March to the Sea

March to the Sea had it's good points. I enjoy the characters. Having said that, I felt the first section of this book was merely good. I feared Prince Roger and Sgt. Despro (not sure of the spelling, sorry) would dominate too much of the story, but that proved a needless concern.

As in the first book, the Marines are required to advance local technology, this time adding riffles, artillery, and blue water ships to the mix.

The military and political intrigue was engaging. I am growing tired of the horrible slaughter of Mardukans, though there is a section that describes Captain Ponner's attempts to avoid it.

I enjoyed March to the Sea, though not as much as March Upcountry. On a positive note, I started listening to March to the Stars and it promises to be excellent.

March Upcountry - David Weber and John Ringo

March Upcountry is the first book I've read by either of these authors, or listened to rather. (Stefan Rudniki does an incredible job narrating this one.)

I love the military science fiction genre and historical military fiction as well. March Upcountry enthralled my imagination immediately. I was intrigued by the cast of characters and thought the intrigue and world building fascinating. Great detail. These authors are clearly very experienced in this genre.

So I was a bit bemused when I realized how dramatically the point of view shifts and how head jumping occurs so frequently that I hear writing coaches all over the world writhing in misery. However, there is something to be said for the fact I didn't notice the much derided technique at first.

Probably because I was wrapped up in the story and dying to see what happened to each character. My writer's mind wrote this phenomena off as something I shouldn't try but perhaps works for these two master story tellers.

In the end, I was really glad to have bought the book and listened to it. The details and suspenseful plot combined with characters I really empathize with has made March Upcountry worth every moment of my time. One group of antagonists are called Saints, a sociopolitical group dedicated to removing Terran influence from the universe. They are depicted as fanatical conservationist, a group that has taken a possibly noble ideal to a destructive extreme. This book does not delve into the minds of the Saints, but I imagine future books will. It should be interesting at least.

March Upcountry is a great book. I recommend it.