March to the Sea (March Upcountry) [Mass Market Paperback]

David Weber (Author), John Ringo (Author)

Book Description

Series: March Upcountry | Publication Date: October 29, 2002

Marooned on the planet Marduk by an assassination attempt, Prince Roger MacClintock and his bodyguards must fight for survival as they march through steaming jungles, fighting lethal wildlife and treacherous local rulers all the way -- and it will take all his strength to get off the planet alive....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this admirable continuation of the authors' March Upcountry (2001), Prince Roger McClintock and his diminishing band of Royal Marines are still on the soggy, hot planet Marduk and still having an interesting time. Their way to the sea and their ultimate goal is barred not only by jungle, swamp, weird wildlife and local politics, but also by a wandering barbarian horde known as the Boman. In addition, the Marines' technological advantage is shrinking faster than their numbers, their vitamins may run out before they reach safety and the course of true or any other love for the prince and female sergeant Nimashet Despreaux is not running smoothly. However, human and Mardukan are able to combine resources including the engineering skills of the city of Diaspra, the wealth of the port city of K'Vaern's Cove, and the military talents of Marine Captain Pahner, exiled Mardukan prince Raster and formidable general Bistem Kar to generate both weaponry and tactics to defeat the Boman. The development of a Mardukan combined-arms force will fascinate sophisticated readers (the manual of arms for a four-armed, 10-foot soldier is a thing of beauty), while the overthrow of the Boman will grip straightforward action lovers in spite of the staggering body count. And there's the distinct hint of at least one more volume about Prince Roger's homeward journey at the end of this one, a hint that will please many. (Aug.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Stranded on the hostile planet Marduk and charged with the protection of Prince Roger, Tertiary Heir to the Throne of Man, the Bronze Battalion of the Empress's Own company of elite soldiers makes its tortuous way toward the sea and their only hope of returning home. This fast-paced sequel to March Upcountry continues the odyssey of men and women caught in a struggle for survival and determined to maintain their courage and humor in the face of overwhelming odds. Coauthors Weber (the Honor Harrington series) and Ringo (A Hymn Before Battle) excel in depicting the lives and times of soldiers both on and off the battlefield. With particular appeal to fans of military sf, this title belongs in most sf collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Baen (October 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074343580X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743435802
• Product Dimensions: 4.7 x 6.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Weber, David
  • #86 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Adventure

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kudos to Weber & Ringo, August 2, 2001

By 

Dianna Deeley (San Francisco,, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: March to the Sea (Hardcover)

This was great. Buy it, it's definitely worth the hard-bound price.

Why do I say so?

David Weber is very good at plot and action. He keeps me on the edge of my seat in all of his books, even the ones I'm not crazy about. OK, there are more elegant writers and his characterization isn't all that great. Since I'm not inclined to favor characters who spend all their time navel-gazing, I don't mind.

John Ringo has my interest piqued. I picked up A Hymn Before Battle on one of my desperation bookstore crawls, partly because anyone who quotes Kipling can't be all bad, and partly because the premise looked interesting. The sight of humanity getting pasted but still keeping on always fills me with delight. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Gust Front was great fun, too. There is some concern that maybe Ringo's getting too much attention too fast, but I'm not going to worry until his books get sloppy.

March Upcountry was good; this is better. I'm not able to say who wrote what, but I do feel that Ringo filled in some of Weber's holes, in much the same way that Pournelle and Niven help each other. The characters felt more solid, and the dialogue less wooden, than happens all too often with David Weber.

In terms of plotting, I can't say any of it was unexpected, no. Somebody once pointed out that only a limited number of themes and plots exist, and all you can really do is ring some changes on them. The changes rung, in this case, were entertaining, and my interest never faltered. I was deeply relieved when they didn't have the Prince back-sliding into his old ways, which I half-expected. Neither author, though, seems to feel obliged to cover the same territory twice, and I'm relieved.

I love the alien allies. I recognize them, especially the cavalry types, and (since I adored Rafael Sabatini) the whole swashbuckling crew is welcome to hang 'round. Buckle that swash, guys!

There is a nice, nice little bit (speaking as a female, and I hope I'm not giving too much away) about how a man ought to treat a woman, if he's in the public view. After the idiocy we have endured in the past few years, a gentle reminder about dalliance and honor was welcome.

If I have a real caveat, it's this: we have got to stop killing so many trees. Now, granted, paper is made from "trash pine" and not the redwoods, but there has to be a line. We encourage our authors (because we love them) to write long books with sequels, or, if you prefer, one very long book broken into volumes. This is partly the fault of the word-processor which has made editing so much easier - in the days when you had to cut and paste, you thought a long time about re-writes. You also, if you couldn't afford the services of the ten-fingered (I'm quoting Tolkien), had to type the silly thing yourself. While the computer keyboard encourages carpal tunnel syndrome because there is so little resistance to the keys, the same ease and spell-checker make it much, much easier to keep writing.

So the books keep getting longer.

This does worry me, just a little. It lets authors throw in the kitchen sink, indeed almost obliges them to. This isn't always a great idea.

Over the years of reading Weber, I've noted that he produces clean copy; either he proof-reads with some attention, or he types well. Ringo's two were also fairly clean. I didn't get annoyed enough to draw my red pencil. Better yet, in March to the Sea, I was so entertained that I didn't note any errors.

So go get it, and let the guys get their royalties so they can keep writing.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Twist on an Old Tale, August 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: March to the Sea (Hardcover)

Let's be up front about this, I'm a David Weber cheerleader. I can say much the same about John Ringo. When the two combine, the seasoned veteran and the new gun in town, watch out!

MARCH TO THE SEA is book two in the ongoing series of one Prince Roger, Heir Tertiary to the throne of the Empire of Man. He begins the first book; MARCH UPCOUNTRY, as a spoiled brat who has great potential. By the end of MARCH TO THE SEA he has matured in every way to become the classical hero of Epic proportions.

I won't ruin the plot for you; it is a retelling of an ancient tale, with a few twists of its own. History buffs will see it right away; especially with hints other reviewers will surely give. I will say that buying the first book in the series, MARCH UPCOUNTRY, simply because I needed a Weber fix, opened my eyes to a rising star in the Science Fiction World, one John Ringo. For that alone, the price was worth it; never mind the great story inside the cover.

If you are (im)patiently waiting the next Honor Harrington book by Weber, might I humbly suggest two things:

1) Don't hold your breath, he has other projects and it probably won't be out till early next year if we are lucky.

2) Buy the two books in this series to tide you over until then. You won't be disappointed.

In case I wasn't clear enough:

BUY THIS BOOK!! BUY IT NOW!! BUY _MARCH UPCOUNTRY_ TOO!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars All action--what happened to our characters?, September 10, 2001

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: March to the Sea (Hardcover)

I loved MARCH UPCOUNTRY because it combined action with a coming of age story. Prince Roger grows from spoiled brat to a complex character with compassion, strength, and understanding of others. MARCH TO THE SEA takes the story forward but, Prince Roger is now all grown up and there isn't anything to take the place from the human perspective.

Authors Weber and Ringo do a fine job writing battle scenes. In fact, the frequent joke within the novel--one city, one battle--seems to be the basic plot device in this book.

Roger and the small remnant of human bodyguard marines are trying to get across an entire planet with a fast-ticking clock as their vitamin supplements start to get low. To survive, though, they need to get natives to help them build the ships they need to cross an ocean and the natives that have the technology skills to help them are about to be buried under an angry flood of barbarians. Roger and company set out to save civilization and themselves as well.

The fighting is bloody as Roger and company commit genocide to ensure that the barbarians won't be back. Although we get occasional point-of-view scenes in the barbarian's heads, we never get the idea that they are anything but dumb cannon-fodder which is just as well because that's what they are.

MARCH TO THE SEA keeps you reading, but it isn't nearly the tour de force that MARCH UPCOUNTRY was. Come on, guys, let's have some characters with our battles.