Star Corps

By: Ian Douglas

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the future, Earth's warriors have

conquered the heavens.

But on a distant world,

Humanity is in chains....

Many millennia ago, the human race was enslaved by the An - a fearsome alien people whose cruel empire once spanned the galaxies, until they were defeated and consigned to oblivion. But a research mission to the planet Ishtar has made a terrifying - and fatal - discovery: The Ahanu, ancestors of the former masters, live on, far from the reach of Earth - born weapons and technology ... and tens of thousands of captive human souls still bow to their iron will.

Now Earth's Interstellar Marine Expeditionary Unit must undertake a rescue operation as improbable as it is essential to humankind's future, embarking on a 10-year voyage to a hostile world to face an entrenched enemy driven by dreams of past glory and intent once more on domination. For those who, for countless generations, have known nothing but toil and subjugation must be granted, at all costs, the precious gift entitled to all of their star-traveling kind: freedom!

©2003 William H. Keith, Jr. (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

OK story, quite different (or weird) in many spots

The first thing I would like to say is I thought David Drummond did a wonderful job of narration.

Ian Douglas is one of my favorite authors. The Star Carrier series truly stands out and I have pre-ordered the next book in that series.

Star Corps starts out well. Earth as a space faring species with no FTL travel. Very interesting when it is used (Ian Douglas is good at it).

THEN, as the battle begins, we suddenly get a Wiccan religion thrown in. Huh? It is a completely made up religion (Wikipedia " It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and it was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant.")

The battles continue and are well written and narrated. But it seems that every myth known on Earth has it origins in space. While Stargate used that theme a bit, they did not attribute EVERY myth to visitors and even had a rebellion thousands of years before Christ.

According to the epilogue, the rest of the series will be looking at other mysteries and myths by Marine Expeditionary Forces.

I guess I like Sci-Fi that is futuristic, and not based on myths or needs chaplains for 72 different religions including ones more inventive than the myths they seem to explore.

I am not sure I will listen to the rest of the series to see if my thoughts are true. Oh, I have written negative reviews before. They always get thumbs down votes. Not sure why.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Narration ruined it for me

Would you try another book from Ian Douglas and/or David Drummond?

I will be staying far away from Ian Douglas from now on. His writing was sub par in a genre with many authors that are not that good.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Imagine an overly enthusiastic news reporter's voice. Now imagine every character sounding just like that.

Any additional comments?

I made two attempts to listen to this book but never made it more than two hours in before disgust forced me to stop.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Middle-Road Military Sci-Fi

If you're looking for some space marine war action just for entertainment purposes, then this does a pretty decent job of it.

The book is heavily focused on action, as you would expect, with little in the way of character development. The character who turns out to be the main character did have some time devoted to his backstory, and he does grow as a marine during the process of his first mission and the main conflict. There isn't really much more to say. It's chock-full of action, with enough violence to satisfy pretty much the most voracious appetite.

Like most, I didn't care for the narrator at all. He did a decent job with some of the accents, but his regular narration voice was just not pleasant to the ears. I hate to say that about someone, but it's just there. I don't think he's really suited for audiobooks.

This book didn't meet my expectations, and there was plenty of adult language and content. I don't plan to follow the rest of this particular series.

6 of 9 people found this review helpful

SIR, I, I, SIR

PAIN IS THE FEELING OF WEAKNESS LEAVING YOUR BODY.
Military Sci-Fi is not my forte, but I like to delve into other genre's from time to time, because I believe a good writer can successfully write about anything and you will enjoy it. I made it farther through this military Sci-fi then any other and believe fans of this type of story will love it. This has lots of futuristic gadgets, implants, creatures, and shoot-em-up scenes.

NUTS TO BUTTS, MAKE THE MAGGOT IN FRONT OF YOU SMILE.
What I liked the most was boot camp. I thought the narrator did an excellent drill instructor. At one point he told me I was in Company 1099 and I better not forget that. I then found myself committing Company 1099 to my memory. In other books of this bent, written by some famous authors, there are long sections on taking guns apart and explaining each piece to the reader. This did not have that and I preferred it that way. I still did not get into the story and have not found the author that can draw me into Military Sci-Fi, although Douglas came closer then anybody else.

The narrator has taken some huge hits by some reviewers and was liked by others. It seems that if you are extremely knowledgeable in the subject, then he miss pronounces enough names to make him irritating. I, not knowing enough, really enjoyed his work.

MARINES ARE TROUBLE SHOOTERS, THEY SEE TROUBLE, THEY SHOOT IT.

14 of 22 people found this review helpful

WORST NARRATION I HAVE YET TO HEAR

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

No one is going to enjoy this book if they have ever spent anytime as or around a Marine. I like the story, and I have loved the other books in this cycle but Mr. Drummond ruined this for me. A tip to any voice actor out there, learn the pronunciation of the lingo. Lejeune, is not pronounced LEJURNE, there is no invisible R! Lejeune is pronounces le-joon. As for UHRAH , there is no leading H! As for the range and inflection of the reader, its almost as bad as his pronunciation.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

PRONUNCIATION learn the lingo of the group the book is aimed at.

6 of 12 people found this review helpful

David Drummond needs a new job!!!!

Any additional comments?

The narrator, mr Drummond, sounds like a crappy capt Kirk imposter. I mean, sure there are pronunciation issues like another review stated...but seriously who has not heard of friggin Camp Lejeune!!! (though in his defense wikipedia does list "lajurn" as a second way to say it) But even aside with the most common military jargon being screwed up, his voice is just horrible. The way his voice trails off at the end of sentences, not to mention the absolute worst character voices, really destroyed this book. I will be reading the other two books.

As for the book, if you have made it this far you are like me and just want to see what happens. Reading this series after Star Carrier is a complete let down!

*****in summary...Drummond is the worst book narrator I have ever heard!!!*****

2 of 5 people found this review helpful

I thought the narration was great.

I thought David Drummond did a great job narrating this book ... in fact,his voice is what drew me to the series. I'm not sure what people want ... I can only assume the average reader of this genre is a little younger and prefer a younger-sounding author?

The story is simple, the characters not too deep. But still, a lot of fun. Reminds me of the series "march upcountry" by ringo and weber.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great Start to a Saga

This book has everything you mite want, a good story, with lots of Action and Drama. Great Narration. It keeps your attention. Can't wait to start book 2.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

Very Entertaining-Will buy the rest of the series

I liked the first series. I like this series just as much. What a fun and interesting way to meld our ancient myths into a futuristic story. Well done.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

Thanks Dennis !

D. said it was great and he is right on (in my mind) most of the time. Lots of action, fast moving, great performance. Listened to the whole trilogy in just over a week. Couldn't put it down!!!

0 of 1 people found this review helpful