Semper Mars

By: Ian Douglas

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Year is 2040.

The Marines have landed on Mars to guard the unearthed secrets of an ancient and dangerous alien race: Ourselves.

Scientists have discovered something astonishing in the subterranean ruins of a sprawling Martian city: startling evidence of an alternative history that threatens to split humanity into opposing factions and plunge the Earth into chaos and war. The USMC -- a branch of a military considered, until just recently, to be obsolete -- has dispatched the Marine Mars Expeditionary Force, a thirty-man weapons platoon, to the Red Planet to protect American civilians and interest with lethal force if necessary.

Because great powers are willing to devastate a world in order to keep an ancient secret buried. Because something that was hidden in the Martian dust for half a million years has just been unearthed . . . something that calls into question every belief that forms the delicate foundation of civilization . . .

Something inexplicably human.

©1998 William H. Keith, Jr. (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Fun space opera

If you like space opera this one is fun. Douglas puts an interesting twist on the future as the US gets a substantial dose of its own real politik. There are a lot of classic plot lines and good characterization for this genre. Definitely worth it.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

I enjoyed this book...

What did you love best about Semper Mars?

Always in the first book of the series it takes time to get all the players down... About midway through the book I was into the story... Thanks for the adventure and I will be downloading book 2 and 3

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A wet kiss for the Marine Corp

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

MUCH less on the Military conflict and more on what I was expecting to be the central theme of the book, the discovery of an ancient archeological site on Mars.

Would you ever listen to anything by Ian Douglas again?

Not me.

Any additional comments?

If you are looking for jingoistic one-dimensional war fiction, this could be your cup of tea. If, on the other hand, you were expecting a thoughtful sci-fi exploration of the possible repercussions of finding the remains of a 500,000 year old human civilization on Mars (as was I) this is not the book for you. The fact that this takes place on Mars is almost completely immaterial to the plot.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Listened for the second time. Glad I did!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, this was a great listen. I just finished listening to Star Marines from the ???third??? series in this storyline and wanted to listen from the beginning as it had been so long. I'm glad I did. It is an excellent story and the narrator is very easy to listen to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Major Garroway was the primary character and well done. His character was interesting and not so narrow in nature as some book characters are. A bit irreverent, a caring father, a dedicated marine, has his failings, but tries to work past them.

Any additional comments?

It's going to be a bit of work to go back through the Heritage, Legacy, and the first two books of the Inheritance trilogies, but I think it will be worth it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

GOT SH@T UP HIS CHAMBER

Lots of politics. Like bumblebee, I expected something a lot different. At least some Science Fiction with the politics. As Hadland, says, Mars has nothing to do with the plot. This is the second time I have wasted money on Douglas, there will not be a third.

52 of 69 people found this review helpful

Great title, misleading blurb

This book was great if you're a fan of sci fi space battles, and it scrupulously plays politics down the middle. If you're like me and you read the blurb and expected a cool alternate history that brings humans through Mars, though, don't buy it. I think that payoff is coming in book two or three, since it's barely touched on here. Instead, you get a futuristic series of military skirmishes with little levity and thankfully limited blood (sometimes these things become a gory body count - this book has a small number of casualties but makes them matter).

For that kind of book, this is a solid entry. I'm just disappointed because I was expecting something different.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great book and a wonderful series

A great sci fi book about the stars. one book I always love to back too. iys a great story that always keeps me thinking and involved with the story. one of my favorite story lines.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

It could have been a lot better

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The publisher probably should have had a real Marine ghost write it for William Keith (aka Ian Douglas)

Would you be willing to try another book from Ian Douglas? Why or why not?

Maybe, but I will not listen to anymore in this series.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

not bad

story line had a slow start but a good finish. not bad over all thougha

Nice book and good narration

Like the book, although it features the author's familiar theme of "America good, Europe bad" (later copied in Star Carrier). Written in late 90's, certain mentioned events in the 00's and the 10's are obviously different from reality. The narrator does a good job, including foreign speech, but it's a little jarring not to hear any vocal changes between characters and no accents.