Product ReviewsMarch to the Stars by John Ringo and David Weber (2002, Hardcover)

Space Opera Par Excellence -- The March Series

This is the third in a series, starting with March Upcountry, available for free in electronic format at www.Baen.com. You can start with this book, but it's better to start with the first one instead. The March series, by David Weber and John Ringo, is about the youngest scion of the Empire of Man, and his growth to manhood during an 8 month ordeal in which the young man, Roger MacClintock, learns to live up to his and his family's potential in the bloodiest of all possible arenas -- a hot primitive jungle planet named Marduk, currently in the hands of the Empire's enemies -- with only a light company of Marines, the Bronze Barbarians, his personal bodyguard. Roger isn't the only one who changes, either. As his Marines see him learn and grow, they build an allegiance to young Roger that is matched only by the allegiance given him by the planet's native sentient species, the Mardukan "scummies" (four armed bipeds living in a pre-mass-industrial level of technology). The Mardukans themselves take to technology's potential as quickly as they can figure out that it's not really magic, just a vastly extended offshoot of things they're learning already. This trek across the planet takes place in March Upcountry, March to the Sea, and March to the Stars, the volume in discussion here) and is followed by We Few, the story of what happens after Roger gets off Marduk and gets back to the Empire. During March to the Stars, Roger's team of quickly dwindling numbers of Marines and growing numbers of Mardukan soldiers deals with a tribe of religious cannibals and a modern starbase full of modern weaponry and guarded by all kinds of dangerous technology. By this time, Roger has become the man he never suspected he could be, but has also learned to solve most problems with overdoses of lead poisoning, or the best equivalent he can find. Will he become Roger the Great when he returns to civilization or will it be Roger the Terrible who emerges from the jungles of Marduk's humid plains? Weber and Ringo are both excellent sci fi authors. Ringo is an excellent addition to Weber's universe. In fact, he wrote one of the funniest laugh-out-loud sci-fi stories I've ever gasped my way through, in one of Weber's story collections in the Honor Harrington universe: in Worlds of Honor #4, The Service of the Sword, Ringo's contribution (with Victor Mitchell) is A Ship Named Francis, a delicious story about the day to day life aboard a ship bearing through the stars under the guidance of the Chaplains of the Navy, who rule in conjunction with the officers themselves. It's too funny for any words I know, and is just another good sign that anything written by these guys is great. Read the whole series, and see if you don't agree with me. I bet you will. (I bought my copy from bigda967217260 for a good price -- check them out too!)Read full review...

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