I have just finished the Empire of Man/Prince Roger series (so far), from book 2 March UpCountry to book 4 We Few. This is my second attempt at a David Weber series-- the first being the Safehold series, which created such a poor opinion that I abandoned it mid-read. I know that SF fans seem to enjoy Honor Harrington and I admit I haven't read any of those. I probably should have started there. Anyway, with the metaphorical bad taste in my mouth after Safehold I tried the March To the Sea (#2 in the Empire of Man series) since, well, the library had it in and it looked interesting. I'm very glad I did! This is more or less a review of the series (less the first book, the events of which I picked up from the rest of the easily enough). March to the Sea is the 2nd novel in the story of Prince Roger and his entourage of bodyguards and staff after they crashlanded on Marduke, a backwater planet in Imperial Space. Roger realizes they are in a wilderness on a hostile planet with only one spaceport that is very likely in hostile hands (after collusion with a competing empire, the Saints, is proven). The Prince and company will have to seize the spaceport and commandeer a ship to escape from Marduke. Unfortunately it's on the OTHER side of the planet, and they will have to march their across a wilderness of various tribes and cultures of the Mardukans, a giant race of four armed natives. Along the way they face two barbarian hordes-- in the first book and in the second. They encounter civilized Marducan cities once over the mountains (of the first book) and train them in the art of warfare-- initially with pikes and then with rudimentary rifles. In March to the Stars, Roger and his diminishing company of bodyguards use their alliance with a rudimentary industrial city state (Quern's Cove) to create a small fleet of ships capable of sailing across the ocean to the continent with the spaceport (and dealing with the ship-killing giant sea creatures on the way). On the far continent they encounter a cannibal cult, mountain tribes, settle a war and take on the star port. At this point Roger discovers a coup has taken place back on Earth and that he has been framed as the architect behind it. In We Few, the now few survivors of the story (so far) are left to travel back to Old Earth and establish a counter-coup. This story is more political/social then the previous two (at least) and features a whiz bang of a space battle (very well written) towards the end, when the authors jump between various POV characters on both sides during the long engagement. There is much left undone at the end of the We Few and I suspect strongly there will be more novels in this series.The Empire of Man series (so far) is a great read-- full of adventure, sympathetic characters and interesting settings. As novels, they are far from perfect-- I've noticed Weber stating/restating/re-re-stating expository bits again and again before, and he does that here as well, but this time, the trend is tempered by his collaboration with Ringo. Many plot points seem added in to fill out space and move things along. The core theme of the stories is redemption-- redeeming Roger, who starts off as a spoiled bratty prince with little experience in the real world and turning him into a tough-as-nails, decisive leader. Along the way the authors get a little preachy from time to time and some of the dialogue is a tad stilted.. hell, even corny in places. But that's just fine. They make up for it with big ideas, big battle scenes and evil villains galore. The human relationships depicted in the series are less well written-- Roger seems to engender fanatical devotion (and love) in almost every sympathetic character he meets, which is mighty convenient for the story most of the time. Roger's transformation into a steely-eyed hero with phenomenal enhanced reflexes and combat skills helps, too. These are minor quibbles. I'd definitely read the next book in the Empire of Man when it hits the street-- it's been a while since I've read a good space opera, and the Empire of Man series delivers in spades.
This book is pretty much the same as the rest of the books in this series. I think I liked the first part of the book better than the previous one. The imperial marines have now pretty much run out of high tech weaponry, which I generally do not like so much, but the compensate by teaching the natives to build not so advanced weapons and transports which of course, compared to whatever else exists on the planet, are indeed high tech given the circumstances. I quite liked the see battles with front loaded cannons and old-fashioned broadsides.Unfortunately we get a bit of the David Weber syndrome in the latter parts of the book where we dive into conspiracy land with talk, talk and some more talk between various parties. I also really really dislike that John and David decided to kill of one of the major characters in the book series. I just hate it when someone you have followed all the time and taken a liking to just get bumped off.On the whole it is a good book though and the only reason it does not get a higher rating is that the story is not really my favourite kind of story as I have mentioned in the reviews of the previous ones.
What do You think about March To The Stars (2004)?
Crossing the ocean, pirates on the sea and in the spaceport. Book 3 is more battles, cities that are aware of Prince Roger's enemies, news from home world, and the battle to take the space port and pirate ship.This is a 4- book series. March Upcountry, March to the Sea, March to the Stars, and We Few. The planet, its natives, and its wildlife is as much a character as is Prince Robert. Other reviewers have described the story. It is a good series. For those who aren't gung ho military science fiction fans, it is still a good series. I enjoyed book 4 most, but you do need to read all 4 in order to get the full flavor of the story, the progression of the societies, the politics, and the growth of Prince Robert. While the aliens maybe barbarians, the politicians are truly barbaric.
—Lizzie
These were fun--spoiled prince and his guard, stranded on a hostile planet, trying to make it back to the lone star base--right up to this one. Ringo and Weber had fun setting their crew against a variety of local civilizations of different configurations (oligarchy, theocracy, dictatorship, etc.) and this time they have to take on sea monsters and invent a sailing doctrine. The problem is that Ringo slipped the leash and this becomes exactly the complaining about military structures I've heard from every barstool midlevel malcontent enlisted genius ever.
—Margaret Sankey
I think March to the Stars is the strongest book so far. The story progressed smoothly instead of jumping around as much as the others had. It was easier to follow than the other books with good pacing. I think the authors missed some opportunities with the battles, leaving out a lot of detail. As with the entire series, it's a big challenge dealing with how human the aliens are. I found I enjoyed reading more if I just pretended the Mardukans were just four armed humans cut off from civilization. Otherwise I couldn't stand how ridiculously human the creatures were. I'm looking forward to wrapping this series up with We Few.
—Brad
