but I am now re-hooked on the series!

Gone are the mass waves of barbarians being killed off in their hundreds of thousands by Prince Roger and his intrepid band. Back is intrigue, excitement, romance and yes there are still some battles, this is Weber/Ringo after all. If you were as tired as I was of the mass extinctions propagated by the Basik's Own" don't worry, the fighting here is intense at times but never boring. Well one space battle does seem to go on for a long, long time but it's not boring and is necessary for the story.

All the old characters are back with a few new ones thrown in for good measure but we now see the focus narrowing down even further to Roger and Nimashet, the rest being used as a supporting cast in the battle for the Empire to come. What is nice about WE FEW is we again start to see real growth in the characters, something I think that was lost in MARCH TO THE STARS.

This isn't the end by any means. I don't know if this is "...not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning..." as the quote goes but it is definitely a set up for more trials and tribulations to come. The great thing about WE FEW is it grabbed me hard enough I can't wait for the next volume. What more can you ask from a book?

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this one! If you liked MARCH UPCOUNTRY and MARCH TO THE SEA I have a feeling you're going to really like WE FEW. Give it a try.

The fourth book in the series, We Few, follows Prince Rog and his band's attmept to reclaim the Empire. This book has the difficulty of expanding the storyline from planet based combat in the first 3 books, to Empire Saving in this one.

Pros:
1)Technically great with the continued development of Prince Rog and his followers. Gripping combat scenes, the Mardukians flying, exhibition one on one combat with the Althanians and back to fleet space battles.
2)The true angst of Prince Rog and his slightly disturbed and vicious McClintok mind and his relationships,new and old, that forms.
3) dark humor, some pretty funny characters and their relationship especially Kring and his hulking bodyguard with his tank gun and pocking poertena.

Cons:
1) The space battles were a little heavy on numbers, that I felt detracted from the strategic picture. Figuring out Acceleration, distances, and missile fire did overwhelm me a bit.
2) The initial part of the book had to included quite a bit of background as Prince Rog was now taking on the task of retaking the empire, that the book seemed to drag, but the story definitely picked up once the foundation was set.

3) Lost a little of the personality because of the influx of so many new characters and variables, again necessary because of the scope of the story but not as deep as the first 3 books where there was more concentration on Prince Rog and his Marines.

4) Only problem I had was the extent of the Mutiny by the Fleet Marines. Marines just would not do that, especially not without a good majority of the officers on board, and to tell the truth, not even then.

Overall a good read and great series.

I've loved the "Roger" books since the first few pages of March Upcountry. The story is deep the charaters are well fleshed out. I read the book in just a few hours almost non-stop. The book never drags on and keeps things interesting and moving forward. Even though the book is around 400 pages, it feels much shorter. The book is a must for any fan of the series, and its made in such a way that although its great for fans, its also very easy for non fans to pick it up and get enjoyment from it.
If I had to give any gripes its that the last few pages feel a little rushed, I thought that it could have been expanded just a bit, the ending as it is feels a little ackward almost rushed. But its a very minor consideration when its compared to overall quality of the book. I don't want to give away any of the plot, by going into details, but needless to say that with the richness of the characters and storyline it would be easy to see this series continue on for a very long time. Kudos to Weber and Ringo! Great work guys.

When I picked up the first book, I wasn't sure. But as I got into it, I discovered characters who became real and had some depth, which surprised me. It surprised me because the books are full of action, fighting, details of an alien world and race, and I expected a page-turner without a lot of character depth. I was SO wrong.

While you can read each book alone, you really should read the entire series and grow along with Prince Roger.

We Few (2005) is the fourth novel in the Empire of Man series, following March to the Stars. In the previous volume, the few survivors of the Bronze Barbarians, the Basik's Own and Roger himself captured the Marduk starport and then the Caravazan Special Operation ship in orbit around the planet. Unfortunately, Captain Pahner was lost in the assault. They also discovered that the Empire has been taken over in a coup; the Imperials believed Roger to be part of the takeover and were hunting for all of them as traitors.

In this novel, Roger and his people are faced with the daunting task of undermining the Adoula coup. After stripping the starport of every movable object, they nuke it to conceal their tracks and ship out to visit the Alphanes. There they exchange information and plan a special operation to retake the Empress from the conspirators.

The Saint ship contains almost everything they need to infiltrate Old Earth. The Alphanes supply them with funds and Marduk provides animals and material. So Roger proceeds to open a Mardukan restaurant in Imperial City.

This novel is even stranger in some aspects than the previous volumes. The Alphanes are quite civilized in their own way, but they do have some barbaric practices. The other allies acquired by Roger on his way to Old Earth are a mixed lot, including Portena's second cousin. Roger arrives on Old Earth with a new image and a very unusual entourage.

This novel is a romping frolic. While the premise is taken seriously, the methodology is often quite humorous. For example, Despreaux complains rather bitterly about her overly voluptuous figure, but Roger doesn't see that as a problem. And there is also the title itself. Other small jokes are scattered throughout the book.

Highly recommended to Weber and Ringo fans and to anyone else who enjoys SF special ops stories with elements of romance and humor.

-Arthur W. Jordin