Star Corps (The Legacy Trilogy, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ian Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Legacy Trilogy, Book 1 | Publication Date: March 25, 2003

In the future,
earth's warriors have
conquered the heavens.

But on a distant world,
Humanity is in chains ...

Many millennia ago, the human race was enslaved by the An -- a fearsome alien people whose cruel empire once spanned the galaxies, until they were defeated and consigned to oblivion. But a research mission to the planet Ishtar has made a terrifying -- and fatal -- discovery: the Ahanu, ancestors of the former masters, live on, far from the reach of Earth -- born weapons and technology ... and tens of thousands of captive human souls still bow to their iron will. Now Earth's Interstellar Marine Expeditionary Unit must undertake a rescue operation as improbable as it is essential to humankind's future, embarking on a ten-year voyage to a hostile world to face an entrenched enemy driven by dreams of past glory and intent once more on domination. For those who, for countless generations, have known nothing but toil and subjugation must be granted, at all costs, the precious gift entitled to all of their star-traveling kind: freedom!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ian Douglas is the author of the popular military SF series The Heritage Trilogy, The Legacy Trilogy, and The Inheritance Trilogy. A former naval corpsman, he lives in Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380818248
• ISBN-13: 978-0380818242
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ian Douglas is the author of the Heritage Trilogy, including Semper Mars, Luna Marine, and Europa Strike. He lives in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good extension of the Heritage Trilogy, April 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Corps (The Legacy Trilogy, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was somewhat worried that the Legacy trilogy was starting off in the 2130's since the reason I liked Douglas' (Keith's) Heritage Trilogy because it was near term military sci-fi (i.e. there was a chance I'd be alive in that time period). Fortunately, the add century really hasn't impacted the story by making the rich background of the first three books still relevant in this series. The Marines are still Marines and the real life nation-states are still represented (with a few modifications for flavor.)
In fact, the Legacy Trilogy reads and feels just like the Heritage books. If you liked those (Semper Mars, Luna Marine, and Europa Strike) then Star Corps will be another great chapter. However, since this is actually a fourth book in a series, please read the first ones before this.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Technically fine, but not compelling, February 20, 2005

By 

C. Price "Layman, Lawyer, Blogger" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Corps (The Legacy Trilogy, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Douglas is a pretty good writer, but this book -- perhaps the series -- is lacking interesting characters and an overall sense of clarity.

Set about a hundred and thirty years in the future, the world is a different place. The United States Marine Corp., however, is much the same. Their motto: "Travel the universe. Meet exotic people. And kill them." It seems that the discovery of ancient alien artifacts on Mars, Earth, and Europa, have fundamentally changed the beliefs, religions, and geopolitical reality of earth.

My opinion of this book is likely affected by my unfamiliarity with the earlier "Heritage Trilogy." It apparently sets the stage for much of the background information. Still, a continuation of a series with a new trilogy should take into account those readers unfamiliar with the previous works. Instead of bringing the reader up to speed, Douglas dribbles out the facts of this brave new world throughout the first half of the book. It was not until that mark that I actually thought I knew which governments were which, who they were allied with, which alien races were which and when they existed, and that Wicca has become the predominate religion (in the Corps! no less).

Douglas does a good job of describing futuristic combat. Neural implants, robot drones, combat armor, and nanotechnology have revolutionized warfare, though the infantry have retained their central role. Even so, the action gets a little old and can best be summed up by: "Greatly outnumbered but high-tech marines defeat human/alien wave attacks by low-tech primitives."

Most of the characters were ho-hum, with the exception being a young Marine recruit who finds his baptism of fire a long way from home.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Sequel, May 12, 2003

By 

Mr. Graham R. Parkes (Tai Po,, N.T. Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Corps (The Legacy Trilogy, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved Ian Douglas's Heritage trilogy and Star Corps, the sequel set 71 years after the events in Europa Strike is every bit as good.

Featuring strong, well-developed characters, an intriguing story line, well-written fights and realistic military hardware, Star Corps was difficult to put down from start to finish.

Highly recommend for fans of 'realistic' hard military science fiction, a genre in which Ian Douglas is fast becoming king in my opinion.

While not strictly necessary, I do recommend reading the Heritage trilogy before starting on Star Corps.

Graham