Customer Reviews

Star Corps (The Legacy Trilogy, Book 1)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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

If there's one thing I must say about this book, it's that you should definitely read the Heritage Trilogy before opening this one. Otherwise, you'll likely find yourself quite lost in the alien mythos and sociopolitical ideas brought up in the book. They're not terribly complex, but it's important enough to the story that you'll make it easier on yourself. Besides, the previous books are damn good, so why not read them?

As for the book itself, it lives up to the previous three in every way. The action is once again excellent (if somewhat repetitive in many areas). The book's historical parallels are much less pronounced and important than in previous ones. Like earlier books, Douglas makes alot of connections to earlier characters. While all the characters from the previous books should be dead by the time this one takes place, he uses the descendants of many of them. It serves as a nice tie-in to the previous books, even if it's not terribly realistic.

Technologically, there is some crazy stuff inside. Think of having instant access to a computer and the internet, as well as AI assistants, all with a thought. Everything is advanced almost beyond comprehension, but with the rate that things advance today, this is not too far-fetched.

Definitely check this book out if you're into military sci-fi, but read the Heritage Trilogy first.

Great USMC bang, bang, shoot em' up. When Douglas was moving his plot and characters, the ride was great. However, as others have noted, Douglas will slam the breaks on the ride to provide swatches of historical background, references to his earlier books, reviews of his universe's sociology, religion, and economics -- with little regard to the main plot line. So the ride is jerky.

All in all, it's a good read. And we Marines just can't hear enough about ourselves -- fact or fiction.

This was a great book- I'm definately looking forward to a continuation of the Legacy series. My only problem was, as always, Mr. Douglas likes to repeat long parts of US Marine Corps history in awkward ways. But, ignoring that (which isn't really that big of a deal), it was an awesome book, and I couldn't put it down until I was done reading it.

This book lacked the richness and complexity I was expecting from some of the other reviews. Not a bad read for the most part, but I didn't find myself involved with any of the characters beyond a surface level.

Not stellar, but a good read. Your good basic Star Marine Battle story. Worth a read if you have nothing elso on your plate.

I own the entire Legacy Trilogy, purchased from a local borders book store. This book was exceptionally well written. The author infuses his knowledge as a retired naval officer into his writing and he sets up the space-faring U.S. Marines in an exciting world that is highly detailed and well thought out.

This premiere story is set in the year 2138, and the contrived gadgets and technologies are excellently described by the author. The young main protagonist, John Garroway, was well developed. You get to see how he thinks, and that is a critical part of building any classic character. There are lots of battles in this one, as the heroic Marines race across several light years to liberate their imprisoned distant human relatives from the clutches of an evil alien race called the Ahanu.

But before the crusade in outer space begins, there is a struggle on earth: political standards clash with human rights and voiced personal beliefs, as the national government officials deliberate with military elites upon the profitability of sponsoring the Marines on their very expensive mission. And ultimately, a compromise has to be made...

As a fellow author of a sci fi action Trilogy [The DSNG Chronicles], I highly recommend this series, because it is well paced, well written and action packed. It is definitely worth adding to your collection if you are a fan of Military Sci Fi works and you enjoy technical descriptions tied to ingenious gadgets and futuristic technology.

A++, incredible sci-fi adventure - 1st book of an incredible series. Dana Van Valin in Colorado