Semper Mars

Book One of the Heritage Trilogy

By: Ian Douglas

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Length: 13 hrs and 47 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.

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.

A Little Boring

I was a little bored with this book. I thought it would be exciting, it had all the pieces. Just soooooo slow! Not my favorite!

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.

not bad

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

Slow Moving Space Drama

The book version might be better to read, than listening to the audio version - theater of the mind.. The person reading the book speaks in a strangely slow, methodical voice that, at times, took me out of the story...Especially when the same tone was used for every character! I listened to this over a couple weeks, I kept needing a break because the narrators drone made me sleepy while driving. Not a lot of substance to the story, especially when it came to the combat scenes. There were quite a few dated references showing the lack of depth and capability of the writer. Just as I thought it was getting interesting, the story would shift to the romantic side and completely derail the action. There was the obligatory sex scene, when read by this person felt very cringey and forced. No sound effects that would have added a layer of interest were included. Space Marines in powered armor sounded exciting, but wasnt. Two parts did stand out for me, the raising of the American flag on Mars was inspiring, as well as the additional lines added to the Marine Corps anthem.

SPOILED EXPERINCE BECAUSE OF AUDIBLE

Because of audible's strange politics I already listened to "Star Carrier" Series and "Inheritance" trilogy.

Inheritance Trilogy events occur in the same universe as this series but years later, and all of the main events of this series are listed as historical facts in the first book "Star Strike".

I hoped I would have a bit better quality than Inheritance Trilogy, but it was on the same level maybe even worse.
I dropped the book after 1/4, Ian Douglas kept the style of writing and the same formulas all over "Star Carrier" Series, "Inheritance" trilogy and heritage trilogy, It gave the feeling like he cloned all this books and just changed some of their names.

PS
Maybe I will finish it on some rainy day but I doubt it !!!!

Great book, Great concept.

A great blend of military drama, sci fi, and futurism! Definitely worth the quick listen!

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.

Hoorah! Realistic and exciting.

Definitely continuing with book 2. Narrator does a good job expressing characters' personalities. Author presents realistic characters -- ordinary people accomplishing great feats with ordinary skills (ordinary for Marines, that is).

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